The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel (17 page)

Commander
Kelsey Strong gazed nervously at the large panoramic viewscreen surrounding
her. Even the floor and ceiling were part of the screen. It was as if she was
floating in space with no ship around her. She wasn’t sure if she would ever
get used to this. Several AI warspheres were visible as well as Admiral Jarl
Sithe’s flagship, the battleship
Star Defender
.

“Scary, isn’t
it?” commented Katie with a devilish grin. “Not even the viewscreen on the
Distant
Horizon
could compare to this.” Katie knew the big screen made Kelsey feel
uncomfortable; it had taken her a while to get used to it. Now she actually
enjoyed sitting at her console and admiring the unrestricted view of space.
Mikow, who was sitting next to her, didn’t act as if it was anything out of the
ordinary.

“We have
similar screens on some of our more advanced research vessels,” commented
Andram from his science station. “It aids immensely with observations.”

Kazak was
standing in front of Kelsey on a somewhat lower level where all the command
consoles were located. Kelsey’s command chair was on a slightly raised dais,
which gave her an unobstructed view of the command crew as well as the
viewscreen.

“Most of the
ships of the Originators had screens such as these,” the AI explained. “The
magnification of any section of the screen can be significantly increased to
aid in research or even combat if necessary.”

“Contacts!”
called out Lieutenant Burke from his sensor console. “I have four Simulin
warships approaching.”

“Go to
Condition One,” ordered Kelsey as she leaned forward in her command chair.

They hadn’t
really expected to encounter any Simulins near the nebula. She wondered if they
had run into some ships salvaging equipment from the blue-giant stars, which
had energy collection satellites around them. Even so, space was huge, and it
had to be more than a coincidence for this Simulin task force to run across the
Dominator
and her escort fleet.

“Increase
screen magnification to show the Simulin ships,” she ordered.

On the
viewscreen the magnification was increased in one section to show the four
Simulin warships. Instantly, two battlecruisers and two support cruisers
appeared.

Kelsey drew in
a sharp breath as she gazed at one of the Simulin seventeen-hundred-meter
battlecruisers with its six energy weapon spires extending from the bow. It was
a frightening sight. She knew the ship was just as powerful as a fully updated
Federation battleship and was not to be trifled with.

Throughout the
five-thousand-meter length of the
Dominator
alarms sounded and lights
began flashing red, informing the crew of the setting of Condition One.
Modifications had been made to the
Dominator
to allow the ship to
conform to Federation ship standards for combat.

“How did they
find us?” asked Kelsey as she watched the Simulin vessels. There were still
well outside of combat range.

“I suspect
they have been observing the nebula where Gaia resides for quite some time to
see if the Originator ship emerged,” Andram said with a thoughtful look on his
face. “They may have detected us leaving the nebula and managed to get a plot
of our intended course. There could be a number of these small task forces out
looking for us.”

“Should I
destroy them?” asked Kazak, turning toward Kelsey. “Their weapons pose no
threat to this vessel.”

Kelsey looked
surprised. “From this range?” This was over three times the normal combat range
of Federation ships.

“Yes,” replied
Kazak. “The ships gravitonic cannons have the necessary range and will not be
affected by the energy shields surrounding the Simulin vessels.”

“I have
Admiral Sithe on the comm,” Lieutenant Lee Michelson reported. “He’s asking for
permission to engage the Simulin vessels.” Admiral Sithe was the ranking
officer, but he had been advised by Jeremy to allow Kelsey and the
Dominator
considerable latitude in command decisions.

Kelsey took a
deep breath. She knew they needed to find out more about the
Dominator’s
offensive capability. Jeremy had been very explicit about wanting to learn as
much as possible about the ship. This might be a good test.

“No, inform
the admiral that won’t be necessary. The
Dominator
will be engaging the
four Simulin vessels by itself.” Kelsey leaned back in her command chair and
looked at Kazak expectantly.

-

Simulin Lower
Commander Hartok gazed at the monster ship on his main viewscreen. He had heard
rumors of such a vessel but doubted the authenticity of the reports. Only when
Supreme High Commander Callat had ordered the Fitula Nebula to be closely
monitored for such a ship leaving it had Hartok come to accept the rumors might
be true. And now, here near the nebula that once contained the Great Sphere,
the rumored ship had appeared.

