The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four) (9 page)

“I don’t know
what to say,” stammered Amanda still feeling in shock. “I will do my best Admiral,
and I promise not to let you down.”

“I know you
won’t, Admiral Sheen,” replied Hedon with a smile.

“Major
Andrews,” continued Admiral Kalen. “We have studied your battle at the shipyard
above New Providence and would like to assign you temporarily to the New Tellus
System to help with the defenses there. Your knowledge of Hocklyn tactics could
prove invaluable in the system’s defense.” Reaching into his pocket, he smiled
as he slid a second set of rear admiral gold pins across the table.

Amanda’s face
broke out into a big smile as she picked up the pins and carefully attached
them to Richard’s collar. “At least now I don’t outrank you,” she commented
with a twinkle in her eyes.

“There is one
more promotion,” Admiral Streth continued. He took out a set of pins for a full
admiral and handed them to Commander Adler. “Admiral Adler, you will be in
charge of third fleet, which will have a heavy battle carrier component. You
will also be my second in command for this campaign.”

“Thank you, Sir,”
spoke Adler, taking the pins and allowing Amanda to attach them to his collar. He
had never thought he would receive this high honor.

He could
hardly wait to see his new command. He had some ideas about battle carrier
tactics he wanted to discuss with the people in military intelligence as well
as several strategists. If things worked out as he hoped, the carriers would be
taking on a much larger role in the coming war.

Hedon looked
around the room before continuing. “Colonel Grissim, I have asked that you be
temporarily assigned to the Ready Reserve Fleet as my Intelligence officer.”

“I would be
honored, Sir,” replied Grissim, knowing the position would carry a lot of
responsibility.

“Let’s get
back to planning this mission,” suggested Admiral Streth now that the
pleasantries were out of the way. “Rear Admiral Stillson of New Tellus has over
three hundred stealth scouts currently surveying the space between us and the
Hocklyn Slave Empire.”

“That’s a lot
of scouts,” commented Richard surprised at the number. Three hundred scouts should
be able to cover a lot of territory.

“We have tried
to keep track of the advancement of the Hocklyn Slave Empire for years now,”
Colonel Grissom informed them. She looked around the group and continued. “We
didn’t want the Hocklyns to stumble across us before we were ready. The stealth
scouts are the only way we have of keeping an eye on the Hocklyns without their
knowledge.”

“We’re
fortunate to have them,” Hedon continued, nodding his head. “They are searching
for any Hocklyn controlled worlds as well as their fleet bases, which will be
the first priority in our attack. We know where some of them are, and we are
currently conducting a thorough exploration of all nearby Hocklyn controlled
space.”

“The closest part
of the Hocklyn Slave Empire is less than 600 light years distant,” Colonel
Grissim reported as she stood up and activated a large viewscreen on the front
wall.

A map of that
section of the galaxy was displayed, showing the section the Hocklyns
controlled nearest to the Federation. There were also six flashing red icons
that represented new fleet bases that were either complete or under
construction.

“From what we
know of current Hocklyn jump drive technology, that puts us only six days away
in hyperspace from contact,” she informed them.

“Their jump
drives are still slightly better than ours,” Admiral Kalen admitted. “We
suspect it’s because of the AI’s. We know that a normal jump for a Hocklyn ship
is approximately twenty-five light years with a cool down time of about two
hours.”

Hedon knew
that the newer Federation ships could almost match that but not quite. “From experience,
the Hocklyns don’t keep a lot of ships in occupied systems,” he said. “If we
can locate all of their fleet bases and knock them out, we can force them back
away from human space. We are fortunate that our lines of supply will probably
be much shorter than the Hocklyns. If we can succeed in this initial attack, we
can probably postpone any retaliatory strike for several years.”

“We shouldn’t
be facing any AI ships,” Amanda commented as she leaned back and thought about
the attack Admiral Streth was proposing. “They only put in an appearance when
an advanced adversary has been detected that the Hocklyns may have trouble
with.”

“That’s
correct,” responded Admiral Streth in agreement, his eyes meeting hers.
“However, due to the fact the Hocklyns may suspect that something is out here,
there may be a few AI ships in nearby Hocklyn space.”

