The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel (15 page)

-

On the
Dominator
,
Kazak had finished running his latest computer simulations. He was beginning to
grow concerned Fleet Admiral Strong was becoming suspicious. The hints had been
minuscule, but some of the comments he had overheard as well as some of the
questions Ariel was asking led him to believe they suspected something was
amiss. It was regretful secrets had to be kept and while he owed much to the
Humans and their allies, he was foremost an Originator AI. His loyalty belonged
to his creators.

Standing up,
Kazak left the Command Center. A few Humans were on duty and as he went through
the ship, he encountered a few others. As large as the
Dominator
was, it
was completely conceivable to walk from one end of the five-thousand-meter ship
to the other and never see a living crewmember. After taking several turbo
lifts and transit cars, he arrived at his destination.

Walking up to
a blank wall, he reached into his pocket and took out one of the small copper
colored globes the Originators used to gain access to highly sensitive or
restricted areas. Inserting it into the small recess on the wall, there was a
slight humming noise and a section slid open, revealing the compartment behind
it. Stepping inside, the door slid shut and Kazak retrieved the globe, putting
it back in his pocket.

Taking his
time, he walked from one end of the compartment to the other making sure the
equipment inside was functioning properly keeping the compartment’s valuable
contents safe. Finally satisfied that everything was working as it should, he
left the compartment to return to the Command Center. He knew if he was to keep
the trust of Fleet Admiral Strong and the others, at some point in time he was
going to have to show the fleet admiral what was concealed in the compartment.
He was not certain how Fleet Admiral Strong would react to the hidden secret.

-

Above Malkor,
Simulin Supreme High Commander Callat was staring angrily at the report he had
just received from the outer regions. Four Conqueror Drone carriers had
reported in at an advance base. They had informed the base’s commander that a
fleet of organics and AIs from the Fitula Nebula had appeared in the former
Ornellian Empire and wiped out High Commander Ganlon’s fleet in orbit around
Ornellia.

“What are the
Fitula organics doing so far away from the nebula?” asked High Commander Faberh
with confusion in his eyes. “What can they be hoping to achieve?”

Callat looked
away from his computer screen on which he had been reading the report. “They
know we are weak at the moment from the ship losses we have suffered. They may
believe we are vulnerable in the outer regions of this galaxy.”

Faberh stepped
over to the ship’s battle computer and, after a few minutes, turned around to
face the Supreme High Commander. “The battle computer is recommending we send a
fleet of sixty battlecruisers and eighty support cruisers to remove the threat
at Ornellia before it grows. We cannot allow the Fitula organics to establish a
base in that system.”

Callat gazed
at one of the large viewscreens on the front Command Center wall. The ship was
in orbit around Malkor and numerous Simulin battlecruisers could be seen
awaiting his orders. “What if that is what the organics from the nebula want?”
he said coldly as he thought over the strategy that might be at play. “They may
be trying to draw our forces out toward the outer regions of this galaxy so
they can attack our population centers.”

“We still have
a powerful fleet,” said Faberh undeterred. “In the Malkor System alone we have
four hundred of our battlecruisers and nearly six hundred support cruisers.
Some of our other systems have similar fleet formations. The Fitula organics
dare not attack us here; we would crush them.”

Callat was
quiet for several long moments as he thought over his options. It was
considered sedition to disobey the recommendations of the battle computers.
However, they were now out of contact with the other galaxies of the Simulin
Intergalactic Empire. The situation had drastically changed, and the
recommendations of the battle computers had to be weighed against possible
future ramifications and policies.

“I will send a
fleet from Tranton,” Callat said as he reached a decision. “They have nearly as
many ships in their system as we do here. However, I will instruct the High
Commander of that fleet to withdraw from Ornellia rather than suffer heavy ship
losses.”

“Withdraw?”
gasped Faberh, his eye widening in disbelief. “We are Simulins, and there can
be no others.”

“We are in a
battle for our very survival,” Callat said harshly. “We are still in the
process of emplacing defenses around our worlds. We are months away from having
sufficient ships to begin expanding across this galaxy once more. We must not
underestimate our enemy.”

High Commander
Faberh stared at Callat before responding. “I bow to your superior strategy.
However, I would recommend we send a sizable fleet to the vicinity of the
Fitula Nebula to engage any of the organic or AI ships which emerge. Perhaps
that way we can contain them.”

Callat stared
coldly at Faberh. It was considered a showing of disloyalty to make a
suggestion such as Faberh had just done. The duty of the High Commander was to
carry out Callat’s orders without question.

