The Slaver Wars: Galactic Conflict (26 page)

“At least the
Altons made it in time to save the system from being destroyed,” replied Anne,
recalling that horrific battle. There was a time there when everyone in the
fleet had thought they were going to die.

“From what I
overheard in the flight bay on the StarStrike, the Altons are going to put some
of these in every Federation and ally system.”

“Eventually,”
Anne responded as she watched the shuttle with the particle beam satellite carefully
position it so it pointed away from the planet.

The satellite's
own internal computer and miniature thrusters would keep it in proper orientation
after release. The construction shuttle that was positioning the satellite had several
grappling arms that could be used to manipulate objects.

The pilot of
the construction shuttle finally released the particle beam satellite and began
to back away. After observing the satellite for a few moments, the pilot turned
his shuttle and headed back toward the construction bay on the space station
for another one. There were four shuttles currently placing the particle beam satellites
around Careth.

“Seems easy
enough,” commented Colonel Grissim, with a satisfied nod. She knew that later,
when the Shrike missile platforms arrived along with the new batch of laser
satellites, they too would have to be positioned by the construction shuttles.
To her, it seemed like a lot of tedious work.

“Looks like
they’re done,” the pilot reported as he watched the other shuttle move rapidly
off toward the station.

“Yes,” Anne
replied. “Let’s get back to the StarStrike, Colonel Barnes is having her first
meeting with all of our allies in a few hours, and I will be representing the
Federation.” She'd hoped that Admiral Telleck or Fleet Admiral Streth would be
the representative, but she had been chosen because of her detailed knowledge
of what they were up against.

-

Admiral Streth
was in the gym and had just finished a long run with Captain Duncan. They'd
both been silent as they ran. They had pushed themselves and were now just
walking as they caught their breath.

“That felt
good,” Janice commented with a pleased smile as she took a deep breath. “I like
to push myself like that on occasion. It gets the heart really pumping.”

Hedon laughed
and looked over at Janice. “I enjoy our runs together. For a while, I can
forget there is a war going on.”

Janice was
quiet for a moment. There had been a question she had been wanting to ask Hedon
for several weeks now but had been hesitant to bring it up. “The ship from New Providence is still at Ceres, Hedon. When will it be returning home?”

Hedon walked
over and picked up a towel off a bench next to the wall. He wiped off his face
and arms and then turned to face Janice. “Sometime in the next three weeks they'll
be returning to New Providence,” he responded. “Senator Arden and Commander
Strone are anxious to return home and tell their people about the Federation.”

“It’s
surprising that they were willing to stay so long,” she said. “I would have
thought they would have left months ago.”

“It was
important for them to see how the battle at New Tellus went,” Hedon responded.
“They were also given two years to complete their mission.”

Janice walked
over close to Hedon until they were nearly touching. “When are you returning home?
And I don’t mean Ceres or New Tellus.”

For a long
moment, Hedon was silent and then he finally answered. “With the new particle
beam satellites and Alton battle stations we can fortify New Providence and
make it secure from attack. It may take a while but eventually we'll take back
control of all the other systems in the former Human Federation of Worlds.
Those are Human worlds and someday they'll have people walking on their
surfaces once more.”

“How soon
before New Providence is fortified?” Janice asked. She knew that Hedon ached to
return to the lake on Maken where Taylor and Lendle had lived.

“It'll
probably be at least another year,” responded Hedon, wishing it could be sooner.
“Once the Federation worlds are all fortified with the Alton particle beam satellites
and battle stations we can move on to New Providence.”

“There are
several things that worry me about all of this,” Janice said as she gazed
deeply into Hedon’s eyes. “What are the AIs and the Hocklyns going to be doing
during all of this time? They have to know that we’re coming for them.”

“I guess
that’s the big question,” Hedon replied, looking at Janice. Over the months,
they'd gotten closer. He wished that Taylor and Lendle could have met Janice.
He had a strong suspicion they both would have liked her. “The Altons feel the
AIs are updating their ships with better weapons, same as the Hocklyns. That’s
one reason why we have to strike soon and strike hard.”

