The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four) (10 page)

“I know,” replied
the Fleet Admiral, letting out a deep breath. We can only hope that it’s
enough.”

-

Jeremy,
Kelsey, Angela, and Kevin had all been ordered to report to the heavy strike
cruiser Avenger. It was berthed in bay twenty-one on Ceres, along with two
other modern strike cruisers.

“Now those are
ships!” Kevin said excitedly as he looked at the 1,000-meter ships in awe.

“The Avenger,”
Kelsey spoke affectionately, her deep blue eyes focusing on the strike cruiser
closest to them. Her eyes took on a thoughtful look. “I wonder if that ship was
named after the light cruiser Avenger that crashed on the Moon?”

“We can ask
her commanding officer when we report in,” responded Jeremy anxious to go aboard
the ship.

He was very
familiar with the old Avenger as he had been raised on board her. He had been
very disappointed to learn while they were on the Moon, that the Avenger was
now used only as a museum. Jeremy had come to know Ariel very well after they
had returned from the New Horizon mission. He had been very sad to learn that
the AI was no longer functioning. It was like losing a good friend.

Jeremy gazed
thoughtfully at the heavy strike cruiser, wondering what awaited them. He had
served six years aboard several light cruisers after the New Horizon incident
and had been promoted to the rank of executive officer on his final posting. A
light cruiser was not nearly as large or as powerful as this warship.

“Let’s report
in,” suggested Kevin, pointing toward the ramp that led into the large open
hatch on the side of the ship. “I’m getting hungry!”

“You’re always
hungry,” admonished Angela with a chuckle, shaking her head. “I don’t see how
you stay so lean with as much as you eat.”

“High
metabolism,” responded Kevin, patting his stomach. “I hope they serve good
hamburgers on this ship.”

The others all
laughed and headed toward the ramp. At least they were all four still together.

A few minutes later,
the four of them had made their way into the ship and reported to the officer
on duty. They were told to report to the Command Center for their assignments.
As they turned to leave, they failed to notice the slight smile that appeared on
the officer’s face.

“Why the Command Center?” asked Kelsey, feeling confused. Normally the ship’s commanding officer
would meet new crewmembers in his on board office, if at all. The executive officer
or another ship officer handled most of the crew assignments.

“I guess we’ll
find out when we get there,” Jeremy answered. He too wondered why they were
reporting to the Command Center.

Nearly thirty
minutes later, they made it to the ship’s Command Center. They had heard these
new ships had rapid transit tubes inside so the crew could get to their
stations much quicker. However, they were hesitant to try the new tubes without
some additional explanation about their function.

“Major Jeremy
Strong, reporting for duty,” Jeremy informed the two marines standing at the
open hatch.

“Allow them to
enter,” a strangely familiar woman’s voice spoke from inside.

The four
looked at each other and then stepped inside the Command Center, pausing in astonishment.
The Command Center was twice the size as the ones Jeremy had served in aboard
the light cruisers. Crewmembers were busily going about their jobs, and all the
stations were manned. But what drew Jeremy and the other’s attention was what
was on the main viewscreen.

“Ariel!”
Jeremy blurted out in incredulity, staring at the dark headed AI that was
watching them with a pleased smile. “What are you doing here?” He had never
expected to see the AI again. For a moment, he almost felt as if he was back home
in the old Avenger.

“She’s the AI
for this ship,” another strangely and almost haunting voice spoke from behind
Jeremy. Turning slowly, Jeremy saw a strikingly beautiful young blonde with
green eyes stand up from where she had been working on the main computer
console.

“Katie?”
Jeremy spoke in a stunned voice, his eyes growing wide in shock.

“It can’t be,”
added Kelsey, looking intently at the young blonde lieutenant who was coming
toward them. “Katie was only twenty-one when we went into cryosleep and still
attending the university here on Ceres.”

“True,” the
young woman replied, smiling. “But I waited and went into cryosleep six years
after you four did. I am now twenty-seven.”

