The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel (29 page)

“Should we
tell the Shari fleet?” asked Commander Arnett.

Race looked at
the tactical display and then shook his head. “No, we warned them not to
detonate those nukes, and they did it anyway. Whatever happens to their fleet
they deserve.”

“I want the
WarHawk
to jump last; leave a twenty-second window.”

“Yes,
Admiral,” replied Commander Arnett.

-

The seconds
passed and the other ships of the fleet began to jump. At the battlecarriers’
location hundreds of fighters were rushing to land. Some were so far out they
knew they couldn’t make it back in time. With acceptance of their impending
death, they turned upon the Simulins’ small ships with a heightened fury,
blowing them out of space by the dozens.

The Alton ships jumped, followed quickly by the rest of the Federation ships. Then the
Corvus
jumped from the vicinity of the twenty Indomitable Class battlestations.
Moments later, the battlecarriers opened spatial vortexes and vanished from the
system along with the noncombat ships. Then the battle dreadnought
WarHawk
opened up its own vortex and flew into it.

-

 High Lord
Aktill of the Shari sat in his command chair in shock. The nuclear blasts had
failed, and the Dyson Sphere had retaliated for the attack upon its surface by
destroying the Shari fleet orbiting above it. Not only that, the Humans and the
Altons had fled, leaving the Dyson Sphere to the Simulins.

“I don’t
understand,” said Lower Lord Samarth, seeing his future plans crumbling before
his eyes. At some point in time, the High Lord would learn of the last warning
message sent by the Human Admiral. When that occurred, Samarth knew he would
face execution.

“The Human
admiral was right,” growled Aktill, his eyes filled with anger. “We must attack
the Simulin fleet ourselves before they gain control of the Dyson Sphere.”

“High Lord,”
spoke up the Shari, who was sitting in front of the sensor console. “We’re
detecting numerous hatches opening up all over the Dyson Sphere.”

Aktill felt
momentary fear and then he relaxed. They were too far out for any weapon to be
able to reach his fleet. No, this must be an attack upon the small Simulin
vessels nearing the surface of the megastructure. He noticed with some surprise
a number of Human fighter craft were still actively engaged blasting the small
Simulin vessels down. It puzzled him as to why they had been left behind.

-

From the Dyson
Sphere hundreds of the destructive spheres of energy rose up. Then they
accelerated into hyperspace, hurtling at many times the speed of light toward
their targets. The battlestations went first as their massive structures came
apart and became floating balls of dark dust. Then the spheres of energy struck
the Simulin small craft, sweeping through them as if they were nothing more
than empty space. Before the Simulin battlecruisers and escort cruisers could
attempt to escape, the spheres of deadly energy were upon them. In a matter of
a few seconds, the powerful Simulin warships were obliterated.

-

“I don’t like
this,” Lower Lord Samarth said as he watched the Simulin ships vanish off the
tactical screen.

“Me either,”
said High Lord Aktill, turning toward the communications console. “Order Lower
Lord Dalold to take his fleet into hyperspace and return to our position. We’ll
continue to observe the Dyson Sphere for a few hours and then determine our
next move.”

-

From the open
hatches on the Dyson Sphere, more of the blue spheres of energy appeared. As
soon as they exited the hatches they vanished as they jumped into hyperspace,
only to emerge a few seconds later at Lower Lord Dalold’s fleet. In less than
twenty seconds, all two hundred and thirty Shari vessels were annihilated. Only
a few clouds of drifting dust indicated where the powerful warships had been.

-

“We need to
leave!” Lower Lord Samarth cried out in shock as Dalold’s fleet died. “We may
be next!”

Aktill nodded.
He now knew the Dyson Sphere was not for the Shari or anyone else. “All ships,”
he announced over the ship-to-ship comm, “We must enter hyperspace or risk
being destroyed. Rendezvous at star system X-246. Leave as soon as your drives
are fully charged.” He now knew why the Humans and the Altons had left in such
haste. It also explained why some of their small fighters had been left behind.
Somehow, they had been warned about what was going to happen.

“High Lord,”
said the sensor operator. “I’m detecting more energy discharges at the Dyson
Sphere.”

“What do we
do?” called out Samarth in fear.

On one of the
viewscreens, Aktill saw a blue ball of energy suddenly appear and surge toward
the battlecruiser
Glorious Dawn
. The energy ball struck the ship’s
energy shield, which instantly faded away. Then it latched onto the ship’s hull
and seemed to be slowly consuming it. In just a few moments the ship vanished
with only gray space dust to mark its passing.

On another
viewscreen, other ships were being destroyed in similar fashion. Ship after
ship fell victim to the ravenous, destructive energy of the mysterious blue
spheres.

