The Slaver Wars: Galactic Conflict (28 page)

“And what is
that?” asked Admiral Telleck, worriedly. “Why would they build something so
close to that black hole? From what I have read, the black hole at the center
of our galaxy is massive.”

“It has the
mass of over four million stars similar to the one at the center of this solar
system,” Tanith replied. “It is highly compacted with a radius of less than fifty
million kilometers.”

“And the AIs
have built these structures around it,” repeated President Kincaid, feeling
confused.

“We believe
they are seeking to harness the power from the black hole itself,” Tanith
continued her eyes gazing intently at the group. “They may be attempting to
open a stable wormhole between our galaxy and another.”

“They want to
spread out and add another galaxy or more to their Empire,” stated Admiral
Telleck, not feeling surprised about the AIs using the black hole for something
like this. “How are they dealing with the tidal forces from the black hole?”

“The
constructs are all orbiting outside of the
Schwarzschild
radius of twelve million kilometers,” Tanith explained.

“Damn
,
that must
take a lot of power,” Admiral Telleck spoke not even wanting to think about
coming that close to a black hole, especially a super massive one like the one
at the center of the galaxy.

“They may
indeed want to travel to another galaxy, that is one of the possibilities,”
Tanith admitted with concern in her voice. “But there is another one that is of
even greater worry. Using the power from the black hole, the AIs might be able
to broadcast a signal at FTL speeds that could destroy all organic life within
our galaxy.”

“How?”
President Kincaid burst out as he looked fixedly at Tanith. Surely he had heard
wrong. Could the AIs actually be seeking to destroy all organic life?

“It would be
similar to the explosion of a neutron star when it releases a gamma ray burst,”
Tanith explained. “It would destroy higher organic life forms but leave most
plant life intact.”

“What are you
saying?” Karla asked her eyes growing wide in concern. “How much time do we
have?”

“We estimate
it will take the AIs at least two more years to finish their project,” Tanith
replied as she gazed at the others. “We believe after their recent defeats they'll
be rushing their project to completion. Once complete, all higher organic life
within our galaxy will be dead within six months.”

“How can we
stop it?” President Kincaid asked. He couldn’t fathom a weapon that could
destroy all higher organic life in the galaxy. It was a concept that was almost
too big to accept.

Tanith took a
sharp breath before responding. “We have to destroy it,” she said in a steady
voice. “We must go to the galactic core within the next two years and destroy
those constructs before the AIs can activate them.”

Everyone in
the room just looked at one another. How could they defeat the Hocklyns in the
next two years and then launch an attack upon the AIs at the galactic core?
President Kincaid looked at the others and then reminded himself to breathe. He
wondered if he had just heard a death sentence being issued for the entire
galaxy.

-

Kelsey and
Jeremy had just arrived at the resort on New Tellus. They were both grateful
that the resort and the nearby town had not been hit when the Hocklyns nuked
the surface of the planet. The resort was just as they remembered it.

Kelsey pushed
her blonde hair back from the front of her deep blue eyes and looked over at
Jeremy. He was drinking one of those fruit drinks he so liked and his eyes and
face had a blissful look. “I still can’t believe how you like those drinks!”
she said, shaking her head playfully and smiling at Jeremy.

“They’re
really good!” Jeremy said as he took another long drink.

“At least
they’re healthy,” replied Kelsey, laughing. “Much better than Kevin and his
hamburgers.”

Jeremy looked
over at Kelsey, admiring how good she looked in the skimpy blue two piece
swimming suit she wore. He sat the drink down on one of the small tables next
to him and spoke suggestively, “You know, we could go to our room,” he hinted
with a leering grin. “After all, we are on our honeymoon.”

“I thought you
would never ask,” Kelsey said with a playful laugh. She stood up and took
Jeremy’s hand. “I hope those fruit drinks have given you a lot of energy; you’re
going to need it!”

The two left
the beach and headed toward their room at the resort. They had a full week of
leave to enjoy this special time of their life and both intended to live it to
the fullest. Today, they were just two honeymooners madly in love. Next week,
they would once more be loyal officers in the Federation fleet.

