The Slaver Wars: Galactic Conflict (27 page)

-

Admiral Sheen
was sitting near the front of the large assembly hall at the Fleet Academy on the Moon. After much debate, it was decided the Fleet Academy was where the
wedding of the century would be held. Amanda looked around, seeing all the
dignitaries including several ambassadors from their allies. Even the Alton ambassador, Tureen, was in attendance.

“Quite a
crowd,” Richard said from her side. He too was amazed at all the people in
attendance. Media crews were not visible, though he knew that equipment placed strategically
around the large assembly hall would be transmitting the ceremony to all of the
Federation worlds. Thanks to Alton FTL transmission technology, the entire
Federation would see the ceremony within minutes of it occurring.

“There are a
lot of people here,” spoke Amanda, wondering how Kelsey and Jeremy felt about
their wedding being made into such a big spectacle.

“The hall
holds ten thousand cadets normally,” Richard replied. “From what I can see, not
a single seat is empty.”

The lights
suddenly dimmed, and a door at the rear of the stage opened. Admiral Telleck,
Jeremy, and Kevin stepped through to take their designated positions. Admiral Telleck
stepped behind the podium and motioned for everyone to stand. As everyone stood,
the familiar sounds of the customary wedding song filled the assembly hall.

Amanda looked
toward the back entrance and the door slowly opened. Kelsey stepped through in
a resplendent white wedding gown followed by Katie and Angela, her maids of
honor.

“She looks
beautiful,” Richard whispered quietly so just Amanda could hear.

“She is
beautiful,” replied Amanda, noticing that Kelsey had allowed her blonde hair to
grow longer for the wedding. Amanda felt a warm feeling inside knowing that
these two young people deserved one another.

-

Kelsey walked
slowly, keeping her head up and her dark blue eyes focused on Jeremy. She saw
with surprise that Admiral Telleck was standing at the podium. She knew the
admiral being here would mean a lot to Jeremy. Her pulse was racing and she was
trying her best not to look nervous. It was hard to stay calm knowing that ten
thousand pairs of eyes in the assembly hall were all focused on her.

A few moments later,
Kelsey was standing on the stage with Jeremy. He reached out and took her
hands, and Admiral Telleck began the ceremony. Jeremy and Kelsey had written
their own vows and Kelsey could hear Katie and Angela sobbing quietly as Jeremy
and she spoke them aloud. The only thing missing was Kelsey and Jeremy’s
parents. In the back of her mind, Kelsey was certain that, though they couldn’t
be seen, they were here in the assembly hall watching. She knew both sets of
their parents would be quite happy with them getting married.

The ceremony
was plain and simple and it seemed like only a few minutes had passed until Admiral
Telleck pronounced them husband and wife. Jeremy tilted her head up and kissed her.
They turned around and as they did so, everyone in the assembly hall stood and
began clapping.

“We have one
week for a honeymoon,” Jeremy said quietly as he smiled at everyone. He nodded
at President Kincaid and Governor Malleck, who were sitting on the front row.

“The beach
resort on New Tellus will be just perfect,” Kelsey spoke as she continued to
smile at everyone. “I'm sure they are well stocked up on those fruit drinks you
like so well.”

-

Amanda and
Richard watched the happy couple leave the assembly hall, recalling their own
wedding. She knew that for the next few days, Kelsey and Jeremy would be
extremely happy, and then it would be time for them to return to their Fleet
duties. At least for a while, they could be two normal people. She knew where
the two were going for their honeymoon and the Fleet had arranged it so they
would have a semblance of privacy. No media people would be allowed on the
resort. There were also several security people that had been assigned to
ensure that the two were not bothered. The security detail would be disguised
as another married couple so as not to draw attention. Jeremy and Kelsey would
never know they were there.

“I want to
speak to Admiral Telleck before he gets away,” Amanda said as the crowd began to
file out and go to the large, lavish reception that was planned.

“You could
always invite him up to see your new battleship,” Richard suggested. He knew
that Amanda was excited about her new flagship.

Amanda grinned
back and said. “You know, I just might do that.”

