The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel (31 page)

Supreme Commander
Callat nodded, but he still felt doubtful. “Summon all of our outlying fleets.
They are to return to our worlds immediately.”

“All of them?”
asked Faberh, his eyes widening in surprise. “That will leave much of our
conquered territory unguarded. There are several small empires on the fringe
areas of this galaxy that will take advantage of the absence of our warships to
retake some or all of their former territory. The Ornellians are a prime
example, particularly since ships from the Fitula Nebula organics are there and
assisting them.”

“Yes,” Callat
answered. “It’s a risk we have to take. Only yesterday I received a highly
disturbing message from the blue-giant nebula where the Great Sphere once
resided. The ancient ship was spotted there many days ago and engaged in combat
with several of our vessels. A few days later, ten new supernovas were
discovered encircling the Great Sphere supernova. I suspect it was the ship of
the ancients that caused these stars to explode in an effort to stop the
expansion of the radiation front. I have spoken to several of our leading
scientists on Malkor, and they agree with that assessment.”

Faberh’s eyes
narrowed sharply at hearing this. “Are you saying this ancient ship has a
weapon that can make a star explode?”

Callat shifted
his gaze to Faberh. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. As a result of our attack
upon the vessel at the Fitula Nebula, I believe it’s now on its way here to
destroy us.”

-

Jeremy was in
the Command Center watching the swirling purple colors on the viewscreens. So
far, there had been no sign of the
Dominator
. He hoped nothing dire had
occurred on the ship as Kelsey was its commander. “How far ahead of us do you
think the ship is?”

Ariel spent a
few moments accessing some information from the ship’s computer. “We’re
traveling at our top speed, but we still have to drop out of hyperspace
periodically to cool down our drive cores and recharge the hyperdrive system.
The
Dominator
has to do neither. We’ve been traveling for ten days, and
I would estimate the
Dominator
is at least fifty to fifty-four hours
ahead of us. We’ll continue to lose ground until Kazak brings the ship to a
stop.”

Jeremy leaned
back in his command chair and let out a deep sigh. He knew no matter what they
weren’t going to arrive at the Simulin worlds in time to intercept the
Dominator
.

“Why stop
Kazak?” asked ZED. “Do we not want the Simulins destroyed?” The AI had
requested to be allowed to come on the mission and Jeremy agreed since ZED
offered some unique insights into what might be driving the Originator AI.

Jeremy
realized this was a difficult question to answer. It was an internal battle he
had been fighting for days. “For the crimes the Simulins have committed against
so many civilizations, they deserve to die,” admitted Jeremy. “However, I don’t
want Kazak risking the
Dominator
and its crew on a venture that’s so
dangerous. They will be facing thousands of Simulins warships and whatever
defenses protect their worlds. Even the
Dominator
might not be able to
handle such odds. If Kazak had waited, perhaps we could have come up with a
better solution.”

“Kazak is an
AI,” ZED reminded Jeremy. “He may show Human emotions but he is ruled by logic.
The Simulins are a direct threat to the
Dominator
and what Kazak has
hidden in that central compartment. This is his attempt to remove that danger.”

“What’s in
that compartment, Jeremy?” asked Kevin, wanting to know what could be so
important Kazak would risk everything to attack the Simulins.

Jeremy took in
a deep breath. There was no longer any point in keeping secret what they
suspected Kazak was hiding. “We believe that central compartment has the last
surviving Originators in it. They are most likely in some type of stasis or
deep sleep.”

“Originators!”
exclaimed Kevin, his eyes showing his disbelief. “You have got to be kidding!”

“Of course,”
said Commander Malen with a nod of her head. “That would explain many of
Kazak’s actions.”

“We believe
it’s his programming to protect these surviving Originators that’s causing
Kazak to respond as he is now,” ZED added. “His primary responsibly will be to
protect them at any cost.”

Kevin looked
from Jeremy to ZED. “Just who knows about these Originators?” Kevin wasn’t
pleased Jeremy had kept this from him, particularly since Katie was on the
Dominator
.

