The Lost Fleet: Into the Darkness Page 11

  A blue-white vortex formed in front of the Distant Horizon as Lieutenant Styles accelerated toward it. The last thing Kathryn saw as the ship reached the vortex was the strikecruiser Nemesis vanishing in a brilliant flash of light as numerous Simulin energy beams penetrated its weakened screen, destroying the Federation ship.

  Kathryn’s eyes opened wide in shock at the destruction of the Nemesis and then they jumped into hyperspace. She gazed in relief at the swirling colors of deep purple that signaled they had escaped the Simulins. However, Commander Davidson and the eight hundred men and women under his command were gone. They had launched the probe, but the cost had been very high. Kathryn just hoped it had been worth it. Tonight she would say a prayer for those who had been lost.

  Chapter Eight

  “We have vortex activation!” called out Lieutenant Davis as a swirling white vortex suddenly appeared on one of the main viewscreens of the WarHawk.

  “All ships go to Condition One and prepare to engage the Simulins,” ordered Admiral Tolsen as he looked grimly at the viewscreen. This was what he had been afraid of. He looked over at Lieutenant Travers, wanting more information.

  Third Fleet had arrived on schedule and he had it aligned around the perimeter of the vortex. Pelel’s equipment had arrived several weeks before and they now had an exact location of the weakened area of space. Race had positioned his fleet within attack range so as to be able to blast any vessel that came through before it could raise its screens or power up its weapons.

  “Pelel says it’s definitely intergalactic,” reported Lieutenant Travers.

  “Order Admiral Bachal to cover Capacitor Station One and Admiral Jackson to do the same for Capacitor Station Two,” ordered Race as he prepared for combat. “All civilian ships are to be on standby to evacuate if the Simulins get past us.” Race knew that would leave a lot of people, both human and Alton, trapped on the two capacitor stations.

  On one of the tactical displays, the sixty ships of Third Fleet were in a globe around the intended target. The sixty friendly green icons were all that stood between the incoming Simulins and the inhabited worlds of the galaxy.

  “All ships in position and ready to fire,” reported Commander Arnett. “The hospital ship Raven is moving back to Capacitor Station One.”

  Race nodded and activated his ship-to-ship mini-comm so he could speak to Rear Admiral Rance Wyler on the battlecarrier Saratoga. Wyler was in command of Third Fleet’s six carriers.

  “Rance, prepare your bomber squadrons for a shipping strike. They’re to take out any damaged Simulin vessels that have lost their shields.”

  “Squadrons are being armed,” Rance replied. “Give me ten minutes and I’ll have four hundred Anlons ready to launch. Each will be armed with two Shrike missiles.”

  “Okay,” Race replied. “As soon as your first squadrons are ready, go ahead and launch; don’t wait for orders from me. This could get extremely violent quickly.”

  “Object is coming through!” called out Colonel Cowel as a wedge shaped vessel suddenly shot out of the swirling vortex.

  “Hold your fire!” screamed Lieutenant Travers as she received a frantic message from Capacitor Station One. “Shay claims the vessel is one of the Distant Horizon’s probes!”

  “What?” stammered Commander Arnett with a stunned look on her face.

  “All ships, hold your fire!” ordered Race as he looked in amazement at the twenty-meter wedge shaped vessel on the viewscreen, which had now come to a complete stop.

  “Admiral Jackson is confirming it’s one of the Distant Horizon’s probes,” added Lieutenant Travers. Her face was nearly white realizing how close they had come to destroying it. “He’s receiving a massive download of data.”

  “Holy crap,” muttered Colonel Cowel, shaking his head in disbelief. “They made it!” He looked over at Admiral Tolsen. “Fleet Admiral Streth was right.”

  Race’s attention returned to the vortex only to see it begin to fade and then abruptly vanish. “Take the fleet back to Condition Three until we find out for sure what’s going on.” He’d never expected to hear from the Distant Horizon again, not after speaking to Fleet Admiral Streth. He was anxious to see the data and whether it contained anything about the Simulins.

