The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four) (29 page)

Over the next
hour, more introductions were made. Kelsey discovered she was related to
Admiral Teleck, who was a distant cousin, and the others found out they had
numerous relatives scattered throughout human occupied space. All five were
deeply touched, and the girls had to continuously wipe tears from their eyes as
they were introduced to more people. Even Jeremy and Kevin felt themselves
tearing up at times as they realized they still had close family.

Jeremy found
himself talking to a Colonel Don Strong who was a direct descendent of Jeremy’s
younger brother. Jeremy remembered how happy his parents had been when his
brother had been born six months after the New Horizon incident.

“It’s hard to
believe I am actually standing here talking to you,” Don said with an excited
smile on his face. “All my life I have heard so much about you and our family
in those early years.”

“Do you have
any sisters or brothers?” asked Jeremy, curiously.

“Yes,” replied
Don, nodding. “I have another younger brother and an older sister, but they
couldn’t make it today. David is a captain in the marines and is out on
training maneuvers. Annette is nine months pregnant and due at any time. Her
doctor didn’t want her traveling. She was really disappointed she couldn’t come
and meet you.”

After awhile, Karla
announced that they would be eating in one of the station’s cafeterias that had
been set up for this special occasion. They all made it there to find that each
table was set up so the five could sit with their newfound relatives.

Jeremy found
it interesting to note that each of the five had at least six people sitting at
their table with them. He also knew that it had to have been a monumental task
to find and bring all of these people here at the same time. Someone had
expended a lot of effort as well as money.

The meal was excellent;
it was perhaps the best meal that Jeremy had eaten since he had awoke from
cryosleep. As the meal progressed and they continued to talk, Jeremy became
more relaxed and began to really enjoy himself. Don was sitting next to Jeremy
and another young woman, who was a cousin, both were informing Jeremy about
their family history and what had happened after he went into cryosleep. Jeremy
listened intently as a lot of what they were describing was truly interesting.
They described the continued growth of the Fleet Academy, the colonization of
the new worlds, and finally the earthshaking revelation when the existence of
the Federation survivors on Ceres was revealed.

Jeremy could
only shake his head as he realized what they had all missed. But his parents
and the Johnsons had been involved in all of it. They were considered to be the
true pioneers and heroes of the modern space age.

Kelsey was
sitting next to Admiral Teleck and several other cousins. She was fascinated to
hear what had happened on Ceres after she had gone into cryosleep. Looking
around the table, Kelsey was amazed that all of these people were her
relatives. She had found her family or, to be more precise, they had found her.

Kevin and
Angela were going through the same thing. Talking to people and meeting people
who knew a lot about them and could fill in the holes in their family history
since going into cryosleep. It was almost like returning home again.

At last the
meal was over and Fleet Admiral Johnson stood up. The room grew quiet as
everyone’s attention focused on her. “I want to propose a toast,” she said as
several waiters suddenly appeared setting glasses of sparkling red wine down in
front of each person. “To the survivors of the New Horizon and the current crew
of the heavy strike cruiser Avenger. May their future history be as glorious as
their past.”

-

Later, the
five were returning to the Avenger still in awe over what had just happened.

“All those
people,” spoke Katie, excitedly. “I can’t believe I am related to Fleet Admiral
Johnson.”

“I think it
was just what we needed,” Kelsey added with a smile. “It makes us all feel we
still have a home. Some of the people I met were really nice and fun to talk
to.”

“Same here,”
Kevin added. “I have a cousin whose sister is married to a Federation senator!”

“I think it
was wonderful that Fleet Admiral Johnson and Admiral Teleck did this for us,”
Angela said with a big grin. “I have several cousins I would like to get to
know better. Next time we have some leave, I’m going to spend some time with
them.”

Jeremy nodded
his head in agreement. Don was coming over to the Avenger later, and Jeremy was
going to show him around. It had truly been a remarkable day.

-

Several days
later, Jeremy watched the main viewscreen carefully as the Avenger was undocked
from New Tellus Station.

