The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel (13 page)

“Oh, no,” said
Kevin, rolling his eyes. “Why do I suspect this is going to be expensive?”

“Don’t worry
about it,” Katie said grinning. “This is going to be fun!”

Jeremy
listened to his wife and friends discuss the shower. Even as they talked, his
mind was on Kazak as he tried to figure out the Originator AI’s motives. If his
wife was going to be on board the
Dominator
, he wanted to ensure she was
safe. The idea of Kelsey being the commander of the
Dominator
made
Jeremy feel extremely uneasy. While he didn’t want to worry the others, he was
certain the Originator AI was up to something.

-

Several days
passed and the
Avenger
was in orbit around Borton. Borton was the fourth
planet of the Gaia System. The icy planet was twenty-six thousand kilometers in
diameter with a rotation period of forty-six hours. The AIs had a large number
of mining operations on the planet as well as four massive shipyards in orbit.
The master Codex, used to program all AIs, was also on the planet. Jeremy had
gone over to the one-thousand-meter in diameter AI Command Station, which
controlled all the operations around Borton and upon the planet to visit with
the Command AI.

“Welcome,
Fleet Admiral Strong,” the Command AI spoke in a voice that sounded nearly
Human. “I am pleased to see you have taken time from your busy schedule to come
to Borton.”

“I am pleased
to be here,” Jeremy replied. They were in the Command Center of the station.
Looking around, Jeremy saw most of the control consoles were being operated by
AIs though three Altons and two Human officers were also present.

It took a
person time to get used to the presence of the AIs. Their bodies were cubicle
for the most part, though Jeremy had seen some shaped much differently. They
moved about on antigravity repellers and normally hovered about six inches off
the floor. They had four tentacles to manipulate objects, but Jeremy had seen
some AIs with just two tentacles and as many as six. Above their cubicle body
hovered a ball of glowing energy about the size of a basketball.

“We have increased
ship construction to three warspheres every five days,” the Command AI said
with the ball of energy glowing slightly brighter as it said those words.

Jeremy
suspected the variation in light intensity from the energy ball was due to
emotions felt by the AIs. “What’s our current status on warspheres?”

“Sixty spheres
left with Admiral Jackson,” the Command AI responded. It turned and pressed
several icons on a computer screen. Instantly, on one of the large viewscreens
a warsphere appeared.

“We have one
hundred and eighteen available for combat missions. At our current production
rate, we are building eighteen new warspheres each month.”

“What about
your facilities on Borton?” Jeremy knew the AIs had established some massive
mining and processing operations on the large icy planet.

The AI reached
forward with another tentacle and on one of the other viewscreens a massive
mining operation appeared. This particular mine was one Jeremy was familiar
with. It was on the side of a mountain and producing enough copper to meet the
needs of the entire fleet as well as civilian use on Gaia.

“What about the
production of new AIs?”

The AI turned
its cube to face Jeremy. “The Alton scientist Kurene is currently on board. We
are producing forty new AIs daily. You will be pleased to know each new AI is
interviewed and examined by an Alton computer specialist before it is released
for duty.”

Jeremy nodded.
“I would like to meet with Kurene, you, and ZED as soon as possible.”

“It will be
arranged,” the Command AI responded.

-

A few hours
later, Jeremy was on one of the new shipyards inspecting the construction
process for the new AI warspheres. Nearly the entire process was automated with
a few AIs constantly monitoring the operation. It still amazed Jeremy to see
warships being constructed so quickly. Daelthon had even adopted a few of the
AI construction methods for the new Gaia class battlecruisers he was building.
Jeremy allowed himself to smile over this. Daelthon preferred the programmable
spider robots used so prominently in the Federation for most construction
projects. Daelthon and his engineering team had become very adept at using the
robots for nearly every type of construction job imaginable.

As he watched
a huge sheet of hull armor was lowered down and placed into its designated spot
on the warsphere being constructed in the bay. Instantly, brilliant white
welding arcs appeared as the armor was secured permanently in place.

