The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel (26 page)

“Jeremy?” came
Kelsey’s tentative voice over his minicomm.

“Kelsey,
what’s going on with the Simulin battlecruiser you used the tractor beam on?”

“It’s Kazak,”
Kelsey answered uneasily. “Mikow believes he’s trying to access the
battlecruiser’s core computer.”

“Why?”

“We don’t
know. Jeremy, when the Simulins tried to ram us, that secret compartment at the
heart of the ship might have been damaged.”

Jeremy knew
Kelsey must be extremely worried to mention that compartment over the comm.
There was no way Kazak hadn’t heard. He also understood why she had. If the
compartment had suffered any damage after the extremes Kazak had taken to keep
it hidden, there was no way to determine how the Originator AI might react. Jeremy
felt a cold chill run down his back as he realized the situation on board that
ship might have just taken a dangerous turn.

“Kelsey, who
has control of the
Dominator
at the moment, the crew or Kazak?”

There was
silence for several long moments as Jeremy waited anxiously for Kelsey to
respond. Then her distressed voice came back over the comm. “Kazak does, none
of our consoles are responding. Andram says Kazak has complete control of the
entire ship and there’s nothing we can do to override it.”

Jeremy felt his
heart miss a beat. “Kelsey, can I speak with Kazak?”

“I’m here,
Fleet Admiral Strong,” Kazak’s voice suddenly spoke over the comm. “I’ve used
the
Dominator’s
core computer to break into and access all the records
stored in the computer on the Simulin battlecruiser. I’m sending a copy of all
the data to Ariel.”

Jeremy looked
over at Ariel, who nodded confirmation.

“Thank you,
Kazak,” Jeremy answered not sure where this conversation was going to go. “We
wanted that information; that’s why I ordered Grayseth to leave one of the
Simulin escort cruisers untouched.”

“That won’t be
necessary now,” answered Kazak.

Suddenly, on
the
Avenger’s
viewscreens the remaining Simulin ships began exploding as
the
Dominator
reactivated its weapons. In less than twenty seconds,
every remaining Simulin ship had been obliterated.

Jeremy was
stunned by the sudden showing of the massive firepower the Originator ship
possessed.

Kazak’s voice returned
with a cold determination. “I have decided the Simulins in this galaxy pose a
grave threat to the
Dominator
and the mission entrusted to me by the
Originators. For that reason, I will destroy them.”

“Jeremy, I’m
detecting a spatial vortex forming!” called out Kevin. “I think the
Dominator
is preparing to jump into hyperspace!”

“Kazak!”
called out Jeremy as he looked at a viewscreen showing the massive ship. “We
need to talk this over!”

Even as he
spoke the AI’s name, the
Dominator
turned and accelerated toward the
swirling spatial vortex. The ship vanished into its center and was gone.
Moments later the vortex collapsed, leaving no sign of it or of the Originator
ship. Jeremy gazed in shock at the viewscreen; there was no way to tell what
Kazak was going to do. Jeremy also knew he was powerless to stop it. Kelsey,
Katie, Mikow, and Andram as well as the rest of the crew were now under the
control of the Originator AI. He didn’t know if he would ever see any of them
again.

Reesa was in
the large Control Center of the Dyson Sphere with Leeda and Rakell. It had been
a full week since the red-haired Originator AI had brought her here. She had
met several times with the AIs present, pleading with them to allow her to
contact Admiral Tolsen and have Ambassador Tureen brought over to the Dyson
Sphere. The AIs had steadfastly refused, saying contact with any civilization
outside the Shrieel was not allowed.

With a deep
sigh, Reesa looked over at a nearby bank of immense viewscreens. There were ten
of these massive Control Centers scattered about the Dyson Sphere. Each one
controlled an area nearly equal to several hundred thousand Earth-sized
planets. The views on the screens were breathtaking. There were mountains
covered in snow taller than any she had ever seen before and massive
planet-sized oceans teeming with sea life. Leeda had commented some of the
oceans were over sixty kilometers deep. There were deserts, grasslands, and
forest areas, which seemed to go on forever. Then, of course, there were the
amazing cities.

Reesa had
learned from Leeda there were over thirty thousand perfectly preserved cities
on the surface of the Dyson Sphere. Each city had the capacity to accommodate
anywhere from three to five million Originators. That was enough room for over
one hundred billion of the ancient race. Reesa had commented this didn’t seem
like enough to handle the population of the hundreds of Originator worlds
discovered in the far distant past by Alton explorers. Leeda had explained that
many cities had been demolished to allow for the growth of some of the
ecological regions of the Dyson Sphere. There were regions where one could fly
for thousands of kilometers and never see a city.

“So the little
robots keep all the cities in repair?” asked Reesa as she saw several zipping
about on a nearby viewscreen in what was obviously a city street.

“Yes,”
answered Leeda, folding her arms across her chest. “We also have larger robots
that work in the forests and other areas to help maintain the necessary ecological
equilibrium for the different regions.”