“I will
consider it,” Callat finally said.

-

 Hours later,
Supreme Commander Callat was in a war shuttle flying just above Malkor. He was
inspecting the defensive satellites and battle stations being placed in orbit.
The new Grand Council had objected to so many resources being committed to the
static defenses. They had demanded more ships be built first so expansion into
the other regions of this galaxy could continue. Callat had ordered four more
council members to be executed for questioning his directives.

Sometimes he
wondered if he was the only one that could see the threat posed by the organics
and AIs from the Fitula Nebula. The Great Sphere was gone, and somehow the
enemy had gained control of a massive warship of the sphere builders. There was
little doubt in Callat’s mind that if the Fitula organics and their allies
discovered the secrets that ship possessed, then all Simulin life in this
galaxy would be in peril.

Looking out
the large cockpit window, he saw an escort cruiser emplacing a series of
ten-meter energy beam satellites. He had given the order for ten thousand such
satellites to be constructed and put into orbit around Malkor. In addition,
twenty five-hundred-meter battlestations were under construction. Once the
defensive grid was in place, he would once more send out Simulin fleets across
the galaxy. If and when the ship of the Great Sphere builders put in an
appearance, he would deal with it.

He had run
some simulations on the battle computer, and it had informed him a large enough
fleet should be able to destroy the ancient vessel. Callat was determined he
would have a fleet of sufficient size to meet the ship in combat if needed.
However, even the battle computer had been unable to predict the type of
weapons such a ship might be armed with. The ancient vessel had already shown
evidence of one weapon which could drain all the energy from nearby warships.
Callat was concerned that no matter how well he prepared, there was no
guarantee of victory if the ship of the ancients did indeed show up.

Looking out
the other cockpit window, he saw one of the new battlestations being
constructed. At the moment, it was just a ragged sphere of girders and support
beams. Bright flashes of white light indicated where the beams were being joined
together. Work was going on around the clock, nonstop. Callat was well aware of
the importance of sending the fleets back out on the attack. This galaxy must
become one of only Simulins. All other organics must die, for in the end, there
could only be Simulins.

-

Jeremy was
inside one of the huge construction bays on the Clan Protector. Both Grayseth
and Daelthon were with him. In the center of the bay, with hundreds of spider
robots swarming over it, was the latest Gaia class battlecruiser. The ship was
twelve hundred meters in length and two hundred and fifty meters in diameter.
It possessed all the weapons of a standard battlecruiser except an ion beam
cannon had been added to the bow as well as additional particle beam turrets.
Where a normal battlecruiser used energy beams for defense, the Gaia class used
the more powerful power beams. The ship could operate with a crew of five
hundred and a Marine complement of seventy-five. That was nearly one thousand
fewer crew personnel than was required on the older battlecruisers.

“When will she
launch?” asked Jeremy, folding his arms across his chest as he watched the work
going on in the bay.

“Two weeks,”
answered Daelthon, his light brown fur seeming to shine in the brilliant lights
of the construction bay. Both Daelthon and Grayseth towered over the admiral.

“She will be a
powerful warship and bring much honor to Gaia,” proclaimed Grayseth as he
watched the spider robots scurrying about.

“As will all
of the ships of her class,” added Daelthon.

“We’ll need
them,” said Jeremy, drawing in a deep breath.

He knew that by
now Admiral Jackson had arrived at Ornellia and would be in the process of
setting up a base there. Jackson had instructions to send out survey ships to
seek out other worlds that might be able to help in the war against the
Simulins. Jeremy was determined to make the Triangulum Galaxy a safe place,
free of Simulin interference.

“How soon do
we go out on the hunt?” asked Grayseth. He was anxious to bring more honor to
his clan.

“Shortly,”
answered Jeremy, turning toward his friend. “The
Dominator
will be
leaving in a few days to travel to the blue-giant nebula to take additional
sensor readings on the Dyson Sphere supernova. I’ll be sending a task group of
the Gaia class battlecruisers along as escorts as well as a few AI warspheres.
At the same time, I want to send out two attack fleets to begin hunting down
any stray Simulin warships still in our vicinity as well as a number of smaller
task groups seeking out the home worlds of the Simulins.”

Grayseth
nodded. “It is time for the hunt to begin.”

Jeremy nodded
in agreement. “We have been on the defensive too long. After the destruction of
the Dyson Sphere, the Simulins are weaker than ever before and are cut off from
reinforcements.” Looking at the battlecruiser, Jeremy saw a number of spider
robots led by several dockworkers enter the ship carrying large crates.
Already, necessary supplies and munitions were being loaded.