“Impressive,
isn’t it?” commented Arnil Sheel, one of the Alton construction engineers assigned
to the shipyard. Arnil was a female Alton slightly taller than Jeremy with
longer than normal white hair, which nearly touched her shoulders.

“A new warship
every forty hours,” Jeremy said softly. They were standing in an observation bay,
as the construction area was open to space.

Arnil nodded.
“The AIs are very efficient with their operations.”

Jeremy was
aware that even with the changes Daelthon had made to his construction bays, it
still took over six weeks to build a Gaia class battlecruiser. Fortunately, Daelthon
had three construction bays assigned to building the new ships. Eventually, the
warspheres and the new battlecruisers would be the backbone of Gaia’s space
fleet.

“You seem to
know a lot about ship construction,” commented Jeremy, looking over at the Alton. It was hard to determine an Alton’s age since they had enhanced life spans. He
guessed Arnil was well over fifty though she looked much younger.

“I worked in
ship construction back home,” admitted Arnil. “I was even involved in the construction
of the
Distant Horizon
.”

Jeremy looked
thoughtful and then spoke again. “I’m having a meeting with the Command AI and
a few others shortly. I would like you to attend. You may be able to answer
some questions I have about the Originator ship,
Dominator
.”

Arnil looked surprised
but nodded her head. “I’ll be there if you wish.”

Looking back
out the large observation window, Jeremy saw several energy projectors being
emplaced on the warsphere. It was hard to believe that in another day or two
the massive one-thousand-meter sphere would be ready for combat. Drawing in a
sharp breath, he turned and headed back toward the shipyard’s flight bay where
his shuttle was waiting. He had a few preparations to make before the meeting.
He would also send a message to the Command AI to have Arnil present.

-

Jeremy
returned to the
Avenger
and spent some time speaking with Ariel. What he
was about to do was a little risky but he felt it needed to be done. Katie and
Mikow were both on board the ship and would be going with him to the meeting.
Once he was satisfied he was ready, they boarded one of the
Avenger’s
small shuttles and flew over to the AI Command Station.

-

As they
entered the conference room where the meeting was going to be held, Katie
looked over at Jeremy. “Are you certain you want to do this? There’s a chance
Kazak might find out.”

“He won’t,”
Jeremy said as he opened the hatch and stepped inside.

Inside the
room, the Command AI, Kurene, ZED, and Arnil were waiting. Jeremy saw there was
a chair at the front of the table and he walked over to it and sat down, gesturing
for the others to do the same. The Command AI was at the other end of the table
waiting on Jeremy to speak. Nodding at Mikow, Jeremy watched as she placed a
small device on the table and activated it. Almost instantly Ariel appeared and
she quickly walked over to her customary spot to Jeremy’s left and slightly
behind him.

“Let’s get
this meeting started,” Jeremy began. “We’re here to discuss the Originator ship
Dominator
as well as its AI, Kazak.”

“I sense a problem,”
commented Kurene. She had known Jeremy long enough to know when something was
wrong. “What has he done?”

“Nothing yet,”
Jeremy answered. “He’s allowing us to put a crew on board the ship and agreed
to put it under my command.”

“That seems
reasonable,” Kurene commented. “I would think you would be overjoyed at that. I
don’t see a problem.”

Jeremy drew in
a sharp breath. “One of the conditions for placing the
Dominator
under
my command was if Kazak could choose his own commanding officer as well as the
science officer. From what we’ve been able to determine, he’s going to choose
my wife, Kelsey Strong, as the commander of the ship.”

“An
interesting choice,” commented the Command AI. “It is obvious the Originator AI
is ensuring its self-preservation as well as that of the ship.”

“There’s something
else,” Jeremy said. “Ever since the arrival of Kazak and the
Dominator
,
I’ve felt as if the AI has been keeping something back from us. Ariel, will you
please show everyone what you’ve discovered?”