The WarStorm
was docked to the large shipyard that orbited the Moon. They'd taken a shuttle
down to the Fleet Academy so they could attend the ceremony. Amanda had been
extremely surprised at how well the new ship handled. The most difficult thing
had been putting a crew together. Only a few had survived the destruction of
the old WarStorm and most of those survivors had volunteered to become part of
the new crew. Amanda still found herself looking for familiar faces in the Command Center, but most of the ones she saw were new to her.

The
battlecruiser WarStorm had been destroyed when Commander Samantha Evans had
used the heavily damaged ship to ram an AI sphere, annihilating both in the
process. The only Command Center officers to survive were Lieutenant Benjamin
Stalls and Lieutenant Angela Trask. Both had volunteered to serve on the new
battleship.

“We'd better
get to the reception,” Richard suggested. “We need to give our regards to the
happy couple.”

Amanda nodded
as they began moving toward the center aisle.

-

A few hours
later, President Kincaid was in the commandant’s office of the Fleet Academy meeting with Fleet Admiral Johnson, Governor Malleck, and Admiral Telleck.

“Do you think
attacking the Hocklyn ship construction facility is wise?” asked Kincaid,
worriedly. The Federation had almost returned to normal since the Hocklyns and
the AIs had been driven from New Tellus.

“I don’t think
we have any choice,” Admiral Telleck responded with a grim look upon his face.
“We must hit them before they finish updating their entire fleet. As it is,
they've probably updated hundreds if not several thousand of their warships
already.”

“Will First
Fleet and your fleet be enough?” asked Kincaid, knowing that once Fleet Admiral
Streth made up his mind he was not going to be able to change it. He'd already
learned that about the Fleet Admiral from the old Human Federation of Worlds.

“It should
be,” responded Telleck, letting out a sharp breath. “This will be a hit and run
raid; we’re not trying to destroy the system or keep control of it. We just
want to jump in, smash their shipyards, and get out.”

“What type of
losses is Fleet Admiral Streth expecting?”

“It depends on
how many AI ships are present,” Telleck responded. “We'll jump several of our
new long-range stealth scouts into the outer periphery of the system to take
scans before we attack. It can always be called off if the opposition is too
strong.”

“How long will
it take the fleets to get to Kenward Seven?” Kincaid asked. He knew from the intelligence
briefings that system was deep within the Hocklyn Slave Empire. No Federation
ship had ever traveled that far into Hocklyn controlled space.

“A little over
four weeks with the new systems the Altons have helped us to install in our
ships. Our drives now have longer jump ranges and the drive cores will only
need a one hour cool down time between jumps.”

“How many Alton ships are going with you?” Kincaid asked. He knew the more powerful Alton ships could be the key to victory.

“Twenty,” answered
Telleck, promptly. “We have forty at our disposal and half of them will be remaining
in the Carethian system to help in its defense if it becomes necessary.”

President Kincaid
looked over at Fleet Admiral Johnson and Governor Malleck. “Do either of you
see a problem with this attack plan?”

“No,” Fleet Admiral
Johnson replied. “Both First Fleet and Admiral Telleck’s Fleet have been
heavily reinforced. This is a prime target and we should take this opportunity
to destroy it if we can. We don’t know how much longer our weapons advantage
will continue.”

“I agree,”
Governor Malleck responded. “Ceres has a few more ships that'll be returning
with Admiral Telleck. I think we should take this opportunity to hit the Hocklyns
and hit them hard.”

“Very well,” replied
President Kincaid, leaning back in his chair and looking at the others.
“Consider the plan a go. I won’t speak to the Federation Senate about it until after
the operation has been launched.” Kincaid didn’t want to hear Senator Fulbright
griping about the danger the two fleets would be in and how it might endanger
the Federation if Fleet Admiral Streth were killed.

-

Admiral
Telleck and Fleet Admiral Johnson were standing in front of the large granite
obelisk upon the high ridge above the Fleet Academy. A short inscription carved
into its surface read, “From this site, men from the planet Earth first gazed
upon the Avenger. This discovery sent the Human race to the stars.”

“I try to come
here every time I come to the Fleet Academy,” Karla said respectfully as she gazed
at the ten-meter tall obelisk. “It helps to remind me where all of this
started.”

