Conflict Unending Read online

  “Yes, they will not hesitate. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ambassador Tureen showed up here to offer aid.”

  The meeting ended with a number of decisions made. In Major Wilde’s report a number of locations of other stasis facilities had been included. As soon as the meeting was over Jeremy would be ordering Marine units and combat robots to the locations to make sure no one interfered. It still greatly concerned him that Commander Alvord, his four crewmembers, and Albate were out there somewhere. He had a strong feeling they hadn’t heard the last from that group.

  -

  Major Wilde stood inside one of the long tunnels with stasis chambers on each side. She was gazing at one of the failed ones. Inside was the mummified female body of an Originator. She had noticed a number of these in this tunnel and wondered if there was a reason for the rate of failure in this tunnel to be higher than the others. A number of AIs along with repair robots were hurriedly checking all the chambers to make sure no more failed. Deelia was supervising the inspection.

  “We’re starting to remove the stasis chambers,” Sergeant Metz reported over her comm unit. “We’ve brought in a large number of repair robots to assist. There will be a steady stream of shuttles between here and Lumoir.” Lumoir was a nearby Originator city. It had several large medical facilities and both had been fully activated to handle the awakening of the Originators and administering the cure for the pathogen.

  Brenda nodded. In a few more days a large number of Originator and Alton medical personnel would be arriving to help in awakening the sleeping Originators. Awakening and treating 35,000 Originators was going to take awhile. Currently, Cynthia had her own team and a number of AIs who would be assisting until the others arrived.

  “Faboll has the locations of fourteen more stasis facilities on this Dyson Sphere,” reported Reesa, walking up to Major Wilde. “Leeda is already sending out teams to scan the locations to confirm the stasis facilities are there.”

  “Make sure we assign some combat robots to those locations,” said Brenda.

  That made fifteen stasis facilities on the Dyson Sphere. If that was an average, it indicated there might be more than three thousand spread across all the megastructures. There were a few other squads of Marines assigned to this Dyson Sphere for security. Taking a deep breath, she decided it might be wise to pull them off their assignments and send them to protect the stasis facility locations. While she felt confident the combat robots were capable, she would feel better if there were a few Marines at each site as well. She also needed to contact Captain Werner and have him send a full company of Marines to the Dyson Sphere. Unfortunately it would take them several days just to get here.

  Only shortly before, Brenda had received the message informing her she would be responsible for locating, opening, and retrieving the Originators in all the hidden stasis facilities. After thinking about it, she decided to form six teams, which would allow them to work on six Dyson Spheres at the same time. She didn’t think they had the resources to do more than that at the moment. As additional resources became available more teams would be formed.

  “I never believed we would find so many,” said Reesa, sounding excited. “Just think of all we can learn about the last days in the Dyson Spheres as the life extension pathogen spread. These Originators will have a lot of stories to tell.”

  Brenda looked over at Reesa. “We should have expected it. There were trillions of Originators in the Dyson Spheres. They have very long life spans; over nine thousand years. It was ludicrous of us to think they would allow their people to die out without making some attempt to survive. Look at what the Lost Originators did.”

  “I plan on doing some research on the last days in the Dyson Spheres,” Reesa said. “I want to know what it took to build all of these hidden facilities and who knew it was going on. This is part of Originator history and I need to make a record of it.”

  Brenda nodded. Reesa was a research scientist dealing with the Originators and of course she would want to know more about those chaotic times. “Let’s get up to the surface. We have a lot of plans to make, and we need to coordinate everything with Cynthia, Faboll, and Leeda.” Already Brenda was wondering if there would be any surprises in the other hidden facilities. She also knew that somewhere there had to be another facility with members of the Defenders of Zorn in stasis. She greatly feared Commander Alvord had already found it and awakened those inside.