“We’re on our
way,” Ariel said from where she was standing next to him.

Looking over
at the AI, Jeremy noted that she was dressed in a standard dark blue fleet
uniform without insignia. Her eyes were not quite as dark as they once were,
and her hair was slightly shorter. It came to a stop just above her shoulders
with just the barest hint of a curl.

“We’re going
to the outer system to join up with the rest of our fleet,” Jeremy informed
Ariel.

The AI had
been a great help to Jeremy keeping everything organized. He was still trying
to get used to the idea that she was now a hologram and could walk around in
the Command Center. If one didn’t know better, they would think she was a
regular crewmember until she walked through someone. Katie had to remind her
several times not to do that as it made people nervous.

“The new ships
assigned to us will give us a very powerful fleet,” Ariel responded. “In any
battle with the Hocklyns we should be able to defeat them.”

“I hope so,”
Jeremy responded. They were only a week or two away from launching First Strike,
and Jeremy wanted a week to work with the new ships and their commanders. It
was essential that they understood the tactics he would be using.

After clearing
New Tellus’s gravity well, the Avenger made a short micro-jump and exited the blue-white
swirling spatial vortex close to a group of waiting ships.

“I have the
fleet on sensors.” Kevin reported as he transferred the information over to the
holographic tactical image above the plotting table.

Jeremy gazed
at his fleet and the new ships that he had been given. He strongly suspected
that Admiral Teleck had been involved in getting Jeremy some of the ships, as
they were brand new warships directly from Ceres and not part of the Ready
Reserve. He now had two battle carriers, four heavy strike cruisers, four
Monarch cruisers, eight light cruisers, and ten destroyers in his fleet.

Jeremy’s fleet
had been renamed Fourth Fleet and would be working directly with Fleet Admiral
Streth and First Fleet. Jeremy now had twenty-eight warships under his command.
He was particularly pleased with the extra battle carrier and the two strike
cruisers. The two extra Monarchs would add considerably to the fleet’s
firepower, and Jeremy was already coming up with a plan for their use.

“What first,
Jeremy?” asked Ariel, curiously. She very seldom called him admiral if no one
else could hear. She would always consider the Special Five her family.

“I want to
meet with all the commanders to discuss tactics, particularly using micro-jumps.
The program Katie and you designed to allow precise entry into the spatial
vortexes needs to be installed in all of the new ships.”

“When would
you like to meet with the commanders?”

“In two
hours,” responded Jeremy, looking at the main viewscreen, which was now focused
on the new battle carrier Cygnus from the Ceres fleet. Jeremy knew it was the
latest battle carrier out of the Ceres construction bays. He was anxious to
tour the new ship to see what modifications it might have compared to the rest
of the ships in the fleet.

Kelsey was
also looking at the new battle carrier when she heard a familiar voice over her
mini-com.

“Quite
impressive, isn’t she?” Kevin commented on the channel that Ariel provided so
no one else could hear the five talking privately to one another.

“She’s new out
of Ceres,” replied Kelsey, feeling pride knowing this ship was built by the
Federation survivors as were all the ships that made up Fourth Fleet.

All of the
heavy strike cruisers in the fleet were new construction as well as all of the
new ships from Ceres. She suspected it was Admiral Teleck’s way of ensuring all
five of them stayed safe by giving them the best ships that Ceres had built
recently. Someday, she would have to thank the admiral.

 “I guess we
will be leaving for Hocklyn space shortly,” Angela added in a pensive voice. “I
just hope we make it back.”

“We will,”
Katie broke in, sounding unusually calm for her. “Jeremy and Ariel will keep us
safe.”

Ariel smiled
to herself upon hearing Katie’s words. She would do everything in her power to
make sure the Special Five returned safely. That was why she was here.

-

Admiral Streth
was having his final meeting with Rear Admiral Sheen before they departed for
six days of war games. It would be Second Fleet against Third Fleet.

