The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel (25 page)

As another
Simulin battlecruiser emerged from its vortex, four antimatter missiles met its
arrival. The ship was instantly annihilated, leaving only a few wisps of
glowing gas to mark its destruction.

For eighteen
seconds the deadly carnage continued as the Human, Alton, and Carethian
warships joined in, firing hundreds of missiles at the inbound Simulin vessels.
Then the Simulins shields came up and stabilized. The easy kills were over.

-

“Report!”
ordered Jeremy as he drew in a sharp breath.

“Forty-eight
Simulin battlecruisers have been destroyed as well as sixty-seven escort
cruisers,” answered Ariel. “We got all of them that were within fifteen hundred
kilometers of the
Dominator
.” She had been using the
Avenger’s
sensors to keep track of the destruction. “The Simulins should never have
emerged from hyperspace so close to our fleet.”

Jeremy let out
a huge sigh of relief. He had never expected to achieve such surprise against
the Simulins. It was evident they hadn’t been expecting the AI ships or the
other Federation ships to be waiting for them.

“Simulin ships
are opening fire,” warned Kevin as alarms sounded on his sensor console. Then
with a look of dismay, he added. “The two Carethian cruisers aren’t going to
make it back to the fleet.”

On a
viewscreen, a highly magnified view showed one of the now trapped Carethian
warships. Simulin energy beams were pummeling its energy shield and then a beam
penetrated, ripping a huge hole in the hull. The single beam was quickly
followed by others until multiple explosions began shaking the vessel. Moments
later it began to break apart. A brilliant flash of light indicated the arrival
of a Simulin antimatter missile.

“Both
Carethian cruisers are down,” reported Kevin grimly. “They never stood a
chance.”

“The Simulins
aren’t firing on our ships,” Commander Malen said in confusion. “Other than
those two Carethian ships no other vessel is reporting incoming fire.”

“Jeremy, the
Simulins are concentrating their fire on the
Dominator
,” Kevin said
worriedly as his sensors began picking up massive releases of energy where the
Dominator
was located. “They must be launching every antimatter missile in their tubes!”

“Put the
Dominator
on screen.” Jeremy knew the Originator ship had a powerful energy screen, but
just how powerful was it? It was now obvious what the Simulins’ plan was. They
were attempting to overload the
Dominator’s
energy screen to either
damage or destroy the ship.

On the screen
the
Dominator
appeared. The ship was hidden by the torrential releases
of antimatter energy pummeling the ship’s powerful energy screen. The center of
the screen looked like a raging inferno.

“All ships, hit
the Simulins with everything we have,” Jeremy ordered over the ship-to-ship
comm. “We need to take some of the pressure off the
Dominator
.” He was
greatly concerned. Even the
Dominator
might have difficulty resisting
such a deluge of destructive energy.

“Message from
the
Dominator
,” Lieutenant Lantz reported. “Energy-siphoning field has
been activated. We should see a rapid reduction in the Simulins’ energy screens
as well as their energy weapons fire in only a matter of a few minutes.”

-

Kelsey
grimaced as she felt the
Dominator
shake from the Simulin bombardment of
the ship’s primary energy screen. The massive viewscreen surrounding her had
been dimmed to block out the intense light from the ongoing antimatter
explosions.

“Kazak, what’s
the status of our energy shield?”

“Eighty-two
percent and holding,” replied the AI, sounding unconcerned. “The energy shield
of the
Dominator
was designed to handle this type of an attack.”

Kelsey looked
over at Kazak. She wondered just what type of enemy the
Dominator
had
been designed to fight against that would require such a powerful energy
shield. She shuddered to think of what such an enemy would do to a Federation
ship. When this battle was over, she intended to ask Kazak who that enemy had
been.

“Energy-siphoning
field?”

“Activated,”
confirmed Kazak. “Three more minutes and the Simulins will be powerless.”

-

Simulin High
Commander Jaklar gazed in frustration at the main viewscreen on the front wall
of his Command Center. The ancient ship of the sphere builders seemed to be
unaffected by the massive assault from the hundreds of antimatter missiles that
were striking its energy shield. Not only that, the fleet had suffered
significant losses from the AIs and organics from the Fitula Nebula upon
emergence from hyperspace. It had been a calculated risk to jump in so close,
but the battle computer had recommended it.

