Galactic Empire Wars 2: Emergence (12 page)

Mason nodded,
he knew nearly all of the colonies and habitats were well protected by the
military. Luna City’s defenses were still being augmented and would soon be
even more powerful than Vesta’s. Closing his eyes briefly, Mason wondered what
was in store for the Human race. They'd just gone through nearly two years of
peace as they evacuated the survival centers on Earth and moved the population
out into the Solar System. Now they were preparing to actively engage the
Kleese in a clandestine war that could hold some grave consequences for the
survivors.

Opening his eyes,
he looked over at Colonel Bailey, who seemed to exude self-confidence. He just
hoped the military could continue to protect them.

For the next
hour, they flew over the surface of the asteroid, inspecting the various weapon
sites and installations. Mason was amazed at everything the military had done.

“It looks as
if we’re as prepared as we can be,” Mason said as the shuttle began its return
flight to the spacedock.

“We hope so,”
Colonel Bailey responded. “If the Kleese get by our warships, the weapon
installations should be able to hold them at bay.”

“The Kleese
have a large Empire,” Mason replied evenly. “We’re only one star system with a
drastically reduced population. We’re going to have to be very careful in our
actions for a number of years. We need a much larger population base if we want
to fight an effective war against the Kleese.”

Bailey knew
Mason was nervous about taking the war to the Kleese. In retrospect, they all
should be worried. This was a galaxy-sized Empire in existence for thousands of
years that had never suffered a major defeat. Bailey knew the odds were stacked
against them, but the Human race had a way of always managing to beat the odds.
Bailey just hoped that would be true in this case also.

General
Mitchell was in his quarters in Centerpoint Station when the Condition One
alarms began sounding. He had been reviewing the current readiness status of
the marines undergoing battle suit training. The progress was agonizingly slow
due to the difference in the current training methods and how the Kleese
trained. In the current training, recruits didn’t die!

Reaching
forward, he pressed the com button on his desk. “Report!” he spoke as he stood
up, preparing to go to the Command Center.

“We have some unidentified
contacts out near Neptune,” General Pittman responded. “I’ve already dispatched
several assault ships to investigate. It may be the Kleese.”

“I’ll be there
shortly,” replied Mitchell, his face creasing in a frown. “Contact Fleet
Admiral Kirby and have him bring the fleet to full readiness. We don’t know
what may be out there, but I want to be ready in case this is an attack.”
Mitchell took a deep breath; in another week they were launching Operation Insurrection.
At least he still had the full fleet at his disposal other than the ships that
had left to go to the trading station.

-

Fleet Admiral
Kirby stared worriedly at the tactical screen on the Armageddon. “What do we
have?” he demanded with his eyes moving to Lieutenant Fullerton at Sensors.

“Twelve contacts
have dropped out of Fold Space ten million kilometers from Neptune,” Fullerton replied as she studied the data coming in over her screens. “Tentative
identification are assault ships, probably Kleese; they match the size and
shape. They're currently holding their position and not moving.”

“Any sign of a
mother ship anywhere?” Kirby asked. It was doubtful the assault ships would be
operating this far from a Kleese space station without the support of at least
one.

“If there is,
it hasn’t arrived yet,” Fullerton answered as she checked the data on her
sensors once again. Her hazel eyes focused on the admiral. “It may also be
staying just outside of our sensor range.”

Kirby nodded. He
knew Lieutenant Fullerton was a very talented sensor operator, if there was a
Kleese mother ship nearby, she would spot it. “Let me know immediately if there’s
any sign of one.”

“There has to
be one,” Major Makita said, stepping over closer to the admiral and eyeing the
main sensor screen. “There will be more assault ships with the mother ship.”

“What’s the
current status of our fleets?” asked Kirby, looking at one of the screens showing
the current deployment of the Human warships.

“Admiral
Rivers is finishing his ship trials out near Vesta. He has his entire fleet
with him undergoing maneuvers,” Major Makita replied. “Admiral Stehr has Third
Fleet in orbit around Mars and part of his crews are down at Mars Central on
leave, and Admiral Sanders is in orbit over the Moon with Second Fleet.”

Kirby nodded,
all the major population centers were covered, and he had First and Second
Fleet available to fight a fleet action if necessary. “Contact Admiral Stehr
and have him bring his crews up from Mars Central that are on leave. The ships
out near Neptune don’t seem to be in any hurry, so he may have the necessary
time to get his crews back on their ships.”

Turning to
Ensign Bisset at Navigation, Kirby passed on the order to move the Armageddon
out of the flight bay in which the flagship was currently berthed. There were
other ships of First Fleet in other flight bays within Centerpoint Station. He
knew it would take only a matter of a few minutes for most of the ships to exit
the bays and make rendezvous at their designated coordinates. A few would be
waiting on returning crewmembers, but Kirby expected within the hour he would
have all of First Fleet available if needed. Michael wondered if the mysterious
assault ships heralded a new attack upon the Solar System. His biggest concern
at the moment was where the damn mother ship was hiding.

