Exodus: Empires at War: Book 8: Soldiers (Exodus: Empires at War.) (37 page)

Nine hundred and
some odd missiles were still entering attack phase, aiming for whatever ship
they had targeted.   Over two hundred hit, and a hundred eighty-seven
ships, from destroyers to superbattleships, converted to plasma.  The rest
were near misses, the more common proximity kill, and another forty-three ships
joined the hits as total destructs.

Kelvin looked
over his fleet moments after the attack.  His flag had escaped
unscathed.  He wasn’t sure if that was fair, but he would take it. 
He still had over half his fleet, though many of those ships were heavily
damaged. Forty percent of his original force worth of ships were still combat
effective, he had destroyed the only major enemy force in the system, and there
were still some reinforcements heading his way, as soon as the ships that had
missed transit had come around and gotten back in line.

And we still
have another enemy fleet heading our way, and we’re low on the weapons that won
this last engagement.

“Admiral
Lenkowski is on the com, sir,” said the Com Officer.

“Give it to me
in my day cabin,” he told the officer. 
Now I get my congratulations
,
he thought as he got out of his chair and headed off the bridge. 
And
the bad news.

Epilogue

KINGDOM OF NEW MOSCOW SPACE,
APRIL 10
^TH
, 1002.

“Thirty-seven
hours to the system, my Lord,” announced the Navigator, looking back from his
console.

High Admiral
Jarrassand’ra Kiritopath gave a head motion of acknowledgement and continued to
stare at the plot.  Only thirty-seven hours to the system, which he had to
hope was still in the hands of his people.  He had thought sending his
fleet in after the defeat of the combined invasion force was a bad idea. 
But the outer force commander had not been interested in what he had to
say.  As soon as the first ships came in, fleeing from the border regions
of the largest of the human polities, he had ordered every ship available to
head to this New Moscow, which the commander hoped the Ca’cadasans still
held.  And so the High Admiral had followed the orders of the Great
Admiral in charge of the forward base, and had assembled the force within hours
before boosting this way.

The High Admiral
looked at the system in relation to the overall plot of the area.  He had
to admit that continuing to hold here would give them a continued toehold in
human space, one far enough from the major human polity to be away from the
main fleet bases of the enemy, but close enough to be reinforced quickly from
the Empire. 
As long as they have the ships to send to us
, he
thought.  Those ships had not been evident at base when he had left, and
he hadn’t heard of any forthcoming from deeper in the Empire.

“Is there
anything we can do about those ships that have been shadowing us?” the High
Admiral asked his Tactical Officer.

The enemy vessels
had been in extreme sensor range for several days, staying close enough to keep
track of the Ca’cadasan force, but far enough out to be able to avoid anything
sent their way.  He hadn’t believed the reports of the humans catching up
technogically with his people until now, but those ships were fast, able to
traverse hyper VII, and with acceleration to match anything he had.

“I don’t see
how, my Lord,” said the officer.  “And I don’t think they are anything
more than a nuisance.”

The High Admiral
turned back to the plot with a grunt.  Of course they were nothing more
than a nuisance, unless they were sending data back to their fleet.  The
rumors of them being able to make wormholes had run rampant back at the forward
base.  The High Admiral didn’t know how much truth there was in that, but
if the claims were even half true, whatever enemy force was in this space could
know the entire composition of his force.

Well, we’ll
find out if they know about us in thirty-seven hours
, he thought.  And
even if they did, if a friendly force was there to greet him in the New Moscow
system, it wouldn’t matter.  His force would be much larger at that point,
and he would have a fortified system to fight in.  The High Admiral
dismissed the feeling of impending doom and concentrated on the victory he
would win once he was in that system and the humans came calling, not knowing
what they were up against.

*     
*      *

Lenkowski stared
at his own holo as his force sped toward the New Moscow system.  They were
up to point nine seven light, as fast as he dared to push it.  A wave of
nausea went through his gut, a sign of the extra rads he was taking. 
Unfortunately, at the same time they were taking more rads, the nanites in
their systems were being broken down, and with them their ability to
heal.  The docs told him that everyone should survive once they slowed
down and were re-injected with the nanites in storage behind their isolation
fields.  Still, there would be some mighty sick people aboard until that
happened.