“My fleet is
ready,” boomed Grayseth, his wide eyes focusing expectantly on Jeremy.

Jeremy gazed
at Grayseth, knowing how important this was to the big Bear. “Very well, one of
the two attack fleets will be Carethian. However, each attack fleet will have a
force of AI warspheres as part of its makeup. There will also be several Alton battleships assigned since the Altons seem to work more efficiently with the AIs.”

“My people can
work with the AIs,” proclaimed Grayseth. “We have come to learn the AIs can be
worthy hunters and are now part of the Clans of the Gaia System.”

“Just be careful,
my friend,” Jeremy said solemnly. “We are out to destroy the Simulins, and you
are not to take unnecessary risks.”

Grayseth
nodded his understanding. “I understand, clan brother.”

-

Later, Jeremy
returned to his quarters on the
Avenger
to find Kelsey waiting for him.
She was dressed in a black nearly see-through negligee and sitting expectantly
on the comfortable couch.

“I was hoping
you would return home soon,” she said smiling.

“Looks as if
you already have something on your mind,” Jeremy answered as Kelsey stood up
and he put his arms around her.

Kelsey kissed
Jeremy and then looked up into his eyes. “I’ll be leaving soon on the
Dominator
.
We may not have many opportunities like this for a while, so I want to take
advantage of those we do.”

Stepping back,
she allowed the negligee to drop to the floor, and she smiled satisfyingly as
she saw Jeremy’s eyes roam hungrily over her body. She didn’t spend all that
time working out in the gym for nothing. Her stomach was still trim and flat.
She knew she had all the right curves in the expected places.

Reaching out,
she pulled Jeremy toward her, feeling her pulse begin to race. She didn’t have
to be back on the
Dominator
until late the next morning and didn’t plan
on doing too much sleeping between now and then.

Reesa stepped
outside of the large building she had been exploring feeling frustrated. As
with all the buildings explored thus far, it was empty. She had such high hopes
when they first came into the city, and now those hopes were rapidly fading
away.

“Now where?”
asked Corporal Metz.

He and two
other Marines had been assigned as permanent escorts for Reesa, particularly
since Kelnor was still upset with her. Even in camp, the strain between the two
Alton scientists was evident.

Reesa sighed
and looked around. They were on the main thoroughfare that ran through the
city. A number of the small robots were evident zipping about on their way to
perform their different tasks. Maalon Delz had taken it upon himself to perform
a more detailed study of just what the small robots did in the city, and he had
several teams following them and documenting their functions. As expected, so
far everything seemed to indicate the little robots were responsible for the
general upkeep of the city.

“Each building
is the same,” Corporal Metz commented as he gazed about. “You would think we
would find something in at least one of them!”

All three
Marines were armed, but they hadn’t encountered anything that could be
ascertained as a potential threat. Even the little robots, which were waist
high, detoured around the members of the exploration team as if they weren’t
even there.

“Not any
furniture or anything to indicate anyone ever lived here,” said Private Sandra
Carton as she looked over at Corporal Metz. “It’s as if they took everything
when they left except the buildings.”

“But why do
the little robots tend them?” asked Private Richard Trent. “It’s as if they
expect the Originators to return at any time.”

“More
mysteries,” said Reesa as she eyed a building across the street. “It’s possible
the Originators believed until the end they would find a cure for the pathogen
eradicating their race. The city is immaculate and just waiting for their
return.”

Private Carton
looked uneasily about. “What would we do if we did find surviving Originators?”

“I don’t
believe that’s going to happen, Sandra,” Reesa said with a hint of sadness in
her voice. She would give anything to be able to speak to one of the ancient
builders of the Dyson Sphere. “The last one died over two million years ago,
and they’ve long since turned to dust.”

Corporal Metz
looked down at his watch. “We still have two hours before we need to return,
where to next?”

“Let’s try
that building across the street,” Reesa said pointing.

“Let’s go,” Metz said as he took the lead.

Starting
across the street, Reesa was feeling so disappointed. When they had first come
into the city, they had been expecting to make fabulous discoveries about the
Originators, but all evidence seemed to indicate the city had been stripped,
probably several million years ago. They had found nothing but empty buildings.
No furniture, paintings, statues; there was absolutely nothing to indicate who
had lived in the city. She knew from initial reports that the Dyson Sphere
itself was over three million years old. Taking a deep breath, she looked at
the building they were approaching. Perhaps in this one, they would finally
find something.

