The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four) (6 page)

“If it is a
high tech civilization, then much honor could await us in combat,” War Leader
Bisth spoke in a hard voice. “We have had few opportunities for honor in recent
years!”

“We have found
many new civilizations, but all have been primitive or agricultural; only a few
have advanced enough to fly to the stars. Those few were weak and easily
conquered,” War Leader Sangeth added. He craved for combat against an enemy
that would allow him to increase his family’s wealth and honor. He folded his
powerful arms across the light armor that he wore.

Sangeth had
been involved in conquering one of those space faring civilizations. It had
only taken a few ships to conquer their foe, and the civilization’s ships had
been weak and easily destroyed in combat. Honor had been achieved in bringing
new worlds to the Hocklyn Empire, but little personal honor had been found in battle.

Fleet Commodore
Resmunt walked over to the window and gazed out at the massive spaceport below
him. His office was in a high tower that looked out over the extensive works of
concrete and steel. Thousands of slaves toiled upon the spaceport, expanding it
and preparing it for what Resmunt thought was potentially in their future.

He had chosen
a hospitable world to build his fleet base upon. Too often Hocklyn leaders
chose hazardous worlds to build upon to help control their slaves. Resmunt had
gone against that, it was troublesome to have to continuously replace dead or
useless slaves because they couldn’t survive the harsh conditions prevalent on
some worlds.

This world was
pleasant and reminded Resmunt of what the home worlds must once have been like.
It was ninety percent water, and his fleet base was being built upon the
largest land mass. The small continent was only six hundred kilometers across,
but it would do for the base.

Up in orbit a
shipyard was being prepared which would be capable of repairing any seriously
damaged ships. The Hocklyn High Council had questioned this decision, but
Resmunt had reminded them that if they did indeed face a serious threat he must
be able to repair his warships. The High Council had reluctantly agreed.

“The
exploration cruisers I have sent out will scout twenty systems each and then
return,” Resmunt informed the War Leaders as he gazed out at the base. “If any
of the twenty groups fails to return, two of your fleets will be sent to
investigate. The two fleets will stay separated by one jump in case the first
falls into a trap. While achieving honor is important, getting word back as to
what is out there is even more so. The High Council agrees, and no honor will
be lost if a fleet returns in order to bring back information as to the enemy we
are facing.”

The four War
Leaders looked uneasily at each other. None were pleased with this news. Achieving
honor was the goal of every Hocklyn warrior.

“I have chosen
you four War Leaders for a reason,” Resmunt continued as he watched a shuttle
come in for a landing at the spaceport. “You are known for your tactical
abilities as well as for following orders. If we are indeed facing a dangerous
enemy, I have no intention of losing ships needlessly.”

“Then we are
to retreat in the face of the enemy if they are more powerful,” Bisth spoke as
he thought this surprising concept over.

“I don’t
believe there is an enemy out there with ships more powerful than ours,” War
Leader Sangeth voiced in his rasping tone, his eyes holding back rage at the
thought of retreating in the face of an inferior enemy. In normal times, this
would result in a massive loss of honor.  

Resmunt turned
and gazed coldly at the four War Leaders, then spoke, “If anyone fails to do as
I have just ordered, then you will indeed lose honor. The Hocklyn High Council
feels there is a high tech civilization out there that may be a direct threat
to us. Once it’s detected, we will launch a full scale attack to bring it under
our control.” He paused and gazed back at one of the walls. On it was a
horrendous and frightening ship. It was a sphere fifteen hundred meters in
diameter with constructions all over its surface. It was an AI ship.

“If we fail to
bring this civilization into the empire, then the AIs will destroy it, and
there will be no honor for any of us. I will not have any of your throw your
ships away pointlessly. The High Council has given me complete control over
this sector of space. There will be no loss of honor unless I say so!”

“Then we will
do as you order,” Bisth replied in a neutral voice. He would decide on his own
when the time came whether he should retreat in the face of the enemy. “There
will be honor for all of us when we meet this new alien race in actual combat.”

