The Lost Fleet: Into the Darkness Read online

  “This is our new home,” Katie said, taking Kevin’s hand and holding it tightly. “I don’t want to lose it.”

  “We won’t lose it,” Jeremy promised. “Andram and the Altons are working on two separate methods to keep the Simulins out of the nebula. If either work, we’ll be perfectly safe.”

  “What if they come before those are ready?”

  Jeremy looked at Katie. Sometimes he still saw the young fourteen-year-old who had come to the Fleet Academy full of excitement and thousands of questions. Back in those days, she even had a crush on him.

  “We’ll be ready,” Jeremy promised. “Between the fleets, the battlestations, and the particle beam satellites I’m confident we can hold back the Simulins until Andram is ready to deploy the devices they’re working on.”

  “Let’s go for a swim,” Kelsey suggested.

  Work and the Simulins was something she didn’t want to discuss on their leave. She knew she was just as guilty as the others for bringing it up. They were supposed to be here to get away from all of that. It had been hard enough just to talk Jeremy into taking a few days off.

  Nodding his head, Jeremy stood up. “The water looks good,” he said. Looking over at Kevin and Katie, he added, “Last one in pays for supper tonight!”

  “Crap!” muttered Kevin as he jumped up and then nearly tripped over his lounge chair. He grabbed Katie’s hand and sprinted toward the water, dragging her along.

  “Guess we’re buying supper,” Kelsey said, putting her arms around Jeremy and gently kissing him on the lips.

  “Yes,” replied Jeremy, smiling. “Did I forget to tell you they’re letting us stay here for free and not charging for our meals?”

  Kelsey laughed and shook her head. Stepping out of Jeremy’s arms, she began walking toward the water. It didn’t take but a few moments and the two of them joined their four friends. These were times they would long remember; Kelsey just hoped there were many more of them.

  -

  Rear Admiral Kathryn Barnes was in her quarters on the Distant Horizon, reading a novel from her bookshelf. She’d brought nearly one hundred hardback books along. The digital library the ship had contained tens of thousands of books, but she enjoyed the feel of turning the pages and sitting back in a comfortable chair with her feet tucked underneath her.

  Clarissa suddenly popped into existence in front of Kathryn with a confused look on her face. “Why do you read those?”

  “They’re from my home on Ceres,” Kathryn replied as she looked up at the AI. She had grown used to the AI popping in and out. “I’ve always enjoyed reading. It helps me to relax and takes my mind off things for awhile.”

  “I see,” Clarissa said. “Sort of like when Ariel and I take different sides in simulations to see who has come up with the better battle tactics.”

  “Sort of,” Kathryn answered with a nod. “Is there a reason for this visit?”

  “These Originators Andram and Shilum mentioned,” Clarissa said, looking inquisitive. “Do you think there’s any chance they could still be alive somewhere?”

  Kathryn closed her book and looked thoughtfully at the AI. “I doubt it,” she said. “Andram suggested the Dyson Sphere we discovered was over three million years old. The science to build such a thing is far in advance of anything we’ve imagined.”

  “Could there be more than one Dyson Sphere?” asked Clarissa. “Andram mentioned the possibility the vortexes could be linked to others.”

  “It’s possible,” uttered Kathryn, her eyes growing wide at the thought.

  “We detected twenty-seven vortex rings in the hull of the sphere,” Clarissa pointed out. What if each one connects to another Dyson Sphere and those to even more?”

  “Andram did say these Originators had colonized hundreds of worlds in our galaxy,” Kathryn mused as she thought over the ramifications. “They could have been much more widespread, perhaps existing in numerous galaxies, all connected by the spheres.”

  “I wonder if there’s a Dyson Sphere in our home galaxy?” asked Clarissa. Her light blue eyes had the look of deep concentration.

  “If there is, why did the Simulins come through at the black hole when they first made contact with the AIs?” asked Kathryn.

  She felt a tingling at the back of her neck thinking about the possibility of there being a sphere in the home galaxy. If the Originators had colonized several hundred worlds, wouldn’t that seem to indicate there should be one?