Thirty-seven
hours
, he thought, looking at the enemy fleet on the plot. 
They’ll
get there in thirty-seven hours.  And the Republic force won’t make it for
forty-five hours, and my own force for eighty-five.  Which means they’ll
be on their own in the system for eight hours before even the insufficient
reinforcements of the Republic arrive.

He worried about
those people who would be fighting a superior force right after fighting the
battle to win the system and the planet.  There was nothing he could do
about it.  Everything that was going to get to the system was already on
the way, including the reinforcements coming through the wormhole net.

If we had
more of the new weapons it would be one thing
, he thought.  They had
used up all of the newest toys in the battle to take the system, and it would
take time to get more from the factories out to the fleet.  His ships had
some of them, but there was no way he could get them to those other ships any
faster than he could his own force.  His wormholes all reached back to the
Donut
, and it would take time to ship the weapons from his ships that
didn’t have wormholes to the ones who did, then through piecemeal to the
station, where they would have to be loaded onto ships before transiting the
ship gate net.  They might get there in time, but the odds were against
it.

Kelso will
just have to fight smart, him and that Crakista admiral when she arrives
.
He knew that Kelso was a good officer, a master tactician who had earned his
rank.  He knew nothing about the alien, except that the Republic had
trusted her with its battle fleet.  Which he hoped meant she was a smart
officer as well.  Because she would have to be smart if they were going to
win that fight.

*    
*     *

SECTOR IV.

Emperor Sean
Ogden Lee Romanov stood on a hill overlooking the field, surrounded by his
security, watching the people who continued to come through the wormhole
gate.  A good portion of the remainder of the Kingdom of New Moscow,
flooding the field as they were directed to the vehicles that would take them
to their shelters.

There were men
and women, mostly of indeterminate age.  There were some children along
with them, but due to the present structure of human society based on current
biology, they were normally less than ten percent of the population unless it
was a developing or frontier world that wasn’t under population
restriction.  There seemed to be much fewer than that percentage out
there.  Of elderly, which only accounted to less than five percent of
human society on any world, again due to the human aging process in the
improved population, there were even fewer than expected as compared to the
children.

Sean felt sick
to his stomach as he thought about that dynamic.  In the brutal confines
of the camps, the survival rate of the young and old must have been the lowest
of all within the compounds.   But soon New Moscow, once it was
restored to its people, would again be filled with children as the people
attempted to rebuild their nation.

“We’ve gotten
over three million out through this gate so far, your Majesty,” said Major
General Carla Manuel, standing a half meter from the Emperor, watching the same
scene unfold.  “From that figure, we can estimate that one hundred and
twenty-five million have been evacuated so far.”

From
what?  Seven hundred and fifty million
.  Sean shook his head as
he looked down on that crowd.  His augmented eyes, part of his genetic
heritage, zoomed in as he looked from face to face.  He could see the
genetics of human race on those faces.  People tracing their ancestry to
legendary places from old Earth.  Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and
the Pacific islands.  And mixtures of all of those people.

Sean himself was a mixture of
all the best old Earth had to offer, the genes of his ancestors enhanced.
 
His skin tone was the dark tan of the many
ethnic groups of humanity blended
together,
his almond
shaped ice blue eyes a mixture of several continents, his dark red hair a
rarity among any peoples.
 
He had the
Africa American strain of the
Streeters
, the pure
African of the
Mgondas
, the Chinese heritage of the
Lees, and the European genetics of the
Ogdens
and
Romanovs, all in his line.
 
He was
supposed to be the best that humankind had to offer.
 
And he was still a flawed ruler, and people
died because of his inadequacies.

 
“We have a message from the Capital, your
Majesty,”
came
a call over his implant.

Sean
acknowledged with a sinking feeling, wondering what else might have gone
wrong.  He linked into the com, which was coming through the wormhole
network with a priority code.

“Your Majesty,”
said the voice of Grand High Admiral Sondra McCullom.  “We’ve just
received news from Commodore Sung.”