-

Mason hurried
into the Control Center, seeing that both Pamela and Drake Thomason were
already there. “Is it an attack?” Mason asked as he rushed over to the main
control console where Pamela and Drake were sitting.

“We don’t
know,” Pamela replied, a little uneasily. She knew everything had been too
peaceful. When she woke up this morning, she had the feeling it was going to be
an eventful day.

“We have
contacts out near Neptune,” responded Drake, pointing to one of the large
sensor screens on the wall. “So far they’re unidentified, but they look to be
assault ships. General Mitchell has placed the military at Condition One in
case it’s a prelude to an attack.”

“I’m picking
up a broadcast from Despina,” Jessica Lang reported in surprise. “It’s the
Raven!”

“Crap!” Pamela
uttered her face looking chagrined. “How the hell did Brian get the Raven to Neptune without us detecting it?” She had personally warned him about prospecting that far
away from home.

Mason knew that
Despina was an irregular shaped body that orbited Neptune, one of the smaller
moons around one hundred fifty kilometers in diameter, which made it ideal for
mining. It didn’t surprise him at all that Brian had found a way to sneak out
to Neptune undetected. After all, Michael had trained him.

“I don’t know
how he managed it,” Mason said, looking over at Jessica with concern in his
eyes. “But he could be in a lot of danger if those are assault ships from one
of the Kleese space stations. The Raven is unarmed.”

“What’s his
message?” asked Drake, glancing at Jessica. He knew that if Brian made it back
to Vesta he would have a lot of explaining to do. Pamela wouldn’t take lightly
having her orders so flagrantly disobeyed.

“He’s close
enough to the ships to identify them as Kleese assault ships,” she replied as
she listened to the message. “He also says there’s at least one mother ship
hiding low in Neptune’s atmosphere so our sensors can’t pick it up. He’s not
certain, but he thinks there might be others. He has unconfirmed readings on a
second one.”

Mason drew in
a sharp breath. This sounded like a trap! “Contact General Mitchell and
transmit Brian’s message to him immediately. Also, send the message to Fleet
Admiral Kirby. They need to know we have Kleese mother ships in the system at Neptune.”

“A trap?”
asked Drake, looking worried. “Do you think they’re trying to lure our fleet
into a battle so they can destroy it?”

“I don’t
know,” Mason replied as he watched Jessica send the two messages. He knew that he
dared not send a message to Brian in case the mother ships or assault ships
detected it. He hoped Brian had hidden the Raven somewhere upon Despina where
it wouldn’t be detected by Kleese scans.

A noise behind
him detracted Mason. Turning around, he saw Colonel Bailey enter the Control Center. Bailey’s eyes instantly went to the large sensor screen and the dozen icons
that were now glowing a threatening red.

“Are they
Kleese?” he asked as he stepped over to where the weapons consoles and the
military people were.

“Yes,” Mason informed
him. “But that’s not all.” He quickly related what the Raven had discovered.

“A definite
trap,” Bailey said after a moment with a deep frown on his face. “We’re lucky
the Raven managed to warn us. Perhaps we can turn the trappers into the
trapped. Maneuvering one of those mother ships in Neptune’s atmosphere must be
a bitch. I just wonder how the hell they managed to sneak in underneath our
scans.”

“Probably the
same way Brian did,” muttered Drake, shaking his head.

“What do you recommend,
Colonel?” Mason asked. He was glad that Colonel Bailey was here and could
handle the military forces assigned to Vesta. It took a huge load off his shoulders.
Mason had come to trust the colonel where military matters were concerned.

“Go to Condition
Two so as not to scare the civilians too much,” suggested Bailey. “Admiral
Rivers should already be at Condition One and so far there have been no
threatening moves toward Vesta. I’ll send several companies of marines in
battle suits to the spacedock as a precautionary measure.”

“When do we go
to Condition One?” asked Pamela, knowing her husband and son would be concerned
when the Condition Two announcement was made.

“Not until
they move away from Neptune,” Bailey responded as he took a seat behind the
military personnel operating the weapons consoles. He knew he might be in the Control Center for a long time. His people were already sending the word out to the surface
installations to be prepared for battle.

Drake nodded.
He might as well call his parents and have them go over to his house to be with
his wife. Larcy would be frightened as soon as they went to Condition Two; a
lot of people would be. Everyone would be thinking about what the Kleese had
done to Earth. He let out a deep breath, the presence of Kleese assault ships
and mother ships only served to remind him of what was in store for the future.
The Kleese wouldn’t rest until the Human race was annihilated and they had
recovered their space station.