Then High Lord
Aktill felt his flagship, the
Judgment of Dawn
, begin to shake
violently. The lights flickered and then dimmed. Several consoles exploded in
flame. On the damage control board lights were quickly turning red.

“We have
numerous compartments open to space,” reported the damage control officer.
“There are multiple breaches across the ship and we’re venting atmosphere.”

High Lord
Aktill blinked his eyes and looked around, taking stock of the situation.
Alarms were screaming from the damage control console, and power was rapidly
failing.

Aktill
suddenly felt faint. Looking down at his hand, he saw it begin to fade away.
Strangely enough there was no pain and then he lost consciousness.

Moments later,
the
Judgment of Dawn
was no more, and High Lord Aktill of the Shari had been erased from this phase of existence.

-

On the Dyson
Sphere, Reesa watched in shock as the automatic weapon system destroyed all the
fleets. Her heart was pounding and she felt faint at how rapidly the fleets had
been destroyed. The defensive weapons fire spared no one as the deadly spheres
of blue energy annihilated everything in their path. She was relieved Admiral
Tolsen and his fleets had managed to escape.

Turning toward
Leeda, Reesa took a deep breath to steady herself. “What type of weapon was
that?”

“It tears
apart the bonds that allow atoms to combine with one another and form elements.
It’s the most powerful weapon ever discovered by the Originators, so powerful
that it was not allowed upon any warships lest an enemy learn its terrible
secret.”

“Why haven’t
you used this weapon against the Simulins before? You could have prevented them
from accessing any of the Dyson Spheres, and stopped the carnage they’re
spreading across so many different galaxies!”

“It’s the
command key,” Rakell answered unmoved by Reesa’s tirade. “If the command key is
used to unlock the intergalactic vortexes it overrides the defensive systems.
Also, there are very few AIs capable of actual combat.”

“So what now?”

“We’ll send an
AI out to bring in the Marines and the crew from the exploration cutter your
admiral left behind,” Leeda said. “We don’t know as yet if any of the Simulins
managed to reach the surface of the Shrieel. If they did, we may need them.”

Reesa nodded.
Shortly she wouldn’t be alone as Kelnor and the others were on their way.
However, there was another item that worried her. Rakell and the others,
including Leeda, had made it very plain that none of them would be returning to
the Federation. With a deep sigh, Reesa realized the Dyson Sphere was now her
new home.

Reesa was
waiting expectantly as Kelnor and the others came down the corridor toward the
large briefing room Leeda had prepared for them. She was standing just outside
the door wondering how she would be received. She was both excited and nervous
about meeting the others. Reesa was certain they had long since given her up
for dead.

“Reesa!”
called out Sergeant Wilde with a look of intense relief on her face. “We didn’t
think we’d ever see you again.”

Kelnor walked
up to Reesa and slowly shook his head. “I will say this, you seem to have a
tenacity to turn up in the most surprising places. This is all astonishing, and
we have so much to learn. When Tamon stepped off that spaceship and told us you
were still alive, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. We had all given up
hope of ever seeing you again. I want to hear everything that has happened to
you since you vanished through the wall at the museum.”

“How did you
find these AIs?” asked Melvin Blair, his eyes shining with interest. “Tamon
hasn’t told us much since he informed us we needed to come with him.”

“The only
thing we’ve been told is that there’s a danger of the Simulins breaching the
Dyson Sphere and activating an intergalactic vortex to bring more of their
ships here,” added Brenda with a worried look. “Reesa, just what the hell is
going on? What happened to the fleet?”

Reesa let out
a deep breath. There was so much to tell. “If you will follow me, the
Originator AIs have made a briefing room available for us to use. There will be
food as well as drinks available. We have a lot to go over and some of it
you’re not going to like.” Reesa turned and stepped into the room. Leeda and
Rakell were both there waiting. She had no idea how the others would react when
they were told they could never go home.

-

An hour later,
everyone sat in stunned silence. Rakell had used one of the viewscreens in the
briefing room to show everyone what had transpired in space outside the Dyson
Sphere. They watched in stunned silence as blue spheres of energy turned entire
fleets into space dust. Even Kelnor had been silenced when he saw a blue energy
sphere destroy an Indomitable Class battlestation as if it was nothing more
than a toy.

“I don’t
understand,” Kelnor finally said in awe of the defensive power the Dyson Sphere
had demonstrated. “If you have all of this power, why have you allowed the
Simulins to become such a threat? It seems to me you could easily have
prevented all of this. Trillions of beings across multiple galaxies have died
due to the Simulins use of the Dyson Spheres.”