The Emperor felt
his heart speed up.  Natasha Sung was in charge of the mission to contact
the other enemy of the Ca’cadasans, the one they were said to be fighting on
the other side of their Empire.

“They’ve made
contact with the people they were sent to find.  And you aren’t going to
believe who they are.”

THE END

Appendix A: Glossary

Aether Paddles: 
Grabbers.  Units that utilize the space warping powers of energized
superplatinum to grip the actual fabric of space and pull their attached object
along.  Used in everything from battle armor to large ships.

Augmentation:  Also known as
Enhancement.  Retroactive genetic and biological engineering of
humans.  Through the use of nanotech enhancements are made to the human
genome, resulting in faster and stronger people with the sensory systems of the
best found in nature.  Upgraded glandular systems.  Ninety-five
percent of augmented also have reduced lifespans, though some exceptional
genomes do not experience this, and pass their traits down to their descendants.

Bolthole:  Imperial
industrial system in the process of being established a thousand light years
outside the boundaries of the Empire.  Planned as a unassailable arsenal
and last refuge of the Empire.

Capitulum:  Capital City of
the Empire, home of the House of Lords and the Imperial Palace.  3 billion
citizens living in 375,000 kilometers of city.

Catastrophic Translation: The
movement of an object from any of the hyper dimensions to normal space through
hitting a hyper barrier or losing its protective hyperdrive field.  The
result is a translation in which matter is disrupted, resulting in the probably
destruction of the ship and all aboard.

Class III Systems: Mostly
agricultural worlds, 763 worlds in 748 systems, with a combined population of
88 billion.

Class V Systems: 
Economically important and military systems, 307 planets with 5.5 billion
citizens.

Cloning:  Reproduction of
organic material by the artificial stimulation and growth of cells. 
Cloning of food and body replacement parts is widespread, but the reproduction
of a complete sophont is illegal in any of the human polities, due to the fact
that clones are somehow different.  Human clones completely lack a
conscience, no matter their upbringing or training.  It is unknown why.

Com Net:  Network
established on all Imperial planets allowing all citizens access to
communications and data services anywhere on the planet.

Core Worlds:  Class I. 
The oldest and most developed of the planets of the Empire, with populations in
the billions.  Population is restricted, as are births, and by law fifty
percent of the land area of the world must remain pristine wilderness.  98
inhabitable planets in 91 systems, within two hundred and fifty light years of
the Central System.  380 billion citizens.

Cyborgs:  Living beings with
integrated mechanical and electronic systems, such as fiber optic nerves and
communication implants. Technically, all humans in high tech society are
cyborgs, incorporating as they do data and com implants, and nanite augmented
immune systems.  True cyborgs have much more intrusive implant
architecture, including biomechanical nervous and muscular systems.  All
enhanced soldiers, such as Rangers, Naval Commandos and Marine Recon have
passive implants such as bone reinforcement.

Developing Worlds:  Class II
systems.  294 inhabited planets in 277 systems, with a population of 185
billion (21 billion alien) citizens.

Dole, The:  Living wage
payments to the great majority of citizens of the Core Worlds.  Supervised
robotic factories produce the products needed to sustain society to the point
where employment is not possible for most Core World citizens.  The Dole
allows them to survive with some luxuries such as in house entertainment, but
not much else.  Citizens who wish to improve their lot compete for the
jobs that are available.

Donut, The:  Massive century
long engineering project, an enormous space station in orbit around the
Supersystem central black hole, using the swirling gravitational energy of a
sixty solar mass charged hole to generate wormholes.

Exploration Command: 
Subdivision of the Fleet tasked with exploring new worlds, making scientific
discoveries, and expanding the Empire into unexplored space.

Fleet, The.  Term of respect
an endearment for the naval forces of the New Terran Empire, a force which has
never lost a war, and is responsible for guarding the people of the Empire.

Frontier Worlds:  Class
IV.  8,462 planets in 8,147 systems, with a combined population of 6.9
billion citizens.

