The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four) (16 page)

Jeremy leaned
back in the large cushioned chair behind his desk and looked over at the far
wall. On it was a painting of the lost ship New Horizon, Earth’s first
interstellar ship as she left the spacedock above the Moon. It held many painful
memories for Jeremy. It was a stark reminder for Jeremy never to take anything
for granted.

The majority
of the crew of the New Horizon had died when Lieutenant Nelson had set off the
ship’s self-destruct to keep the Hocklyns from capturing the ship. Jeremy and
his four friends had been the only survivors. Rear Admiral Sheen, in command of
the WarStorm, had rescued them from certain death. In Jeremy’s mind, it seemed
as if it had happened only yesterday.

“I just
received word from Admiral Johnson that we are to proceed to

Gliese 667C to aid in its
defense,” Jeremy informed them, looking across his desk at the others. “Once we
arrive, we will begin battle drills involving short micro-jumps to engage the
enemy.”

“Short
micro-jumps,” Kelsey uttered with a frown. “Those are very hard and complicated
to calculate.” She had a feeling that Jeremy was about to give her a headache.

“I know; have
Ariel help you if necessary,” Jeremy replied, his eyes meeting Kelsey’s. “I
also want to tighten up the fleet formation when we exit hyperspace. That means
that all ships have to enter the spatial vortex at the exact same speed and
angle.”

“That will be
difficult,” responded Colonel Malen, shaking her head doubtfully. “With
seventeen ships in our task force, there is bound to be some dispersion when the
ships exit hyperspace.”

“Not if we let
Ariel control the jumps,” suggested Lieutenant Johnson as an idea suddenly occurred
to her. “If we give Ariel full control of our helm systems just prior to
entering the vortexes, she can ensure that all ships are aligned properly and
their speeds are dead on. I would have to write a new program for the helm
control, but I could to it with Ariel’s help.”

“Is that
possible, Ariel?” asked Jeremy, knowing the AI was watching.

“Yes,
Admiral,” Ariel responded. It was very seldom that Jeremy blocked her from
viewing anything within the ship. “With the proper program the ships could be
made to exit hyperspace in battle formation. Keep in mind though, that due to
the math behind hyperspace travel, a ship can’t exit too close to any object of
appreciable mass. There would still be a minimum safe distance between ships we
would have to maintain.”

They continued
to talk for another half hour, laying out tactics and discussing what needed to
be done to make the task force ready for battle with the Hocklyns. When the
meeting was over, Kelsey and Katie stayed behind.

“We’ll be
fighting the Hocklyns soon,” Katie commented as she walked over and gazed at the
painting of the New Horizon. It was hard to believe that all those events were
over two hundred years in the past. She put out her hand and gently touched the
painting.

Kelsey came to
stand next to her and put her hand over Katie’s. Her father, mother, and so
many others were lost to the far distant past as a result of their cryosleep. Sometimes
they all felt extremely lonely.

“It’s what we
wanted,” she reminded Katie.

“I know,” answered
Katie with a weak smile. “I guess I’m just nervous about going into actual
combat with the Hocklyns.”

“We all are,” commented
Jeremy, standing up and walking over to the other two. “But I firmly believe
that if we work hard enough, we will all come through this okay. That’s why I
want to perfect these new tactics.”

The two women
nodded, and they all went back and sat down. For the next hour, they talked
about the old days back at the academy and how things had changed over the intervening
years. So much had been left behind, but there was also so much more ahead of
them.

-

Admiral Streth
was on the surface of New Tellus eating a relaxing meal. Sitting across the
table from him was Rear Admiral Sheen, to his left was Admiral Adler, and to
his right was Rear Admiral Bennett.

They were in a
small restaurant with a relaxing atmosphere, and the food was excellent. Admiral
Streth took another bite of the medium well steak he was eating and closed his
eyes as memories overtook him. It reminded him so much of the meals that Lendle
used to cook back on Maken at the small cabin by the lake. Opening his eyes, he
wondered if the cabin was still there and if he would ever be able to return to
the Federation worlds. They were currently listening to Amanda describe her brief
visit back to Aquaria.

