The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel Read Free Page A

willing to
fight and go to war to preserve the Human Federation of Worlds and the ideals
the two races held dear to their hearts.
    “The Shari
representative is going back to their home world to discuss our latest offer,”
Ambassador Tureen commented as he gazed at the huge viewscreen on the front
wall of the Command Center. As on all Alton constructed ships, the screen was
crystal clear and gave a very unobstructed view of space. It almost seemed as
if you could step out of the ship and touch the stars.
    “When will he
be returning?”
    “He won’t,” answered
Tureen, turning to face the admiral. “I believe it is but a ruse to force us to
remain at this location until they’re ready to attack. It’s highly likely they’re
planning to attack us as well as Admiral Tolsen at the same time. What of their
ship movements?”
    “No new
arrivals in the past forty-eight hours,” Admiral Baasil answered. “I’m certain
the Shari believe the ships they have assembled will be sufficient to destroy
our fleet.”
    “The Shari have over two thousand warships within attack range,” Commander Stockwell added.
Stockwell was from New Tellus and was a career officer in the fleet. “We’ll be
heavily outnumbered and while our weapons are superior, we’ll be at a distinct
disadvantage against a fleet of that size.”
    Tureen shifted
his gaze to the holographic tactical display showing what the long-range
sensors were detecting. Around a number of nearby stars were numerous red
threat icons. “As soon as our long-range sensors detect those Shari warships
entering hyperspace, we need to leave.”
    “We’ll only
have two or three minutes’ warning before the first of their warships can reach
us,” Commander Stockwell informed Ambassador Tureen. “Some of those ships are
only a few light years distant.”
    “Will that be
time enough for us to enter hyperspace?”
    “Yes,”
confirmed Admiral Baasil. “Just barely.”
    Ambassador
Tureen nodded, accepting the danger of their situation. “Very well, make your
preparations. We’re going to the Rylus Star Cluster.”
    -
    Four more days
passed when Ambassador Tureen was suddenly awakened by the Condition One alarms
sounding. He was hurriedly dressing when he heard the announcement over the
ship’s comm system they were preparing to leave the system. Taking a deep breath,
he sat down on his bed and waited for the shift into hyperspace. He felt a
sudden dizziness and a brief bout of nausea and then everything returned to
normal. He knew the Star Avenger had successfully made the transition.
He allowed himself to breathe out a long sigh of relief. They couldn’t be
attacked in hyperspace, at least not until they exited. The ambassador knew the Star Avenger was capable of traveling one light year every three minutes
with an effective jump range of one hundred and twenty light years. That would
give them six hours of safety before they had to exit the warp vortex, allow
the hyperdrive to cool, and then recharge the drive for the next jump.
    It didn’t take
the ambassador long to reach the Command Center. Stepping inside, he saw that
it was a beehive of frantic activity. Glancing at the large viewscreen, he saw
the swirling colors of deep purple associated with hyperspace. He knew from
recent studies what he was seeing was the effect of dark energy on the higher
bands of hyperspace in which the battleship was traveling. No Alton scientist
was quite certain what affect dark energy played in hyperspace travel though it
was becoming more apparent there was a definite connection.
    “Ambassador,”
Admiral Baasil said respectfully, seeing Tureen enter the Command Center.
    “I assume the Shari made their move?”
    “Yes,” responded
Baasil, gesturing toward one of the large holographic tactical displays. “All
of their fleets entered hyperspace within two minutes of one another.
Navigation plotted their eventual destination to the coordinates our fleet was occupying.
As soon as we