“Honor shall
be ours,” repeated the other three War Leaders.

Resmunt
dismissed the four and then returned to stand in front of the map of the
galaxy. Under his orders, five additional fleet bases were being built. While
not as large as this one, they would allow him to launch a large and
coordinated attack against any opponent. Each would have a full battle fleet
assigned to it. He was confident he would be able to subdue this mysterious race
that had been troubling them for so many years. His victory would bring much
honor to him and limitless wealth to his family.

-

Later, up in
orbit, War Leader Bisth entered the War Room of his dreadnought the WarCry. The
1,200-meter ship was ready for war, and he hoped that was what was in their
future. He had come to this posting to gather honor and wealth for his family,
not to spend his time orbiting this useless planet.

“Gresth,” spoke
Bisth, going over to his First Leader. “We may be seeing combat soon, and I
want all ships of the fleet made ready. See that the latest equipment and
weapons are installed, particularly the new shield update. We may soon face a
very powerful enemy, and I want this fleet to bring honor home in victory.”

“It will be
done, War Leader,” Gresth replied with a slight bow of his head. “I will have
the engineers going over every component of the fleet. If it comes to battle,
we will be ready. Honor has been long in coming.”

Bisth nodded
and went over to stand on the command pedestal. He looked up at the sensors
that showed his fleet in orbit as well as the other three attack fleets. His
flagship, the dreadnought WarCry, was a new ship built in the past year. In support,
he had one other dreadnought, six war cruisers, and sixteen escort cruisers.
Each of the other three fleets was made up similarly. It was a very powerful
force that had been gathered a force capable of crushing any enemy.

-

Fleet Admiral
Johnson was in a destroyer that was taking her to Ceres. The area around Ceres
was surrounded with defensive satellites as well as numerous weapon
emplacements imbedded on small asteroids. There were only a few safe zones a
ship could travel to reach the massive home of the Federation survivors.

“Ceres is
asking for our ship ID code,” reported Commander Grayson, glancing over at
Fleet Admiral Johnson. He felt nervous at having the Fleet Admiral aboard the Sydney. He had seen her before from a distance but had never actually spoken to the
admiral.

“That’s
routine for Ceres since we have gone to a heightened state of alert,” Admiral
Johnson assured him with a slight smile. “At the moment, I imagine we have over
one hundred weapons focused on us.”

Captain
Grayson turned pale, realizing how quickly his small destroyer could be
destroyed. The Sydney had made numerous runs to Ceres before, but he had never
known just how many weapons had been focused on his ship.

“Don’t worry,
Commander,” replied Admiral Johnson, allowing a larger smile to show on her
face. “They focus weapons on everyone.”

“I guess I
would be slightly paranoid too if all of my home worlds had been destroyed,”
Grayson spoke with a nod of his head.

“The
Federation survivors have lived and worked for one thing only for the past four
hundred years, and that’s to defeat the Hocklyns and save the human race.
That’s taught in their schools and in their daily life,” explained Admiral
Johnson.

On the main
viewscreen, the 950-kilometer asteroid was rapidly growing larger. Ceres was a
dwarf planet with a human population of two million. The Federation survivors
had carved out massive habitats inside the asteroid where Earth normal
environments had been established. Some of these habitats were tens of
kilometers in length and held large cities.

“I have four
fighters closing on our position,” the sensor operator reported. “They will be
in range in forty seconds.”

“Our welcoming
committee,” explained Admiral Johnson pleased with the rapid response of the
fighters. “They will escort us in.”

Commander
Grayson nodded. This would be the first time his ship had been escorted in to
Ceres. The Federation survivors were definitely taking this increased alert
seriously.

Karla knew
that there were over two thousand fighters based on Ceres as well as twelve hundred
bombers. That didn’t include the numerous warships that were being kept inside its
massive ship bays. She also knew there were six light cruisers in orbit that
could engage any enemy ship that got past the defenses. Karla doubted that
anything could get past those massed weapon systems in one piece. Ceres itself
was covered with numerous laser and power beam sites as well as hundreds of
missile launching platforms.