“Is the entire
surface area of the Dyson Sphere livable?” Reesa knew that in close orbit
around the star the Dyson Sphere enclosed a series of slowly rotating panels
provided eight hours of darkness each day to the different regions. The days
inside the Dyson Sphere were twenty-eight hours long.

“No,” replied
Leeda, changing the view on a screen to show the darkened interior of a covered
region of the Dyson Sphere. “Thirty percent of the surface of the Dyson Sphere
are covered regions where the environment can be adjusted to accommodate any
type of species the Originators wanted to collect. This helped to ensure
dangerous species couldn’t get out and affect the biospheres around them.”

“Like a zoo.”
Reesa looked intently at the screen Leeda was pointing to. “I don’t see
anything.”

“Just wait,”
Leeda said with a mysterious smile.

On the screen,
light slowly began to appear but it was very dim. Reesa drew in a sharp breath
of amazement when she realized what she was looking at. There were flowers
covering everything for as far as she could see. The colors were astounding and
she thought she could see movement. “What are those?”

“It’s a flower
species that is semi-sentient. Those flowers are nearly one hundred meters
across, and they’re on plant stalks that sit on the surface eight hundred
meters beneath them. If you watch closely, you can see the flowers slowly
changing colors. That’s how they communicate. They only have a language of
several hundred words or color combinations. They live for about ten to twelve
thousand years and then die. In their place, a new seedling will begin anew to
take the place of the parent.”

“Why are they
here?”

Leeda changed
the screen back to a view of tall snow covered mountaintops. “When the
Originators were actively exploring the different galaxies they came upon a
number of species in danger of extinction. Some of those they brought back to
the Dyson Spheres and nursed back to health. The plan was to eventually return
them to their worlds, but the life extension pathogen put an end to that
project. Instead, the AIs on the Dyson Spheres were entrusted with keeping
those species alive. For the most part we’ve succeeded, though a few have
succumbed over the eons.”

 “There are
many such habitats within the Dyson Sphere,” Rakell said. “Some contain
numerous species too dangerous to roam free, and there are a few habitats which
no longer contain life. The Originators were great collectors of plant and
animal life. If Leeda has the time, she can show you some of the unique
specimens that only exist now inside the Shrieel.”

Reesa turned
away from the screens. “Have you considered my request to allow Ambassador
Tureen to enter the Dyson Sphere? He would be much better at answering your
questions than I am. He’s considered to be a great leader of my people.”

Rakell
remained silent for a long moment and then slowly shook his head. “No. We have
never allowed admittance to any of the Shrieel in all the years since the death
of the Originators. We’re not going to change that policy now. It would be best
if your people left.”

“What about
the Simulins?” demanded Reesa, her voice rising. “They have access to over
thirty Dyson Spheres. They’re using them to conquer entire galaxies, wiping out
trillions of intelligent beings. How can you stand by and allow that to
happen?”

Rakell’s eyes
narrowed sharply. “We did not allow them access. We believe they found a
command key somewhere. That key would enable them to access the spatial vortex
stations on a Shrieel. They would not be able to access other areas without the
AIs present lowering energy shields. It is the only explanation we have been
able to come up with that might explain how they have managed to access so many
of the Shrieel.”

“What’s to
stop them from just landing on the inside once they’ve gained admittance?”

“They can’t,”
answered Leeda. “If they try an energy shield will activate, preventing them
from landing.”

Rakell was
about to say something else when his eyes widened. “The Simulins have returned.
A fleet of two hundred and seven of their vessels has been detected exiting
hyperspace six hundred and ten million kilometers from the Shrieel.”

“What if they
have this command key?” asked Reesa anxiously. She still found it hard to
believe the AIs were refusing to do anything about the Simulins. “Can they gain
access to this Dyson Sphere?”

Leeda and
Rakell both looked at each other with worry in their eyes. “We’ll deal with
that when the time comes,” Rakell answered. “From our scans it looks as if your
Admiral Tolsen is preparing to engage the Simulins. Let us go to the Central
Control Station where we can watch developments.”

Reesa only
nodded and followed the two Originator AIs down a long corridor. She was deeply
concerned such a large fleet of Simulins had shown up. With the disturbed area
of space at the galactic center, it would take a tremendous amount of energy to
send ships to the Rylus Star Cluster. She didn’t think the Simulins would
commit so many ships unless they felt they could gain entry to the Dyson
Sphere. Somehow or another she needed to talk the AIs into letting her contact
Admiral Tolsen and tell him about the danger of the command key the Simulins
possessed. Leeda had played for her the message the Altons were broadcasting in
an attempt to gain the trust of the guiding intelligence of the Dyson Sphere.
While they had found the message intriguing, it had failed to sway them in
their policies concerning contact. Somehow, she had to find a way to change
their minds.

-

Admiral Race
Tolsen entered the Command Center of the
WarHawk
as the Condition One
klaxons began sounding. He had been eating in the officer’s mess when Commander
Arnett had summoned him.

“We have
Simulin warships that have just exited hyperspace six hundred million kilometers
from the Dyson Sphere,” Commander Arnett reported from her command station.