  “Perhaps they hadn’t found the Dyson Sphere in our galaxy or been able to activate it.”

  “If there is a Dyson Sphere back home, we need to locate it,” stated Kathryn worriedly as she thought of the ramifications. “Somehow we need to get word back to the Federation to begin searching.”

  “That might not be possible,” Clarissa said, placing her hands on her hips. “We lost the capacitor stations as well as the vortex generators. It will take months to build new ones, and the Simulins will be on watch in the blue giant nebula in case we return.”

  “I’ll put it in my report to Admiral Strong,” Kathryn said, knowing there was little they could do. Clarissa was correct; they might never be able to send another message home. If there were a Dyson Sphere, the Federation would have to locate it on their own.

  -

  The next day Kathryn was taking a tour of the forward section of the ship where most of the damage had occurred. Outside, two fleet repair vessels were busy laying new plates of battle armor over the shattered hull. Reaching the area where the Simulin energy beam had burned a hole deep inside the ship, she paused upon seeing Commander Grissim.

  “Admiral,” Grissim said, standing up from where she’d been inspecting a recently installed metal support column.

  “How are the repairs going?” Kathryn was anxious to get the ship repaired. With its main weapons disabled, the Distant Horizon wouldn’t be that great of a help in a major battle if the Simulins found them.

  “Have you been outside?” Grissim asked. “There’re dozens of spider robots crawling along the hull doing repairs. We should have all the outer hull damage repaired within the week. Two more weeks for the particle beam cannons and power beam projectors to be rebuilt.”

  “What about the new ion cannon?” asked Kathryn. It would be nice if the Distant Horizon could punch holes in the Simulins’ shields so missiles could penetrate. Ion beams seemed to have a much more pronounced effect disabling the shields than a particle beam or power beam.

  “It’s coming along,” Commander Grissim said as she stepped back to allow several deck hands to pass by who were carrying some equipment. “The Altons can’t quite figure out how to miniaturize all the components to create more of our defense globes. They know what needs to be done; we just don’t have the equipment here to do it with. The big cannon they feel pretty confident they can get to work.”

  Kathryn stepped over to the opening where the Simulin energy beam had torn through the ship. There was a safety railing up and peering inside she could see the jagged gash that extended several decks down into the ship. Welding arcs flashed regularly and in some areas cutting torches were being used to remove damaged metal.

  “Still a lot of work to do,” uttered Kathryn, wishing there was more she could do to help.

  “We’ll get there,” promised Commander Grissim, walking over to stand next to the admiral. “When we’re done, the ship will be as good as new. Daelthon has his best people working on it.”

  “Keep me posted,” ordered Kathryn. “I’m going over to the Clan Protector to meet with Shilum and several other Altons from the science ships. They’ve been studying the data on the computer drive we brought from Astral and have an idea about strengthening the ship’s energy shield.”

  “That drive has a lot of information on it,” Grissim said, nodding her head. “If the AIs had spent more time studying the information they were storing on the computers at Astral, the Federation would never have stood a chance.”

  “I know,” Kathryn replied. �
�They thought their weapons technology was supreme and they didn’t want to take the risk of anything too advanced falling into the hands of their proxy races. They only used the information they needed to in order to establish their empire so they could work on their Great Project.” Kathryn watched the work for a few more moments and then left to go over to the Clan Protector.

  -

  Kathryn stepped into one of the large briefing rooms on the mobile shipyard. She was greatly surprised to see Daelthon, Andram, Shilum, Kurene, Mikow, and Rear Admiral Susan Marks.

  “Admiral Strong is taking a few days off down on Gaia so he asked me to sit in on this meeting,” Rear Admiral Marks explained.

  “I understand this has to do with shield modifications for the Distant Horizon?” said Kathryn as she sat down across from Susan.

  “Yes,” boomed Daelthon, his large eyes focusing on Rear Admiral Barnes. “The Altons have found a possible method to greatly enhance the shield capability of the exploration dreadnought. Unfortunately, it will mean more work for my construction people.”