“We’re being
instructed to land in ship bay seventeen,” the communications officer reported
with surprise on her face. Normally when they came to Ceres, they used shuttles
to ferry supplies or people down to the asteroid.

“This is
different,” Commander Grayson murmured, looking over at Admiral Johnson. “We’ve
never docked inside Ceres before.”

“Just have
your helm officer follow the beacon,” Admiral Johnson suggested. “It will take
you straight to a berthing dock. I think you will find this quite interesting.”

As they neared
Ceres, a large hatch slid open and blinking lights surrounding it came on. The
helm officer turned control of the ship over to the navigation computer, which
was now being controlled by Ceres Docking Control. The ship slowed down,
entered the cavernous open hatch, and then proceeded down a long, brightly lit
tunnel. Behind them, the hatch door slid shut, sealing them in. After a few
minutes, they approached another hatch, which slid open and allowed the ship
into the cavernous docking bay.

Commander
Grayson’s eyes grew wide as he looked at what was in the bay. There were two
Conqueror class battle cruisers lying side by side in two massive berthing
docks looking as if they had just rolled off the construction line. Next to the
1,200-meter battle cruisers, the 400-meter Sydney looked like a minnow.

“How many
ships do they have in these docking bays?” asked Commander Grayson, looking with
high interest at the main viewscreen and the large warships.

“That’s
classified,” Admiral Johnson commented. “Even I am unsure of the exact total,
and I’m the Fleet Admiral. I do know that they have forty- seven of these large
docking bays inside Ceres.”

The Sydney was maneuvered over to a small docking berth and settled down. Commander Grayson
felt uneasy as this was the first time his ship had ever been out of space.
Destroyers were built to be able to land on the surface of a planet, but he had
never done so.

“There is a
normal atmosphere out there as well as gravity,” the sensor operator reported.

“Ceres Control
says we can disembark at any time,” the communications officer added.

“If you would
like, Commander,” spoke Karla, glancing over at Grayson, “I would be glad to
arrange for you and your crew to be taken on a tour of the asteroid. I think
you will find it highly enlightening.”

“I would
appreciate that, Admiral,” Grayson replied with an excited nod.

He had never
been inside Ceres before, and he thought it would be a great morale booster if
he and his crew could take a tour, particularly of the habitats deep inside. He
had been told that they were a remarkable sight and an incredible feat of
engineering.

A few minutes
later, Admiral Johnson walked down the long ramp that connected the Sydney to the floor of the bay where a group of Fleet officers were waiting.

“Fleet
Admiral,” Admiral Teleck spoke in greeting. “I am glad that you could come to
Ceres for the awakening.” Admiral Teleck was the highest-ranking fleet officer
on Ceres and in command of the Ceres Fleet.

“Has it begun
yet?” Karla asked with keen interest.

She wanted to
be present when Admiral Streth woke up from his long sleep. He was a legend
among the Federation survivors, and that legend had been passed on to the
humans of Earth as they had expanded to the stars. This was a day that had long
been looked forward to.

“Yes, Admiral
Streth should be awake in the morning,” Admiral Teleck responded, his voice expressing
the excitement he felt at getting to speak and meet the legendary admiral.
“Doctor Reynolds is supervising his awakening and several others personally.
She doesn’t expect there to be any problems.”

“How soon
before we can expect Admiral Streth to be able to perform his duties? Will
there be any after affects from the long cryosleep?”

“Doctor
Reynolds does not expect any,” Admiral Teleck responded. “She thinks it will
take one to two weeks before the sleepers are up and around. Within four weeks,
they should be physically sound enough to return to active duty with some
constraints.”

“That’s good
to hear,” responded Admiral Johnson, feeling relieved. “Is there somewhere we
can talk? I have made a decision about Admiral Streth and what I would like him
to do in the war. Since he is so close to the Federation survivors, I feel it’s
only right that you know the mission I have chosen for him.”