Leeda looked
over at the esteemed Alton scientist with an uneasy look in her eyes. “Reesa
has told us that on your own worlds many of your people are nonaggressive and
don’t believe in violence. Unfortunately, we are the same way. There are only a
few AIs trained for combat, and none of them are within range of this Shrieel.
We are powerless to stop the Simulins. We can use our energy shields to limit
their access, but once they’ve taken over the intergalactic vortex areas we are
powerless to force them out. Only if they were to perform an act of violence
against the Shrieel before using the command key would the core computer deem
them a threat and take action. Unfortunately, their possession of a command key
prevents the system from doing that once it’s been used.”

“The fleets
are gone and you say the core computer will fire upon any vessel that
approaches the Dyson Sphere?” Brenda asked.

She had been
relieved to see the Federation ships escape relatively unharmed. From what
Rakell had said, it sounded to her as if they were stranded here, permanently.
She had watched the blue energy spheres wipe out the Indomitable Class
battlestations and the Simulin fleet as well as the Shari. There was no way
Admiral Tolsen would dare to come back and face that type of firepower.

Rakell nodded
his head. “Unfortunately, that is correct. Due to the way the core computer is
programmed, it will destroy all vessels of any of the races that were in the
system when the defenses were activated. The only way to override that program
is for an Originator to intervene and they all died over two million years
ago.”

“So we’re
never going home?” asked Corporal Metz, his eyes showing his shock at what he
had just heard.

“Let’s not
worry about that for now,” said Brenda, recalling why Tamon had brought them
here in the first place. “From what you’ve shown us on the viewscreen, the
Simulins launched a lot of shuttles and their Conqueror Drone pods toward the
Dyson Sphere. Did any of them make it to the surface?”

“None of the
drone pods did,” Rakell replied. “However, we believe several of their shuttles
did manage to land successfully.” Rakell made a gesture with his hand over a
small control console at the head of the table. Instantly, the viewscreen
changed to show a view of a concave area on the surface of the Dyson Sphere.

“This is one
of the intergalactic vortexes. Since shortly after the battle we have not been
able to access it. We have confirmed emergency energy shields have activated,
sealing the area off. That’s standard procedure if anyone other than an
Originator enters the vortex zones. The only way to gain access is with a
command key.”

Brenda’s face
turned pale at this revelation. “Can the Simulins activate it?”

“Not for
another seventy-six hours,” Rakell answered. “After we talked to Reesa and she
explained what was occurring in the galaxies the Simulins have gained control
of, we made a temporary change to the systems that control the intergalactic
vortexes. While the core computer prevents us from denying access to anyone
with a command key, we can still force the computers that control the vortexes
to run a full diagnostic. Once the diagnostic is complete, the Simulins will be
able to use the command key to activate the vortex and begin bringing their
fleets through. Unfortunately, once the first Simulin ship emerges from the
vortex, the core computer will refuse to fire upon it because the command key
was used. It will consider all Simulin vessels after that as approved vessels.”

Brenda looked
around the briefing room at her Marines. They all seemed overwhelmed by what
they were hearing. “Can you get us into the vortex area so we can engage the
Simulins? Perhaps we can get this command key away from them.” She only had one
platoon, and she was fearful that might not be enough, particularly if there
were any Conqueror Drones present. She shivered at the thought of facing the
deadly drones. However, she couldn’t stand by and allow fleets of Simulin
warships to pass through the vortex. It would mean the end of the Federation
and life as she knew it.

“You will have
additional help,” Leeda announced. “Your Admiral Tolsen sent your exploration
cutter back down with another group of Marines with a Captain Abrams in
command. We have already sent a small ship to bring them as well as the cutter’s
crew here.”

Brenda closed
her eyes briefly, feeling relieved. Captain Abrams was going to be here
shortly. With a deep sigh she knew the ass chewing she had been dreading was
coming closer. “How soon will they be here and how quickly after that can you get
us to the vortex where the Simulins are?” With the addition of Captain Abrams
and her Marines, they might just have a chance to stop the Simulins from
activating the vortex.

Leeda looked
toward Sergeant Wilde. “They should be picked up within the hour and will be
here within four more. The ship retrieving them has a gravity drive that allows
it to reach very high speeds. As soon as they arrive, you and your Marines will
go on board and will be taken to the vortex site in question. Sergeant Wilde,
you must understand. We are not allowed to leave the Shrieel except under
extreme circumstances. None of us were aware of what the Simulins were doing in
the galaxies where they have gained access to the Shrieels. We are as horrified
as you are of what the Simulins have done. We now recognize this was a mistake
in our original programming by the Originators.”

“Then we
better get ready,” said Brenda, rising to her feet. She looked around at her
Marines. “Get something to eat and drink; we have some Simulins to take care
of.”

-

Captain
Lindsey Abrams felt the small ship they were in set down with scarcely a jar.
The cockpit door opened and the female Originator AI, who had come to get them
stepped through.