Jeremy braced
himself and then answered. “Katie, Mikow, Kurene, Ariel, ZED, the Command AI,
and myself.”

Kevin’s face
turned red in anger, nearly matching his hair. Taking a few deep breaths, he
forced himself to calm down. “You should have told me before sending Katie off
on the
Dominator
.”

“You’re
right,” replied Jeremy, wishing now he had told Kevin. “We were just keeping
the number of people who knew down to a minimum. We couldn’t risk Kazak finding
out.”

Kevin didn’t
reply. He just turned back around, staring at his sensor console.

With a deep
sigh, Jeremy knew he needed to give Kevin time to get over this.

Ariel wasn’t
happy Kevin was upset with Jeremy. She realized he had every right to be.
However, of more importance was what Kazak was preparing to do? If the
Originator AI attacked the Simulin worlds with dark matter warheads he would be
endangering the
Dominator
, and there was nothing she could do to protect
her friends on board. For the first time in many years, Ariel felt helpless.

Ariel knew
Jeremy was deeply concerned since Kelsey, Katie, Mikow, and Andram were all on
the
Dominator
as well as several hundred other crewmembers.

“How much
danger is the
Dominator
in?” asked Commander Malen from her command
console. “Is there any chance the Simulins could penetrate its energy shield?”

“Doubtful,”
Ariel answered as she studied several simulations she had been running. “It
would take a tremendous amount of firepower, more than the Simulins currently
have. Also, I don’t believe Kazak will be willing to risk any harm coming to
the ship.”

“What do you
mean?” asked Jeremy, turning to face the beautiful AI.

“There is a
strategy Kazak can use that will minimize the threat to the
Dominator
and allow him to destroy the Simulin worlds.”

“That’s
assuming he does have the black matter warheads for the
Dominator’s
missiles,” Kurene said.

She had been
listening to the conversation and was aware of the simulations Ariel had been
running. She and ZED had been discussing the different strategies Kazak might
use to attack the Simulins and were in agreement with what Ariel was about to
reveal. It was the most logical strategy for the Originator AI to employ and
still protect his ship and its valuable cargo.

“I believe he
has a number of the warheads,” Ariel said. “However, I don’t believe he has
enough to eliminate all of the Simulin worlds in this galaxy.”

Jeremy looked
from Ariel to Kurene and then back to Ariel. “Don’t keep me in suspense. What’s
Kazak going to do?”

“It’s actually
quite simple,” answered Ariel, folding her arms across her chest. “The Simulins
will probably detect the
Dominator
before it reaches its target system
though it will do them little good. Kazak will simply drop out of hyperspace in
an area free of Simulins warships, launch his missile at either the star or the
planet and then jump right back into hyperspace before the missile detonates.
The Simulins will only have a limited amount of time to react and with the
Dominator’s
energy shield they will be powerless to prevent him from launching the missile and
then escaping.”

Jeremy stood
up and gazed over at Kevin. It seemed to him that Kevin had calmed back down.
“So what do we do? Do we allow Kazak to carry out this attack or do we try to
stop him?”

Kevin looked
over at Jeremy and then responded. “The Simulins are the ones who reprogrammed
the AIs back in our home galaxy. We all know how that turned out.”

“It was a
horrible time,” acknowledged ZED. “Even now large parts of the home galaxy, as
you call it, are still under the control of the AI proxy races. Thousands of
worlds remain enslaved. My fellow AIs and I are deeply ashamed of the part we
unknowingly played. I have no sympathy for the Simulins. They are a scourge and
must be eliminated.”

“Kevin?” asked
Jeremy, wanting to hear his best friend’s opinion.

“I say we let
Kazak take out as many Simulin worlds as he can. If what Ariel said is true and
the
Dominator
won’t be putting itself in danger, then I say power to
him. If he can take out enough of them, the Simulins may stop being a threat.”

“Kurene?” asked
Jeremy, turning toward the Alton.

Kurene’s face
turned pale, realizing what she was being asked. “As you know most of my race
are pacifists. However, in this case considering the threat the Simulins pose
and what they have done in the past, I would not willingly stand in Kazak’s
way.”

