Galactic Empire Wars 2: Emergence (21 page)

-

At
Centerpoint, General Mitchell and Fleet Admiral Kirby were in the general’s
office discussing the returning mission. They were both interested to see what
technical information the nonaligned worlds had provided. From the brief report
that Marken had sent earlier, when the Distant Star had come within
communications range, he had indicated that the mission had been successful far
beyond what they had originally hoped.

“Two ships
lost,” Michael spoke as he looked over the casualty reports. “A light cruiser
and one of the assault ships.”

“The Achilles
and the Furious,” Mitchell responded with a nod and a somber look upon his
face. “The information had a cost.”

“It always
does,” answered Michael with a sigh. “What concerns me most are the two hundred
Kiveans they rescued from the station and the news that Kivea has been
attacked.”

“Yes,”
responded Mitchell, arching his eyebrow. “Major Nelson, Captain Williams,
Captain Jeffries, Marken, and Harnett have requested a meeting to discuss the
current conditions on Kivea as soon as possible.”

“They’re going
to want to launch a rescue mission,” predicted Kirby, drawing in a sharp
breath.

“How do we
tell them no after everything that Marken and his people have done for us?”
Mitchell asked his eyes narrowing. ‘If not for Marken and his people, we would
have lost millions more in the survival camps on Earth.”

“I don’t think
we can say no,” Michael responded his forehead creasing in a heavy frown. “It
just makes it harder with Fourth Fleet and Admiral Rivers away.” Things had
been so much simpler back when he commanded the Raven; now they would have
another important decision to make with possibly huge ramifications for the
Human race.

“Well, we'll
see if we can delay it until Fifth Fleet is up and running, then I might be
willing to risk the ships,” Mitchell spoke as he thought about what would be
needed for such a mission. No matter which way he looked at it, the operation
would be a big undertaking. “It will take time to make the needed preparations
for such a mission.”

Michael nodded
in agreement. The rescue mission was going to be no simple task and it would be
going into the heart of Kleese controlled space. There was also no doubt that
there would be Kleese ships in orbit above Kivea.

“I suspect
that Major Nelson and Marken already have a plan drawn up,” Mitchell said,
looking across his desk at Michael. “Let’s see what they have to say and then
we can make a decision.”

-

A thousand
light years away, six dark black disk ships dropped out of Fold Space at one of
the large Kleese space stations. The ships were three kilometers across and one
thousand meters thick, their hulls were covered in weapons emplacements with
pulse fusion batteries and energy beam turrets everywhere. Hundreds of small
hatches hid sublight antimatter missiles ready to be launched at a moment’s
notice. Unlike the larger Kleese exploration cruisers, these ships were
designed for war and there were no large training facilities or holding areas
for conscripts. The entire ship was filled with power systems and narrow
corridors that would make it nearly impossible for a conscript in a battle suit
to traverse. These ships were designed for fleet battles and planetary
bombardment.

A few minutes
after the six warships exited Fold Space more ships began appearing. Ten more
of the large Kleese exploration ships, each with thirty assault ships, made an
appearance. These ships were from a distant Kleese space station and the
commander of the six warships had ordered them to accompany his fleet to the
Humans’ star system. He intended to take additional ships from this station as
well. When the Kleese fleet arrived at the Humans' system, it would be with an
overwhelming force that would roll over the Humans and their defenses.

Unnoticed by
the Kleese warships, several nonaligned world trading ships made the jump into
Fold Space as soon as the Kleese warships put in an appearance. One of the
ships took some quick scans and then set a course toward Earth.

-

Wade was
eating with his parents and speaking to Ryan. The major had arrived the
previous day to Vesta and immediately gone to see his parents. He had three
weeks' leave until he had to report to Centerpoint for a final decision on the
Kivea mission. They had submitted their plan to the higher authorities, and it
was being reviewed.

“So, Ryan,”
Wade began as he added more salt to his fried potatoes. He noticed his mother
frowning so he put the salt shaker back down. “When will you start your first
classes at the new military academy?”

“End of the
month,” Ryan replied between bites. He was quickly polishing off the hamburger
steak on his plate. “They seem to be in a rush to get the training started. The
media channels are full of commercials advertising the military academy here at
Vesta and the one they’ve built on the Moon.”

“They’re
rushing it,” their father put in with a frown. “I’ve overheard a few of the
spacedock workers talking about how we’ll soon have more ships than crews to
operate them.”

“You would
think that with eighteen million survivors they could find the crews,” their
mom commented with a heavy sigh. “We have enough ships to protect us, don’t we
Wade?”

