The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four) (37 page)

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It took nearly
four hours for Jeremy’s fleet to maneuver into an attack position. He could
have micro-jumped his fleet in closer, but he preferred this slower approach
which gave his fleet more time to scan the system.

“I’m
impressed,” Colonel Malen finally said as she finished studying the latest
scans. “They have a highly developed mining operation in two of the small asteroid
fields as well as on six of the system’s smaller moons. There is also some type
of construction being done on one of the larger moons of the eighth planet,
which is a gas giant.”

“I’m also not
detecting any signs of recent nuclear detonations on the planet’s surface,”
Ariel reported with a hint of surprise in her voice. “I would estimate this
planet was conquered no more than twenty to thirty years ago, and their
population has not been reduced. Population density on the planet indicates a
thriving population of over one point two billion.”

“Strange,” commented
Jeremy, quizzically. “The Hocklyns normally reduce their slave populations to a
more controllable size. Why didn’t they do that here?”

“Only one way
to find out,” responded Colonel Malen, gazing at the tactical screen. “We go
down and ask.”

Jeremy nodded,
that was exactly what he intended to do. But first, the two Hocklyn escort
cruisers needed to be eliminated. The two cruisers had already undocked from
the station and were making their way out toward the edge of the planet’s
gravity well. Jeremy did not intend to allow them to escape if that was their
intention. He pressed a button, which changed his mini-com in his right ear to ship-to-ship.
“Commander Adams, Commander Kendrick, I want you to take out those two escort
cruisers. Do it from long-range as they may attempt to ram.”

“Yes,
Admiral,” Commander Adams of the Monarch cruiser Reprisal replied. “Consider
them dead!”

Jeremy watched
as the two Monarch cruisers accelerated away from the fleet and entered the
edge of the planet’s gravity well. As soon as they were within weapons range, they
opened up on the two Hocklyn escort cruisers. It was clearly one sided as the
two powerful Monarch cruisers pounded the two Hocklyn ships with heavy weapons fire.
It ended suddenly with both Hocklyn ships being destroyed as their self-destructs
finally finished what the cruisers had started.

“I have a
communications from the space station,” Angela suddenly spoke with stunned
surprise in her voice. “I have an individual calling himself Grayseth that
represents the race that inhabits this planet. He is requesting a meeting with
whoever is in command of our fleet.”

“It could be a
trap, Admiral,” Colonel Malen cautioned, her eyes narrowing in concern. “They
may be trying to lure us in. There are probably still some live Hocklyn Protectors
on board that station.”

Jeremy leaned
back in his command chair, arching his eyebrows and thought for a long moment. The
entire situation with this planet was unusual. If he could form some type of
alliance with these people, a highly advanced and industrialized planet in this
sector could be a godsend.

“We will take
part of the fleet in,” decided Jeremy, folding his arms across his chest. “The
Cygnus, Nemesis, Reprisal, and Vendetta will go with us. The rest of the fleet
will stay just outside of the planet’s gravity well. Flipping his mini-com back
to ship-to-ship, he contacted Commander Susan Marks on the battle carrier
Retribution. “Susan, I’m taking part of the fleet in to the space station, and
you will be in charge until I get back.”

“Yes,
Admiral,” Commander Marks replied and then she added, “Just be careful, we know
nothing about these people.”

“I will,”
Jeremy promised. He turned his gaze to the main viewscreen, which showed the
orbiting space station. The large station was nearly two kilometers across. He
wondered what type of people were on the station and inhabited the planet
below.

Jeremy took
his time moving his ships in closer to the space station. The Cygnus had two full
squadrons of Talon fighters flying CAP as well as an additional squadron of
Anlon bombers fully armed with nuclear tipped Shrike missiles. Jeremy felt that
with the two heavy strike cruisers and the two Monarch cruisers he had very
little to fear from the space station. Close scans had already indicated that
it was unarmed.

“Atmosphere on
the planet reads near Tellus normal,” commented Ariel, walking over to Jeremy
from where she had been standing next to Katie. “You should be able to breathe
their atmosphere without any problems.”