“Status!” he
demanded harshly as he prepared for combat.

He had orders
to capture the vessel if possible, but the escorts accompanying it seemed to
indicate that wasn’t going to be achievable. Therefore, he would attempt to
destroy it instead. He had already sent a message to Malkor informing Supreme
High Commander Callat of encountering the ancient ship. However, it would be
nearly three hours before the nearest sizable fleet could arrive and by then
the ship and its escorting fleet would be gone. That left him no choice but to
take his fleet in on a fast attack run and hit the giant ship with every weapon
at his disposal. If he couldn’t destroy it, perhaps he could at least disable
it until more Simulin warships arrived.

“Twenty-two
contacts,” the sensor operator answered. “There are ten of the
one-thousand-meter AI ships and the rest are ships crewed by the organics of
the Fitula Nebula.”

Hartok nodded.
“All ships will target the ship of the sphere builders. Once we have destroyed
it, we will withdraw.”

“That ship
supposedly immobilized several thousand of our vessels at the Fitula Nebula,”
spoke up the ship’s second in command. “What chance do we have against it?”

“What does the
battle computer say?”

The Second
Commander spent a moment checking the computer and then turned back toward
Hartok looking shaken. “It recommends attacking using every sublight antimatter
missile at our disposal in an attempt to damage the vessel. The odds of our
success are only at 12 percent.”

“We are
Simulin,” Hartok answered coldly. “We will carry out our duties for it is our
destiny to eliminate all other organics. If we die here today, then we die.”

“There can
only be Simulin,” spoke the Second Commander in acknowledgment.

-

“Firing
gravitonic cannon one,” reported Major Mason Donaldson as he touched several
icons on his command screen.

Kazak was
standing behind the tactical officer in case his assistance was needed. The
Originator AI had spent considerable time with the major explaining to him the
function of the weapons on the
Dominator
, at least the ones he was
willing to allow the crew to use.

“Magnify the
view of the target ship,” ordered Kelsey. She was highly curious to see the
affect of the gravitonic cannon against a fully shielded Simulin battlecruiser.

On the screen,
one of the battlecruisers suddenly swelled up even larger. The ship looked
fearsome with its six long energy cannon spires and its bulbous form.

-

The graviton
beam hit the front section of the Simulin battlecruiser, penetrating the energy
screen as if it wasn’t even there. The entire bow of the ship seemed to collapse
in on itself, and all six of the energy weapons spires seemed to crumble into
space dust. As the beam continued to fire, the stress on the ship’s hull became
unbearable and compartment after compartment cracked open. Secondary explosions
from deep inside the vessel began to shake it and then in a massive burst of
light, the Simulin battlecruiser blew apart.

-

Simulin
battlecruiser is down,” reported Lieutenant Burke.

Kelsey was
still gazing at the viewscreen in disbelief. It had taken only a few seconds
for just one cannon to completely destroy the Simulin battlecruiser. “Target
the next ship,” she ordered.

“Fire the
antimatter beam,” suggested Kazak to Major Donaldson. “Its effect should be
even more spectacular.”

Major
Donaldson looked back at Kelsey, who nodded her agreement. Reaching forward, he
targeted one of the support cruisers and fired the beam weapon.

On the
viewscreen, a dark violet colored beam speared the Simulin cruiser, blasting
directly through its energy shield like a hot knife cutting through butter. In
a violent explosion, the escort cruiser blew up, sending glowing debris in all
directions.

“Simulin
escort cruiser is down,” confirmed Lieutenant Burke.

“As I said,”
spoke Kazak addressing Kelsey. “Those Simulin vessels are not a threat.”

-

Lower Lord
Hartok stood frozen, gazing in shock at the sudden loss of two of his ships to
weapons of such power and range he couldn’t even fathom their power source. The
Simulin fleet had no weapons that could even compare to the destructive power
he had just witnessed.

“Four minutes
to combat range,” the sensor operator reported.

“Withdraw,”
ordered Hartok. There was no point in sacrificing his last two ships if he
couldn’t even get within weapons range. “Send a message to the nearest fleet
informing them of the weapons the ancient vessel possesses. Send all the data
we have gathered. Then send the same message to Supreme High Commander Callat.”