“This is the
final makeup of Second Fleet,” he commented as he slid a computer pad with the
ships on it across his desk. “You’re getting six battle cruisers, two battle
carriers, twelve Monarch cruisers, four strike cruisers, thirty light cruisers,
and twenty destroyers.”

“I hate losing
the extra battle carriers,” commented Amanda, but she was pleased to see the
increase in her light cruisers.

“You will be
working in conjunction with Third Fleet most of the time,” Hedon explained.
“Your battle carriers will primarily carry the newer Talon fighters with two
bomber squadrons, whereas Admiral Adler’s carriers will primarily carry bombers
with only two squadrons of the newer fighters.”

That was one
thing that had pleased Admiral Streth; the newest version of the Talon fighter
had been given to his fleet. They were a little slimmer, faster, and more
maneuverable than the older version. They were also very heavily armed with twin
30 mm cannons and hard points for two small interceptor missiles. He had spoken
to Colonel Arcles earlier from the Wasp, and the colonel had been very impressed
with the new version.

Amanda looked
down at another computer pad she had brought with her and then looked back up
at Hedon. “In these war games, they are primarily aimed at improving the bomber’s
efficiency in their attack runs?”

“Yes,” answered
Hedon, nodding his head and leaning forward, placing his right hand on the
desk. “If we commit the bombers too early the survival rate for our pilots is
very low. We learned from Caden’s World that if we wait until the Hocklyn’s
fleet defenses have been hammered the survival rate goes way up, and the bomber
attack can be devastating against the weakened Hocklyn energy shields and
defenses.”

Amanda
understood the reasoning behind the war games and agreed with it. Successful
bomber attacks could significantly reduce her ship losses.

“What about
repairs to badly damaged ships?” she asked. She knew most ships could do a lot
of repairs themselves, but severe damage was another matter. They were going to
be far away from Federation space and a severely damaged ship could be a
hindrance to other ships in the fleet.

“We have six
repair ships that will be going along with us,” answered Hedon, thinking about
the massive ships. Each was nearly the size of a battle carrier and Admiral
Johnson had thrown a fit when he demanded them. There were only ten of the
large repair ships in the entire Federation. “Their main job will be to repair
badly damaged ships so they can return safely to Federation space and enter a
shipyard repair bay.”

Amanda leaned
back and gave Hedon a serious look. She took a deep breath before asking the
next question. “What do you think our real chances are of winning this war?”

Hedon was
silent for a long moment as he studied Amanda. They had been friends for a long
time, and he very seldom kept secrets from her. Then with a heavy sigh, he
answered. “I honestly don’t know. The Hocklyns control a huge empire. They have
thousands of ships to call upon and vast resources at their command. Then of course,
there are the AIs. Our best defense right now is that we are far away from the
Hocklyn home worlds as well as the center of the galaxy where the AIs reside. It
will take time for them to martial a sufficient force against us to drive us
back to the Federation. Then we have to hope our defenses and new fleet construction
can hold them at bay.”

“At least we
have allies and a fighting chance,” said Amanda, realizing that Hedon really
didn’t want to admit that this was a war they might not be able to win. There
were also three other races that the AIs were using to conquer the rest of the
galaxy. Even if by some miracle the Hocklyns could be defeated, they might very
well have to face those as well.

“Did you get
to say goodbye to Richard?” asked Hedon, hoping the two had managed to spend
some quality time together over the last few days.

Amanda nodded
her head. “We went down to New Tellus for a few days to relax. He still has a
lot of work to do with organizing the asteroid fortresses and preparing them
for a Hocklyn attack. Both of us just hope we get to see the end of this
someday.”

Hedon didn’t
reply because he knew the odds were deeply stacked against them.

-

“I can’t
believe you want to do this!” Fleet Admiral Johnson was saying loudly to
Admiral Teleck. “The Federation Council will never approve it.”

“The Federation
Council doesn’t play into this,” Teleck replied in a calm and controlled voice.
“The Ceres defense fleet is under direct control of myself and Governor
Malleck. We turn over half of all the ships we construct every year to the Federation;
in return we keep the rest for our own defense.”