The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four) (8 page)

“Is it time?”
he asked in a dry voice.

“Yes, Major
Strong,” a woman’s voice spoke from his side. “It’s time.”

-

Admiral Johnson
left Major Strong’s room, deeply moved by the things she had witnessed during the
day. Almost every single sleeper had asked the same question. “Was it time to
fight the Hocklyns?” They all seemed anxious to go into battle.

“What do you
think?” Admiral Teleck asked as they sat back down in a small conference room
to discuss the day’s events.

“It’s been an
eye opening day,” confessed Karla. “Meeting Admiral Streth and knowing some of
the other sleepers and their ancestry was remarkable. I just spoke to Major
Jeremy Strong, his father was Admiral Jason Strong who discovered the Avenger
and built the Fleet Academy on the Moon. Jeremy and his three fellow officers
that went into cryosleep together were the only survivors of the New Horizon
mission, Earth’s first FTL capable spaceship. It’s the same with the other
sleepers, Colonel Amanda Sheen, her husband Major Richard Andrews, and all the
others. It’s like reading a history book.”

“They’re all
fine people, and they believe in our cause,” spoke Admiral Teleck, softly.
“They are the backbone of the Fleet.”

Karla nodded
in agreement. “With people like them, the Hocklyns had better be prepared. I
have a feeling Admiral Streth and the others are getting ready to give the Hocklyns
their first ever ass kicking.”

“I agree,”
Admiral Teleck responded with a pleased smile. “History will long remember
today as the true beginning of our war against the Hocklyn Slave Empire.”

It had been
two weeks since Jeremy had awoken from cryosleep. For both of those weeks, he
had gone through constant physical and mental therapy to help him adjust to his
new surroundings. When he felt he was ready, he had put in a request to be
allowed to return home. He was currently standing at the top of the high rim
above the crater that contained the Fleet Academy on the Moon. From this location,
his father had first set his eyes upon the crashed Federation light cruiser
Avenger and set history in motion.

“It’s hard to
believe that’s the Fleet Academy,” Kelsey spoke from Jeremy’s side, gazing down
at the crater and the multitude of buildings. Some were truly massive, jutting
up over thirty stories from the lunar surface.

“It’s still
even more amazing that we’re standing out here without spacesuits,” added Jeremy,
turning to gaze around him.

An artificial
dome covered the entire crater and the immediate area next to it. There was
even a scattering of greenery around the Fleet Academy where grass and trees had
been planted. From their high location above the crater, people could be seen
out walking, going from building to building or just out for a casual afternoon
stroll. Outside the dome, Jeremy could see weapon turrets and other
emplacements on the dark, desolate surface, a stark reminder as to why the Fleet Academy was here.

“This memorial
does great service to your father,” spoke Kevin, respectfully.

He was
standing in front of a large granite obelisk that towered nearly ten meters above
him. On its face were depicted two men, Admiral Jason Strong and Greg Johnson.

A short
inscription read, “From this site, men from the planet Earth first gazed upon
the Avenger. This discovery sent the human race to the stars.”

“The academy
has grown so large,” added Angela, feeling awe at all that had been done.

There was very
little resemblance to the old academy she was so familiar with. From what they
had been told, the academy now graduated nearly one thousand Fleet officers
every year. Angela was dressed in a dark blue fleet uniform with the rank of
lieutenant.

All four of
them had found that they had a lot of adjusting to do; everyone they had known
and grown up with were gone. It was a new day and age, and the war with the
Hocklyns was nearing. They had been allowed to leave Ceres as part of their
mental therapy that Doctor Reynolds was closely monitoring. She had thought it
would be good for all four of them to make this trip.

“My father and
mother left a number of recordings for me,” Kelsey said quietly, feeling a tear
form in her eye. “It’s strange to hear their voices after all of this time and
know I will never see them again.”

“We were all
left messages,” Jeremy replied in understanding, knowing how she was feeling.