If he
continued his attack run both of his remaining ships would be destroyed before
they reached engagement range. It was vital Supreme High Commander Callat be
notified of the terrifying power of these weapons. If the organics and the AIs
from the Fitula Nebula were able to build weapons of similar power, it would be
the Simulins who would be annihilated from this galaxy.

“Too late,”
the sensor operator replied, standing up and facing Lower Lord Hartok. “There
shall be none but Simulin.” Even as he uttered those words, the ship exploded.

-

“Both the
second Simulin battlecruiser and the remaining escort cruiser are down,”
reported Lieutenant Burke.

The command
crew was silent. Everyone was in awe of the weapons they had just used to
destroy the four Simulin warships. If Kazak were willing to share this weapons
technology, the war against the Simulins would soon be over. They could save
this galaxy from being overrun.

“That
represented just 2 percent of the weapons this ship has at its disposal,”
announced Kazak, observing how impressed the Humans and the Altons had been by
the display of power. “The
Dominator
by itself has the capability to
eliminate any Simulin fleet which dares to attack us.”

Kelsey didn’t
know what to say. This was the first battle she had actually commanded. Everything
had seemed so easy. It slowly dawned on her she was in command of the most
powerful ship in existence.

“Commander,
Admiral Sithe is asking how soon before our next jump,” Lieutenant Mickelson
informed her.

“Navigation,
do you have the next set of nav coordinates ready?”

“Yes,
Commander,” Captain Brent Adams replied. “We can make the transition to
hyperspace at any time.”

“Send the
coordinates to the other ships in the fleet. It’s time for us to leave before
more Simulin warships show up. I’m sure that Simulin task force sent out
messages informing their other fleets of our presence.”

“That’s
confirmed,” Kazak said. “The
Dominator’s
sensors detected a number of
FTL messages being sent prior to our engaging the Simulins and several just
before the last two ships were destroyed.”

“Anything on
the long-range sensors?” asked Kelsey. She knew the sensors on the
Dominator
could detect other space vessels within twenty light years.

“Sensors are
clear at the moment,” Lieutenant Burke answered as she checked them one more
time.

Kelsey nodded.
“Navigation, let’s depart this area.” Looking at the viewscreen one last time
Kelsey took note of the four areas of glowing debris. Four Simulin ships had
been destroyed by the Dominator as if they were just minor inconveniences.

A few moments later,
the fleet entered hyperspace and vanished from their previous location, leaving
nothing behind except the shattered remains of the Simulin warships.

Kelsey had to
close her eyes for a moment, as the Command Center was flooded with the deep
purple colors of hyperspace. The massive viewscreen suddenly dimmed and the
colors gradually faded. They didn’t vanish altogether but they were less
disturbing.

She looked
uneasily at Kazak who was moving from one command console to the next, speaking
with the different crewmembers who were operating them. Occasionally he would
spend a little extra time explaining some mundane function of a console before
moving on. Kelsey was worried about Kazak. So far on this mission he had done
everything she had asked of him, however, watching the Originator AI during the
battle she had gotten the feeling Kazak had actually enjoyed destroying the
Simulin ships. She thought about how Ariel acted the same way anytime she was
allowed to be in command of the
Avenger
during a battle. For that
matter, so had Clarissa. It occurred to her that in future engagements she
would keep a closer eye on Kazak. She also wanted to talk to Katie and Andram
about her suspicions to see how they felt about the Originator AI.

Kelsey
continued to watch Kazak as he moved about the Command Center. She and Jeremy
had spent considerable time discussing her taking command of the
Dominator
.
She had a feeling Jeremy felt much the same as she did as far as trusting
Kazak. The
Dominator
was a warship. Was it possible Kazak was an AI
whose primary responsibility was to protect this ship at any cost? Had Kazak been
programmed more for war and not for peace? It was a frightening thought. What
if at some future time the Originator AI decided its organic crew was a
hindrance. Her thoughts turned to the secret compartment at the heart of the
ship. Jeremy had expressly forbidden her, Mikow, or Katie to even question the
AI about it. For now, Jeremy wanted Kazak to believe his ruse of hiding the
compartment had worked. What concerned Kelsey was what would happen if Kazak
decided what was inside of the compartment was more important than its Human
and Alton crew.