-

Kelnor was
standing next to Sergeant Wilde back at their camp. They had set up their
emergency habitats a short distance from the city where there was a small
stream and abundant fruits and berries. Kelnor had agreed to allow the Marines
to continue to catch fish but had denied their request to kill any of the
larger animals. He was still certain that the guiding intelligence of the Dyson
Sphere was watching them. The very fact the energy shield was removed seemed to
indicate that.

“Kelnor?”
asked Brenda as she stared at the nearby towering buildings. “How many
Originators do you think once lived here?” It was a huge relief to be out from
under the energy shield.

“Several
million,” he replied as he looked thoughtfully at the city. “It will take us
years just to explore it.”

“Years?” said
Brenda with a deep sigh. It had been four weeks since they had crossed the
barrier where the energy shield once stood. If they ever made it back to the
ship, she was not looking forward to explaining her actions to either Major
Nolan or Captain Abrams. “Is there any chance the energy shield going down was
some type of timed occurrence? That our appearance generated an automatic
response and after so much time elapsed it automatically shut down?”

Kelnor paused
and shifted his attention to the sergeant. “It’s possible,” he conceded.
“There’s just so much we don’t know.”

Brenda looked
around their small camp. With her Marines and the scientists, there were
thirty-two of them calling the camp their home. There had been some discussion
about moving into one of the Originator buildings, but Brenda had hesitated
about doing that. There was something haunting about the city that made her
feel uneasy. Anytime she walked down one of the streets or entered a building
she felt as if she was being watched. Brenda felt safer here in the open where
they could spot anything or anyone approaching.

“So, what do
we do now?” she asked as one of the small scouting teams came into camp.

She was
sending out teams for kilometers around the city to see what long-term
resources were available. For as long as they had been trapped inside the Dyson
Sphere, it was obvious to her that a rescue mission wasn’t going to show up.
Reesa had the only key, and there was no way for anyone else to find their way
inside. She knew by now Admiral Tolsen must have given up on their returning.
More than likely, they were listed as missing and presumed dead.

“We continue
to explore. There’s still much about the city we don’t know or understand.”

Brenda nodded.
“It would be nice if we could find some type of transportation to use. There’s
not a lot of exploring we can do if we have to walk everywhere.”

What Brenda
really wanted was to have access to several of the small flying vehicles which
came into the city on occasion. If they had a couple of those at their
disposal, they could really begin to explore. There had to be more cities
besides this one, and perhaps some of the others hadn’t been stripped of
everything. Also, if they could explore other nearby areas of the Dyson Sphere,
just maybe they could find a way out. There had to be one somewhere.

Kelnor looked
back toward the city. “We’ve identified two of the taller buildings the flyers
land on. We could set up some equipment to monitor the flyers as they land. I’m
hesitant to risk doing anything that the guiding intelligence of the Dyson
Sphere might interpret as hostile. I would hate to find ourselves behind an
energy shield again.”

“The Dyson
Sphere and this city may end up being our home,” Brenda said after a moment.
“It would be nice to know what other options there may be.”

“There is
always hope, Sergeant,” Kelnor said, his eyes shifting back to Brenda. “In
time, we may find a way out.”

Brenda knew
Kelnor was right. The only thing was, would the fleet still be on the outside
of the Dyson Sphere or would they find the Shari waiting for them instead?

-

High Lord Aktill
gazed at the latest tactical updates. He now had sixteen hundred warships under
his command. All it would take was one order from him and the entire fleet
would descend upon the Humans and the Altons around the Dyson Sphere.

“We must
attack,” said Lower Lord Samarth, folding his arms across his chest. “Our ship
commanders grow weary of sitting out here while our enemies taunt us by being
in the Rylus Cluster and above the Dyson Sphere. This is our space, and they
must be driven from it!”

Aktill agreed
with much of what Samarth was saying. A state of war had been declared between
the Shari Empire and the Human Federation of Worlds and its allies. However, in
the eighty days since war had been declared there had been no combat between Shari forces and the Federation other than here at the Dyson Sphere. It was obvious that
both the Shari and the Federation were hesitant for this to become a widespread
conflict.

“There has
been no movement of Human ships near our borders,” Aktill commented as he
turned toward his second in command. “Our forces are patrolling the border
region to ensure no Federation ships enter our space. So far they have kept
their distance.”

Lower Lord
Samarth shook his head. “They’re already here; look at what is orbiting the
Dyson Sphere. That artifact is in our space and by all rights belongs to us! We
must force the Humans to leave the system!”

