The Slaver Wars: Galactic Conflict (15 page)

Susan closed
her eyes and then opening them, looked directly at Jeremy. “We’re not making it
out of this alive are we?”

Jeremy looked
over at Grayseth and then back over at Susan and slowly shook his head. He was
afraid that if Admiral Streth were coming it would be too late to save Careth’s
Human defenders or the Carethians. When he finally made it all he would find
were shattered wrecks in orbit and a decimated planet.

-

Later, Jeremy
made his way to the two ship repair bays. Stepping inside the first large bay,
he gazed at the strikecruiser Orion and the massive damage the cruiser had
suffered. Huge, jagged holes covered one side of it and smoke was still coming
out of a few of them. He knew all the internal fires had been brought under
control. It was obvious that some of the damage had been caused by AI energy
beams and other damage from internal explosions.

“We’ll be
ready,” a voice spoke determinedly from behind Jeremy.

Turning, he
saw Major Kawaskii the executive officer of the Orion. “The Orion took quite a
beating,” Jeremy commented.

“But we drove
off the AIs,” Kawaskii spoke with fire in his eyes. “We made them pay!”

“How soon
before the Orion is repaired sufficiently to go back into combat?”

“Tomorrow,”
Kawaskii replied with determination in his voice. “The repair bay foreman is
going to slap patches over the holes in the hull and we’re sealing off the most
damaged areas. It won’t look pretty, but the ship will be space worthy. In
twenty-four hours, we can be back at seventy percent combat efficiency.”

“I want the
Orion to stay in the repair bay until the last minute,” ordered Jeremy, knowing
Kawaskii wanted his ship ready to face the Hocklyns. “From the moment they jump
out of system K-774 plus the time they will need to enter Careth’s gravity well
to attack us, we should have over forty minutes warning. That should give you
plenty of time to get out of the bay and into formation with the rest of the
fleet.”

“Yes,
Admiral,” Kawaskii replied. “We’ll be ready, you can count on that!”

Looking back at
the Orion, Jeremy could see the bright flashes of welders. There were numerous
people, both bears and Humans, working on the ship. He knew it would be the
same in the Vega’s repair bay. He was proud of his people; they had all
volunteered to stay and fight in the Carethian system to help defend the bears
from the AIs and the Hocklyns. He just hoped and prayed that some miracle would
allow them to survive.

-

Aboard the
Avenger, Katie had woken up and was asking questions about what had happened.
“You say the crystal is slightly burned on one end?”

“Yes,” Kelsey replied,
her deep blue eyes showing concern. “Colonel Malen put the crystal in the
secure safe in Jeremy’s office.”

“It was an
attack,” Katie spoke after a moment, her light green eyes looking angry. “It
was a virus the AIs attempted to insert into the Avenger’s systems through Communications.
When Angela realized what was happening she attempted to shut the panel down,
but the virus already had control of it and shorted it out.”

“Why?” asked Kevin,
looking confused. “It almost sounds as if they knew Ariel was on the Avenger.”

“They did,”
Katie replied in a soft voice, trying to keep her growing worry for Ariel out
of her voice. “They must have deduced from the actions of our ship that we had
an AI in control at times. I think this virus was designed specifically to
destroy Ariel.”

Kelsey
hesitated for a moment and then asked the question she had been dreading. “Did
it?”

“I don’t
know,” Katie replied with tears beginning to form in her eyes. “I installed
some firewalls to protect Ariel even though she didn’t think they were
necessary. The firewalls managed to slow the virus down, giving me just enough
time to pull Ariel’s crystal. I won’t know how bad it’s been damaged until I
can inspect it. Ariel can’t be gone, she just can’t be!”

Kevin sat down
on the bed and took Katie’s bandaged hand. “The crystal didn’t look that badly
damaged,” spoke Kevin, soothingly. “I’m sure you can repair it and have Ariel
up and running shortly.”

“I want to see
the crystal!” Katie said in a determined voice. “I want to see how badly
damaged it is.”

Kevin looked
over at Kelsey, who let out a deep sigh.

“Katie, it
will be several days before you’re ready to go back to work,” Kelsey informed
her, knowing that Katie was deeply upset about Ariel. They all were. Ariel had
been a part of their lives from the very beginning.