Gravitons:  Messenger
particles of gravity, detectable in all levels of space, including subspace and
hyperspace. The manipulation of gravitons is responsible for artificial gravity
and the use of hyperspace and subspace.  Gravitons can be tracked through
all dimensions of hyper.

IIA:  Imperial Intelligence
Service.  Imperial Security Service responsible for intelligence gathering
beyond the boundaries of the Empire.  By Imperial decree they are allowed
some investigative powers within the Empire, mostly those involving threats to
the government.

IIB:  Imperial Investigation
Bureau.  Imperial Security Service responsible for counterintelligence and
criminal investigation within the boundaries of the Empire.

Imperial Alien Systems:  7
aboriginal systems with 3.2 billion beings.  Ten alien protectorates of 89
systems, 262 billion aliens.

Implants:  Electronic
devices attached by nanotech to the brains of Imperial citizens, allowing them
to contact com and data services, as well as emergency services.  Range
from basic to Governmental that allow access to classified databases and vital
command and control services.  By Imperial Privacy Laws the tracking
feature of implants can be disabled by citizens concerned about being
monitored.  Convicted criminals have this feature removed.

House of Commons:  Second
House of Parliament, made up of elected members of the common people, based on
the population of the planets of the Empire.  2,647 total members. 
All appropriations and infrastructure bills originate in this house.

House of Lords:  First House
of Parliament, made up of hereditarily appointed nobles, as well as high
ranking members of the major churches of the Empire.  961
members.   All military bills, intelligence bills, and treaties
originate from this house.  Prime Minister comes from the Lords.

House of Scholars:  Third
House of Parliament, made up by appointed and elected members of scientists and
academics.  Most members are from first tier Universities, with a small
number appointed by the Lords and the Emperor.  400 members.  All
science, technology, medical and educational bills originate in this house.

Hyper Barrier:  Effect of
gravity wells on objects traveling through hyper.  Vessels striking the
barrier are translated out of hyperspace catastrophically.  The radius of
the barrier depends on the mass of the object generating it, black hole, star,
planet or smaller object. For a black hole the barrier can be thirty light
hours or more from the center mass.  For a planetoid it might be light
seconds.   The higher the dimension of hyper the further out its
barrier.  Star systems typically have a hyper I barrier of from three to
five light hours, depending on the mass.

Hyperdetection:  Ability of spaceships,
particularly warships, to detect other ships moving in hyper.  The larger
the ship and the higher the level of hyper, the longer the range another vessel
can be detected at.  Extreme range of a battleship sized vessel moving in
VII is up to seven light years.  Translations also send out a hyper signal
well beyond that of traveling ships,

Hyperdrive: Graviton projection
device capable of opening holes in the dimensions leading from normal to
hyperspace.  Also projects a graviton field around the ship while it is in
hyperspace, protecting the crew and vessel from the effects of that
space.  Each succeeding dimension takes 4.2 times the power to open and
remain in than the one below it.

Hyperspace:  Upper
dimensions of the Universe, corresponding to the same space time coordinates of
the visible Universe, through a nesting of graduated smaller dimensions. 
Allows ships to travel at below the light speed limit and still traverse normal
space at faster than light speeds.  Hyperspace is a realm of energies and
particles unknown in normal space, and is in fact inimical to normal
matter.  Hyperspace does not exist within the moderate gravity wells of
heavy objects.

Hyper I:  9.11 to 1 ratio,
.9 c pseudo speed 8.2 light.

Hyper II: 40.9 to 1 ratio, .9 c pseudo
speed 36.8 light.

Hyper III: 163.44 to 1 ratio, .9
c pseudo speed 147 light.

Hyper IV: 654.2 to 1 ratio, .9 c
pseudo speed 588.78 light.

Hyper V: 2,616.9 to 1 ratio, .9 c
pseudo speed 2355.2 light.

Hyper VI: 10,467.6 to 1 ratio, .9
c pseudo speed 9,420.8 light.

Hyper VII: 41, 870.4 to 1 ratio,
.9 c pseudo speed 37,683.36 light.  .95 c pseudo speed 39,776.9 light.