“We’re here,”
Sible announced. “Your other Marines are waiting. We’ll unload the crew of your
cutter, and they will stay here with the scientists from your exploratory
team.”

Abrams nodded.
It had been good to hear Sergeant Wilde and the others were still alive. She
was also pleased they would now all be together. She was startled when the
large hatch on the side of the ship opened without any noticeable sound.
Looking out, she saw Sergeant Wilde and her platoon waiting. Perhaps now she
would get some explanations as to what was going on. She had a lot of questions
for the sergeant.

The twenty
crewmembers of the exploration cutter quickly disembarked and Sergeant Wilde
then came on board with her Marines.

“Captain,”
Sergeant Wilde said as she stopped and saluted.

“Sergeant,”
replied Abrams, returning the salute. “Get your people on board and situated. I
understand we have some Simulins that need to be killed.”

“I’ll fill you
in,” Brenda said as she indicated for her Marines to come on board. “I have a
lot to tell you.”

“I’m sure you
do,” Abrams said, eyeing Wilde critically. “I want you to start at the very
beginning and explain to me just how the hell you managed to disappear with the
entire exploratory team. We thought you were all dead!”

Brenda winced.
She knew she was about to get her ass chewed as feared. Straightening her
shoulders, she began to tell Captain Abrams everything that had transpired
since the exploratory team entered the structure on the surface of the Dyson
Sphere.

-

Later, Brenda
leaned back in her seat gazing out the viewport next to her at the stunning
scene that met her eyes. They were flying far above the Dyson Sphere and the
view was spectacular. It completely surrounded them and seemed to be a magical
patchwork of color. Blue, green, brown, white, and even dark areas were plainly
visible. There were thousands of these squares in evidence, and Brenda knew
from what she had been told by Reesa that each one was many times the size of
the Earth.

She was also
well aware that most of the landscapes were teeming with life. The oceans were
full of every type of fish species imaginable as well as other living aquatic
creatures. The landmasses were much the same. Herds of animals roamed free, and
Leeda had even mentioned there were actual dinosaurs still living in several of
the habitat areas. Then there were the dark areas. These habitats were
completely enclosed because they required environments uncommon for normal
oxygen breathing animals. Most held exotic species such as the flowering plants
Reesa had been shown. At some point in time when this was all over, Brenda was
interested in seeing some of these animal and plant species. She was
particularly fascinated in seeing the dinosaurs.

“How was your
talk with the captain?” asked Corporal Metz, coming to sit down next to her.
“Was she very upset?”

Brenda let out
a deep sigh. “Not as bad as I was expecting. I think she’s more relieved we’re
all still alive than anything else.”

Metz nodded. “Yeah, I can see that. I guess everyone did think we were dead.” Then in a
more quiet voice. “So, what’s this op all about?”

“Simulins and
possible Conqueror Drones,” Brenda said, looking down at her assault rifle. All
of the members of her platoon had switched their ammo rounds to armor piercing
and light explosive. Both rounds were designed to take out a drone.

“Any idea of
the numbers we’ll be facing?”

Brenda thought
back to the briefing they had received from the Originator AIs. “Not many.
There were only six confirmed Simulin shuttles that made it to the surface and
none of the drone pods.  All of them but one were quite small. However, there
was one shuttle nearly the size of our exploration cutter. Rakell felt that
shuttle might belong to the Simulin commander and if so he would be the one
most likely to have the command key the AIs are so worried about.”

Corporal Metz
leaned forward closer to the sergeant. “What’s going to happen to us when this
is all over? I mean, the AIs made it pretty plain we couldn’t go back home. Are
we going to be stuck here forever?”

Brenda blinked
her eyes and looked around. None of the other Marines were paying any attention
to her and the corporal. “I don’t know; the Dyson Sphere is a big place.
Counting the exploration team and Captain Abram’s people there are nearly
eighty of us.”

“I’m not ready
to settle down,” muttered Metz. “I have family back home; my parents and my
younger brother.”

Brenda
understood what Metz was saying. Many of the Marines were young and had
families back in the Federation. It would be difficult to leave all of that
behind. “Let’s take care of the Simulins and Conqueror Drones first. Then we’ll
worry about getting back home.”

Metz nodded and, standing up, returned to his own seat.

Looking out
the viewport, Brenda saw the spacecraft was beginning to head down. Taking a
deep breath, she closed her eyes and thought back over the last few weeks.
During none of that time had she ever imagined being in the situation she was
in right now; fighting Simulins on the Dyson Sphere.

-

Rakell was
standing next to Captain Abrams as the spacecraft sat down at a small landing
facility next to a tall structure that reached over one thousand meters into
the air.