“Yes, Mom,”
responded Wade reassuringly, as he cut off a piece of his steak with his knife.
“We have plenty of ships that are already fully operational and all the
habitats and colonies are heavily defended. You have nothing to worry about.”

“Ryan does
have a class schedule,” added his father, getting up, walking over to a
cabinet, and taking a sheet of paper out of a drawer. He walked back and handed
the sheet to Wade before sitting back down.

“Classes will
be six days a week and we get Sundays off,” Ryan explained as he reached for
another piece of meat. “The classes will last twelve weeks, then we get a full
week off, and go back for another twelve-week session. At the end of the
twenty-four weeks, we’ll take exams to see if we advance to the next semester
or have to take any classes over.”

Wade noticed
that Ryan was taking two classes being taught by Kiveans. One covered basic
galactic history and the other was more technical, explaining the science and
technology behind the Fold Space Drive, as well as antigravity. In most of the
classes, there would be some hands on experience of some type.

“What are your
future plans?” asked Jonathan, looking over at Wade.

“That’s up to
General Mitchell,” he responded, being careful not to give off any hint that he
might already have a new mission involving the rescue of the Kiveans from their
home world. His parents wouldn’t be happy to hear he was leaving on another
long deployment.

“Just so they
don’t send you off for months at a time like this last mission,” his mother
chided as she dumped the last of the fried potatoes onto his plate. “I would
much rather that you were stationed here at Vesta so we could see you more
often.”

“Perhaps
someday,” Wade replied as he took a bite of the potatoes. Beth was at her
mother's and Wade strongly suspected she was being told the same thing. It was
difficult for families to be apart, especially after what had happened to
Earth.

-

Mason was
visiting Pamela Cairns in the Control Center when a warning alarm suddenly
sounded. His eyes instantly went to the main sensor screen, which showed an
angry red threat icon that had just appeared inside of Saturn’s orbit.

“What’s that?”
he demanded, stepping up closer to the large screen and scrutinizing the red
icon. He suspected instantly that it wasn’t a Human ship.

“Unidentified,”
Colonel Bailey replied from where he was standing behind the military consoles.
“It just dropped out of Fold Space. Fleet Admiral Kirby is sending the
battlecruiser Repulse and two light cruisers out to investigate.”

“The ship
doesn’t match anything in our database,” Lieutenant Struthers added as he ran
the ship’s profile through the Control Center’s large ship database. The ship
database had been procured from the computers in Centerpoint Station as well as
from the data taken in the attack upon the Kleese communications center.

“I think it’s
a nonaligned world’s ship,” Pamela said after a moment as she looked at the
data appearing on her main console. There were some excellent sensor satellites
in orbit around Saturn and they were giving them detailed information about the
alien ship. “It doesn’t seem to be armed.”

“I think
Pamela’s right,” Colonel Bailey announced in agreement, glancing over at Mason.
“The ship doesn’t exactly match anything in our database but there are several
nonaligned worlds that have ships similar to this one.”

“What’s it
doing here?” questioned Mason, feeling intrigued. The nonaligned worlds
reportedly were intent on staying neutral in any conflict involving the Kleese
for fear of being attacked.

“The ship’s
activating its Fold Space Drive and is leaving,” Struthers reported suddenly as
the red icon began accelerating away from Saturn. It was soon going at many
times the speed of light, then vanished from the sensors. “It’s gone!”

“It left a
beacon,” Jessica Lang reported from Communications with an uneasy look upon her
face. “I’m picking up a transmission from the location the ship left near
Saturn.”

“I’m picking
up a very small object on the sensors,” Lieutenant Struthers confirmed as he
reached forward and touched several icons on one of the multiple computer
screens in front of him. “It’s several meters in diameter and is just setting
there.”

Colonel Bailey
stepped over to the communications console and sent a quick message to Fleet
Admiral Kirby, apprising him of this latest development. “Admiral Kirby has
ordered one of the light cruisers to pick up the beacon,” he said after a
moment. “We should know shortly just what it is.”

Mason nodded.
He wondered what was going on. Why had a nonaligned world’s ship left a beacon
in the Solar System? Mason had a frightening feeling that he wasn’t going to
like whatever this was. He felt a cold chill run down his back; this had all
the inklings of bad news.

-

Fleet Admiral
Kirby and General Mitchell both had stunned and worried looks upon their faces.
They'd just received a priority message from the light cruiser Vincent. When
the cruiser closed to within a thousand meters of the beacon, it had transmitted
a data package to the light cruiser. The major in charge of the light cruiser
had immediately transmitted the data package to Centerpoint Station.

