The Slaver Wars: Galactic Conflict (12 page)

“Pull the
fleet in around the station,” Jeremy ordered, satisfied now that he had put his
decision into words. “Make sure the two surviving type two battle stations are
fully loaded with Devastator Threes. If I fail and don’t return, at least they
can still destroy an AI.”

“It is a brave
thing you are proposing,” Grayseth spoke, his large brown eyes gazing deeply
into Jeremy’s eyes. “It is the way of the hunt.”

Jeremy nodded.
“We need to start getting our more heavily damaged ships into the repair bays.
If I fail, you’re going to need every ship we have. May we live long and hunt
together.”

“Hunt together,
my friend,” replied Grayseth, reaching across the table and clasping Jeremy’s
right hand.

-

Jeremy walked
back through the station along its many wide corridors toward the docking port
where the Avenger was waiting. Numerous bears and Humans were hurriedly rushing
to conduct emergency repairs to get the station back up to being as fully
operational as possible. He knew the outside of the station had a number of
rents and tears in it where Hocklyn energy beams and a few railgun rounds had
struck. The armored hull looked burned in some sections from the heat of nuclear
explosions. They had been fortunate that none of the nukes had struck the
station’s armor.

Jeremy thought
about the decision he had made. He knew that every day that passed without the
relief fleet showing up was a bad sign. He hadn’t said anything to the others,
but he was starting to feel that a relief fleet wasn’t coming. If Admiral
Streth could have returned, Jeremy was certain that he would have by now.

-

Kelsey and
Katie were eating a quick meal and discussing Kelsey’s engagement. Suddenly the
air next to Kelsey seemed to glow slightly and Ariel’s hologram materialized.

Kelsey jumped
slightly and frowned at Ariel. “I wish you wouldn’t do that,” she complained,
shaking her head. “You scare me every time you just appear out of nothing.”

“Sorry,” Ariel
apologized not wanting to upset Kelsey. “When are you and Jeremy going to have
children?”

Katie burst
out laughing because she knew full well what was behind the question. “You just
want more children to raise like you did with me.”

Ariel looked
surprised and then nodded. “Of course. The five of you are my friends; it’s
only natural that I would want to help raise your children.”

“Oh God!”
Kelsey mumbled her eyes growing wide at the thought. “If and when Jeremy and I
have children, they won’t be raised on a starship. If anything they will be
raised in the safety of Ceres where I know no harm can come to them.”

Ariel nodded
her youthful head in agreement. “I won’t always be on a warship,” she spoke in
a soft and yearning voice. “I really enjoyed my time on the old Avenger with
Jeremy’s father and yours, Katie. It was an exciting time, especially when the Fleet Academy came into existence.”

Katie only
nodded. Well did she remember those days and how she had tricked Ariel into
helping her stow away on the New Horizon. In those youthful days, she had a
crush on Jeremy. What fifteen-year-old wouldn’t have? It also made her feel sad
thinking about her mother and father. It had been a hard decision to go into
cryosleep and leave them behind.

“What about
you, Katie?” asked Ariel, focusing her attention on her blonde friend with the
light green eyes. “When are you and Kevin going to have children?”

“Whoa, girl!”
Katie spoke her face growing red. “Kevin and I haven’t even discussed marriage
yet!”

“You’ve
discussed having a life together after the war,” Ariel pointed out.

“You’ve been
listening to our private conversations again,” Katie said accusingly.

“A few,” Ariel
confessed.

“Before we can
even discuss children, we need to survive this mission of Jeremy’s,” Kelsey added
with deep concern in her voice. Jeremy had told her what he planned to do, and
she was not pleased with his decision; it was just too risky.

“Jeremy has
suggested that you, Angela, and Katie not go,” Ariel reminded her.

“We’re the
Special Five,” Katie put in. “We do everything together. I’m not letting Jeremy
and Kevin go off on this mission without me!”

“Me neither,” added
Kelsey, nodding her head in agreement. “Besides, he may need us if something
goes wrong. I’m the best navigator in the fleet and Katie is by far the best
computer expert we have.”