Race sat down
in his command chair and looked at one of the tactical displays, noting the new
red threat icons now present. “How many and what ship types are we dealing
with?” He had been afraid the Simulins would eventually return.

“Two hundred
and seven,” reported Captain Davis as he checked the data on one of his sensor
screens. “Scans indicate the presence of eighty-four battlecruisers and one
hundred and twenty-three escort cruisers.”

Colonel Cowel
shook his head. “That’s a good sized fleet. Eighty-four Simulin battlecruisers
are nothing to trifle with. Those things can do a lot of damage.”

Race looked at
the red threat icons representing the two Shari fleet formations. “What are the
Shari doing?”

“Nothing,”
Commander Arnett said as she turned toward the admiral. “If I had to make a
guess, they’ll stay out of this hoping the Simulins will inflict significant
losses on our fleets. Then, once we’ve defeated the Simulins, the Shari will move in and try to finish us off.”

“Communications,
send a message to the Federation informing them of the presence of the Simulin
fleet. Also, let them know we may have no choice but to abandon our position
around the Dyson Sphere and return to the Federation.” Race couldn’t allow his
fleet to be destroyed by the Shari if the Simulins managed to substantially
weaken it. It was better to attempt to return to Federation space than risk his
fleet in a battle against a numerically superior Shari force.

The Command Center suddenly became deathly quiet. They knew any attempt to return to Federation
space would involve them having to fight their way through over eleven hundred
light years of Shari controlled space.

“We’ll lose
the communication line once we transmit,” warned Commander Arnett. “The Shari are bound to detect it and trace the signal to our last line of FTL communication
buoys.”

Race let out a
deep breath. “I know, but we have no other choice. Recall all exploration
missions currently down on the surface. If we have to depart, I don’t want to
leave anyone behind.”

“What about
Kelnor and Reesa?” asked Colonel Cowel. “We’ll be abandoning them.”

“I think with
as much time that has passed we have to assume they’re dead,” Race said evenly.
He didn’t like the thought of leaving anyone behind, but even Major Nolan had
indicated there was very little chance of the exploratory team still surviving.

“Do we attack
or wait for them to come to us?” asked Commander Arnett.

Studying the
tactical display, Race noticed the Simulins weren’t moving. “Let’s wait and see
what our friends there do. If we have to go to them, I’ll lead the fleet out.
Admiral Lankell will accompany us with his battleships. Vice Admiral Tolsen,
Admiral Stoddard, and Fleet Admiral Baasil will remain beneath the defensive
grid. Fleet Admiral Baasil will be in charge until we return.”

-

Simulin High
Commander Hark Brasht gazed at the tactical screen with a deep scowl on his
face. There was a large fleet of organics in the outer part of the system as
well as two small fleets of the same type in closer. What concerned him the
most was the one in low orbit around the Great Sphere. From the sensor scans
they had made, there were a large number of organics down on the hull of the
sphere working in a small area. From the sensor readings, he suspected they
were going to attempt to blast their way in. Nuclear devices had been detected.
From past experience, he knew that was doomed to failure. In the remote past,
when his people had discovered the first Great Sphere, they had found out the
material they were constructed of was impervious to all known explosives, even
antimatter.

“There is a
second much larger organic fleet in low orbit as well,” Second Commander Habra
pointed out. “They seem to have put in place some defensive satellites and even
a few battlestations.”

“Is there any
indication of them attempting to gain admittance to the sphere?”

“No,” Habra
replied. “There are a number of shuttles leaving the surface but no signs of
any attempts to gain entry.”

High Commander
Brasht knew he was heavily outnumbered. However, he had the small golden globe
which would allow entrance to the intergalactic vortex sites. It had been sent
from the Simulin Grand Council. If he could activate just one of the sites, he
could summon reinforcements from another Simulin controlled galaxy where a
large fleet was waiting at its Great Sphere.

“We will not
attack any of the fleets of this galaxy’s organics,” Brasht announced. “We will
proceed to the Great Sphere and take up a position above one of the
intergalactic vortex apertures. If we can activate it, the Great Sphere will be
under our control and we can summon our other ships. Once that has been done,
we will then proceed to annihilate all the organic ships in the system.”

-

High Lord
Aktill of the Shari gazed with great worry at the tactical screen showing the
large Simulin fleet that had just appeared. He knew from reports of past
encounters with these vessels that they were highly dangerous, perhaps more so
than the Humans and the Altons.

“It’s as the
Humans said,” Lower Lord Samarth said grudgingly. “The Simulins have come for
the Dyson Sphere.”

Aktill glanced
over at Samarth. “We don’t know that yet. Their fleet hasn’t moved since it
arrived.”

“We must give
Abrade permission to detonate the nuclear charges,” urged Samarth. “If we can
gain entry to the sphere before the Simulins do we can secure the technology
inside.”

High Lord
Aktill knew that, in this instance, Samarth was right. If he waited and the
Simulins managed to gain access to the Dyson Sphere, then all might be lost.
The Alton Ambassador had warned the Simulins might possess a way to gain entry
during the negotiations with the representative from the Grand Council.