  -

  At Galaxy X-938 Commander Zafron watched as the last of his damaged ships exited one of the shipyards on the Dyson Sphere fully repaired. His fleet had been augmented to allow him more options while attacking the Eternals. He had two hundred of the large heavy dreadnaughts. All of the dreadnaughts were now equipped with dark energy cannons. Two of the deadly weapons had been installed on the bow of each ship. In addition, he had eleven hundred of the enhanced battlecruisers. This was a much more powerful fleet than the one he had previously taken to the Median Galaxy.

  Admiral Cowel was also coming to the Median Galaxy with an equally sized fleet. The plans were to return to the Stralon Star Cluster and annihilate all Eternal ships. Commander Zafron was firmly convinced the ships, which had set a trap for his fleet, had originated from there and he intended to destroy them.

  “All ships are in formation,” reported Kazak. “I have briefed the military AIs on the specifics of this mission.”

  Commander Zafron nodded. Kazak could communicate with the AIs without the need of the ship’s communication equipment. All AIs had a built in communication device that allowed for instantaneous communication over short distances. They were in a hurry to return to the Median Galaxy. Fleet Admiral Strong was concerned if pressure wasn’t applied to the Eternals to protect the galaxies of their empire, they would send more fleets into Originator space in an attempt to destroy the numerous fleet bases.

  Zafron had managed to allow his Human and Alton crews on the dreadnaughts to take a few days’ leave in the Shrieel. He knew how important it was to maintain morale.

  “Admiral Cowel reports his fleet is ready,” reported Captain Franklyn from Communications.

  “Then let’s be off,” said Zafron. “Kia, plot our course and take control of both fleets’ navigation. I want us to arrive at the Median Galaxy together and with stealth fields activated. I don’t want the Eternals to know we’ve returned until we hit them.”

  “Course plotted and all ships are tied into the navigation console,” she replied after a few moments. “We’re ready to enter hyperspace.” The trip to the Median Galaxy would take 4.28 days as the galaxy was 940,000 light years from Galaxy X-938.

  “Initiate,” ordered Commander Zafron, gazing at the large viewscreen in front of him.

  On the viewscreen, a swirling blue vortex formed as the Dominator rushed forward into its center.

  -

  Moments later the vortex vanished, leaving no sign of the five-thousand-meter vessel. It was as if it had vanished. The rest of the two fleets were also entering vortexes and making the transition to hyperspace.

  -

  On the Dominator, Commander Zafron checked one of the large tactical displays. It was full of green icons representing the ships of the two fleets. It was time to return to the Median Galaxy and strike the Eternals. Commander Zafron was pleased Fleet Admiral Strong was sending him back for one very simple reason: Zafron did not like to lose, and he intended to teach the Eternal fleet commander who had defeated him last time what it meant to fight an angry Originator.

  Chapter Eleven

  Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes smiled as the Distant Horizon exited the Accelerator Ring at the Communications and Transport Hub. All four of the Federation admirals who had come with her were in the Command Center for the occasion.

  On the large viewscreen across the entire front wall, the hundreds of massive constructions of the Originators appeared.

  “Wow!” exclaimed Massie. Her eyes were wide open as she stared in disbelief. “What’s here?”

  �
�There are four Dyson Spheres, massive research labs, construction facilities, and shipyards.”

  “What is that?” asked Race, pointing toward a huge sphere under construction.”

  “It’s a new defense station being built to protect the Hub from an Eternal attack. They’re five thousand meters in diameter. The Dyson Spheres and all the facilities are heavily armed, but the defensive stations are being designed to keep a battle away from them.”

  Admiral Tolsen’s eyes were drawn to the tactical displays. They were covered with thousands of friendly green icons. “And all of this is just sitting out here in the middle of intergalactic space?”

  Kathryn nodded. “Where better to hide the Communications and Transport Hub? It makes it almost impossible to find if you don’t know it’s here.”

  “We’re being directed to dock at one of the shipyards,” reported Captain Travers.

  “Take us in, Sible,” ordered Kathryn. She was anxious to give her report to Jeremy and see what all had occurred while they had been gone.

  -

  Everyone’s eyes focused on the viewscreen as the Distant Horizon moved toward one of the titanic structures. It dwarfed any shipyard even dreamed of in the Federation.