Ariel stepped
forward and activated a viewscreen on the wall. “These are the schematics of
the
Dominator
.” Ariel carefully went through each level pointing out
many of the systems and subsystems of the powerful ship. When she was finished,
she paused and looked expectantly at Jeremy.

“Did anyone
notice anything?”

Arnil seemed
to hesitate and then she nodded her head. “There’s a compartment in the center
of the ship that’s not showing up on the schematics.”

“We’ve run
some studies and the area comprises approximately twelve hundred cubic meters,”
confirmed Jeremy. “The schematics we have are designed to mask the presence of
that compartment.”

“Is there any possibility
it was just accidently left out?” asked Kurene. “Maybe it was added at a later
date and these schematics haven’t been updated.”

“No,” answered
Ariel, shaking her head. “The schematics have been carefully manipulated to
make it seem as if the compartment isn’t there.”

Arnil pursed
her lips and then spoke again. “That compartment, if it exists, would be in the
most heavily protected part of the ship. It wouldn’t be there if it didn’t
contain something extremely valuable. From the design of the vessel, even if
the ship was to be destroyed that compartment might very well survive.”

Jeremy looked
over at Mikow and Kurene. The two Altons were the most brilliant computer and
AI specialists he knew, even better than Katie. “If Kazak is hiding this from
us, what does it tell us about him?”

“It’s hard to say
without knowing the purpose of that compartment,” Kurene said after a moment.
“Whatever is in there is highly important to the AI. His very programming may
be forcing him to protect that compartment and keep it secret.”

“Is Kazak a
threat?”

“No,” Mikow
said, her eyes narrowing. “At least not as long as we don’t interfere with that
compartment. If we do, then all bets are off.”

“Does anyone
else have any ideas?” One of the reasons Jeremy was holding this meeting was because
if anyone could figure out what was going on with Kazak, it would be this group.
Out here at Borton, there was no way the Originator AI would suspect what was
going on.

The energy
ball above ZED’s head suddenly swelled up and a crackling noise was discernible.
“I may know what’s in the compartment,” ZED announced in his mechanical voice.

“What?” Jeremy
said, his eyes focusing intently on ZED. ZED was a science AI and normally
accompanied Kurene wherever she went. “What’s in there?”

“I don’t
believe all of the Originators are dead. I believe that compartment may be a
deep sleep or stasis chamber, and that’s where the missing crew from the
Dominator
is, at or at least part of the crew.”

Jeremy felt a
sudden cold chill run over him. He could feel his pulse racing. As he thought
over what ZED had just said, everything pointed to the AI being correct. There
were Originators still on the
Dominator
and Kazak was keeping them
hidden! The question was how had they survived the pathogen that had wiped out
their race?

“Jeremy, what
are we going to do?” asked Katie, her green eyes showing fear. “Kelsey is going
to be on board that ship and so am I!”

“I don’t
know,” he replied. “I think for the time being we don’t say anything to anyone
outside of this room. We don’t know for sure there are Originators in that
compartment.”

“It explains a
lot if there are,” Kurene said, her eyes looking over at ZED. “It also means we
have to be very careful not to let Kazak know we suspect.”

“Kurene is
correct,” added ZED. “Kazak may be programmed to protect that compartment at
all costs.”

Jeremy felt as
if the world had just closed in on him. How was he going to deal with living
Originators? The weight on his shoulders had just gotten much heavier. The
other thing bothering him was why hadn’t Kazak already revived the crew? There
was something still missing, some aspect of the situation he was overlooking.
With a deep sigh, Jeremy knew he had to find out. The continued existence of
Gaia and possibly this entire galaxy depended on it.

Admiral
Jackson waited expectantly as the
Dauntless
dropped out of hyperspace
into the Ornellian home system. He didn’t know what to expect but he was prepared
for anything.

“All systems
are powering up,” reported Commander Sharon Blanton.