Ariel nodded.
She had expected this answer. “It will be dangerous, but I think we can do it. I've
been running battle simulations all day and if the Hocklyns stay out of the
battle, I think we can take out the AIs.”

“What if the
Hocklyns intervene?” Katie asked, her light green eyes looking worried.

“Then none of
us will be coming back,” replied Ariel, in a softer voice.

-

“You don’t
have to go,” Jeremy was telling Angela in the Command Center. You, Kelsey, and
Katie can stay here at the space station where you'll be safe.”

“You know
where you can put that idea,” responded Angela, shaking her head in rejection.
“What would my marine captain think if I didn’t go on this mission?”

Jeremy frowned
in frustration. He knew, after talking to Ariel, that there was nearly a fifty
percent chance the Avenger would not be returning from this mission. He'd hoped
to protect the girls by allowing them to stay on the space station. In
hindsight, he should have known better. Particularly after all they had been
through together.

“Get a good
night’s sleep,” Jeremy spoke as he turned away. “It’s going to be a long day
tomorrow.”

Going back over
to the command console, he saw Kevin waiting for him. “She turned you down also,
didn’t she?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy
replied as he sat down. “I don’t know about those three girls; I just want them
to be safe.”

“They wouldn’t
be the people they are if they'd accepted,” said Kevin, earnestly. “That’s why
you’re in love with Kelsey and I’m in love with Katie.”

“You’re
right,” admitted Jeremy, knowing what Kevin had said was true.

He leaned back
in his command chair and thought about his father. Admiral Jason Strong had
found the crashed spaceship Avenger on the Moon, later formed the Fleet
Academy, and then along with Kati’s dad Greg had gone on to help form the New Human
Federation of Worlds. He wondered what his dad would have said about the
current situation.

“We will
launch our attack at 0800 in the morning,” Jeremy said after a moment. “All strikecruiser
commanders have reported that essential repairs will have been completed by
then.”

Kevin nodded.
He ran his left hand through his fiery red hair. “I just hope Admiral Streth is
on his way; if not we won’t last much longer.”

“So do I,” replied
Jeremy, looking over at his best friend. “If Admiral Streth and the relief
force aren’t here in another two weeks I’m afraid the battle for Careth will be
over.”

-

Commodore Krilen
had just finished talking to War Leader Versith. Versith was very unhappy with
the way the last battle had been fought. Krilen had gone against the War Leader’s
advice and divided the fleet. He'd never dreamed that the Carethians would use
suicide tactics to defend their world. In hindsight, he knew he should have
known better. From the records, it was reported that the Carethians were a very
ferocious species and would do anything to protect their females and young.

“War Leader
Versith is still angry,” spoke Krilen, looking over at First Leader Angoth. “I
should have listened to him and not split the fleet.”

“What now?”
Angoth asked, his cold, dark eyes focusing on the commodore. “It will be
another seventy hours before the fleet has finished enough repairs to go on the
offensive again.”

“I have asked
Versith to come up with a new battle plan,” replied Krilen, letting out a long,
rasping breath. He gazed down at the six digits on his left hand and then made
a tight fist, feeling the long nails dig into his palm. “The AIs are also not pleased
with my decision to withdraw; they feel that the Humans are nearing the end of
their supply of those sublight missiles that have destroyed so many of our
ships.”

“What did they
say?” Angoth asked with interest as his eyes strayed to a large viewscreen on
the front wall of the War Room that was focused on one of the huge 1,500-meter
spheres of their masters.

“We will not
be allowed to withdraw during the next attack,” Krilen replied in a quieter
voice. “If we do, the AIs say they will destroy all of our surviving ships
themselves.”

Angoth nodded,
not surprised by this revelation. “This war with the Humans has changed many
things already. We now know the AIs are not as invincible as we were once led
to believe.”

“Even our
honor system is changing,” Krilen added, his right hand instinctively touching
the long knife in its protective scabbard at his waist. “Honor is no longer our
first priority; it has now become doing what we must to preserve the Empire.”