  “This is one of the smaller shipyards,” Camlin explained. “It’s only twelve hundred kilometers in diameter and can build or service any ship in the Originator fleet.”

  The Federation admirals didn’t know what to say. They were realizing everything involving the Originators was on a totally different level.

  -

  Suddenly Ariel appeared in the Command Center, causing everyone to jump except Rear Admiral Barns. Ariel’s sudden appearance was not a surprise; she had been expecting it. There were special holographic emitters in the Command Center and a few other compartments on the ship Ariel could use to send her holographic projection if she was in close proximity to the ship.

  “Hi!” she said in greetings in her youthful voice. “I’m glad you’re back, Rear Admiral Barnes.” Ariel turned toward Admiral Tolsen. “Fleet Admiral Strong is pleased you are here as well as the other admirals. I believe he is already preparing fleets for all of you.”

  “Has something happened?” asked Kathryn worriedly. They had been gone for a considerable length of time.

  Ariel shifted her attention back to Kathryn. “No, but Fleet Admiral Strong is concerned the Eternals will soon be launching more attacks in Originator controlled space. He wants to do everything he can to prevent that. There has also been a development in the search for hidden stasis facilities on the Dyson Spheres. Major Wilde and her team have found one. It now appears the Originator Council made a concentrated effort toward the end of the life extension pathogen epidemic to save their race. We now believe there are up to three thousand hidden stasis facilities.”

  Kathryn felt her pulse quicken. “How many more Originators would that make?” She knew the current Originator population was a little less than thirteen million. Over twelve million of those were the Lost Originators.

  “Anywhere from sixty to over one hundred million,” replied Ariel.

  Kathryn felt stunned at the number. Councilor Bartoll must be ecstatic over this development.

  “How are the children?” asked Clarissa, who had come over to stand next to Ariel. “I hated missing out on the birth of Kelsey’s child.”

  “They’re beautiful,” Ariel replied grinning. “Clair has missed you. She asks about you every day while she’s doing her lessons.”

  “I’ve missed her,” replied Clarissa. “As soon as we’re docked I’ll be going to check on her as well as Kelsey’s baby.”

  “Don’t forget about the twins,” Ariel said grinning.

  Clarissa nodded her eyes lighting up with excitement. “How’s Kevin adapting to that?”

  “Slowly,” Ariel answered, with a twinkle in her eyes. “Right now they’re a handful.”

  “I’m missing something here,” said Race, looking confused. “Exactly whose babies are we talking about?”

  Ariel patiently explained, seeing an animated look appear on Rear Admiral Massie Tolsen’s face.

  “The Special Five have children!” she said excitedly. “When this information reaches the Federation the media stations will go wild.”

  Ariel turned back toward Admiral Tolsen. “As soon as you’ve docked we will take a shuttle on a quick tour of the Communications and Transport Hub. Then later I’m supposed to take all four of you to the Tower to meet with Fleet Admiral Strong and possibly Councilor Bartoll.”

  “An actual Originator,” said Massie, her eyes lighting up.

  -

  “Leader of the Originators,” corrected Race, looking over at his sister. He had spoken at great length with Governor Barnes as to who was in charge here at the Communications and Transport Hub and what he should expect.

  Massie nodded. “I forgot in all the excitement.”

  Race’s attention was drawn back to the large viewscreen. It was now showing a fleet of the massive heavy dreadnaughts. “How many warships are here at the Hub?” In that fleet alone there must be over one thousand of the dreadnaughts.

  “It changes hourly,” Ariel replied. “All of the shipyards on the four Dyson Spheres are working nonstop. There are also additional shipyard facilities in other structures here at the Hub. At the last count, there were over eighty-three thousand functioning vessels. Many are only waiting for crews.”

  Race felt numb at hearing the number. He was used to the smaller fleets in the Federation. He realized his entire way of thinking about space battles was going to have to change. This was war on an intergalactic scale fought with fleets numbering in the tens of thousands. He hoped he was up to the task.