Jackson saw the viewscreen clear of static and begin showing views of space around the battleship.
Most of the screens showed stars but on a few screens, other ships of the fleet
were visible. Jackson was anxious to find out what had transpired on Ornellia
since the
Distant Horizon
had been here. He was hopeful many of the deep
underground bunkers had survived.

Suddenly alarms
began sounding on the sensor console as hostile red threat contacts began to
appear in the tactical display.

Activating his
ship-to-ship comm Jackson spoke. “All hands set Condition One throughout the
fleet. Stand by to fire weapons. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a
drill. Hostile forces have been detected.”

Immediately alarm klaxons began
to sound and red lights began to flash.

“Energy screen
is online and weapons are powering up,” reported Captain Dwight Lance from Tactical.

Admiral Jackson watched with calm
nerves as the Command Center around him buzzed with increased activity. “Lieutenant
Ortega, give me a status on those contacts. Also, turn off those alarms and
flashing lights.”

“Four Simulin battlecruisers
and ten escort cruisers,” the sensor operator answered. “There are also four
large cargo ships which most likely contain Conqueror Drones.”

“Crap!” said
Commander Blanton between clenched teeth. “They must be dropping more of those
damn things down on the planet.”

“That’s good
and bad,” Jackson said, cocking his eyebrow. “It means they’re facing stiff
resistance on the surface. However, it also means that shortly they’ll be aware
of our presence.”

“What are your
orders, Admiral?” asked Commander Blanton.

Jackson took a deep and determined breath. “We go in, eliminate the Simulin warships, and
then proceed to blow the hell out of every Conqueror Drone we can find on the
surface. That’s what we brought the battlecarriers for.” There were four
battlecarriers in the fleet and their main purpose in this mission was going to
be clearing the surface of the planet of the drones.

Jackson quickly contacted Admiral Bachal, who was in charge of twenty powerful Alton battleships and twenty Alton battlecruisers. He then contacted the AI in command of
the sixty AI warspheres, outlining his plan of attack. Overall, Jackson had one hundred and forty-nine ships under his command though fifteen of them weren’t
combat ships.

Moments later,
the fleet had formed up into a cone formation and was moving in toward
Ornellia. It was time to show the Simulins their conquest and occupation of the
Ornellian Empire had come to an end.

-

Simulin High
Commander Ganol gazed in shock at the tactical screen. The Organics and AIs
from the Fitula Nebula had returned.

“Numbers!” demanded
Ganol, glaring at the tactical screen and all the red icons rapidly closing
with his fleet. There had been no expectation of combat on this mission and as
a result, he only had a small force with him.

“One hundred
and forty-nine ships,” the sensor operator reported. “The majority are
warships.”

Ganlon was
quiet as he looked at his second in command who was consulting the ship’s
battle computer. He didn’t need the computer to know his fleet was doomed
unless they fled.

“Only a four percent
chance of victory,” Second Commander Balod said, turning to face Ganlon. “They
have the numbers.”

“The fleet
will advance and engage the enemy,” ordered Ganlon, knowing his duty as a
Simulin commander. If he withdrew without offering combat, he would be removed
from command and possibly executed. It was the Simulin way.

“Energy screen
is online and weapons are charged,” the tactical officer reported.

Ganlon looked
over at Balod. “Have the Conqueror Drones been deployed?”

Balod spoke
briefly over his comm and then turned back to the High Commander. “Yes, the
last were deployed only a few minutes ago.”

“Order the
drone ships to jump into hyperspace and return to base, and send an FTL message
to our nearest fleet informing them of the presence of the Fitula organics and
AIs.”

Balod looked concerned.
“There are no large fleets in this sector. Since the destruction of the Great
Sphere and the ships protecting it, our forces are spread too thin. Even our
expansion into new space has been curtailed. There is no one to come to our
assistance.”

Ganlon gazed
at Balod without saying another word. The Second Commander hurriedly turned
away and went to carry out his orders.