  -

  Four hours later Admiral Tolsen was sitting in a briefing room on the Dauntless along with Admiral Jackson, Admiral Bachal, Commander Arnett, and Altons Shay Mele and Pelel Maz. They had just finished going over the information the probe had transmitted. Most of the information they’d just skimmed over, only stopping to examine pertinent sections.

  “Fourth Fleet survived,” said Admiral Jackson, his eyes wide with excitement. “I can’t believe most of the ships that went through the vortex made it. I guess this proves Fleet Admiral Streth’s faith in Admiral Strong was well justified.”

  “A lot of families are going to be relieved,” Madelyn said. “There are thousands of personal messages in the files the probe downloaded.”

  “Goodbye messages for the most part,” Jackson said with sadness in his eyes. “I read a few of them that weren’t marked private. They don’t expect to ever come back.”

  “Rear Admiral Barnes knew there was a possibility of her mission being a one way trip,” Race said. He knew her father on Ceres was going to be deeply affected by this. He’d checked and there was a long personal message from the rear admiral to the governor.

  “A lot has happened since Fourth Fleet and the others made the transit to the Triangulum Galaxy,” Madelyn added. “They’ve fought several intense battles against the Simulins and the Distant Horizon was nearly destroyed.”

  “But the AIs?” Race said in a bitter voice. He was still finding it hard to digest the information that Admiral Strong had made a pact with the deadly automatons. So many people had died in the battle at the galactic center that it was nearly incomprehensible to consider making the AIs an ally.

  “They’ve changed,” Shay said as she pointed to some data on one of the numerous screens, which were on in the briefing room. “We know the Simulins adjusted the AIs’ Master Codex to begin with, which set them on their path to galactic domination and the elimination of all organic races. From what I’ve been able to learn in the files, Kurene and Mikow have removed that programming from the AIs’ Master Codex and from the AIs themselves. They are no longer a threat.”

  “The Master Codex survived,” said Race worriedly. There were only two and one was safely under Federation and Alton control on Astral. “We had assumed the other was on the Central Nexus, which was destroyed. With an intact Master Codex, they could create more AIs.”

  “Admiral Cleeteus will not allow that to happen if he believes they could still be a threat,” stated Admiral Bachal in his soft voice. The Alton looked at the others. “The information Kurene and Mikow have provided states specifically that the AIs are no longer a threat and have placed themselves completely under Admiral Strong’s command. There were four Alton science vessels that went through originally, plus other Alton scientists and specialists on the Distant Horizon. I’m certain they will not risk creating more AIs without the proper safeguards in place.”

  “He needs those ships,” added Admiral Jackson solemnly “They’re hiding in a nebula and are building up their defenses around a habitable planet. If they hope to survive, they’ll need the AIs.”

  Admiral Tolsen turned and looked long and hard at one of the viewscreens. It showed a Simulin battlecruiser which bristled with power. He shook his head slowly. This AI thing was going to take a while to get used to. He suspected it would be heavily frowned on back at fleet command. Race let out a deep breath and shook his head.

  “The probe brought back a lot of data,” Pelel said. “It will take us days, perhaps weeks to go through all of it.”

  “Admiral Strong took a huge risk just to send the probe to us,” Race said in an even voice. “His fleet was detected and the Nemesis heavily damaged in just taking out one Simulin vessel. What would happen h
ere if a fleet of those things came through?”

  “We would give a good accounting of ourselves,” Jackson said, his eyes focusing on Race. “But in the end I don’t believe we could stop them. Not if they were making a determined effort to establish a bridgehead in our galaxy.”

  “Can they establish a vortex anywhere else besides here?” asked Race, looking over at Shay. He was deeply concerned about the Simulins coming through in another star system where they would face no organized resistance.

  “It would take a tremendous amount of energy to shift the vortex from this region of space,” Shay replied. “The weakness of space where the runaway vortex originally appeared will attract any intergalactic vortexes for quite some time.”

  “Will it eventually heal itself?” asked Race. He knew the Alton scientists back on Astral had voiced their opinion that it might not.