“So there
actually were survivors,” Admiral Bennett commented with surprise. “I would
have thought the Hocklyns would have eliminated all of them.”

“A few
survived,” Amanda responded with a sad look in her blue eyes. Her brunette hair
was still cut short in the current military style allowed for women. “On Krall Island there were fewer than twenty survivors at the time of our return. Many of them
were quite old.”

“That’s a
remarkable story,” commented Admiral Adler. He had left family behind in the
old Federation as well; they all had. After so much time, he doubted if there
would be any way now to find out their fate.

“After all these
years, I imagine there will be very little left of the old cities of the
Federation,” Admiral Bennett spoke, thinking about how the passage of time
could quickly erase any signs of human habitation.

“You’re
probably right,” responded Admiral Sheen, sadly. “Even when we returned, the
cities were already being overrun by plant growth. All six of the old worlds of
the Federation by now have returned to how they were before humanity set forth
upon the planets.”

“We have the
new Federation now,” Admiral Bennett stated. “Perhaps someday we can return to
those worlds once again and claim them as ours.”

“We can only
hope,” Admiral Adler responded in agreement. “It would be great if we could one
day drive the Hocklyns out of our old systems.”

Hedon reached
forward and took a sip of the rich red wine in his glass. He had spent considerable
time traveling around the worlds of the new Federation inspecting ships, bases,
shipyards, and even the massive battle stations orbiting Earth. There were
twenty-two billion humans living in the Federation; Hedon hoped that was enough
and that they were ready for what was ahead.

“I spoke with Major
Ackerman earlier today,” commented Hedon, setting his glass down. “He believes
the Hocklyns will be attacking Caden’s World shortly.”

“Admiral
Johnson feels we’re ready,” Admiral Bennett added as he reached for a roll and
began buttering it. “Admiral Tolsen’s fleet has been heavily reinforced, and
newly promoted Rear Admiral Strong will have his special task force on standby.
In addition, the orbital defenses and defensive fleet have also been heavily
augmented.”

Amanda smiled
and recalled the first time she had met Jeremy Strong; even then she had found
him to be highly intriguing. Now he was an admiral. She shook here head as she
thought about how quickly things could change.

“Perhaps so,”
Hedon responded in a grave and concerned voice. “But we need to annihilate this
Hocklyn attack fleet while we have the opportunity. We may not have too many chances
to destroy one of their large fleets in its entirety.”

“What do you
suggest?” asked Bennett, laying his roll down and focusing his full attention
on Admiral Streth.

“We have
discussed allowing Admiral Adler to try some of our new battle carrier tactics out
in this battle.”

“Yes, I recall
Admiral Johnson mentioning that,” Bennett responded. He still wasn’t convinced
how useful the Anlon bombers could be against Hocklyn ships. The survivability
of a bomber going in close enough to release its missiles was very low. “But
the main part of the battle will be fought by our main warships, not the battle
carriers.”

“That’s the
change I am recommending,” Admiral Streth replied in a serious tone. He leaned
back and pushed his plate away. “We have changed the makeup of the squadrons on
the battle carriers. I think if handled properly, we can use this to our
advantage and perhaps win a substantial victory in Caden’s system over the Hocklyns.”

“Why the
battle carriers?” asked Bennett, feeling confused. “They ensure we can knock
out the Hocklyn’s fighters, and they are a good backup if we need heavier
firepower. If I recall correctly, the bomber squadrons suffered nearly eighty
percent casualties in Admiral Tolsen’s engagement.”

“It was our
first major attempt since we left the old Federation to use our bomber
squadrons in that way,” explained Adler, taking a deep breath. He had spent a
lot of time talking to some of the surviving Anlon pilots as well as reviewing
battle video.

“In all of our
engagements against the Hocklyns, they have never deployed any type of bomber
or fighter capable of carrying a heavy missile,” Hedon informed Admiral Bennett.
“I intend to use Gliese 667C to test some new carrier tactics. Admiral Adler,
will you please explain to Admiral Bennett what we have in mind.”

Adler nodded
and smiled wolfishly. “I have changed the squadron mix on my battle carriers,”
he began. “Each carrier will have two twenty-ship squadrons of Talon fighters
and fourteen ten-ship squadrons of Anlon bombers. Each bomber is being equipped
to handle four modified Shrike missiles with Klave class warheads. We can also
use tactical nukes on the Shrikes if need be.”