On the main
viewscreen, there was a dark black disk ship. It was obviously heavily armed
and meant for war. Several others could be seen in the background.

“So that’s a
Kleese warship,” General Mitchell spoke in a low voice as he stared at the
screen.

“Six of them
plus mother ships and assault ships,” Kirby replied, concerned about the size
of the fleet headed their way.

They hadn’t been
expecting to face anything of this magnitude or so quickly. He wished now that Admiral Rivers and Fourth Fleet were still here, but it was far too late to recall them as
they'd been out of communications range for weeks. This battle would have to be
fought with the ships he still had available in the Solar System.

“The
nonaligned world’s ship didn’t identify itself,” General Mitchell noted. “They
jumped in, dumped the beacon, and then took off.”

“No, it
didn’t,” Kirby replied as he thought over in his mind the ships he had
available to fight the coming battle. “They were probably highly concerned
about the Kleese finding out we had received a warning and from whom.”

General
Mitchell was silent for a moment. “Copy the data package and make sure there is
no way to trace it back to its point of origin. Then we need to erase all
evidence from our computers across the system that might indicate a ship was
ever here. We owe that to the nonaligned world’s ship for bringing us the
warning.”

Michael nodded
in agreement. He let out a deep breath, knowing he needed to make a call to
Mason and let him know what was coming their way. Michael had wanted to avoid a
major fleet battle, but now that wish seemed unlikely. They would have to
commit their entire fleet to repelling this attack and Michael wasn’t sure if
even that would be enough.

Mason’s face
turned pale after listening to Michael explain what was in the transmission
from the nonaligned world’s ship. Michael ended the conversation by asking Mason
to let Susan know he wouldn’t be coming home anytime soon and to look in on the
girls.

Mason looked
over at Colonel Bailey, who had been listening in. “This sounds serious; what
do we need to do?” Mason was worried this might cause panic throughout all the
main colonies and habitats. The recent Kleese attack near Neptune had nearly
done that. He would need to put out a statement to help reassure the civilian
population.

Bailey was
silent for several moments as he thought about the best way to defend Vesta. “I
imagine by now the Kleese know about Luna City, Mars Central, and Vesta,” the
colonel began his face creasing in a heavy frown. “I would suggest that we
immediately go to Condition Three as a precautionary measure. I’ll deploy extra
marines to the spacedock and I’m also going to position two of the assault
ships we have assigned to us to take up defensive positions just inside the
tunnel entrance near the outer airlocks.”

“What about
our mining operations, cargo ships, and the prospecting ships?” asked Pamela,
glancing at one of the large sensor screens covered with numerous green icons
representing the nonmilitary ships in the system. There were hundreds of green
icons, and she knew they couldn’t afford to lose them.

“Fleet Admiral
Kirby feels the attack will occur shortly,” Colonel Bailey spoke his eyes
turning toward the screen. “Probably sometime in the next two weeks. It might
be best to begin removing any tempting targets to safer locations.”

Looking around
the busy Control Center, Mason thought about what needed to be done. Pamela was
right; they couldn’t afford to lose too many of the nonmilitary ships, they
were just too valuable and it would take time to replace them. This was also
going to disrupt travel between the various colonies and habitats, but it might
be for the best for their own protection.

“Order all
passenger liners to return to their home ports,” Mason said, reaching a
decision. “All cargo ships are to finish their current deliveries and then
they’re to return also. Prospecting ships are to remain at their main mining
operation locations until further notice.” Then, as an afterthought, he looked
intently at Pamela. “Tell Brian that includes the Raven also!”

Pamela nodded;
she would enjoy telling Brian that he and the Raven were grounded until further
notice. She had thoroughly enjoyed the last butt chewing she had given the
Raven’s rebellious captain after the Neptune incident.

Mason took in
a deep breath; he needed to speak to Mayor Silas, Professor Scott, and Ralph
Steward. Steward was the current elected head of the Federated Assembly Council
from the recent elections. He also wanted to speak to Darren at Holbrook
Station. Even though the station was heavily armed, one well placed
twenty-megaton sublight missile could destroy it.

-

Adrienne was
at Susan’s learning to cook bread from scratch when the emergency alarms began
sounding. Both she and Susan looked at each other nervously, wondering what was
happening.

“I’ll turn the
video screen on,” Susan said as they went into the living room. She picked up
the remote from where the girls had left it and flipped the screen on.

“I hope it’s
not the Kleese,” Adrienne spoke worriedly as she gazed expectantly at the
screen. Her worst fears were realized as Mason appeared with a serious look
upon his face.

