From Furies Forged (Free Fleet Book 5) (47 page)

             
We will not make it to Earth with anything like a fleet at this rate,
the thought came unbidden to his mind. A Kalu should not be thinking of defeat. Yet even as he tried to push the thought away it had already taken root in his mind.

              He looked at the jump limit towards his master. It was too far.

              His eyes instead moved to the inhabited planet of the system. It was a cold planet but great cities covered in metal and shaped like upside down funnels projected heat into the atmosphere.

              "I have become bored of this travelling between the stars. Take us to the planet. I wish to feel our enemies under my claws and their blood to paint my armor," Falhu said.

              The command deck growled with hunger, the simmering anger of the pyramids attacks turned into direction. Now they had a target, now they would close with the enemy, now they wold be free of their ships to fight as true warriors borne of claws and teeth.

              Word passed and the fleet turned like a drunkard’s sway. Bomb’s pushed them along, a pyramid appeared but it was off target, out of the line of Kalu, they shifted to bring them under fire. Even as dozens of Kalu ships fell it mattered less now. Falhu could feel life entering his limbs again, hormones raced through his veins. His hunt had just begun. He would dominate this world and return to his master with the prize under his claws.

                                                                      ***

              "Falhu has changed directions, he is heading right towards Daestramus," Qurv reported, looking to Bregend.

              "Then I guess we will be fighting him in the dust rather than in the black," Bregend said, looking to the information coming out of Daestramus.

              "Kyle, get me a channel to the planet's Free Fleet Commander," Bregend said.

              "Sir, I have a man by the name of Narvu listed as the contact," Kyle said for the benefit of Bregend.

              "Very well," Bregend replied.

              "Commander Bregend, I have heard a lot about you. Though that is a conversation for another time. What can I help you with? I am a tad busy organizing my planet for an oncoming Kalu invasion," Narvu said, his voice somehow light with the oncoming fight.

              "Commander Narvu I am currently chasing that Fleet coming towards your planet. I will do everything in my power to try and get rid of as many of them as possible, though I know I will not get them all," Bregend said.

              "Any help that you can give to me and mine is greatly appreciated, we haven't been sitting on our hands down here," Narvu said, Bregend could hear the amusement in the man's voice. It was refreshing to hear someone that wasn't all doom and gloom in these dark days.

              "That's good to hear. I also have about a hundred and Eighty-Thousand Commandos that would be more than happy to assist you and yours," Bregend added.

              "They are more than welcome to join our little party here," Narvu smattered with a grin.

              "I am looking at your defenses and it looks to me that you have neither cannons nor mines," Bregend said, confusion and fear building in his gut.

              "Ahh, well we modified a system that we hope to use to heat our planet. We think it will be pretty effective. We talked to Salchar's engineer about the project," Narvu said.

              "Ahh quite, how does it work?" Bregend asked.

              "For that it might be best to ask him. I am not a very technical man, and the people that know about it on my planet are rather busy at getting it ready," Narvu said.

              "Very well, I will talk to him after this. Is there anything that you could think of that we might be able to assist you with?" Bregend asked.

              "Your people have done a good amount for us already, I hope that we can quickly deal with the Kalu here so that you might help other worlds," Narvu said holding his eyes with a solemn look.

              "I hope so too, though we will not be leaving Daestramus until we get rid of every damned Kalu threat, if you don't mind me saying so," Bregend said.

              "I would expect no less, thank you commander. Your assurances do a lot to put my heart at ease," Narvu flashed a brief smile. There was noise in the background of the pickup.

              "Ahh I must go, seems that Murphy loves to show his head at the most inopportune moments," Narvu growled to the noise off-screen.

              "I understand commander, good luck." Bregend said, pushing out a small smile.

              "And you too commander," Narvu said tilting his head as he cut the line.

              "Kyle, get me Salchar, he's about the only person I know that can get Eddie on a comms channel," Bregend said.

              "Sir."

              "Hey Bregend, I understand that you want to talk to my recaltrient Engineer?" Salchar asked coming around to his command seat on the main screen a handful of minutes later. People were filling out of his conference room, waving and gesturing to Bregend. Bringing a small smile to his lips.

              "If at all possible," Bregend said.

              "He should be up here in a moment, though I understand I pulled him away from some power plant modifications," Salchar warned.

              The armored doors into the bridge opened and an annoyed and irate looking Kuruvian Engineer came in, assisted by two Commandos.

              "What is so damned important that I get these two goons pulling me away from my work? Do you know how close these damn things are to blowing themselves up!?" Eddie said, pushing his cowboy hat up on his head and looking to the main screen.

              "Well?" He demanded, not at all put off about being in the presence of the Commander of the Free Fleet or one of his primary commanders.

              "I was talking to Narvu of Daestramus, he told me that you know something about the planet's defense systems?" Bregend asked.

              "Well of course I do, half designed the damned things! All those engineers must be half cockeyed with their angles and measurements as messed up as they were!" He growled, muttering something about rudimentary math and light diffusion.

              "What are they?" Bregend asked, understanding some of Salchar's pain with dealing with the engineer.