“They are
asking us to come to a stop and send a party over in a shuttle,” Angela
reported as another message came over her com system. “They are guaranteeing
the safety of anyone on the shuttle. They also say you can come armed if it
will make you feel safer. They just want to talk about this current situation.”

“Tell them I
will be coming and bringing an armed escort,” replied Jeremy, thoughtfully.
“Also, inform them if there are any problems or signs of aggression we will destroy
the space station.”

Jeremy turned
back to Ariel. “Are we picking up any transmissions from the surface that might
indicate what type of species we are dealing with?” Jeremy knew better than to
expect these aliens to be human. They might be similar, but they would not be
Tellus or Earth norm humans.

“Actually, we
do,” Ariel said with a mischievous smile. “I will put a view of what our hosts
look like up on the main viewscreen.

Instantly, on
the screen a large figure appeared. Jeremy heard Kelsey and Angela gasp with
surprise as their eyes widened at what they were seeing.

“Bear!” Kevin
uttered aloud his eyes widening in recognition. “They look like great big brown
bears!”

“Not quite,” Ariel
responded with a smile at Kevin’s reaction. “If you look at them closer you
will see that instead of having paws they have actual hands that are only
slightly covered with hair. They are also of slimmer stature and walk upright.
Their faces are flatter and their nostrils aren't so flared out.”

Jeremy nodded
as he gazed at the screen. From what he could see, the alien on the screen was
a medium brown in color and didn’t seem very threatening. This would definitely
be an interesting species to meet.

“Prepare a
shuttle,” he ordered. “I want a squad of marines to come along also. Then,
turning to Kevin, he asked, “Want to go meet the bears?”

Kevin
hesitated only for a moment and then nodded. “Sure! Why not? It will give me a
story to tell my children someday.”

-

Thirty minutes
later, Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief as the shuttle entered the flight bay
of the space station without any problems. It passed through an atmospheric
force field, which ensured that the flight bay stayed pressurized. Looking out
the cockpit window, he saw a group of the aliens waiting. They were quite impressive.
Jeremy guessed that they must stand a good two meters in height and would tower
over most humans. They were powerfully built and of various shades of brown.

Already at a
disadvantage, thought Jeremy, knowing he would have to look up at their hosts.

Stepping back
to the shuttle’s hatch, he watched it slide open. Sergeant McElroy indicated
for him to wait as he took four of his marines down the ramp and set up in a
defensive position. Looking around, he turned and motioned for Jeremy and Kevin
to come down.

Reaching the
bottom of the ramp, Jeremy and Kevin waited as the six aliens shuffled over to
them.

“Greetings,
slayers of the evil ones!” the largest bear spoke in a booming voice. “I am Grayseth,
leader of this space station.”

Jeremy noticed
that the bear was using one of the Hocklyn’s universal translators. Jeremy and
Kevin had one also, except theirs were much smaller and rested on a small chain
around their necks.

“Greetings,
Grayseth,” Jeremy replied in a strong and steady voice. “I am Admiral Strong of
the Human Federation of Worlds.” Then turning to Kevin, he added. “This is
Lieutenant Kevin Walters who will be assisting me during our talks.”

Grayseth
nodded, acknowledging Kevin. “I have set up a room for us to meet in. There
will be food and refreshments, though I am not sure what might be safe for you
to sample.”

Jeremy nodded.
“I am sure it will be fine. What happened to the Hocklyn Protectors? There
should have been a few still on this station even after their escort cruisers
left.”

“We killed
them,” Grayseth responded in a deadly serious tone. “We have waited for years
for revenge over what they did to our colony worlds. They did not last long
when it was time for them to die!”

“Perhaps we
should speak of this in the room you have prepared,” Jeremy suggested. Turning
back to sergeant McElroy, he added, “I will only be taking two marines; I don’t
think we’re going to have any problems here.”

Sergeant
McElroy nodded, and pointing to two of his marines, he instructed them to go
with the admiral.

Jeremy was
surprised to see how modern the space station was, it wasn’t far behind what the
Federation built. It was clean, the corridors were spacious, and occasionally
crewmembers passed by them with a nod of acknowledgment as they went about their
duties.