Hyper VIII: 167,481.6 to 1
ratio.  Only electromagnetic signals can be transmitted through VIII, and
only for a very limited range.

Inertial Compensators: 
Devices, normally paired with grabber units, utilizing superiron to convert
inertia to heat, then using the properties of superlead to project the heat
into space.  Inertial compensators allow ships to pull high gee loads, while
giving off enormous amounts of heat, making them as visible as small stars to
the enemy.

Inertialess Fighter:  1,500
ton attack fighter that uses a negative matter warp bubble that reduces inertia
essentially to nothing, allowing extreme acceleration and the ability to attain
velocities faster than the speed of light.  There are two weaknesses to
the process.  The fighters are totally cut off from the Universe and
cannot see where they are going, and the craft must leave the bubble at the
same velocity as when they entered or they will suffer an inertia rebound.

Jewel:  Capital planet of
the Empire, based in the Home system and in a mutual orbit with the terraformed
planet New Terra and the moon Ariel.  Home to twenty billion citizens.

Klassekian:  Alien species
inhabited a planet in extra-Imperial space.  Klassekians are born in
litters of from six to twelve siblings, all interconnected through quantum
matter in their brains.  His connection allows them to transfer
information instantaneously across any distance and through all known
dimensions.

Mag Weapons:  Weapons from
civilian hand to vehicle mounted cannons which fire a solid or explosive
projectiles through a magnetic tube that accelerates them to the desired
velocity.  For hand weapons this is in the one thousand to five thousand
meter per second range.  Tank cannon can fire rounds at up to a thousand
kilometers a second.

Nanotech:  Ubiquitous
technology used in almost every industrial and operational aspect of the
Empire.  Nanites process raw materials, construct alloys and fibers at the
atomic level, and weld and join larger constructs.  All citizens have a
multitude of nanites in their bodies, making them immune to almost any
conceivable biological contagion, as well as healing minor injuries and allowing
the digestion and utilization of native foods that would otherwise not provide
any nutrition.

Negative Matter:  The exact
opposite of matter, and not found in our Galaxy.  Made by an industrial
process that is very energy intensive.  Negative matter repels itself and
matter, and is capable of generating antigravity.  Negative matter cancels
an equal amount of regular matter in a very unspectacular disappearance. 
Negative matter is necessary for the maintenance of wormhole gates.

Particle Beams:  Streams of
high energy protons or antiprotons.  Infantry and hand weapons project up
to a gram of matter at low relativistic speeds.  Heavy infantry and ship
borne weapons project matter at much higher speeds.  Protons strike
targets with high kinetic energy that translates into force and heat. 
Antiprotons explode on contact with matter.

Secret Service:  Imperial
Security Service responsible for the protection of the Imperial Family and
members of Parliament.

Special Ops:  Army Rangers,
Naval Commandos and Marines Recon operatives, biologically augmented and
trained to fight without the use of armor or electronic equipment. 
Augmentation includes the removal of all human scent emitting glands. 
This allows them to escape the detection of most high tech sensors, and strike
from the shadows.

Sonics:  Stun weapons that
act on the nervous system of the target, disrupting its actions and in most
cases dropping it into unconsciousness.  Civilian self-defense weapons
come equipped with a transmitter to alert local police to the use of the
weapon, though this has often been bypassed by criminals.

Subspace:  A single
dimension separate from hyperspace, with correspondence to normal space
coordinates, and with a 12.47:1 normal space to subspace ratio.  At .90 c
within subspace pseudo speed is 11.22 light speed.  Subspace is not
inimical to matter, and though energy is needed to enter and exit, none is
needed to remain.

Subspace Com:  Unit capable
of sending vid through subspace at 12.47 light speed.  Only useful in
normal space, though not within the close gravity wells of stars and planets.

Supermetals:  Artificially
produced high numbered elements that take advantage of an island of stability
in the periodic table.  Produced in enormous industrial plants that
utilize the entire surface of frozen moons and small planets, using the
temperature differential to cool the high temp nuclear furnaces. 
Superiron, superlead and superplatinum are the three metals produced, with
super platinum both the most useful and most difficult to make.