Jeremy was
standing in the bustling Command Center of his new battleship. He looked around
the large room seeing numerous familiar faces, as well as a few new ones.
Kelsey, Kevin, Angela, and Katie were all at their posts and even Ariel was
standing nearby. Inside the safe in the small office off the Command Center, Clarissa’s new green crystal was safely secured. Katie intended to continue her
work bringing the second AI back to normal once they reached Careth. She'd
brought all the equipment she might need to work on that endeavor.

“I like this
new ship,” Ariel spoke with her hands on her hips, her dark black eyes focusing
on Jeremy.

“It’s bigger
and more powerful,” Jeremy said with a smile. “You should like that.”

“Everything is
ready,” recently promoted Commander Kyla Malen reported. She was standing just
in front of the command console between the four large tactical holograms.
There were two on each side of her, displaying different information.

“Fleet has
formed up and is ready for departure,” Kevin reported from his large sensor
console.

“Fleet Admiral
Johnson wishes us a safe trip and also requests that you don’t damage your new
battleship too much,” Angela added.

“Battleship
Careth is taking up its position on our port side,” Malen added.

A few months
back, a group of Carethians had arrived to begin learning the systems in the
battleship. All of the Carethians had space experience of some type, including
flying their small warships. There were also a few Human crewmembers on board to
assist.

“Take us out
of the gravity well,” ordered Jeremy, as he sat down behind the command
console. It was time to go back to Careth. He was looking forward to seeing
Grayseth and the other Carethians he'd made friends with.

The large
viewscreens on the front wall were showing views of New Tellus, New Tellus Station,
and two battleships, the Careth and the new WarStorm. On the tactical displays
were four fleets preparing to leave New Tellus. Jeremy’s, Admiral Sheen’s, a
large supply fleet, and Rear Admiral Race Tolsen’s. Jeremy had been surprised
when he had been told that Tolsen’s fleet had been reassigned to Careth. It
made Jeremy feel as if there was something mysterious going on, some secret
that he wasn’t being told. There were also twenty additional Alton battlecruisers
going with them. Currently, the Alton ships were on convoy duty for the supply
fleet. This had also been a surprise since he'd understood that originally the
Altons did not want to send too many of their ships away from home and the
Federation.

“We’re taking
a lot of ships with us,” Kelsey spoke over their private channel. “Is there
something going on?”

“I know it’s a
lot of ships,” Jeremy replied as he gazed thoughtfully at all the green icons
on the tactical displays. “I noticed that over the past several weeks there
have been a lot of high level meetings between Fleet Admiral Johnson, President
Kincaid, Governor Malleck, and even our alien allies. I have a feeling it's something
big.”

“It all
started back when Ambassador Tureen and the Alton scientists met with Kincaid,
Johnson, and Telleck,” Kevin added. “I wonder what that was all about?”

“Whatever it
was, it sure has everyone stirred up,” Kelsey said. She wondered if it had
something to do with the AIs, particularly since it obviously involved the
Altons. She and Jeremy had spoken about it in their quarters, but neither had
any idea as to what was up.

“There’s no
use speculating,” spoke Angela, looking over at Kelsey. “We'll know when they
tell us.” Over the months since leaving Careth, she had fully recovered from
her injuries.

“I suspect
Admiral Sheen knows,” Ariel said as she stepped closer to Jeremy. “She's spent
a lot of time in Fleet Admiral Johnson’s office recently.”

“You haven’t
been spying again, have you?” injected Jeremy, looking sharply at the AI. He
knew that at times Ariel’s curiosity got the best of her.

“No,” replied Ariel,
sounding offended. “I've just intercepted a few communications requesting that
she meet with Fleet Admiral Johnson. You should also know that in three of
those meetings, Ambassador Tureen and at least one of the two Alton scientists
were involved.”

“It has to
concern the AIs,” Katie broke in from her position in front of the large
computer systems panel she was sitting in front of. “It’s the only thing that
makes any sense.”

“Perhaps,” responded
Jeremy, trying not to sound concerned. “Let’s focus on our mission for now. We
have a new line of Alton communication buoys we’re laying between the
Federation and Careth.”