“People of
Vesta and the Solar System,” Mason began in a calm and controlled voice. “In
the last few hours, we've been made aware of a new threat against our people.
The Kleese are gathering a fleet to attack us once again. This fleet will have
a number of actual Kleese warships in it, which we have not faced before.
Unlike their exploration ships, or mother ships as we call them, these ships
are heavily armed and designed exclusively for war.”

Mason paused
and took a sip of water before continuing. “All civilian facilities in the
Solar System will be going to Condition Three as a precautionary measure. All
military installations and units will be going to Condition Two. All military
personnel are to report for duty immediately. At the moment, there are no signs
of an imminent attack, but one is expected sometime in the next few days.”

“This isn’t
good,” spoke Susan, feeling worried about Michael. If a Kleese warfleet was
coming, he would be aboard the Armageddon directing the Human fleets. If there
was a battle, he would be in the middle of it.

“Our defenses
are stronger than ever,” Mason said in a confident voice, his eyes steady. “Our
fleet is much better armed and prepared than in previous battles. Our military
feels confident they can handle this situation. I would ask that each and every
one of you try to remain calm and go about your normal routines. We'll keep you
informed if there are any new developments. This broadcast will be repeated for
the next hour to ensure everyone is aware of the reason for the setting of
Condition Three. Thank you.”

The screen
reset itself and Mason’s message began replaying. Susan turned the video screen
off and looked over at Adrienne with a somber look upon her face. “It’s always
going to be like this, isn’t it?”

Adrienne
nodded, her deep blue eyes filled with emotion. She understood Susan’s fears
about Michael being on the front lines of any battle. They were relatively safe
here inside Vesta, and Adrienne didn’t see how any attack could get to them as
heavily defended as the asteroid was. Mason would be home late as he would want
to ensure everything was ready in case of an attack. She would have a long talk
with him then so she could better understand what was happening. Knowing Mason,
there were probably some things he hadn’t revealed during the public address.

“We’re at
war,” Adrienne spoke in a calm and compassionate voice. “The Kleese are the
ones that attacked us and destroyed Earth. They came very close to wiping us
out the first time. Someday it will be their turn, but for now all we can do is
hope to survive and make a better and safer world for our children someday.”

“Speaking of
children,” Susan said her eyes widening. “Candace and Karen will be home
shortly, would you mind staying until they get here?”

“Not at all,”
Adrienne responded. Then, with a big smile, she added, “You still need to
finish showing me how to make your mother’s bread. I want to surprise Mason
with it some night.”

“Sure,” Susan
said, allowing herself to relax. She really enjoyed Adrienne’s company. “My
brother would like that.”

-

Wade was
standing in his parent’s living room listening to President Randle. He felt a cold
shiver run down his back when he heard the president mention Kleese warships.
Marken had warned them about these vessels, saying they were extremely
dangerous.

“What does it
mean, son?” his father asked as he turned the video screen off. Jonathan looked
questionably at Wade, figuring he would know more about what President Randle
had just said.

“Trouble,”
Wade said with a frown as he sat down in a recliner across from his dad.
“Marken told me about the Kleese warships. We were hoping not to have to face
one for a while yet.”

“More
dangerous than their big mother ships?” questioned Jonathan, finding that
thought hard to believe. The mother ships were huge!

“Much more,”
replied Wade, gravely. He could hear his mother in the kitchen putting up the
dishes. “The big mother ships are more for exploration and directing the Kleese
assault ships. They have a lot of weapons, but not when you consider how large
they are. The Kleese warships, on the other hand, were built for war and are
covered with heavy weapons.”

“Can we stop
them?” Jonathan asked, not wanting his wife to hear him and Wade talking. He
didn’t want to worry her.

“I don’t
know,” answered Wade, truthfully. “We’ll try, but I’m afraid it’s going to be
very costly.”

“President
Randle said you need to report in immediately.”

“Yeah; I’m
going to call Beth and then we’ll both report to Colonel Bailey and see what he
needs us to do. Most of our marines are still at Centerpoint; only a few of
them came back to Vesta when we did.”

“Just be
careful, Wade,” Jonathan cautioned in a low and concerned voice. “Don’t do
anything heroic and get yourself hurt or worse.”

Wade nodded.
He stood up to go call Beth. They'd only been home a few days and now this had
to happen. He wished the rest of his marines were here at Vesta, it would make
him feel better having that experienced group around him if they had to protect
the asteroid from invasion.