  “Yes, our recent research suggests that it will,” admitted Shay, looking unhappy. “It will take a few decades, but at some point they will be able to shift the entry vortex with little effort.”

  Race leaned back and thought deeply to himself. Fleet Admiral Streth had been correct about the danger present in the Triangulum Galaxy. The question was what were they going to do about it? Under the fleet admiral’s direction, Race had set plans into motion but was deeply concerned they were not enough. From the small amount of data he’d skimmed through, the Simulins were a far greater danger than the AIs ever were. How were the Federation and its allies going to react to that?

  “I want this data sent to Ambassador Tureen, Fleet Admiral Nagumo, Governor Barnes, Senator Karnes, Malrez on Careth, and Senator Arden on New Providence.”

  “Should we send any recommendations?” asked Admiral Jackson.

  “No,” replied Race, shaking his head. “We’ll wait for a response from Fleet Admiral Nagumo.”

  “I’ll have the data packets prepared and sent immediately,” uttered Admiral Jackson. “Is there anyone else?” Jackson looked over at Admiral Tolsen with a knowing look.

  “One more person,” Race said, meeting Jackson’s eyes. “I’ll take care of that myself. I want a copy of this data packet for everyone in this room. This is a high security file and it’s not to be sent to anyone else without my explicit permission. If news were to get out in the Human Federation of Worlds that we’re facing a potential intergalactic threat even worse than what the AIs were, it could cause a general panic. We’ll let Admiral Nagumo decide what the Federation Council needs to know and how this information is going to be handled.”

  “It could indeed cause a panic on all civilized worlds,” Admiral Bachal said, nodding his head in agreement. “With your permission, I would like to send a copy of this information to Garak Rath on Astral. With the scientists currently on the planet, they may be able to give us some insights as to the Simulins’ technology. I will stress the information is not to leave the planet.”

  “Send him the information,” Race said.

  It would be good to have the Altons look over the data Admiral Strong sent back. His next problem was what to do about the weakened area in space where the vortex would form when the Simulins came through in force. There was no doubt in his mind the Simulins were coming and he only had his fleet, Admiral Jackson’s ships, and Admiral Bachal’s to stop them. If they failed, then the Simulins would be loose in the galaxy and might very well finish what the AIs had started; the total annihilation of all organic life.

  -

  Several days later former Fleet Admiral Hedon Streth received a priority message from Admiral Tolsen. He spent hours in the small building behind his cabin reading through the report and the implications of what it contained. Admiral Tolsen had been good enough to prepare a synopsis of what was in the data as Hedon knew it would take him days to wade through all the information.

  “Is it from Race?” a female voice asked from the doorway of the small office Hedon was in.

  Hedon turned around to see Janice standing there. She looked radiant and as beautiful as ever. She was also four months pregnant.

  “Yes,” Hedon replied with a deep sigh. “Rear Admiral Barnes linked up with Admiral Strong just as I had hoped. Jeremy has set up a base inside a concealing nebula that contains a habitable planet.”

  “Then they have a home,” said Janice as she walked over to stand next to Hedon. “I’m glad to hear they’re safe.”

  “They’re in a very dangerous galaxy,” Hedon responded in a quiet voice. “They have no way to return.”

  “Just as your visions foretold.”

  “Yes,” answered Hedon, wishing his visions had been wrong. They were hard enough to interpret as it was. There had also been no further occurrences. In a way it was a relief as the splitting headaches were nearly unbearable.

  “What are you going to do?”

  Janice knew Hedon had to have a plan. He felt it was his personal responsibility to keep the human race and its allies safe from harm. She doubted Hedon would ever willingly give up that weight he carried on his shoulders. It was one of the reasons she’d married him.

  “I want to spend some more time going through all this data Jeremy sent. We have several courses of action, none of which are good. Fortunately most of his ships survived the transit.”

  He also wanted to spend some time studying the alliance Jeremy had formed with the AIs. It had left a sour taste in his mouth when he read about it, but the more he’d studied why Jeremy had made that incredible decision the more he understood the reasoning behind it.