He had
listened to several from his mother and father. He had been immensely pleased
to learn that his younger brother had gone on to serve in the Fleet and had
done quite well. His parents had continued their mission to bring Earth up to
Federation levels of living and science, and then finally they had introduced
the Federation survivors to the world. He had watched a short video of that
historic announcement.

“What now?” asked
Kevin, turning to glance over at Jeremy.

“We’re going
to spend a few days down on Earth and then report back to Ceres,” answered Jeremy,
looking over at his close friend. “Perhaps we can find out what our assignments
will be.”

“I hope we can
all stay together,” Angela said with a brief sigh. “I don’t know what I would
do if they were to split us up.” She was also ready to go down and visit Earth.

They were
going to visit the sites where Kevin and Angela’s parents were buried. Doctor
Reynolds had felt this would be a good form of closure. Jeremy’s own father and
mother were interned on the far side of the obelisk, as well as a few others
who had been important during those early days.

Jeremy took
one last look at the headstone that marked his parent’s final resting place and
then started down the slope toward the Fleet Academy. A set of wide stairs had
been cut into the slope to make access to the obelisk easy. Every student at
the academy was required to make the trip to the obelisk at least once since it
was an important part of their history.

-

On Ceres, Admiral
Streth was meeting with a group of officers to discuss the command makeup of
his attack force. He understood from talking to Fleet Admiral Johnson that the
entire Ready Reserve was in the process of being updated and fully modernized
and should be ready for combat in less than six months. That was when he would
launch his attack.

“A first
strike against the Hocklyns,” Colonel Sheen spoke, her eyes looking thoughtful.
“Can it succeed?” She had never considered such a possibility.

“They are
giving us over three hundred and seventy warships to mount the attack,” Admiral
Streth pointed out. “That’s more ships than our Federation had when the Hocklyns
originally found us. Not only that but these ships are much more powerful with
stronger weapons and greatly enhanced energy screens.”

Hedon had
spent some time reviewing the specs of the ships in the Ready Reserve and had
been a little surprised to see that the Federation had gone back to using
railguns. Granted, they were much more powerful and cycled faster than the old
ones, but they were still railguns. Admiral Teleck had explained that they had
experimented with other weapon systems in the past, but railguns were
unbelievably reliable and still capable of causing a lot of damage.

“It sounds
like a lot,” Major Andrews commented from where he was sitting next to his
wife. “But we know the Hocklyns possess a massive fleet of their own; a fleet
that numbers in the thousands. At some point in time, we will be facing them as
well as the AIs.”

“I like the
idea of us attacking them,” spoke Commander Adler, leaning forward in thought.
“It is something they won’t be expecting and may give us a significant tactical
advantage, at least for a while.”

Commander
Adler and his executive officer Major Timmons, formerly of the battle carrier
Victory and First Fleet, had gone into cryosleep to be part of the future war
with the Hocklyns. They had both been surprised and then excited at the idea of
Operation First Strike.

“We will have
the element of surprise,” agreed Hedon, nodding at Adler with a vengeful smile
on his face. It was good to see some familiar faces in the room. “If we time
our attacks properly, we can drive them back hundreds of light years and free
some of their slave worlds in the process.”

“Military
Intelligence agrees,” Colonel Grissim added with a nod of her head. “The Hocklyns
have almost always had the upper hand in their conquests, and to the best of
our knowledge no one has ever attacked them first. They won’t be expecting it.”

“What about
allies?” asked Amanda, looking over at Admiral Kalen who was also in the
meeting. “Surely, in all of these years, you have found a few?”

“You would be
surprised,” commented Kalen, shaking his head sadly. “There are a number of
civilizations within four hundred light years of us, but most are not highly developed.
It seems that a lot of civilizations stagnate in the late agricultural age.
Their development seems to slow and most of their progress surrounds
agriculture and making their lives more bearable. There is no desire or drive
to go out and explore beyond their planet.”

“So we have no
allies?” stated Admiral Streth, feeling disappointed. He would have thought after
all of this time there would be at least a few.