“There can be
none but Simulin,” High Commander Ganlon whispered to himself as his fleet
accelerated toward the enemy.

-

Admiral
Jackson had formed his fleet into a cone formation with the apex forward and
the battlecarriers and unarmed vessels trailing slightly behind where they
would be protected. The battlecarriers could provide additional protection for
the cargo ships and the hospital ship for a short time if necessary. Jackson was intent on making sure that wasn’t going to occur.

“All ships
report combat ready,” said Commander Blanton.

“Combat range
in twelve minutes,” added Lieutenant Ortega.

On the main
viewscreens, the images shifted to show more ships of the fleet. An AI
warsphere was visible as well as one of the large Alton battleships. Looking at
his crew, Admiral Jackson watched as they went efficiently about their jobs.
This was a well-trained group of officers and they were very adept at their
duties. On another screen, a seventeen-hundred-meter Simulin battlecruiser
appeared. It was bulbous in form with large metallic looking pylons stretching
out in front of it. There were six of the massive structures which extended two
hundred meters out from the main hull of the ship. Each ended in a sharp point
and from these powerful energy weapons could be fired. 

-

The two fleets
continued to close with the Simulins firing first with their powerful energy
cannons. On the four Simulin battlecruisers, the tips of the spires glowed
brightly as the energy weapons fired. The Alton battlecruiser
Starburst
bore the brunt of the attack. The ship’s energy shield glowed brightly and then
several beams penetrated, striking the top section of the ship. Multiple massive
explosions hurled glowing debris away from the vessel, leaving two deep craters
in the warship. Moments later a Simulin antimatter missile flashed through the
weakened energy screen, turning the
Starburst
into its namesake, a
glowing star.

-

“Alton battlecruiser
Starburst
is down,” reported Lieutenant Ortega in a shaken
voice. “Several energy beams penetrated her shield and a Simulin antimatter
missile detonated against the ship’s hull.”

“Return fire,”
ordered Commander Blanton evenly. Even though they had a much larger fleet, the
Simulin ships were still extremely dangerous, as the
Starburst
had just
learned.

“Firing,” reported
Captain Lance. “Setting weapons to continuous fire.”

-

From the
Dauntless
and the other ships of the fleet, a massive barrage of power beams, particle
beams, and energy beams flashed out toward the incoming Simulin fleet. Particle
beam fire slammed into the bow of a Simulin battlecruiser, setting off massive explosions
and shearing off three of the ship’s energy weapon spires. Power beams played
over the hull, carving deep glowing craters and opening up much of the ship to
space. In a sudden flash of light, the battlecruiser exploded.

The
strikecruiser
Liberty
suddenly found itself under heavy energy weapons
fire from four Simulin cruisers. Its shields flared up brightly and then three
Simulin energy beams penetrated. The top section of the ship exploded and
debris started drifting away. Secondary explosions began to rip through the
ship, opening up compartment after compartment. The ship seemed to disintegrate
as the stress on the ship’s structure became too much.

Another
Simulin battlecruiser was blown apart as particle beams and power beams weakened
the ship’s energy screen, allowing a Devastator Three missile to impact the
hull. The fifty-megaton explosion vaporized the ship, leaving only a few wisps
of glowing gas behind.

-

“Strikecruiser
Liberty
is down,” reported Lieutenant Ortega. “We’ve also taken out
three more of their support cruisers and another one of the battlecruisers.”

“Intensify the
attack,” ordered Admiral Jackson, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. “I don’t
want any of those warships escaping.”

On one of the
main viewscreens, Jackson saw a Simulin escort cruiser suddenly break in two as
numerous particle beams carved up the ship. The
Dauntless
abruptly shuddered
violently and the lights dimmed.

“Energy beam
hit to the hull at bulkhead eighteen compartment forty-seven,” damage control
reported. “The compartment is open to space and the surrounding area is being
evacuated.”