Mason stepped
over to the primary communications console and indicated for Jessica to put him
on all of Vesta’s media stations, interrupting regular programming. He would
announce the setting of Condition Two and inform everyone it was only a
precautionary measure. He just hoped they didn’t have to put Vesta at Condition
One, which would signify something bad had happened to the fleet.

-

Brian Jones
sat nervously in the Control Room of the prospecting ship Raven. The small, fifty-meter
ship was currently tucked into a corner of a diminutive dark canyon on Neptune’s moon of Despina. Most of the ship’s systems had been turned off, and they were
only running life support as needed.

“Do you think
they received the message?” Brian asked as he sat in the darkened Control Room.

“They should
have,” Marcus replied from where he was sitting in front of the communications
console. “The message should have hit Vesta.”

Brian nodded;
he looked at the single small viewscreen still operating. They'd sent a narrow
beam message toward Vesta to warn them about what was lurking in Neptune’s atmosphere. The screen showed a magnified view of Neptune and several large
shadows in its atmosphere. “Those are definitely Kleese mother ships,” he
muttered, worriedly. He knew that each one of those ships was eight point two
kilometers across and one kilometer thick. They normally carried thirty of the
two hundred-meter assault ships in their docking bays. The screen showed two
large indiscreet shapes hovering deeply in the planet’s turbulent atmosphere.

“They’re
obviously setting a trap for the fleet,” Marcus said with a deep frown on his
face. The fleet won’t know they’re hiding in Neptune’s atmosphere until they
emerge from it.”

“Fleet Admiral
Kirby won’t fall for it if he receives our message,” replied Brian,
confidently. He had been friends with Michael Kirby ever since they were kids.
The Raven was actually Michael’s ship, but he had entrusted Brian with his
pride and joy.

Nathan Miller,
the Raven’s engineer, stepped into the darkened Control Room carrying several
heavy jackets and looked at the other two men. “I’ve shut down everything I
can,” he reported in a quiet voice almost as if he was afraid the Kleese ships
would hear him. “Life support is set to come on periodically and only at a low
setting. It'll be getting colder as the heaters are only going to be running at
very low power.” He handed over the jackets, which Brian and Marcus took and
laid over to the side for now.

“How’s the
rest of the crew?” Brian asked. He hadn’t left the Control Room in nearly six
hours, not since they'd detected the first Kleese mother ship hiding in Neptune’s atmosphere.

“They’re
nervous,” Nathan replied. “We all are. For now, they’re staying in their
quarters where they’ll be warmer.”

Brian nodded. He
had a good crew, but none of them had been prepared for this situation. This
was supposed to have been just a simple routine survey operation for future
mining ventures. He knew if they survived this, he was going to have to answer
a lot of questions from Pamela Cairns. The Raven had taken a long roundabout
route to Neptune, even hiding next to a comet for a few days to avoid appearing
on sensors. With a heavy sigh, Brian put the jacket on. Already, there was a
chill in the Control Room. He just hoped they made it back to Vesta so he could
have that meeting with Pamela.

-

Fleet Admiral
Kirby looked at the message up on his computer screen that had just come in
from Vesta. There were Kleese mother ships at Neptune! He let out a heavy sigh.
What was Brian doing with the Raven at Neptune? Shaking his head, he knew Brian
was only doing the same thing that he would have if the situation were
reversed.

“How many
mother ships?” Major Makita asked his eyes widening at the news of what might
be at Neptune.

“At least two,
perhaps more,” Kirby replied as he thought about what they might be up against.
“Each one may have up to thirty assault ships in their flight bays.”

“What’s the
plan?” Major Makita asked. He knew they had a slight tactical advantage since
they knew where the mother ships were hiding.

“From the data
that the Raven sent to Vesta, we know the mother ships are staying in the
atmosphere on the far side of Neptune in an attempt to stay off of our sensors,”
Kirby replied as he thought about how to use their current knowledge to their
advantage. “They’re using the twelve assault ships as bait so their mother
ships can hit our fleet as we go past Neptune.”

“We act as if
we don’t know about their ships,” Major Makita suggested. “Then we hit them
before they can exit Neptune’s atmosphere!”

“Precisely,”
Kirby responded with a satisfied nod. “We take both First and Second Fleets. We
make as if we’re heading directly toward the twelve assault ships that are ten
million kilometers from Neptune. Just before we pass Neptune, and are shielded
from detection by the planet, we detach a couple of battlecruisers and four light
cruisers. The rest of our ships will continue on as if nothing is out of the
ordinary. When the Kleese mother ships rise up out of Neptune’s atmosphere, the
detached ships will hit them from the rear, annihilating them.”