“What happens
if we encounter an AI ship?” asked Amanda, recalling how only two had wiped out
the entire Federation fleet back in the old Human Federation of Worlds.

“We leave them
to the heavy attack cruisers,” responded Hedon, looking over at Admiral Kalen.

“The heavy attack
cruisers have been developed for the primary purpose of engaging an AI ship,”
he explained. “We don’t know if we can take one out, but our best shot will be
with the Devastator Three missiles they are equipped with.”

“Devastator
Threes,” commented Amanda, curiously. “Are those similar to the old Devastator Two
missiles with sublight drives and an inertial dampening system?”

“Yes,” replied
Kalen, nodding his head. “Only these are more deadly and cost efficient. While
still expensive to produce, we do have enough to arm the Fleet.”

“The heavy
attack cruisers are capable of launching multiple Devastator Three missiles simultaneously
as well as being equipped with our new power beams. We believe a combination of
the two should allow our weapons to penetrate the AI’s energy shield.”

“I am glad to
hear about the new power beams,” Admiral Adler commented. “From what I have
read on their specs, they are more powerful than the Hocklyn’s energy beams.”

“That’s why we
need to attack first,” emphasized Hedon, wanting to take advantage of the
situation. “We have superior weapons for now, and we need to use them against
the Hocklyns. I strongly suspect at some point in time the AIs will upgrade the
Hocklyn’s weapons if this war is going against them.”

“We consider
that a very real possibility,” spoke Colonel Grissom, agreeing with Admiral
Streth. She was impressed by how well he had thought everything out. “We have
no idea of the actual ship strength of the AIs since they depend on their four
warrior races to expand their empire. However, against a superior enemy as we
will be, our war strategists feel the AIs will not only upgrade the Hocklyn’s
weapons but also commit a major portion of their fleet to defeating us.”

“What are the
odds of that?” asked Amanda, not wanting to think about facing large numbers of
the giant 1,500-meter AI ships. She didn’t see how anything the Federation had
could stand up to a force like that. It would be suicide! “I mean, what if we
encounter entire fleets composed of AI ships?”

The room was
quiet for a few heart-stopping seconds, and then Admiral Streth spoke up.
“Because of the distance involved it will take a while for any major commitment
of AI ships. If we can knock out a few of them, it might give the AIs pause
about committing their warships.”

“Our
Intelligence department concurs,” added Colonel Grissim, her eyes gazing at
Admiral Streth. The longer she was around the Fleet Admiral the more impressed
she became. “We believe it will take the AIs nearly two hundred days to get a
sizable fleet here from the galactic center.”

Admiral Streth
nodded. “That’s what I was expecting. By the time they can send a sizable
force, we should have already encountered smaller groups of their ships and
learned how to destroy them. The AIs will be operating far from home, and
hopefully that will give us an advantage.”

“So far, none
of the scouts have reported spotting an AI ship,” Colonel Grissim informed
them. “It might be a while before we have to face one.”

“Rear Admiral
Sheen, as soon as we have enough ships updated to form Second Fleet, you will
proceed to the New Tellus System and begin fleet maneuvers. I want a highly
trained force when the time comes to launch our attack.”

“Yes, Sir,” replied
Amanda, thinking about what all would have to be done. At least Richard and she
would both be stationed in the same system for a while. “We will be ready.”

“Admiral
Adler, I want you to get with the war strategists here on Ceres and discuss
battle carrier tactics and see what we can come up with that may be effective
against the Hocklyns. From our previous engagements, the Hocklyn ships are only
equipped with fighters and no bombers. Perhaps we can use our own bombers more effectively
against them.”

“I was
thinking along the same lines,” responded Adler, nodding his head in agreement.
“I will get on that immediately.”

The small
group spent a few more hours making plans and then broke up. They had a lot to
think about as well as preparations to begin.

-

Admiral
Johnson was back aboard New Tellus Station sitting in her office. She was watching
several large viewscreens, which showed ships being towed carefully into the
shipyard’s repair bays. As she examined the ships on the screens, she noted
that there were two battle carriers and four Monarch cruisers. All would be
updated with new systems and modern weapons.