Janice nodded.
She wished that she and Hedon could become more romantically involved, but he
was the Fleet Admiral and she had to restrain herself and not distract him. The
Federation needed Admiral Streth if they wanted to win this war. The romance
she so deeply wanted would have to wait.

-

Kathryn let
out a deep, steadying breath as she watched members from all of the allied
races file into the large conference room she'd set up on the space station.
There was Colonel Grissim, Malith, Major Deleen from the Kessels, and Captain Anchon
from the Darvonians.

“If everyone
will please take a seat, we'll get this meeting started,” Kathryn said with a
polite smile upon her face.

The
representatives all sat down and looked over at Kathryn with expectant looks
upon their faces.

“We have
representatives here from four of the races that form our alliance,” she began
from her seat at the head of the table. “The main purpose of this group will be
to ensure that our different peoples work well together in this war against the
AIs and the Hocklyns.”

“We have
worked with Humans and even the Kessels for many years,” Captain Anchon spoke.
“We wish to get to know the Carethians better as it is their world that we will
be defending.”

“Same with my
people,” Major Deleen added in her purring voice.

“I would
suggest we start by each one of you introducing yourselves and telling us a
little about your worlds,” Kathryn said, deciding this was the best way to get
to know one another. “We all should recognize with four different races from
different cultural backgrounds working together there will be disagreements at
times. I want to ensure none of those get out of hand.”

“As do we
Carethians,” Malith said in her mellow voice. Her large, warm eyes looked over
the other representatives. “We lived for nearly one hundred years as slaves to
the Hocklyns as our population was drastically reduced and our single colony
world destroyed. My people are dedicated to this war effort and we deeply
appreciate your help in protecting our world. We will never allow our planet to
come under the Hocklyn’s rule again.” She continued giving the others a very
brief history of Careth and what had happened under Hocklyn rule.

Once Malith
was finished, one by one the other delegates gave a brief description of their
own unique history and their view on the war. Occasionally someone would
interrupt and ask a question. Finally, everyone had spoken and Kathryn looked
over the small group.

“I think that
everyone can see that we all offer something unique to this alliance. We must do
everything within our power to make sure this works. The planet of Careth is
not just at risk, but all of our worlds. You all heard Malith describe what
living under Hocklyn rule was like. None of us wants to see that fate befall
our own planets.”

“We will all
hunt together in this,” Malith decreed with conviction. The other looked at
Malith and then answered in kind. “We will all hunt together.”

Kathryn
smiled. Everything was going better than expected. If it continued then the AIs
and the Hocklyns had better watch out, for their time of enslaving other races
was going to be coming to an abrupt end.

Jeremy was
feeling nervous, even worse than when he had faced the Hocklyns and AIs at Careth.
The reason was simple; today was his wedding day. In two more weeks, they would
be launching the new Avenger and shortly after that, they'd be returning to
Careth to continue the war. Both Fourth Fleet and Second Fleet were nearly
ready, as well as Grayseth’s new battleship.

“You should
see the look on your face,” Kevin said with a grin as he put on his fleet dress
jacket. “Not about to change your mind, are you?”

“No way,”
Jeremy croaked out. He reached over, poured some cold water into a glass from
the small table in the room, and took a fortifying drink. “Kelsey and I have
wanted this for a long time.” Then, looking over at Kevin, he continued. “It’s
still not too late; we could always make this a double wedding.”

“Are you
kidding?” Kevin said, shaking his head vehemently. “The entire Federation is
going to be watching your wedding; Katie and I prefer something more intimate
and private.”

Jeremy nodded
in understanding. At first, he'd been opposed to broadcasting their nuptials
live across the entire Human Federation of Worlds, but Fleet Admiral Johnson had
convinced them by seeing the marriage of two of the Special Five would boost
the morale of the entire Federation.