  -

  In the Eternal home galaxy on Gardell, the Council of Eternals was meeting.

  “We have six more fleets ready to attack the fleet bases of the Originators,” reported Queexel. “These are all new vessels with the latest upgrades, including the more powerful antimatter missiles.”

  “What about dark matter?” asked First Leader Clondax. “How is our research going there?” It was aggravating to know the Originators had several powerful weapons, which could destroy Eternal vessels. The Eternals were supposed to be the most powerful and advanced race in this universe.

  “Not well,” replied Second Leader Fehnral. “The Originators had the Shrieel in the dark matter nebula and spent hundreds of thousands of years experimenting with dark matter. How they managed to control it and make it into a viable weapon still eludes us. There are also reports they have deployed a new type of defensive shield on their ships. It’s much more resistant to energy weapons fire than their former one.”

  Clondax was not pleased to hear this. Perhaps more pressure should be applied to the scientists involved in the research. “Inform the scientists working on the project that I want results, not excuses. As for our energy weapons, do what is necessary to strengthen them.”

  “I will demote a number of them as an example,” replied Fehnral. “For the energy weapons it will be necessary to install an additional power plant in our ships to strengthen them.”

  “Then do so,” ordered Clondax. “Queexel, I want an extra power plant installed in all the new ships we’re constructing.”

  “We will have to make some design modifications but I believe it can be done.”

  Clondax looked over at Fehnral. “Is there anything else in development that might help us against the Originators?”

  Fehnral shook his head. “Not at the moment. We’re focusing heavily on dark matter research. That seems to be where the Originators have a major advantage over us.”

  “What about this blue energy sphere they have used? What is that? It goes directly through our screens and destroys our ships.” Clondax had seen the weapon first hand at the Originators’ star cluster.

  “It attacks the energy bonds that hold atoms together,” Fehnral reported. “Reports indicate our ships just begin to fall apart when attacked. W
e have no clue as to the origin of this weapon. It’s baffling as to the force that can cause such a reaction to the hulls of our ships. We’re working on it, but without a sample we really don’t know where to start.”

  Fehnral looked at Clondax and then spoke. “I hesitate to suggest this but perhaps we should seek an armistice with the Originators. We don’t interfere in their space, and they don’t interfere in the galaxies we’ve already conquered. I fear we will suffer massive ship losses in a prolonged conflict, so massive it will bring to a halt our expansion into other galaxies.”

  Clondax’s eyes turned cold. “Never! We must gain control of those Shrieels. Just imagine how fast we could spread across this universe with the manufacturing capability they possess.” Clondax could not believe Fehnral had even put forth the suggestion; it was borderline treason. It was incomprehensible to Clondax to allow the Originators to continue to control such a large region of space. “Ship losses are irrelevant as they can easily be replaced. We control over ten thousand galaxies and there are shipyards in all of them with new ones constantly being built. We can attack the Originators and still continue to grow our empire. I will hear no more talk of an armistice.”

  Fehnral nodded, saying no more.

  Clondax turned back to Queexel still seething from Fehnral’s suggestion. “I want ten fleets to send into Originator space as soon as possible. The six we have now plus four more. That will force them to use their available fleets to defend their fleet bases. We will have superior numbers as the Originators won’t know what bases we’re striking until it’s too late. We will begin the process of isolating the Shrieels.”

  “What about attacking just one of the Shrieels?” asked Second Leader Tarmal. “If we could take control of just one of them we could launch an invasion of the others with our warrior robots and shock troops.”

  “We are exploring that possibility,” Clondax answered. “A race called the Simulins controls two galaxies in Originator Space. There is a Shrieel in both galaxies. From what we have been able to learn, they control one of the vortex Control Stations on each one. Eternal battlecruisers have been sent to both galaxies to see if it’s possible for us to remove the Simulins and take over control of the two Control Centers. If we can we could launch an invasion of the other Shrieels from the vortex centers. We should know shortly if that is practical.”