“High
Commander, our energy shield is dropping in power,” his second in command
reported with uncertainty in his eyes. “It’s down to 47 percent. We’re showing a
massive power loss across the ship. Our other warships are reporting the same.”

“What does the
battle computer say?”

“In the
previous battle here at the Fitula Nebula, the same energy drain was reported.
We lost several thousand warships due to it. The battle computer is now
predicting a 4 percent probability of a Simulin victory.”

Jaklar knew
his orders from Supreme High Commander Callat were to destroy or at least
damage the ancient vessel. He could see only one way to accomplish that order. “Set
a course for the ship of the sphere builders and accelerate to full sublight.
Order our escorts to give us covering fire as we go in.”

“We’re going
to ram?” asked the ship’s second in command, his eyes widening.

“Yes,” Jaklar
answered evenly. “We have our orders. I don’t see any way to capture that ship
so we’re going to destroy it. There can only be Simulins.”

The second in
command nodded in response. “There can only be Simulin. All others must be
eliminated.”

“Channel all
of our remaining power to the energy shield. Set all antimatter missiles to
detonate upon impact,” Jaklar ordered. Jaklar had no fear of death as it was
the duty of all Simulins to eliminate as many organics and threats to the
empire as possible.

-

Moments later
the Simulin flagship, four other battlecruisers, and ten escort cruisers
suddenly accelerated toward the ancient ship. It might be able to stop their
weapons, but what would happen when a seventeen-hundred-meter Simulin
battlecruiser impacted the energy shield that protected the ancient vessel?

-

“Jeremy, we
may have a problem,” Ariel said, her dark eyes showing worry. “The Simulin
flagship and fourteen other vessels are accelerating and heading toward the
Dominator
.”

“They’re going
to ram!” Commander Malen said, her eyes widening in disbelief. “It’s the only
chance they have to damage or destroy the ship.”

“All ships,
focus your weapons fire on the inbound Simulin warships. We believe they’re
going to attempt to ram the
Dominator
,” ordered Jeremy over the
ship-to-ship comm channel. He leaned forward in his command chair feeling his
heart begin to pound.

“They’re
coming fast,” warned Kevin. “Their still accelerating!”

“Shifting
fire,” reported Lieutenant Preston as he and the other weapons officers
adjusted their weapons fire toward the rapidly approaching Simulin vessels.

Jeremy looked
toward Communications. “Lieutenant Lantz, warn the
Dominator
.” Jeremy
didn’t know what would happen if one of those Simulin vessels managed to ram
the Originator ship.

-

The Simulin
warships had formed up into a tight formation giving maximum protection to the
fleet flagship at its center. Brilliant explosions began going off as
antimatter missiles slammed into the defensive energy screens. The Simulin
vessels weren’t firing back as all of their power was being directed into their
energy screens. Energy beams and particle beams were brought into play. The
screen on an escort cruiser failed first, and the ship exploded as it was torn
apart by multiple beams. A battlecruiser had its stern blown off from an antimatter
missile strike. More Simulin ships were suffering damage as their shields were
overwhelmed. However, the Simulin flagship remained unharmed as it continued to
accelerate toward its target.

-

“Fleet Admiral
Strong says they’re going to attempt to ram,” warned Lieutenant Michelson in a
shaky voice.

“Taking over
all weapon systems,” Kazak said as he stepped forward with a look of deep
concentration on his face.

Instantly from
the
Dominator
numerous gravitonic cannons and antimatter cannons opened
fire. It was as if a battering ram suddenly struck the incoming Simulin ships.
Four of the escort cruisers exploded in brilliant flashes of light, and two of
the remaining four battlecruisers seemed to crumble in upon themselves.

“They’re
coming too fast,” warned Lieutenant Burke. “Impact in seven seconds!”

More
explosions lit up the massive viewscreen around Kelsey. She could see the
inbound ships as they were being quickly eliminated by Kazak.  Looking at him,
she was shocked to see what looked like a pleased smile on his face as he
killed the ship’s enemies.