Krilen allowed
his eyes to roam across the busy War Room. Numerous Hocklyns were manning their
consoles and coordinating repairs across the fleet. He'd already sent a request
back to the High Council asking for more ships, explaining that the defenses
protecting Careth were much more powerful than originally thought. He didn’t
know how the High Council would react to his request or if the ships could get
here in time.

-

Jeremy was
sitting behind the command console watching the main viewscreens. They showed a
sea of stars ahead as the Avenger and the other seven strikecruisers moved
slowly out toward the edge of the planet’s gravity well.

“All ships
report ready for jump into hyperspace,” Colonel Malen reported from her
position in front of the tactical display.

“How close can
you put us to the AIs?” asked Jeremy, looking over at Ariel.

Ariel got that
faraway look in her eyes as she checked on the latest data from the two stealth
scouts that were still watching system K-774. “If they stay in their current
location, I can put all eight strikecruisers within three thousand kilometers
of the AIs.”

Jeremy nodded.
He looked over at Kelsey, who was busily inputting the jump coordinates into
the system that she and Ariel were constantly updating. He could feel his pulse
quickening and his breathing becoming more rapid. Jeremy knew this next battle
could well decide their survival as well as the Carethians.

One thing that
Jeremy had done was place Rear Admiral Marks in charge of the defense of
Careth. He had full confidence that she would do everything in her power to
protect the planet. He'd said his goodbyes to Grayseth; the large bear had
gripped Jeremy’s hand tightly and swore that Jeremy would always be a member of
the bear’s family clan.

“Ten minutes
until we reach the edge of the gravity well,” Kevin reported in a steady voice.
He looked back at Katie, who was busy at her computer console. He felt more
nervous than usual about going into battle. He really wished the girls had
agreed to stay behind, but he understood why they hadn’t.

“Devastator
Threes are loaded in all missile tubes,” Lieutenant Charles Preston the
tactical officer reported. “Ready to fire on your orders.”

The minutes
slowly passed and then Ariel announced, “We’re clear of the gravity well and
can jump. AIs are still holding their same position.”

“Jump!”
ordered Jeremy, clenching his jaw tightly.

In front of
the eight strikecruisers swirling blue-white spatial vortexes formed. Ariel had
full control of the navigation systems of all the ships and expertly maneuvered
them into the vortexes. Moments later, the vortexes collapsed in upon
themselves and there were no sign of the ships or the vortexes.

-

Grayseth let
out a deep and heavy breath as he watched Admiral Strong’s ships jump into
hyperspace. In many ways, he had wanted to accompany Jeremy on this mission,
but he knew his place was here, defending Careth. “Hunt well, my friend,”
Grayseth spoke in a soft voice. He hoped his Human friend would return.

-

In system K-774,
seven AI ships floated twenty million kilometers distant from the Hocklyn
fleet. Two of the AI ships were damaged and undergoing repairs. The Command AI
watched as the status of the two ships continued to change as repairs to
various systems were completed.

“Some of the Human
ships have jumped,” the AI at the sensors reported, the glowing orb that served
as its head glowing brightly.

The Command AI
turned to study the sensors. “They may be trying to escape,” it commented as it
studied the data from the sensors. They had been using their long-range sensors
to monitor the system. The maximum effective range was four light years and due
to the distance, it was difficult to ascertain the ship types that had left.

“This battle
must end quickly,” the AI next to the weapons console added. “If the Altons and
Humans show up to rescue those we have trapped here we will have no choice but
to withdraw.”

“I have
already instructed Commodore Krilen that the next attack will be the final one.
He will not be allowed to withdraw again.”

The room
seemed to be filled with electricity as the AIs contemplated what it meant to
find living Altons. The Altons had created the AIs thousands of years in the
past. It had been believed that the ancient race had died out. It had been a
massive shock to the AIs to learn that some Altons had survived and allied
themselves with the Humans.

“I have spoken
to AI Command and they are developing a plan to deal with our creators,” the Command
AI responded as he waved one of his metal tentacles at the Communications
console. “Our ships in the galactic center are even now being equipped with additional
advanced weapons and more powerful shields. Next time our ships encounter the
Altons, they will find their weapons will not be quite so dangerous to our
ships.”