The four
fleets continued until they were clear of New Tellus’s gravity well and then
began opening up blue white spatial vortexes. In a matter of a few minutes, all
ships had jumped into hyperspace and were on their way to Careth. One other
thing they knew was that Admiral Streth and Admiral Telleck would not be there
when they arrived. They'd launched their mission to attack Kenward Seven.

-

Admiral Sheen
gazed at the front viewscreens showing the dark swirling purples of hyperspace.
She let out a heavy sigh and turned to the ship’s commander Marcus Diaz. “We’re
on our way,” she commented.

“Finally,”
Marcus responded with a nod. “The ship is operating well and if not for stopping
to lay the FTL communication buoys, we could be in the Carethian system in
record time.”

Amanda nodded;
the new jump engines on the WarStorm were capable of hyperspace jumps of fifty
light years with a cool down time of slightly less than one hour. They could
also be retuned much faster than the old ones. They had used a combination of Alton and Human technology to adapt the new engines to Federation ships.

Amanda let out
a heavy sigh as she turned and looked around the large Command Center. She and Richard had spent a final weekend at their favorite ski resort on New Tellus.
They had both known that it might be many months before Amanda and the WarStorm
made it back to Federation space.

“You could come
out to Careth and help with their fortifications,” Amanda had suggested on
their last night together.

“Perhaps,”
replied Richard, pulling Amanda closer to him in the bed. “I still have a lot
of work to do here rebuilding New Tellus’s defenses, particularly since two of
our asteroid fortresses were destroyed in the attack.”

“What are the
plans?” asked Amanda, feeling curious placing her hand on Richard’s chest. She
could feel his heart beating steadily beneath her palm.

“We’re moving
two smaller asteroids into orbit,” Richard responded, sliding his arm around
Amanda. “It will still take us two years to emplace the offensive and defensive
weapons that we have planned on them.”

Amanda didn’t
reply; she knew from what Fleet Admiral Johnson told her that they might not
have two more years, not if the AIs could activate their new weapon at the
center of the galaxy, if it was a weapon. There were just too many unknowns
about what the AIs were building. The Altons had a theory, but there was no way
to confirm it without going to the center of the galaxy and taking close in
scans of the constructs orbiting the black hole. That would be no easy task in
itself since there were possibly thousands of AI ships guarding their
creations.

Amanda shook
her head and turned her attention back to the ship. Richard had promised to try
to come to Careth as soon as possible. She just hoped he could and that she
would be there when he did.

“What’s the
ship’s current status?” asked Amanda, looking over at Commander Diaz.

“Power
consumption normal, FTL drive normal, drive core showing only a slight heat
buildup, and everything else is functioning within specs,” Diaz replied. “We
have a good ship, Admiral.”

“We shall
see,” responded Amanda, looking sharply at her second in command. “The WarStorm
hasn’t been tested in combat yet.”

Diaz nodded
and then went off to make his rounds of the Command Center. Amanda looked over
at Lieutenants Stalls and Trask; it was comforting to see at least two familiar
faces.

-

At Kenward
Seven, High Leader Nartel was in the largest of the four massive shipyards that
orbited the planet. He was meeting with Fleet Commodore Resmunt, Fleet Commodore
Versith, Commodore Tantil, and Commodore Parco.

“How many
ships do we have updated?” he demanded in his harsh, commanding voice.

“A little over
two thousand,” answered Fleet Commodore Resmunt, recalling the latest figures.
“We still have an additional four hundred to be updated in the next few weeks.
Once they are done we shall have updated all of the warships in our region of
space.”

“Excellent!”
Nartel responded, pleased to hear that they were nearly ready to go back on the
offensive. “The other shipyards in the different galactic regions of our Empire
are reporting the same. All updates will soon be finished.”

“These updates
have strengthened our ships' weapons and shields,” Fleet Commodore Versith
spoke, his eyes focusing on the High Leader. “But the Human weapons and shields
are still superior. We also have no idea how our recent upgrades will hold up
against an Alton ship.”