-

Darren Kirby
sat back down in his command chair feeling stunned at what his brother had just
told him. Kleese warships! They'd accomplished so much in the past two years,
and now it was all in danger of being destroyed.

“What are we
going to do?” Shirley Melvin, his second in command, asked. She had been
listening in on the conversation with Fleet Admiral Kirby.

“I want all
nonessential personnel off the station as soon as possible,” Darren said after
a moment.

“Send them to
Centerpoint?” Shirley asked.

“No,” Darren
responded with a strange look in his eyes. “I’m not sure even Centerpoint is
going to be safe in this battle. There’s only one place that I know of that
might be safe, and that’s Jornada.”

“Jornada!”
exclaimed Shirley with a surprised look upon her face. “Why Jornada?”

“Look at the
viewscreen,” Darren said, pointing toward the dark cloud shrouded planet it was
displaying. “Does it look to you like anyone could survive down there? The
Kleese may think the same thing and overlook the spaceport. If Lawrence shuts down all of his external power except for his underground facilities, the
Kleese may never know he’s there.”

“He has nearly
sixty thousand people at Jornada,” Shirley nodded in sudden understanding.
“Enough to start over if necessary.”

“Let’s just
hope it’s not necessary,” Darren said with a heavy frown. “I want everyone off
the station in the next two hours; I’ll contact Lawrence and explain to him
what we’re doing. I want just enough people left on Holbrook to operate the
weapons and keep our systems functioning.”

“I’ll get
right on it,” Shirley replied as she made to leave the Command Center.

“Shirley,”
Darren said before she could step through the hatch. “Make sure you’re on one
of those shuttles going down to Jornada.”

Shirley stared
at Darren for a long moment before going through the hatch. It would be a cold
day in hell before she left Holbrook Station. Her husband was currently working
on Centerpoint and there was no way she was going to abandon her post.

-

Marken looked over
at Harnett with a sad and frustrated expression. “The Kleese warships are
coming; six of them.”

Harnett gasped
in fear and sat down, her light red face turning pale in shock. “How soon?” She
had never heard of anyone in recent memory seeing more than one of the deadly
ships, and now six of them were headed here!

“Any day,”
Marken replied as he came over and sat down by his life mate. He reached over
and took her hand. “It’s worse than that. They'll be bringing a large number of
their exploration and assault ships. I don’t know if the Humans will be able to
stop them.”

“What are we
going to do?” Harnett asked, not wanting to see her Human friends harmed or
killed.

“Our asteroid
and city are heavily defended,” Marken spoke in a soft voice. “The weapon emplacements
on the exterior of the asteroid are well hidden and shouldn’t give us away. We
have several hundred Human soldiers to help defend our city that have been
trained in the Type Two battle suits, as well as those who will be operating
our offensive and defensive weapons systems.”

“I don’t want
to see everything end,” Harnett spoke her eyes meeting Marken’s with the hint
of tears beginning to glisten. “The Humans have been through so much and
deserve to survive.”

“They still
may,” Marken responded in a grave voice. “I’m taking one of the assault ships
we have assigned to us and will be going to Centerpoint to aid in its defense.
General Mitchell feels my advice will be useful in the coming battle. A few
other Kiveans are going with me as well.”

“I wish you
didn’t have to go,” Harnett said, squeezing Marken’s hand with worry in her
eyes. “But if there is anyone that can help the Humans to defeat this threat,
it’s you.”

“Harnett, if
something happens to me and the Humans manage to survive, you must tell them
about what we discovered on the computer drive from the nonaligned worlds.”

“The clones,”
Harnett said her eyes widening in surprise. “Do you think that’s wise?”

“I don’t think
we’re going to have any other choice,” Marken responded in a somber and heavy
voice. “The cloning technology on that computer drive could solve the Humans'
personnel problems.”

“But it'll
also open up a lot of moral issues,” Harnett was quick to point out. When
they'd discovered the cloning technology on the computer drive, she had
suggested destroying it. It went against everything she believed in. They'd
decided not to turn this potentially dangerous technology over to the Humans
until they could discuss it more. “How can we give them this technology with
what it might mean if they decide to use it?”

“It might be
our only hope of winning the war,” replied Marken with a heavy sigh. Then he
gazed deeply into Harnett’s eyes. “Just promise me you'll give them the
technology.”

Harnett
hesitated and then took a deep breath. All of her life she had tried to help
people who were suffering. To do as Marken was asking went against many of her
beliefs as a medical practitioner. However, she knew her life mate was right.
This was war, and the cloning technology could be a game changer for the Humans.
If there was no other choice, she would give it to her Human friends.