              "They're the damned heating towers! What else do you think is going to get through the planet's atmosphere to hit the wolfie bastards?" Eddie demanded.

              "How are the heating towers going to kill any Kalu?" Bregend asked, confused.

              "Lord give me patience," Eddie said, looking up at something out of view. He looked to Bregend again.

              "Daestramus is on the wrong side of being cold for normal life to live on it right?" Eddie said.

              "Correct," Bregend said.

              "Now there are a few ways to warm that sucker up so that people can leave those towers and the heated underground facilities. The most common, the one which you humans were on your way to doing a lot of, is pump up the carbon dioxide levels and trap the heat in. Now this would take them a long time, because unlike you apes, they don't burn everything they can get their hands on. I swear you lot are a bunch of native arsonists!" He shook his manipulators before continuing.

              "Now carbon dioxide helps to retain heat, but you still need light from the systems sun to get things toasty. Thing is, that would take centuries if not millennia’s with Daestramus. So we had a talk about environmental systems. This one stuck me into that conversation as well," Eddie said, pointing to Salchar who was reading something. He merely shrugged, continuing as he was doing.

              "Anyway, if you can get at least some carbon dioxide, then all you need is more light to heat the place up. They made lasers to heat up the carbon dioxide inside the cities and let it flow out. I bet if you looked at the planet right now then you would see all of the heat pouring out of those damned places. It will take a few centuries sure, but in a generation or so they'll have a nice warm planet that people can go run around in. Without bits falling off," Eddie said.

              "How powerful are these lasers?" Bregend asked.

              "In the hundred megawatt range," Eddie said.

              "How the heck are megawatt lasers going to hurt the Kalu ships?" Bregend asked, sure that was power levels of a sea-going carrier, but that was nothing like the power in say the Free Fleet's laser cannons. Or the amount of power that they put out on a regular basis.

              "Combine them together, focus the beam into one point, say the top of a tower and point. Apart they might be megawatts, together they're touching a few hundred yottawatt range," Eddie said proudly.

              Bregend sat back, actually having to look up how much power was in a yottawatt. It was a hundred times more powerful than the Free Fleet's laser cannons. It put them at a stage two civilization on the Kardashev scale and at a third of the strength of Sol's sun.

              "By the light," Bregend said, unable to understand that power.

              "Quite a smart design if you ask me," Eddie said, looking rather please with himself. Salchar that had been listening to the tail end of the conversation shook his head as if he didn't expect anything else from his engineer.

              "We have an incoming transmission from Earth's United Nations," Vort said on Salchar's bridge.

              "I think I best be taking this, do you need him, or anyone else for anything?" Salchar asked Bregend.

              "Nope, I think that's it. I'm going to have a talk with Commander Narvu," Bregend said.

              Recognition flashed in Salchar's eyes.

              "Tell him I send him and his boys my regards," Salchar said.

              "Will do sir," Bregend said. "Kyle?"

              Kyle cut the channel.

              "Get me all of the ship commanders for a holographic meeting. Let’s see if we can get the Kalu to walk right into Daestramus' laser towers. Kyle could you find out everything about those towers, Domal help him out," Bregend said, standing.

              "Sir," Kyle and Domal said, Domal moving from his position to Kyle's. Bregend turned and went to his conference room. It was time to put down a few plans.

                                                                      ***

              Months ago most of the people in this room had been in this very room and planning to take over the Free Fleet. Now they were deciding how to plead with them to save Earth.

             
How the tables have turned,
the newly elected President of the United States Frank Gerard thought.

             
They should have taken Knox's advice
. The United States was no longer the world's super power, they had devoted all of their military resources to the failed attack on the Free Fleet.

              Their actions had turned the United States into a black Mark for Earth. Hell, Earth itself was a black mark on all of them now. No one would do trade with them. Emigration was up thirty percent, the United States was no longer the land of opportunity. That now belonged to the Free Merchant Fleet that was plying the trades through every damned inhabited star system known.

              Frank Gerard's predecessor had been made to step down by the American people. They were done with letting people run their country on ruined promises. They had realized how their vote mattered not only to their country but to their very lives and Earth.

              Politics was not a game, nor was it a tool to make people scared of what was to come. It was supposed to create leaders that would do the best for the people, not for their own pride.

              Frank had served with the Marines, he was a doctor and a teacher. He had put his name in with one promise. Not to hold onto past glories and stay quagmire in the politics of old, but to get the United States out into space. Not as a warfighting powerhouse, but as a trader.

              America was great because of its people. They were innovators, they were determined and they could carve out a place among the stars. He came with the hope for that future. He quoted John F Kennedy's speeches about doing things not because they were easy, but because they were hard. They went through a terrible time, but now America could become something magnificent, move past those struggles and be reborn into a new age.

             
That's not likely to happen with the Kalu coming down on us like a ton of bricks,
Frank's expression soured as a connection was made to the Super Carrier Hic Stamus.

              Frank wondered if many knew that the carrier's name meant 'Here We Stand', he hoped they would stand with Earth.

              "What?" Salchar asked, spitting the word out with a combination of cold anger and someone wholly done with listening to the other person.