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

“I take it you received the message from the scout ship?”

“Affirmative. We’re still analyzing just what it means. We’ll be facing a hell of a lot of ships.”

Dylan was in agreement with that. “If they all come here, I’ll pull in the rest of my ships. Between my ships, the weapons on Gideon and Tantula Five, plus all the attack interceptors we have, we just might pull this off.”

“I’ve already placed all of Gideon and our defenses at Condition Two. We’ll go to Condition One as soon as they drop from hyperspace in our system.”

Dylan had already estimated how long that will be. “I believe we’re looking at somewhere between twelve and fourteen hours. We have that much time to prepare.”

“I agree,” replied General Flynn.

“I need to speak with Governor Dyson next. He needs to know what we’re facing and how soon to expect an attack. I’ll also send a message to all the primary worlds and inhabited moons shortly, letting them know the attack is imminent.”

Dylan also wanted to send a last message to Cheryl. While most of the time she acted tough and brave, he knew that, deep inside, she was not. She would be scared to death, worrying about him. He wanted to reassure her that he planned on coming back to Golan Four when this was over.

-

Fleet Admiral Marloo had just informed Derrick about what was soon to happen in the Hagen Star Cluster. Admiral Cleemorl expected a full-scale attack in the next twelve to fourteen hours.

Derrick did some math and grew worried. With the two Morag fleets out on the periphery, plus what enemy forces were soon to attack the Hagen Star Cluster, he counted already nearly 17,000 Confederation ships. Just how many ships had the Confederation sent? If a Morag fleet was on its way to the core worlds, it had to at least number between 5,000 to 8,000 warships. That would put the entire attack force at 25,000 ships.

Derrick leaned back in his command chair, with a steep frown. He really wanted to take his fleet to reinforce Admiral Cleemorl. If he left now and ran at full hyperspace speed, he might  arrive in the middle of the battle. However, what if an attack were coming toward the core worlds? That attack would have to begin at the same time as the one on the Hagen Star Cluster or soon afterward.

Derrick was thinking hard. Assume the Morag attacks on the periphery are, indeed, a diversion. Then the attack on the Hagen Star Cluster could be an even bigger diversion, all aimed at pulling Human warships from the core worlds. The more Derrick thought, the more certain he was this was a maximum effort by the Confederation, led by the Morag, to smash the Empire and to bring it back fully under Confederation control once more.

Looking over at Communications, he gave an order. “Contact Rear Admiral Banora and have her fleet return to Golan Four immediately.” If the Morag were coming, their target would be Golan Four. They would bypass the other worlds, feeling, if they could take Golan Four, the war would be over. There was sound reasoning for the Morag to think that, and Derrick knew they just might be right. For that very reason, he would consolidate his ships into one fleet. He would not allow the Morag to take Golan Four, even if it cost him every ship under his command, including his own.

-

Fleet Admiral Marloo was tempted to countermand Vice Fleet Admiral Masters’s orders. However, Derrick was a great admiral and had a knack for being right. If Golan Four was, indeed, the main target and not any of the other core worlds, then what Derrick was doing was the correct strategy.

“How are the evacuations going?”

Colonel Hillstrum looked over at the admiral. “All primary bunkers are now full and closed. Secondary bunkers will be full in another two hours. People who can are heading into the countryside and the mountains. We have a heavy military presence in all major cities, ensuring the evacuations are orderly. So far everything is flowing smoothly.”

Admiral Marloo looked at the hundreds of screens in the Command Center. They showed scenes from across the core worlds. On every world, people were leaving the cities. Marloo just wondered what those screens would look like after this battle was over. He greatly feared that a lot of good people would soon die.

Chapter Nineteen

Admiral Cleemorl was back in the Command Center of the Themis, after taking a short nap. He doubted if he had slept more than thirty minutes total. Too much tossing and turning, as he thought about the coming battle. Finally he had gotten up, taken a quick shower, and put on a clean uniform. “Status?”

“No change,” replied Colonel Bidwell. “All commands report they’re at Condition Two and awaiting further orders.”

“Admiral!” called out the communications officer in an excited voice. “The scout ship reports the Confederation fleets have entered hyperspace. Course indicates they are on their way toward the Hagen Star Cluster.”

Dylan looked at Colonel Bidwell, their gazes meeting. “Guess that’s that. Take all commands to Condition One. Estimated combat in two to three hours.”

Red lights flashed, and sirens howled.

“Communications, get me Rear Admirals Fulmar and Manson.” Dylan wanted to have a long talk with both of them. Fulmar’s fleet was twenty minutes away, and Manson’s was nearly thirty.

It didn’t take long, and he had both of them on the comm. “There’s a good chance the enemy fleets will bypass all the other worlds in the cluster and come straight here. If they do, I want both of your fleets here in the Tantula System as soon as possible.”

“We could come now,” suggested Rear Admiral Fulmar.

“I considered that,” replied Dylan. “But we can’t be 100 percent certain they are coming