“Admiral Jason
Strong and Greg Johnson,” Glenn responded with a nod of his head. “They helped
to found the Federation, and if we win this war with the Hocklyns and the AIs
it will be because of them that the Human race survived.” Glenn knew that Greg
Johnson was Karla’s distant relative and Katie’s father.

“Jeremy and
Katie have some big shoes to fill,” commented Karla, looking over at Glenn.

“They’re
living up to their expectations,” Glenn replied as he turned to gaze down at
the sprawling Fleet Academy. “They've done everything expected of them and
more. I suspect their parents would be very proud.”

The academy
filled much of the crater with buildings that towered over thirty stories high.
Yearly, it provided over one thousand new officers to the fleet and an
additional five thousand trained fleet personnel. A large dome protected by an
atmospheric energy shield allowed the academy and the surrounding area to have an
Earth type atmosphere. Even the gravity had been adjusted to Earth normal.

“It was good
for Jeremy and Kelsey to get married today,” Karla said in a soft voice.

Glenn reached
over and took Karla’s hand. “Life must go on even in war,” he spoke. “Their marriage
and commitment to one another as well as to this war will be good for the
Federation.”

“We should be
getting back,” Karla said, wishing they could stay at the monolith longer. It
was so seldom that she and Glenn ever had any alone time together. “Ambassador
Tureen is waiting and he's brought along several Alton scientists that want to
speak with us.”

“I wonder what
that’s about?”

“Only one way
to find out,” Karla said, releasing his hand and starting back down the wide
stairs that led down to the academy.

-

An hour later,
they were inside a conference room with Ambassador Tureen and two other Altons.
Karla was surprised to see President Kincaid come in through the door.

“This must be
important,” Karla said as everyone sat down.

“It is,”
President Kincaid spoke in a grave voice. “I will have Ambassador Tureen
explain the purpose of this meeting.”

The tall white
haired Alton ambassador stood up and looked over at Admiral Telleck and Fleet
Admiral Johnson. “As you know there have been rumors that the AIs are building
something next to the large black hole at the center of our galaxy.” His eyes
gazed piercingly at the two fleet officers. “What you don’t know is that nearly
twenty years ago one of our exploration cruisers made it to the galactic center
and took long-range scans of what the AIs are building.”

“What?” Karla
interrupted her eyes growing wide as she leaned back in astonishment. “Why were
we not told of this before?”

“We are still
analyzing the data,” Tureen explained calmly. “That is why I've brought two of our
scientists with me today.” Gesturing to the other two seated Altons, Tureen
continued. “This is Garan Mikow and Tanith Leeth, who've been working on the
project. I will let Garan explain what our exploratory vessel found.”

Garan stood up
and looked over at the Humans. “The ship DeepStar spent nearly three days
scanning the constructs it found at the black hole. It had to leave when
several AI spheres jumped into the area. It was thought they might have
detected the ship’s sensor scans and at the time we didn’t want them to know
that any Altons still survived.”

“What did you
find?” Admiral Telleck asked with growing curiosity. He had a feeling he wasn’t
going to like the answer.

“This,” spoke
Garan as he walked over to a holo projection table and inserted a computer
flash drive.

Instantly, a
massive structure appeared. In the background, the nothingness of the black
hole was evident. Everyone in the room drew in sharp breaths as they realized
the immensity of the structure.

“How big is
that?” President Kincaid asked his eyes focusing intently on the holo
projection. There were several AI spheres close to it and they seemed very
small in comparison.

“It’s over one
hundred kilometers in diameter,” Garan explained, “And this isn’t the only one.
We estimate there are over one thousand of these massive structures in orbit around
the black hole.”

“Over a
thousand!” Karla exclaimed her eyes widening in shock. “What are they for?”

“We’re not
quite sure,” Garan confessed. “However, Tanith is one of our leading theoretical
physicists and she has some ideas.” Garan returned to his seat, nodding at
Tanith to take over.

Tanith looked
at the hologram for a moment and then turned her attention back to the others.
“We've studied the data gathered from the sensor readings of the DeepStar for
years,” she began. “It's only been recently that we have begun to comprehend
what the AIs may be up to.”