Aktill shifted
his attention back to the main viewscreen, which was focused on the sphere.
From this distance it appeared as a black circular object that occluded a major
part of the star pattern. “Abrade has reported the megastructure is at least
three million years old. A few of our research expeditions that have managed to
search some of the old ruins we’ve found on a few of the planets in the Rylus
Cluster say they are even older.”

“Abrade is a
research scientist,” spoke Samarth dismissively. “He cares not for war.”

“Abrade is one
of our most brilliant minds,” Aktill said reproachfully. “He is the one who
believes the explosive charges will allow us to blow our way into the
megastructure.”

Samarth gazed
intently at Aktill. “Why haven’t we set off the explosives? The sooner we can
enter the Dyson Sphere and learn its secrets, the sooner we can drive the
Humans from the cluster.”

Aktill didn’t
answer. He hadn’t given the order to set off the nuclear explosives because of
the dire warning from the Humans. They felt the Dyson Sphere might have some
automatic defensive systems that would be activated if harm were to come to the
structure. While it was possible the message had just been a ruse to delay the
use of the explosives, even Abrade had admitted it was conceivable the Humans
were speaking the truth.

“The Humans
have nearly seven hundred and fifty warships under their defensive grid,”
Aktill said, shifting his attention back to Samarth. “Even as large as our
fleet is, we could suffer massive losses in an attack and there is no guarantee
of our victory.”

“If we don’t
attack, then what action do we take?” asked Samarth. “Do we just let them stay
here in our space?”

“They have
limited supplies,” Aktill said, starting to get angry over Samarth’s continued
questioning. “If there’s no change shortly, I will give Abrade permission to
detonate the explosives. Once we gain entry to the inside of the sphere, we’ll
bring the Human presence to an end regardless of what it may cost.”

Samarth seemed
satisfied with that answer as he turned away and went back to his duties.
Aktill hoped if he gave permission to detonate the explosives he wasn’t making
a grave mistake. The dire warning from the Humans was haunting the back of his
mind. Taking a deep breath, he turned his attention back to the main viewscreen
and the dark shape which filled it.

-

Reesa and her
escorts were deep inside the new building they were exploring. They had
descended several flights of stairs to a basement level. As with all the
others, this one to had been stripped of all of its furnishings. The walls and
corridors were spotless, and if one didn’t know better you would think it had
only been built yesterday. The elevators or turbo lifts all worked, though
Reesa preferred using the stairs. She had no idea what might happen if one of
the turbo lifts failed. She guessed after a while one of the small robots would
show up to repair it.

“What’s this?”
asked Corporal Metz as he stopped in front of a wall that appeared to have an
indentation for the key Reesa always carried with her.

Reesa walked
over and gazed speculatively at the indentation and then examined the wall.
There was no evidence of a door or for any reason for the key slot to be there.
This was the first time since they started exploring the city that they’d found
an indentation for the key. Taking the copper colored metal ball out of her
pocket, she hesitated as she looked questionably at Corporal Metz.

“Go ahead,” he
said without hesitation. “If it opens up a door, we’ll call Sergeant Wilde
before entering.”

Nodding, Reesa
carefully placed the key in the slot and then stepped back. For a moment
nothing happened and then a section of the wall suddenly slid back, revealing a
large opening and a well-lighted corridor beyond. Reesa’s eyes widened as she
saw the walls of this corridor were covered in what appeared to be paintings.
Even a few statues on pedestals were visible.

“I think we
found something,” said Corporal Metz as he gazed in awe at the paintings and
statues. “I’d better go call Sergeant Wilde.”

Reesa nodded.
“I’ll remain here.” Reesa was itching to go inside, but she knew as angry as
Kelnor was she dared not risk provoking him again.

“Don’t go
inside,” Metz said. He knew the Alton was tempted to take risks at times.
“Private Carton, no one is to enter that corridor until I get back with
Sergeant Wilde, is that clear?” Their communication devices didn’t work inside
the buildings, and it would be necessary to go outside to contact the sergeant.

“Yes, sir,”
Carton answered. She knew Metz was actually telling her that under no
conditions was Reesa to be allowed to pass through the doorway.

“About time we
found something,” muttered Private Trent as he gazed down the lighted corridor.
He shifted his rifle into a more accessible position just in case someone or
something showed up.

-

It took nearly
an hour for Sergeant Wilde, Kelnor, Melvin Blair, and several of the other
Marines to reach the building Reesa and the others were in. Corporal Metz was
waiting for them outside and quickly led them to where Reesa was impatiently
standing.