  “We want to use heterodyne technology on the energy shield,” explained Andram.

  “Heterodyne,” said Kathryn, feeling confused. “I thought we already modulated the frequency of the shield when it’s in operation.”

  “Not like this,” Shilum said. She stood up and turned on a viewscreen. Instantly a scale version of the Distant Horizon appeared showing the energy screen, which normally surrounded the ship.

  “We modulate the frequency of the shield to enhance its ability to disperse energy. What we intend to do is modulate the flow of the energy powering the shield.”

  “What good will that do?” asked Kathryn.

  “We believe it will greatly influence the amount of energy the shield can disperse,” Mikow said, standing up and gesturing toward the viewscreen.

  On the screen, the energy shield began to fluctuate and then several energy beams impacted it. The energy was spread out over a small section of the shield and gradually dissipated.

  “That’s how our normal screen operates,” she said. “Now watch this simulation of the new screen with both the frequency and power being modulated.

  The energy beams struck the shield again but were dispersed over a much larger area. Satisfied, Mikow turned the screen off.

  “As you can see, by using this method we can increase the effectiveness of the energy shield by nearly two hundred percent,” Andram said.

  Kathryn and Susan both leaned back, looking surprised.

  “Can we apply this to all of our ships?” Susan asked.

  “Unfortunately, no,” answered Andram, shaking his head. “It takes the full power of a Fusion Five reactor just to power the energy modulation.”

  “We can use this technique on some of our ships which have already been modified with Fusion Five reactors, such as the Avenger, Warrior’s Pride, Shree, Riel, the Orion, and the two surviving AI spheres from the trip to the blue giant cluster,” commented Daelthon. “The battlecruiser Gaia can also be so equipped.”

  “We need to try the shield out first,” suggested Rear Admiral Marks. “Can we bring the Gaia back inside the Clan Protector and make the necessary modifications?”

  “It shouldn’t be a problem,” answered Daelthon, placing one of his large hands upon the conference table. “It won’t take more than a day to make the changes to the battlecruiser.”

  “I’ll check with Admiral Strong, but let’s plan on doing that,” suggested Susan. “Anyone else have anything else we need to discuss?”

  “I’ve spoken to the Command AI,” said Kurene. “As you know, one of the things Admiral Strong wants to do is create more AIs.”

  “We have the designs for the new AI ships,” Daelthon said, his large brown eyes looking at the group. “I’d like to start construction of the first one as soon as possible.”

  “I spoke to Admiral Strong briefly about that before our meeting,” Susan said. “He wants to hold off constructing any new AI ships for now with more emphasis placed on particle beam satellites.”

  “We have added an additional assembly line for the satellites,” Daelthon reported. “Admiral Strong wants three thousand of them in orbit around Gaia as soon as possible.”

  Rear Admiral Marks nodded her head. “Admiral Strong is concerned the tracking device the Simulins managed to place on the New Horizon will eventually lead them to our nebula and soon after that to Gaia.”

  “What about the new AIs?” asked Kurene, her eyes focusing intently on Susan.

  “He approved the first one hundred,” the rear admiral replied. “He wants you to oversee their programming.”

  “The Command AI will be pleased to hear this,” Kurene responded, thrilled with the new responsibility. “I can assure you there will be no problems. Zed and I have set up the Master Codex to program the new AIs with a desire to protect the organic races of the Federation as well as any others we designate.”

  Rear Admiral Marks nodded. Zed was one of the science AIs that had been working with Kurene. “Very well, go ahead and build them. Admiral Strong wants regular reports on the progress, particularly if there are any problems.

  “There won’t be,” promised Kurene. “Since we removed all traces of the Simulin programming from the Master Codex their entire attitude toward organic races has changed. We’ve even noticed a considerable change in their relationship with other members of my race. It seems as if the AIs are going out of their way to be useful to any Alton.”

