The Forgotten Empire: War for the Empire by Raymond Weil (ereader ebook .txt) 📕

to Tantula Five. I believe we’ve taken care of our Zynth problem for the foreseeable future.”

-

Above Golan Four in the core worlds, the Destiny had gone into orbit. Derrick had just activated the intrafleet comm system, where every crewmember on board all of Fifth Fleet’s ships heard his voice. Captain Audrey Banora stood beside him, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“Attention, all Fifth Fleet personnel. I have an important message for all of you regarding this fleet. Effective today I am promoting Captain Audrey Banora to the rank of rear admiral and giving her command of the fleet.” With a smile, Derrick took out a small case from his shirt pocket and, opening it, revealed the shiny silver officer symbols to the shocked captain. “I will still be using the Destiny as my flagship when necessary. However, when I am not on board, Rear Admiral Banora will have full command of the fleet.”

Derrick took the small symbols out of the box and placed them on Audrey’s shoulders. He noticed tears in her eyes. Tears of joy. He knew she had not been expecting this. He then stepped back and saluted his new rear admiral. “Rear Admiral Banora, I hereby present you with the command of Fifth Fleet and the heavy dreadnought Destiny.”

Audrey returned the salute. She felt faint and was in a state of disbelief. “Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t,” replied Derrick, with a huge smile.

The Command Center suddenly erupted with cheering and clapping. Time to do some celebrating!

-

Late that evening Derrick returned to the palace. The crew had gone way into the night, celebrating Audrey’s promotion. As soon as he entered the palace, he was met by Layla, standing there, her hands on her hips, frowning. “I expected you three hours ago,” she admonished unhappily. “I had the Royal Chef prepare a special meal just for the two of us. It’s cold now.”

“Sorry,” replied Derrick, knowing he was in trouble. “We were celebrating Captain Banora’s promotion to rear admiral, and I guess the time got away from me.”

Suddenly Layla looked embarrassed. “I forgot about that. Still, you should have called.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” promised Derrick.

“Yes, you will but later, after we get married,” replied Layla, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. “Now let’s go see if the chef can warm our food.” With that, Layla took Derrick’s hand, and they headed toward the small dining room, which was reserved exclusively for the Royal Family.

-

Later, as they ate, they discussed the events of the last few days. While they talked, two attendants served them the different courses of their meal, with the chef making sure everything was just right.

“Admiral Cleemorl launched an attack against the Zynth fleet harassing the Hagen Star Cluster,” reported Derrick. While he was away, he had kept abreast of everything with regular communications with Fleet Admiral Marloo. “He inflicted heavy losses and drove the fleet away.”

Layla frowned. “Should we be attacking right now? We still need to build a lot more ships.”

“Admiral Cleemorl is making a fortress out of the Hagen Star Cluster. In another few weeks he will have it as strongly held as the core worlds are. Already all seven of the major worlds are building warships, with the first coming out of the shipyards next week. They’ve already built several thousand attack interceptors and are in the process of training the crews.” Derrick took a bite of his food. It tasted a lot like a game hen and was extremely delicious with the gravy that accompanied it.

“Krista and Emira have been helping me finalize our wedding plans. All that’s really left is for us to decide where we’re going on our honeymoon.”

“I was thinking about Glimmer,” said Derrick. He had been impressed with the planet, when he had visited it. “It has some wonderful beaches and great resorts. How about spending a few days there and then heading to Aquilla Three? I understand it has some really nice ski resorts.”

“Snow,” said Layla, laughing. “You’ll take me someplace cold on our honeymoon?”

Derrick smiled. “Just gives me a better excuse to warm you back up later.”

Layla’s face flushed, and she shook her head. “Are all men like you?”

Derrick laughed. “Most.”

“I spoke to Fleet Admiral Marloo briefly today. He said he will have Fifth Fleet up to full strength in two more weeks. All the warships currently coming out of the shipyards above all the core worlds will be contributing to the fleet. Fleet Admiral Marloo plans on a fleet of one thousand battlecruisers and two hundred dreadnoughts. All the dreadnoughts will have the new particle beam cannons on them. Even the ships already built will be pulled back into the shipyards, and the cannons added.”

Derrick leaned back, folding his arms across his chest, as the servers brought in dessert, a cake with what looked like vanilla ice cream. “I think the new particle beam cannons will make a huge difference in the war. If we can get enough dreadnoughts built that have the cannons, we may drive the Confederation forces completely out of the Empire.”

Layla looked surprised. “That would be wonderful. You really think it’s possible?”

Derrick nodded. “Yes, I do.”

-

The two continued to talk, while they ate their dessert. After the meal, they took time to thank the chef and the two servers. They then headed up to one of the sky towers to stand on a balcony that overlooked the city. Of course they were followed discreetly by two Imperial Guards.

“I love being up here,” said Layla, as she leaned into Derrick’s arms.

“So do I, especially when I’m with you.”

“Are you going anywhere with the fleet before our wedding?” This greatly concerned Layla. Derrick would not shirk his duty, even if it meant delaying their wedding.

Derrick shook his head.