“Why haven’t
we seen you before this?” Angela asked curiously, finding it hard to believe
she was actually talking to Katie. “We have been awake for nearly four weeks.”
Katie and she had become quite close after the New Horizon incident.

“After you
four went into cryosleep, I continued my work with computers on Ceres. I
discovered that Ariel and Clarissa’s programs were beginning to fail. They had
not been designed to function for such an extended period of time.”

“What did you
do?” asked Kevin, suspiciously. When it came to computers, Katie was capable of
almost anything.

“I developed a
computer memory crystal which could handle an AI’s memories. We transferred
Ariel and Clarissa’s memories, or consciousness, to the new crystals, and they
went into cryosleep with me.”

“With you! Why?”
asked Kelsey not understanding. Why not just install them in another ship?

“Ariel wanted to
be back in a warship to fight the Hocklyns, and Clarissa didn’t want to be left
behind,” explained Katie, recalling all the hard work and long hours she had
put in trying to save the two AIs. “They were and still are the only two
working AIs the Federation has.”

“Why haven’t
they built more?” Angela asked, her eyes going back and forth between Katie and
the AI on the viewscreen. “Surely Federation science is now at the point they
could easily do so.”

“Because of
the AIs,” Katie replied in a concerned voice. “No one knows how a Federation AI
will respond when it comes into contact with the AI’s from the center of our
galaxy. There is some concern that the AI’s from the galactic center could
override the programming in our AIs and turn them against us. For that reason,
the Federation has focused on better and more powerful computers. Some of the
computers almost seem like AIs, but they are not.”

“If Ariel is
the AI on board this Avenger, then where is Clarissa?” Jeremy asked. He glanced
at the main viewscreen and saw that Ariel was watching them very intently. It
was strangely comforting to see her there.

“She’s aboard
the new StarStrike,” answered Katie pleased that they had elected to put Clarissa
on Admiral Streth’s new flagship. It showed that the Fleet Admiral still had
confidence in the AIs. “Clarissa and Ariel have worked with humans for such a
long time that I don’t believe their programming can be corrupted, but just in
case I have installed some special firewalls that should be able to protect
them.”

“Where is the
commanding officer?” Jeremy asked Katie. He looked around not seeing anyone ranked
higher than a lieutenant to report to.

Katie only
smiled and nodded toward someone standing behind Jeremy.

Jeremy turned
and instantly came to attention. “Admiral in the Command Center!” he called
out. Instantly everyone stood and snapped to attention.

“At ease, and
continue,” responded Admiral Karla Johnson pleased with Major Strong’s quick
response.

“Major Strong,
we seem to have a slight problem with this ship,” she began with a mystifying
smile as she walked over to stand in front of the five.

“A problem?” spoke
Jeremy, hesitantly. “What type of problem?”

“This ship is
going to be assigned to Admiral Streth’s fleet in the coming campaign. It doesn’t
seem to have a commanding officer, and our friendly AI here is insisting that
she will only accept one individual as her commander.”

Jeremy felt
his heart start to beat faster. He had become good friends with Ariel after the
New Horizon incident and had spent a lot of time in her presence. He had a suspicion
what the admiral was about to say. He recalled how Ariel had named his father
as her commander.

“Major Strong,
effective as of today you have been promoted to the position of Commanding Officer
of the heavy strike cruiser Avenger.”

Kelsey,
Angela, and Kevin could only stare and listen in amazement. None of them had
expected something like this when they came aboard. Katie just smiled, knowing
already who Ariel had wanted as her commanding officer. There was no doubt in
Katie’s mind that the AI had made a good decision, and it would be great for
all of them to be back together again.

“I’m not
qualified,” stuttered Jeremy, finding it difficult to accept what the admiral
was offering him. He wanted the command, but he knew it shouldn’t be his. There
were bound to be officers on the ship that were more qualified.

“Nonsense,” replied
Admiral Johnson with a smile. “My great ancestor and your father discovered the
Avenger on the Moon over three hundred years ago. How could you be anything but
a commander in the coming war? After all, Admiral Streth has been in cryosleep
even longer and I gave him an entire war fleet.”