They passed
through several levels, taking wide stairwells to each. It was becoming obvious
to Jeremy that the bear-like aliens did not like cramped spaces. They entered a
large room and Jeremy saw that a table had been set up with large chairs around
it. Another table was set up with a number of different types of fruit and
drink mixtures, including a large pitcher of ice water.

The bears took
their seats and Jeremy and Kevin decided to stand so as not to look too
ridiculous sitting in the oversized chairs.

Grayseth
looked over at Jeremy and asked the obvious questions. “Who are you, and why
have you come to our solar system?”

“We come from
the Human Federation of Worlds, which is quite some distance from here,” Jeremy
began. He knew he had to be careful and not reveal too much information. “We
came to fight the Hocklyns who are a threat to the entire galaxy.”

“A worthy
task,” Grayseth rumbled in his deep voice. “A task that may be very difficult,
considering they already control much of the galaxy.”

“It will be
difficult,” admitted Jeremy, nodding his head slowly. “We have already freed
much of this sector of space, destroying many of their ships.”

“They will
return in even greater numbers,” warned one of the other bear-like aliens. “I
fear no matter what you or we do, we will not be able to escape their grasp.”

“You mentioned
earlier that they destroyed your colonies?” asked Jeremy, raising his eyebrow.
“What happened?”

“It was twenty
years ago,” responded Grayseth, his large dark eyes taking on a heavy look. “We
had set up two flourishing colonies in nearby star systems. Nearly two million
of our people had been transported to them when the Hocklyns came. They nuked
both of the new colony planets and then came here. They gave us an ultimatum,
either work for them or they would do to our home world what they had done to
our colonies. We chose to work for them to protect our families.”

“We cannot
guarantee your continued safety,” Jeremy finally spoke. He wanted these bears
to know what might be ahead. “We expect the Hocklyns to counterattack heavily
in an attempt to drive us back to our own sector of space.”

Kevin’s
mini-com sounded and Ariel’s voice came over it. Only Kevin could hear the AI.
“Kevin, I am detecting numerous shuttle and freighter launches from all over
the planet. You need to warn Jeremy. I’m not sure what is happening. Colonel
Malen has put the Avenger and the other ships at Condition One as a precaution.”

Kevin looked
over at Grayseth and decided he needed to interrupt Jeremy. “Why are you launching
so many shuttles and ships from the surface of your planet?”

Grayseth and
several others looked surprised and uneasy at the question. Then Grayseth straightened
his powerful shoulders and answered. “For years, we have prepared secretly for
the day when we could take our planet back. Those shuttles and freighters
contain weapons for this station as well as a full planetary defensive grid of
satellites.”

Kevin nodded
and quickly passed on the information to Ariel. He didn’t want Colonel Malen
shooting down the shuttles and ships. It would not be a good start toward establishing
relations with the bears.

“You risk
much,” cautioned Jeremy, knowing the Hocklyns might very well nuke the planet
for such behavior.

“The Hocklyns
took much away from us,” one of the others responded in a grave voice. “We have
built new cities deep beneath the surface of our planet. Even if the evil ones
nuke the surface, many of us will survive. We will no longer be slaves to the
Hocklyns!”

“They refused
to let us explore our culture and heritage,” Grayseth explained with a pained
look in his eyes. “They limited the number of children our families were
allowed. There was no more research or advancement allowed in any of the
sciences. They were gradually destroying our culture. Without our culture, we
are nothing.”

Jeremy nodded
in understanding; he could well see their point. The Hocklyns had forced the
bears into living an intolerable existence, now they were ready to end it no
matter what the risk.

“We will do everything
we can do to help,” promised Jeremy, knowing he would have to have a long talk
with Admiral Streth. “I will contact our Fleet Admiral and see what resources
can be allocated to help defend your planet.”

Grayseth
nodded pleased with the offer of assistance. “You sound like an honorable
people, Admiral Strong. I will be speaking to our planet leaders and strongly
suggest an alliance. Together we can grow strong and resist the evil ones.”