  “I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” Janice said, reaching out and placing her hand on Hedon’s shoulder. “You always do.”

  “How are you feeling today?” Janice had been experiencing some minor morning sickness though nothing which couldn’t be controlled with simple medication.

  “Fine,” Janice replied with a smile. “The doctor said everything looks normal.”

  “Have you told Amanda?”

  “Yes,” Janice said with a laugh. “She’s excited about our news and plans on being here when the baby’s born.”

  “How’s her daughter doing?”

  “Fine; I think Amanda loves being a mom.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Hedon said. “She was the best admiral I had. I’m sure she’ll put the same effort into being a mother.”

  Janice could tell Hedon was anxious to get back to studying Jeremy’s information. “Dinner will be ready shortly; I’ll keep it warm for you if you need more time.”

  “Thanks,” Hedon said, standing up and giving Janice a quick kiss. “I’ll be in soon.”

  Hedon watched as Janice left, closing the door behind her. Taking a deep breath, he watched one more time the quick battle between Jeremy’s three ships and the Simulin escort cruiser. He winced as the Nemesis was hit, knowing human lives had been lost. From the tactics of the three Federation ships, Hedon was almost certain Ariel was involved. He was saddened to know he would never speak to the two AIs again. They’d developed interesting personalities over the years.

  Letting out a deep breath he looked down at some notes on his desk. Somehow or another he needed to get help to Jeremy and more ships to Admiral Tolsen. He looked at the list of people Tolsen had sent copies of the data to. There were several more who needed to be apprised of the danger that might soon be coming their way. It was time to send out more hyperspace messages and hope his words of concern would be listened to. At the moment, he didn’t have a single ship under his command.

  -

  Deep in the Triangulum Galaxy in the cluster of blue giants, the Avenger and her task group had stopped at a T-Tauri star, still reeling from the loss of the Nemesis.

  “Status?” Jeremy asked as he let out a deep breath. It had been four days since the loss of the strikecruiser. He didn’t think he would ever get used to losing people under his command.

  “We’re clear; no contacts,” Kevin answered as he looked closely at his sensors. “All other ships of the task group have exited hyperspac
e.”

  This was their second hyperspace dropout since withdrawing from the blue giant system. It still galled him that they had to leave all that valuable equipment behind. He’d witnessed its destruction on the ship’s viewscreens as part of it was destroyed by Simulin energy beams and the rest by the nuclear self-destructs they contained. The Simulins would learn nothing from the wreckage.

  “Jeremy, Admiral Barnes is requesting we stay here for several hours. Andram is asking to be allowed to make some astrometric scans of an anomaly they’re detecting deep in the blue giant cluster,” reported Angela as she listened to the message from the Distant Horizon.

  “How?” asked Commander Malen, looking confused. “Their long-range sensors are nearly as limited as ours from the ionization of the nebula and the radiation.”

  “They have astronomical instruments they can use,” Ariel explained. “The Astrometrics department on the Distant Horizon is capable of penetrating the radiation and even the less dense areas of hydrogen. You must remember, while the ship is indeed a dreadnought it was also designed as an exploration ship.”

  “Grayseth wants to know when we’ll be jumping,” Angela added as several more messages came across her console. “He’s worried the Simulins will be searching for us.”

  Jeremy activated his ship-to-ship mini-comm so he could speak to all the commanders at once, including the AIs. “We’ll be staying in this system for two hours to allow the Distant Horizon to investigate an anomaly they have detected. The task group is in no danger at this time. Once the two hours are up, we’ll resume jumping back toward Gaia.”

  “Two hours,” Commander Malen said, sounding concerned. “We know the Simulins are bound to be hunting for us.”

  “Keep the task group at Condition Two,” Jeremy ordered, fully in agreement with Kyla.

  He was certain the Simulins were searching all the blue giants for any signs of the task group and would shortly expand that search to other stars. He was also curious about the anomaly Andram had detected. He strongly suspected the venerated Alton scientist wouldn’t be putting the task group at risk without a good reason.