Bennett was
silent as he mulled this over. “If your bombers go up against the Hocklyns,
you’re going to suffer heavy losses just as Admiral Tolsen did. While it’s true
they have no bombers, they do have powerful defensive systems to defend against
fighters. To launch those missiles, you will have to be in range of those defenses.
They will cut your bombers to pieces.”

“We’ve managed
to install a weak forward energy shield on the bombers,” Hedon added with a
grin. “It should allow the Anlons to take one or two hits. If the pilots are
good, they should be able to get in, release their missiles, and then get the
hell out.”

Bennett nodded
as he thought this over. “Even so, you’re still going to lose a lot of your
bombers.”

Hedon was
silent for a long moment. “I realize that. But I would rather lose the bombers
with their two-man crews than a major warship where the losses would be in the thousands.”

“What do the
bomber crews think about that?” Bennett asked. He hated the idea of acceptable
losses. He knew that if he were a pilot, he wouldn’t want to be flying one of
those bombers.

“They’re all
volunteers and have been told about the risks,” Hedon answered. “We actually
have more volunteers than we have bombers.”

Bennett looked
over at Admiral Adler. “What is the current makeup of Third Fleet for this
battle? I understand there have been some changes.”

Adler glanced
over at Hedon, who nodded. “We have ten battle carriers, two Monarch heavy
cruisers, four light cruisers, and twelve destroyers.”

“You’re
risking a lot with this,” commented Bennett, leaning back and looking at Admirals
Streth and Adler. “That’s almost half the carrier strength in the Ready
Reserve.”

“War is about
taking risks,” Hedon responded in a firm voice. “With the help of Admiral
Tolsen, I intend to wipe out this Hocklyn fleet when it attacks.”

“Then you will
be there as well?” asked Bennett with arched eyebrows.

“With Second
Fleet,” answered Hedon, looking over at Amanda. “Second Fleet is fully ready,
and we will be using it as a reserve force if the Hocklyns come in with a
really powerful fleet. It will also give us the opportunity to give the
commanders of our ships a taste of actual combat.”

“Second Fleet
is ready,” Amanda responded. Hedon had already told her about his plans. “We
have been conducting battle drills for the past ten days.”

The four
continued to talk for a while longer before Admirals Bennett and Adler had to
leave. Once they were gone, Hedon looked across the table at Amanda.

“The war is
here, Amanda,” he said softly. “How is Richard taking his new assignment?”

Amanda took a small
sip of her wine and then looked up at Hedon. “Admiral Johnson has placed him in
charge of the asteroid fortresses in the New Tellus System. She feels that his
experience in defending the shipyard above New Providence makes him perfect for
the job.”

“That’s good,”
Hedon responded with a nod. “It’s an excellent post for Richard.”

He had been aboard
several of those massive asteroid fortresses; they were unbelievably powerful.
Each was capable of taking on a Hocklyn fleet on its own. He had been extremely
impressed on his tour at all that had been accomplished since he had gone into cryosleep
so long ago. The Federation had spent decades designing and building up their
defenses to stand up to the Hocklyns. The human race was nearly ready for war. Hedon’s
only question was whether or not the Hocklyns could truly be stopped. While it
was true that the human race had grown very powerful, the Hocklyns still
outnumbered them hundreds or possibly thousands to one. Then, of course, there
were the AIs.

“He likes it,”
Amanda spoke with a pleased smile. “He should be safe on the fortresses.”

“What does he
think about you being in charge of a fleet that will be going off to fight the Hocklyns?”

“He accepts
it,” answered Amanda, letting out a deep breath. “We both know this war is
going to be long and dangerous and there will be risks involved, but we went
into cryosleep so our descendants would be free of the Hocklyn threat. We both
believe in that.”

Hedon nodded
in understanding. “I have faith in you, Amanda; there may be some extremely difficult
things that I may ask of you in the coming years. This war will not be easy,
and it might not be winnable, but we are going to do everything in our power to
stop the Hocklyns and their AI masters.”