“Yes, Admiral,”
spoke Jeremy not sure what else to say.

“You’ve served
as an executive officer on a light cruiser for several years,” Admiral Johnson
continued. She had read the files of all five of these young officers
carefully. “Colonel Maylen, who will be reporting for duty tomorrow, will serve
as your executive officer. She is extremely familiar with the specifications
and capabilities of a heavy strike cruiser. If you have any questions, she will
answer them.”

“I look
forward to meeting the colonel,” Jeremy replied, his eyes focusing on the
admiral. He could feel his heart beating faster as he realized he was going to
be the Avenger’s commander.

“As for you
other three, including Lieutenant Katie Johnson, you will be assigned to the Command Cent er as First Watch officers.”

“Yes, Admiral!”
they all spoke in unison.

The admiral’s
eyes softened as she looked at them. “All five of you represent a lot of
Federation history. You were all on the New Horizon, and some of your parents
were very important in creating the new Federation as we know it today. There
is no doubt in my mind that you will continue that tradition on this ship. Make
us proud.”

“Yes,
Admiral,” all five responded.

“The ship is
yours, Commander,” spoke Admiral Johnson, saluting Jeremy.

Karla turned
and left the Command Center, heading toward a transit tube. She prayed that
nothing happened to those five, or six if you counted Ariel. Losing them and
the history they represented would be almost as bad as losing Admiral Streth; it
would be a hard blow to the Federation.

Jeremy watched
the admiral leave and then slowly made his way over to the command console. It
was nearly twice the size as the one in a light cruiser. He looked at it for a
moment, noticing there were two chairs instead of one. He sat down and saw a
mini-com lying on top of the console. Picking it up, he inserted it into his right
ear.

“Don’t worry,
Jeremy,” Ariel spoke in a pleasant and soft voice. “I will help you with everything;
no one else can hear what I am saying to you. Tell the others to go to their
stations and insert their mini-coms, and I will help them also. All but Katie,
she has already been working on the Avenger’s computer systems for over a week
and knows what to do.”

Jeremy passed
on the order to the other three and watched as they went to their stations. In
just a few short minutes, everyone was busy learning the differences that three
hundred years can make in a warship and its intricate systems. Fortunately,
they had Ariel, and she could work and speak to all of them simultaneously.
After an hour, Jeremy began to feel his confidence returning. Then the reality
set in. He was aboard a Federation heavy strike cruiser, and he was in command.
Letting out a deep breath, he looked back at the computer console where Katie
was sitting. So much had changed and Katie had certainly changed. Jeremy
wondered just what that might mean for the future.

Katie was
working on the computer system and thinking about what Admiral Johnson had
said. When the admiral had commented that her remote ancestor had been with
Jeremy’s father when the Avenger had been discovered, a shock had passed
through her. It had never occurred to her that she and Admiral Johnson might be
related. She allowed a smile to cover her face; it felt good to know she had
other family still around. She wondered how closely she and the admiral were
related. Perhaps someday she would ask her.

-

In Hocklyn
space, Commodore Resmunt looked at the latest reports from the escort cruisers that
were out on exploration missions. His large, dark eyes grew wider when he saw
that two of them were missing. Getting up, he made his way over to the large
star map hanging on the wall, which depicted this section of the galaxy. It
took him only a few moments to plot the general area where the two ships had
vanished. He stepped back and thought for a moment. The two escort cruisers had
disappeared in an area that had not been previously explored.

Activating his
com system, he sent out orders for War Leaders Bisth and Sangeth to report to
his office. Walking over to the large window, he looked out over the busy
spaceport. Shuttles and small ships were coming and going constantly. From the
last report, there were over ten thousand slaves working on the spaceport and
the surrounding support facilities. In another six weeks, his forward fleet bases
would be completed.

Looking upward
toward space, he wondered if he should set up some type of orbital defenses.
Only the home worlds had them, but he was facing a new and possibly dangerous
situation. He was also a long way from major military support if he were to
need it. The decision wasn’t hard to make; once the shipyard was completed, he
would begin building some basic defense satellites.