“Please,”
Katie begged, her light green eyes taking on a pleading look. “I was Ariel’s
first real friend. She is like a sister to me. I have to know. I can’t go back
to sleep without knowing.”

“All right,”
Kelsey said after a moment, looking over at Kevin who nodded. “I’ll have to
call Colonel Malen since she's the only one besides Jeremy that has access to
the safe.”

“Thanks,”
Katie said gratefully as she watched Kelsey leave to contact the colonel. Then
she turned her head toward Kevin. “How’s Angela?”

“She came
through her surgery just fine,” Kevin replied. “The doctors say it will take
her four to six weeks to fully recover.”

“Has anyone
contacted her marine captain?”

“Yes,” responded
Kevin, nodding his head. “I let him know earlier; he was even here during the
surgery. He seems like a very nice guy.”

“I’m glad,”
Katie replied with a slight smile. “Angela needed someone special in her life.”
Then, squeezing Kevin’s hand, she added. “We all do.”

A few minutes
later, Colonel Malen entered the med bay and walked over to Katie’s bed. She
was carrying a small case and upon reaching Katie, set it down next to her.
“The crystal is inside.”

Kevin opened
the case for Katie since her hands were heavily bandaged. Katie gazed worriedly
down upon the large green crystal inside. A good quarter of the crystal was a
dark, almost gray color. Her face turned pale upon seeing the change in color.

“This isn’t
good,” she said after a moment. “Kevin, can you pick up the crystal and turn it
so I can see if there are any fractures in it anywhere?”

Kevin
carefully picked up the crystal and turned it slowly as Katie inspected it. All
of them were quiet as Katie examined the crystal.

“I don’t think
it’s too badly damaged,” she said after a moment, indicating that Kevin could
put the crystal back in the case. “As long as there are no fractures running
through the crystal I should be able to restore Ariel back to how she was.”

“I will return
the crystal to the safe,” Colonel Malen spoke as she picked the case back up.
“I’m sure the admiral will be pleased to learn that Ariel will be okay. He was
extremely concerned about Ariel as well as you and Lieutenant DeSota.”

Katie nodded
as the colonel left the med bay. “If not for those firewalls, I don’t think
Ariel would have made it.”

“What about
Clarissa?” Kelsey asked suddenly as she realized that the other friendly AI
might have faced the same type of attack. “What if the AIs attacked her as
well?”

Katie’s face
turned pale as she thought about what Kelsey had just said. “I don’t know. She
wasn’t protected by the same firewalls that Ariel was. I suggested to the
computer tech on the StarStrike that he install the same firewalls that I did,
but I don’t know if he ever did it. When I spoke to him last he didn’t seem to
feel they were necessary.”

“I’m sure he
did,” spoke Kevin, squeezing Katie’s hand reassuringly. “When the StarStrike
arrives I am sure that Clarissa will be fine.”

Katie nodded,
but a troubled feeling in the back of her mind told her it might not be so. How
would Ariel react if something had happened to the other AI?

“Come on,
Kevin,” Kelsey said. “We need to let Katie get some rest. We all need to.”

Katie watched
them leave and closed her eyes. She tried to sleep, but she kept seeing a
shattered green crystal that couldn’t be repaired. She knew that if the AIs had
attacked Clarissa in the same way they had Ariel, there was a good chance the
other AI had not survived.

High Leader
Nartel gazed stoically at the capital city from the high balcony of his office.
In his hand, he held the latest message from Commodore Krilen. In frustration,
he crumpled the message and threw it from the balcony, watching it blow away in
the wind before turning and walking back inside.

“Commodore Krilen
needs to be removed from command,” commented High Councilor Berken, crossing
his powerful arms over the chest plate of his ceremonial battle armor. “He has
erred seriously in his attack upon the planet Careth and I have serious doubts
if he can take the planet, particularly since the AIs have withdrawn.”

Nartel nodded
in agreement. An AI ship had intercepted Commodore Krilen’s report of the
latest battle and relayed it on to Calzen. “War Leader Versith needs to be
promoted and put in command of the fleet. He should have been promoted to Fleet
Commodore status long ago.”

“Commodore
Krilen will view that as a serious loss of honor,” Berken spoke. “But his
actions of late indicate that he might deserve a lesser status.”