Admiral Kalen
looked at the group and then continued. “We do have four races we have
encountered in our explorations that are highly developed. Three agreed to aid
us in the war against the Hocklyns once we showed them what the Hocklyns would
do to their worlds. They have built up sizable war fleets and have been tasked
with securing their sectors of space against Hocklyn aggression. This will help
to defend our flanks as well as force the Hocklyns to spread their forces.”

“You said
there were four advanced races,” Richard pointed out, his eyes focusing on
Admiral Kalen. “What about the fourth one?”

“The
Albanians,” muttered Kalen with a heavy frown creasing his forehead. He let out
a deep frustrated sigh. “They are a mystery to us. The race is highly developed,
and in many areas their science is far ahead of ours, but they are refusing to
get involved. They will not aid us in the war.”

“Why not?” asked
Admiral Streth, arching his eyebrows. “Don’t they understand the threat the
Hocklyns represent?”

“They
understand, but they believe they can talk to the Hocklyns and avoid bloodshed.
They don’t believe in war.”

“Then they are
fools!” Commander Adler spoke, his eyes growing wide. “The Hocklyns will either
conquer them or destroy them.”

“How many
systems do they control?” asked Amanda, shaking her head in disbelief and
agreeing with Commander Adler. The Hocklyns would show no mercy to this strange
race.

 “They have
sixteen large colonies in addition to a heavily populated home system. They
have research installations and mining operations in at least fifty other star
systems,” replied Kalen, recalling the latest security report on the Albanians.
“They have also refused to share any of their advanced technology with us even
though we do have a trade agreement on non technological items.”

“We have
stressed how important some of their technology could be to us in the war,”
Colonel Grissim added with a heavy frown. “But they don’t want to share
anything with us that could be used for military purposes. They have been very
clear about that in our negotiations with them.”

“They’re
bigger than the Federation,” said Amanda, letting out a deep breath as she
thought about how powerful an ally the Albanians could be. “They could be a
huge asset to the war effort.”

“They have no
armed ships at all?” asked Richard not believing that a race that advanced
could be completely defenseless.

“That is unknown,”
Admiral Kalen said, leaning forward. “Our military intelligence people believe
they must have a small fleet of armed ships to protect their space from
potential invaders even though we have never seen one. We still have
negotiators speaking with them, and we do have an embassy on their home world,
but we have been told not to expect any help. They are willing to trade with
us, but that is all for now.”

“We have
watched them from outside their space and have even followed a few of their
exploration vessels,” Colonel Grissim admitted as she looked around the group.
“But we have not been able to spot any signs of weapons on board their ships.
As near as we can tell, their exploration ships are completely unarmed.”

“We have also
been extremely careful not to intrude upon their explorations,” added Kalen,
hastily. “We believe they expect us to watch them, but we have ordered all of
our ships to maintain a respectful distance.”

“That’s
probably wise for now,” Commander Adler agreed. There was no point in agitating
a potential future ally. “They may have a change of heart later and join us.”

“Perhaps,” replied
Colonel Grissim, doubtfully.

“At least we
have three allies,” spoke Admiral Streth, feeling satisfied that the Federation
was not alone in this war. “We may find others in the worlds that we set free.”

“How will you
be setting up your staff and fleet command structure?” asked Admiral Kalen. Fleet
Admiral Johnson and Admiral Teleck had both impressed upon Kalen that he was to
give Admiral Streth anything he needed.

Admiral Streth
smiled as he looked over at Colonel Sheen; this was something he had been
looking forward to for several days. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a
set of rear admiral collar pins and slid them across the table.
“Congratulations, Rear Admiral Sheen. You will be in charge of Second Fleet.”

Amanda felt
her heart hammering in her chest as she gazed at the coveted insignia; she had
not been expecting this.

Richard
reached out and picked up the gold pins. He carefully attached the rear admiral
stars to the collar on his wife’s uniform. “Congratulations,” he said, feeling
proud. He knew in his heart that she would make a great admiral.