“We are
working on what Admiral Streth is calling Second Fleet,” Rear Admiral Bennett
commented from the chair in front of the admiral’s large wooden desk. “He wants
it up and operational as soon as possible so Admiral Sheen can begin whipping
it into shape.”

“How long will
that be?” asked Karla, turning her gaze away from the viewscreens and back to Rear
Admiral Bennett. It had been amazing to meet Admiral Streth and the others.
Some of those people she had read about in the history books, especially the
survivors from the New Horizon incident!

“We are
talking about four battle cruisers, six battle carriers, twelve Monarch
cruisers, four strike cruisers, forty light cruisers and twenty destroyers,” Admiral
Bennett replied as he thought over the logistics of what needed to be done. “Fortunately,
the strike cruisers are new and ready, so we just need to update the others.”

“I want those
ships to have first priority over everything else,” Karla stressed, her eyes
focusing intently on Admiral Bennett. “This fleet sounds like it may be Admiral
Streth’s Sunday punch with the way he has composed its elements and placed Rear
Admiral Sheen in command. I suspect Second Fleet will be used to crack any
heavy Hocklyn fleet concentrations or defenses.”

“We have forty-two
repair bays available in our six shipyards around New Tellus,” Bennett
responded. “Second Fleet is composed of eighty-six ships. The destroyers and
light cruisers can be updated quickly. The ships are in rather good condition
since they were part of the Ready Reserve. We are already well under way in
updating a number of the units. I would estimate I can have all of Second Fleet
fully operational in six weeks.”

“What about
the other shipyards in the Federation?” Karla asked. The Federation Council had
agreed to make all of them available for updating the Ready Reserve Fleet. “How
are they doing?”

“Only Earth
has shipyards comparable to ours. Admiral Freeman is concentrating on the
heavier ships being updated in Earth’s shipyards and is using the other
Federation shipyards to update the lighter units. If everything goes as
planned, we will make your six month deadline, but just barely.”

“We need to
speak to Admiral Streth I’m afraid,” commented Karla, knowing she was about to
throw a wrench into Admiral Bennett and Freeman’s plans. “He has given command
of Third Fleet to Admiral Adler, a battle carrier commander. I suspect it will
have a powerful battle carrier contingent.”

Bennett was
quiet for a moment as he mulled this information over. “I will talk to Admiral Freeman;
we could move more of the battle carriers ahead of some of the Monarch cruisers
if we need to.”

“I think we
should do that,” Karla suggested. “Please work out the details with Admiral
Freeman and get back with me.”

“Once we get
the Ready Reserve updated what will be next?”

“Then we will
start on the Inactive Reserve,” Admiral Johnson informed Bennett with a smile.

“I was afraid
you were going to say that,” replied Admiral Bennett with a groan and shaking
his head, knowing that would be a big job. “Those ships have been inactive for
twenty to forty years; it will take much longer to update them than the Ready Reserve.
Some of them are in pretty bad shape.”

“But we can
update them much faster than building a completely new ship,” Karla pointed
out. “And we may need those numbers even though they are older ships.”

“Yes,” agreed
Bennett, nodding his head slowly in agreement. “We can update one of those
ships in half the time it takes to build a new one. They won’t be quite as
powerful as our newer ships, but they will still pack a solid punch.”

“We’re going
to need them, Arnold,” Karla said, leaning forward. “The Hocklyns have one hell
of a fleet out there. There is no way for us to know how this war is going to
turn out. Our major advantage is that our worlds are all within twenty light
years of Earth, except for New Tellus, and we have three allies on our flanks
to take some of the pressure off. The Hocklyn Slave Empire is scattered over a
quarter of the galaxy, and it will take them time to mount a major attack
against us.”

“The
Federation Council has at least agreed to go on a war preparation footing for
ship construction,” Bennett added with satisfaction in his voice. “Admiral
Freeman has already issued the orders for every shipyard in the Federation to
begin constructing new warships.”