Jeremy closed
his eyes and shook his head. “Fleet Admiral Streth and others arranged for the
relief fleets to come to the Triangulum Galaxy so we could take the war to the
Simulins and keep the home galaxy safe. We have already accomplished part of
that goal by destroying the Dyson Sphere. However, to keep the Federation
permanently safe the Simulins must be stopped. We’ll proceed on and observe the
Dominator
, but we will not interfere unless we see that our help is
needed.”

The others
nodded and returned to working at their consoles. Jeremy knew by making this
decision he had probably just condemned billions of Simulins to death.

“You couldn’t
have stopped him anyway,” commented Ariel, suspecting what Jeremy was thinking.
“As hard as this may sound, it is the right decision.”

Jeremy’s eyes
returned to the viewscreens and the swirling deep purple colors of hyperspace.
“Try to figure out where Kazak is heading. Somewhere in Simulin space we’ll
find the
Dominator
. Kazak and I need to have a long conversation when
this is over.” Jeremy didn’t know how, but somehow he needed to gain the trust
of the Originator AI. If not, even Gaia could be in danger.

-

“We’ll be
emerging from hyperspace in twenty minutes,” Andram said, looking back at
Kelsey.

“Long-range
sensors indicate a populated Simulin world and what appears to be hundreds of
spacecraft operating in the system,” Lieutenant Tracey Burke reported uneasily.
“The largest grouping of ships is around the planet.”

Kelsey looked
over at the large holographic tactical display Tracey had just activated. It
showed a system of ten planets with hundreds of red threat icons. Kelsey knew
at this range they couldn’t tell the difference between warships and cargo
vessels.

“Detecting
defensive satellites and battlestations over planet number four,” Lieutenant
Burke continued. “Sensors indicate twenty-four hundred defensive satellites and
ten five-hundred-meter battlestations.”

“Are you sure
about that?” asked Kelsey. It almost sounded as if the Simulins were expecting
them. “When the
Distant Horizon
had gone through this area of space none
of the Simulin planets they detected had defensive grids around them. Something
had definitely changed.

“Positive,”
Burke replied. “It’s the only thing they could be. We should have the ship
types in orbit shortly.”

Kazak suddenly
strolled into the Command Center and everyone became quiet. “Lieutenant Burke
is correct. I have run an analysis of the ships in the system, and there are
six hundred and twelve Simulins warships as well as the defensive system around
the planet. There are also numerous mining operations and small bases on some
of the other planets and a number of the moons.”

Kelsey turned
to gaze unflinchingly at Kazak. “What are your plans?”

“We will
eliminate the fourth planet with a dark matter missile. If we cause the star to
go supernova, it could endanger other nearby star systems. While there are a
few small Simulin bases nearby, it is not worth destroying additional planets
that might be of use in the future for such a minor return.”

Kelsey felt
relieved. At least Kazak was still willing to hold the destruction down to a
minimum. Perhaps there was still hope of reasoning with the Originator AI.

“Bring the
ship to Condition One,” ordered Kelsey, settling back in her command chair.
“Stand by for combat operations.”

Kazak remained
silent, but Kelsey noticed all command consoles seemed to be working, including
Tactical. “Get our energy shield up as soon as we drop out of hyperspace.
Sensors, I want a complete scan of any possible threats to the ship. Kazak, how
long do you need to prep and launch the missile?” Kelsey had decided she needed
to earn the AI’s trust and the best way to do that and protect the crew was to
cooperate.

“Twenty
seconds after emergence I can launch the missile. Fifteen seconds after that
the
Dominator
can reenter hyperspace.”

Kelsey was
surprised at that. Kazak had never revealed to them how quickly the ship could
jump back into hyperspace though she had taken note that the
Dominator
didn’t need a cool down time for the drive core as other ships did. It could
also stay in hyperspace for an extended period of time.

It was silent
in the Command Center except for the occasional updates from the various
officers as they neared the target system.

Kelsey felt
her nerves on edge knowing they were about to wipe out several billion
Simulins. She took a deep breath before asking Kazak the next question on her
mind. “Once this system has been dealt with, where to next?”