“Have you seen
the list of who's attending?” asked Kevin, holding a sheet of paper in his hand
he'd picked up from the table. “The President, Governor Malleck, and almost
every member of the Federation Senate will be in the assembly hall.”

“Our families
will be too,” Jeremy reminded Kevin. They'd sent out invitations to nearly
everyone that had attended the reception Fleet Admiral Johnson had held for
them at New Tellus Station before they left on Operation First Strike. Nearly
everyone had accepted, and there had been numerous calls of congratulations.

Jeremy looked
at himself in the mirror. He was dressed in the uniform of a full fleet admiral,
decorations and all. The dark blue uniform was made of the finest material
fleet tailors had been able to find. Jeremy had felt a little uncomfortable
wearing all the decorations and insignia, but Fleet Admiral Johnson had told
him the people of the Federation would be expecting it.

There was a
knock on the door and it slowly opened. Admiral Kalen stepped in and looked
approvingly at Jeremy. “You should know that Fleet Admiral Johnson, Governor Malleck,
and I had a long conversation with President Kincaid. He's agreed to allow you
and Kelsey to stay with Fourth Fleet. The only demand he has made is that the
two of you cannot be on the Avenger together if it goes into combat. She will
be assigned to the new shipyard being built over Careth when the Avenger goes out
on sorties.”

“At least the
two of you will still get to see one another,” Kevin said with a nod. A big
concern for all of them had been that Kelsey might have to stay in the
Federation and not be able to return to Careth.

“You will also
be affected,” continued Admiral Kalen, looking over at Kevin. “Lieutenant
Johnson is being reassigned to the new shipyard as well.”

“So we’re
finally being split up,” Jeremy said with a deep sigh. He'd been expecting
this. His biggest fear was that Katie and Kelsey would have to remain behind in
the Federation. It was a relief to hear that they would be going to Careth with
the fleet.

“It’s for the
best,” Admiral Kalen replied. Then, in a more serious tone, “Jeremy, the five
of you represent the heart of the Federation. Your history, particularly
considering who some of your parents were, is what built the Human Federations
of Worlds as we know it today. We can’t afford to lose that.”

“We
understand, Admiral,” responded Jeremy, squaring his shoulders knowing it was
an adjustment they'd all have to learn to live with. At least they would all be
at Careth together.

“Now on to
better and brighter things,” Kalen said with a broad smile covering his face.
“There was an argument about who is going to perform the official ceremony. The
President, Governor Malleck, and Fleet Admiral Johnson all wanted to be the ones
to preside. However, someone else has stepped forward and we couldn’t in good
faith turn him down.”

“Who?” asked Jeremy,
curiously. He couldn’t think of anyone else.

Admiral Kalen
turned and opened the door and Admiral Telleck walked in. “Me,” Telleck spoke
with a friendly smile. “I was the one that promoted you to admiral and it’s
only fitting that I preside over the joining of you and Kelsey.”

“I thought you
were back at Careth,” stated Jeremy, feeling pleased to see the senior admiral
from Ceres.

“I came back
for a few days to brief Admiral Sheen as well as President Kincaid of what
Fleet Admiral Streth and I are planning shortly.”

“You’re
planning a major attack!” Kevin uttered his eyes growing wide. “We’re about to
go back on the offensive.”

Telleck turned
toward Kevin and nodded. “Within the next few weeks. The Alton battle stations
are nearly assembled in their stationary orbits above Careth, our allies are
working well together, and the new shipyard is coming along rapidly. Already,
several of its construction bays are operational and Grayseth has begun constructing
Careth’s first true warships.”

“Will you
launch the attack before Admiral Sheen and I arrive with our fleets?” Jeremy
asked. It made him a little nervous knowing the two large Federation fleets
would be leaving Careth, even with its new and improved defenses.

“Yes,” Telleck
responded with a nod. “We dare not wait much longer. Now, let’s get on with
this wedding; we don’t want to keep the Federation and the bride waiting too much
longer.”