Jackson nodded. He knew he had probably just lost some crewmembers, but he was determined
to finish this battle and destroy every Simulin ship in the attacking fleet.

A sudden
bright explosion suddenly filled one of the viewscreens, causing it to dim to
darkness. “What was that?”

“Warsphere
WS-114 is down,” Ortega answered as he studied his sensors. “It suffered a
complete shield failure.”

-

High Commander
Ganlon grimaced as the restraining straps holding him to his command chair bit
deeply into his skin. The communications console suddenly exploded, sending a
spray of sparks across the Command Center. The communications officer screamed
in pain and collapsed to the deck.

Ganlon gripped
his command chair’s armrests as the ship was struck by intense weapons fire. He
could hear the shrieking sound of metal tearing and being ripped open to space.
It was a sound he had never heard before.

More energy
beams were penetrating the shields, rattling the ship with each hit. Additional
lights on the damage control console turned a glaring red.

Balod picked
himself up off the deck. His right arm was hanging limply at his side. Glancing
at a computer screen, he turned to face the High Commander as he tried to straighten
his uniform. “The battle computer says there is no chance for victory. There are
only three vessels of our fleet still surviving; our battlecruiser and two
support cruisers.”

High Commander
Ganlon blinked his eyes and looked around the smoke filled Command Center, taking stock of the situation. The ship suddenly shook violently and the damage
control board lit up with even more red lights. He had never heard of a battle
computer predicting a zero chance of a Simulin victory.

 “Multiple breaches
along the forward hull. We’re venting atmosphere and there are several fires
out of control.” The ship shook fiercely and then several more times in rapid
succession. “Secondary explosions,” the damage control officer said, looking
over toward the High Commander.

Taking a deep
breath, High Commander Ganlon unbuckled his restraining harness as it was
bruising his skin and making it difficult to breathe. Just as he stood up, the
deck heaved underneath him and he found himself flying through the air.
Struggling to stand he stumbled backward, coming up against his command chair.
Everywhere he looked he saw smoke, sparks, and fire. Nearly every light on the
damage control board was glowing red. Taking a deep breath, High Commander
Ganlon prepared to die. “There can be none but Simulin,” he said, facing his surviving
command crew.

“None but
Simulin,” they replied in unison as blinding light and heat suddenly swept through
the Command Center, annihilating everything and everyone in its path.

-

“Final Simulin
battlecruiser is down,” reported Lieutenant Ortega.

Admiral
Jackson breathed a sigh of relief. “What about their four drone carriers?”

“They escaped
into hyperspace,” Ortega replied.

“Very well. Commander
Blanton, take us into orbit around Ornellia. Let’s find out how many survivors
still exist on the planet.”

-

On Ornellia
Dax Matol was in the Control Center of a small bunker complex in the mountains.
For months they had hidden from the dangerous Conqueror Drones that roamed the
surface. Since the Humans had come and destroyed many of the drones, the
surviving bunkers had hunkered down and kept their existence a secret. Small
groups of soldiers were occasionally sent out to seek more survivors and take
them to caves or areas still deemed to be safe. Every day the soldiers found
fewer and fewer survivors.

“Anything new?”
asked Dax as he stepped into the Control Center. Dax was bipedal and stood
slightly shorter than a Human. His eyes were wide and narrow and his head was
nearly round. Two small ears were on the side of his the head and he was bald.
His skin color was a deep dark gray. Dax’s arms were very thin with three
fingers and a thumb on each hand.

“No, it’s the
same as yesterday,” answered Les Ketene, glancing over at Dax. “The sensors
picked up two Conqueror Drones on the far side of the mountain on one of the
roads, but they were headed back down toward Dorman.” Dorman was a small city
thirty kilometers away. It had escaped the Simulin nuclear strikes but the
drones had made short work of the population, slaughtering everyone including
women and children.

“Sir, I have a
number of large contacts going into orbit,” reported the Control Center’s sensor operator. They still had contact with a few surviving military satellites.