“War Leader
Osbith was killed in their last attack upon Careth,” Nartel pointed out. “From the
reports I received earlier from Fleet Commodore Resmunt, he was an inept War
Leader. He is distantly related to High Councilor Ruthan.”

“I’m not
surprised,” Berken responded, his cold eyes gazing unblinkingly at Nartel.
“From what I have heard, War Leader Osbith was more of a political appointment
than a good leader.”

“It was Ruthan
that made sure he was included in the attack fleet,” Nartel replied. “If we are
to defeat these Humans we must place our best War Leaders in command of our
fleets. In the past, we have allowed politics to deem who commands. Our honor
system was allowed to greatly influence our choices to ensure that certain
families grew in both honor and prestige. We can no longer afford to follow
that policy. Our fleet leaders must be chosen based on their skills and
abilities in combat if we want to stop the Humans.”

“Then are you
going to replace Commodore Krilen with War Leader Versith?” asked Berken,
tilting his head slightly. “Versith has refused higher commands in the past.”

“But we
weren’t fighting the Humans then,” Nartel pointed out in a cold voice. “I’m
sure this time he will accept the promotion.”

High Leader
Nartel looked over at the large map on his office wall, which showed the
sections of the galaxy the Hocklyn Empire held under its control. It was many
thousands of light years to Careth and even farther to the Human home worlds.
This was a war that would take fleets weeks to reach their targets and days for
the reports of the success or failure of battles to reach the High Council.
They had to have dependable leaders in such circumstances.

“What of the
AIs?” Berken asked in his rasping voice. “What have they to say since their
defeat by the Humans?”

“Fleet
Commodore Resmunt has sent us a full report on the aliens that appeared at the Human
world. It was their ships that destroyed so many of the AIs,” Nartel replied as
his cold dark eyes focused on Berken. “An AI ship will be here in a few more
days to discuss the future of the war with the Humans and these new aliens.”

“Will they
give us the new weapons we have asked for?”

“I believe
so,” Nartel replied with a nod. “We have reports from across our Empire that
every known AI ship is on its way back to AI controlled space.”

“Why?” Berken
asked with growing concern. “Are they fleeing back to the galactic center and
leaving us to face the Humans and these new aliens alone?”

“I don’t
believe so,” Nartel replied. “I think they are calling their ships back to
equip them with new and more powerful weapons.”

“What if you're
wrong and the AIs abandon us?”

“Not to
worry,” Nartel replied in his rasping voice. “I have already made other
arrangements to ensure that the Humans are defeated and the new aliens driven
back to their worlds. In the end, the Hocklyn Empire will prevail.”

-

Jeremy gazed
with growing concern at the tactical display. For the last twelve hours,
Hocklyn escort cruisers had been jumping into the system, taking scans of the
space around Careth, and then jumping back to system K-774.

“They’re
preparing to attack,” Colonel Malen spoke as she studied the display. “Each
escort cruiser stays longer than the last.”

There was no
doubt in Jeremy’s mind that Colonel Malen was correct. He gazed worriedly at
the green icons spread out protectively around the space station. He had three
battlecruisers, nine battlecarriers, four strikecruisers, eleven Monarch
cruisers, and twenty light cruisers remaining from Fourth Fleet and Ceres
fleet. It was still a respectable force but not powerful enough considering
what they would soon be facing. He also had one hundred and twenty-eight of the
small Carethian warships to add to his fleet formation as well.

He had tried
to transfer Katie and Angela to the space station where they would be safer,
but both had refused. Katie was resting in her quarters and Angela was still in
the med bay. He'd have felt better if the two had gone to the space station.
With its powerful weapons and energy shield, it had the best chance of
surviving the coming battle.

Kevin came
over to stand next to Jeremy and spoke in a concerned voice. “They will be
coming soon.”

“At least we
have no AIs to deal with,” Jeremy responded with a weak smile.

He was
surprised that the Hocklyns were preparing to attack so quickly. Their fleet
had been heavily damaged in the last battle over Careth, and they were bound to
still have a lot of battle damage to repair. He’d hoped by attacking the AIs he
could buy them at least a week or two. It now looked as if that wasn't going to
happen.