The rest of
the escort cruisers were torn apart by the
Dominator’s
weapons, turning
them into stardust. Another battlecruiser exploded, sending glowing debris in
all directions. Only the fleet flagship remained, and now the weapons of the
Originator ship were focused on it. Just prior to it striking the ship’s energy
screen, it detonated in a massive explosion that lit up space.

Kelsey felt
the ship shudder slightly and several warning alarms began sounding. “What are
those alarms for?”

“We had a
momentary breach of the screen,” Kazak reported as he scanned the ship for
damage. “When the Simulin vessel was destroyed a large number of antimatter
warheads detonated creating a brief gap in the energy screen. A piece of
wreckage made it through the breach and struck the center section of the
Dominator
.”
An angry look suddenly appeared on Kazak’s face. Turning, he ran out of the Command Center, vanishing through the large metal hatch, which led to the outside corridor.

“What’s that
about?” asked Katie, looking over at Kelsey. “Where did Kazak take off to in
such a hurry?”

“We had a
power fluctuation,” Andram informed them. Then in a lower voice. “If I’m
reading this correctly, it might have affected that center compartment we’ve
been curious about.”

-

Kazak took
every shortcut there was to reach the hidden compartment. Taking the key out of
his pocket, he inserted it into the blank wall and was granted admittance.
Hurrying inside, he stepped over to a control console and saw three flashing
red lights. There was a backup system that was supposed to come on in case of a
failure of those particular systems and for some reason it had failed to
initiate. Quickly overriding the system, Kazak switched those systems over to manual
control and reinitiated them. Very slowly the flashing red lights changed over
from red, to amber, and then finally back to green.

Kazak then
summoned two of the small maintenance robots and gave them instructions on the
needed repairs. He then took a moment to walk through the compartment to ensure
he had managed to reactivate the systems in time before irreversible harm could
occur. Satisfied that everything was all right, he left the compartment to
return to the Command Center. However, he was deeply troubled by the fact the
Simulins had come very close to damaging or destroying the precious cargo the
compartment contained. With growing resolve, Kazak now realized the Simulin
threat needed to be eliminated. It was time to destroy their worlds.

-

“Weapons fire
is continuing,” reported Lieutenant Donaldson. “Kazak still has control of the
ship’s weapons and he is annihilating all the Simulin vessels systematically.
The energy-siphoning field has exhausted their power and their shields are
either down or in the process of failing.”

“Commander,
the ship is moving,” reported Captain Brent Adams from Navigation.

“Where are we
heading?” asked Kelsey, wondering what Kazak was up to.

Adams checked some figures on one of his data screens. “Toward one of the Simulin
battlecruisers. It’s intact and Kazak isn’t targeting it.”

“Tractor beam
has been initiated,” Andram said as he saw the information appear on his
science console. “Kazak is drawing the ship closer toward us.”

“We have some
computer programs activating,” Mikow added. “I believe Kazak is attempting to
access the main computer on the Simulin battlecruiser.”

Kelsey
suddenly felt uneasy. Just what was Kazak up to?

“I don’t like
this,” Katie said.

“Me neither,”
replied Kelsey, turning toward the hatch and expecting to seek Kazak returning
at any moment. She needed to find out what was going on.

-

Jeremy was
feeling relieved as the last Simulin ship had stopped firing. The enemy vessels
were drifting helplessly in space without power. At the request of Grayseth,
Jeremy was allowing the Bear and his Carethian fleet to finish blasting the
Simulin warships into oblivion. The
Dominator
had stopped firing, and
Grayseth had requested to be allowed to avenge the two cruisers destroyed
earlier.

“Jeremy, the
Dominator
is using a tractor beam to pull one of the disabled Simulin battlecruisers up
close,” Kevin said with a deep frown.

“Communications,
get me Commander Strong.” Jeremy wanted to find out what was going on. He had
already ordered Grayseth to spare one of the Simulin escort cruisers, as he
wanted to send Marines on board so they could attempt to capture and access the
ship’s database.