  “I haven’t been around too many AIs since the Distant Horizon arrived originally,” Kathryn said with a sigh. “I’m still not sure if I’ll ever get used to them being around.”

  “We’ve had years,” commented Rear Admiral Marks. “It took some getting used to. There was a lot of mistrust in the beginning. Even now there are some who lost family members or friends in the war who will never completely forgive the AIs.”

  The meeting continued for a few more minutes with the subject changing to the repairs on the Distant Horizon. When it was over, Kathryn returned to her ship. She was going to take a hot relaxing bath and then lie down in bed and finish reading the book she’d started earlier.

  -

  Jeremy was lying in bed next to Kelsey. They’d just finished some passionate lovemaking and he was feeling relaxed, more so than he had in a long time. He could feel her hip up against his and turning over he moved his hand across her stomach and pulled her a little closer.

  “I really enjoyed that,” Kelsey said with a yawn. “I’m glad you could get away for a few days.”

  “I wonder what our parents would think if they could see us now?” Jeremy said.

  Kelsey giggled. “I hope not like we are now here in bed.”

  “No,” answered Jeremy, grinning. “Where we’re at in our careers.”

  His dad had been the first human admiral and responsible for establishing the Fleet Academy on the Moon as well as laying the foundation for the establishment of the new Human Federation of Worlds. Kelsey’s parents had lived in Ceres and her father was the fleet admiral at the time. That had been several hundred years ago. Kelsey, Kevin, Katie, Angela, and he had spent considerable time in cryosleep so they could be part of the war against the Hocklyns. It had been a hard decision for them to go into cryosleep and leave their parents behind.

  “I think they would be proud of us,” Kelsey said softly. “I know my father would be. He always told me I could accomplish anything if I only set my mind to it. I remember my first flying lessons with him and how encouraging he always was.”

  “We’ve come a long ways,” Jeremy said. “By going into cryosleep we missed out on a lot with our families.”

  “They did leave us messages,” Kelsey replied. “I just wish they could have been there for our wedding. Mom would have loved it.”

  “We have another day before I have to go back up to the Avenger,” Jeremy said. “I wish we could stay longer, but there’s so much that needs to be done.”

&
nbsp; “I know,” answered Kelsey, turning over and kissing Jeremy gently on his lips. “Let’s just enjoy the time we’ve got. It might be awhile before we get to do this again.”

  Jeremy closed his eyes. Kelsey was right; this time off was good for all of them. He just hoped there would be other times to come down and enjoy the beach resorts. The problem was the Simulins and if they could find Gaia. If they did, Jeremy wasn’t sure what would become of the Lost Fleets.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Admiral Race Tolsen breathed a sigh of relief as more ships from the Federation began to exit vortexes close to the three capacitor stations. For the last two months, the Federation and its allies had been rushing warships to the black hole to reinforce Third Fleet. There had been a near panic in the Federation when it was learned what Admiral Tolsen’s command faced when the Simulins tried to invade. A lot of finger pointing had been done, particularly after it became known Race had warned his superiors about the possible threat.

  “That’s Sixth Fleet,” reported Commander Arnett as she recognized the flagship, the Orion Victory. The original Orion Victory had been destroyed in the battle against the AIs when it was attacking the capacitor stations. It had also resulted in the death of then Fleet Admiral Karla Johnson. “Admiral Korrel will be in command.”

  Race nodded. Sixth Fleet was the largest contingent of Federation ships to arrive so far. With its six battleships, ten battlecruisers, twenty strikecruisers, eight battlecarriers, and ten light cruisers it would substantially increase the ships Race had to place around the vortex area. The week before Admiral Zanth of the Kessels had arrived in his flagship, Fangs of War, along with ten battlecruisers, twenty heavy cruisers, and fifteen light cruisers.

  “Admiral Korrel is requesting an immediate meeting,” Lieutenant Travers announced as the message came in over her comm station.

  “Problems?” asked Madelyn, looking over at the admiral.

  “Probably,” sighed Race. “He may have orders directly from the Federation Council.” He’d been expecting this to happen eventually.