Galactic Empire (The Pike Chronicles Book 7) Page 6

  “Our planet rests on the outskirts of the Empire. Other races do not normally venture into this system. Many of the Dvorkans who have settled here have done so to avoid mixing with the many alien species who have ascended into the Empire. Many feel that their ascension has diluted the Empire. These Dvorkans long for the age of glory.”

  “I see. How do you feel about it? If you don’t mind me asking.”

  “I am a pragmatist. At one point in our history we had conquered those around us. The Empire grew, and became so powerful that no race dared move against us. Alien races surrendered at the mere suggestion that our forces would invade. At first, the Empire ruled over these races, demanding ever growing tribute. But then, one of our Emperors felt that these races would be more productive as citizens. He decided that it would be more profitable to allow these races into the Empire. In doing so, the Empire grew in size and wealth. His decision was correct, and I agree with it. There are many Dvorkans, however, who do not. They believe they are superior, and that citizenship does not make the other races their equals.”

  “That explains a lot.”

  “Returning to the incident, the report indicates that many Dvorkans required medical treatment for the injuries you and your men inflicted.”

  “Again, I’m sorry. We tried to be gentle.”

  The Consul broke into laughter at Jon’s statement. “Gentle? You tried to be gentle? Against Dvorkans?” A carnal smile suddenly spread across her face. “There is something about you, Admiral Jon Pike. Perhaps you should come back down to the surface for another meeting. No need to be gentle with me.”

  Jon gulped. “Uh, we really need to find your scholar, but thank you for the offer.”

  The consul roared with laughter. “You are an odd race. Very well. I have created your Empire account, and have deposited your credits, minus the necessary fees of course. You should have more than enough to cover the tolls, and other expenses while traveling through the Empire. I am also uploading your transit permits. They will broadcast your status, allowing you to travel through the transit points without interference. The permits are tied to your Empire account. This will facilitate the automatic withdrawal of the necessary tolls.”

  “Thank you. I appreciate all the help.”

  “You have everything you need to depart. I hope you find what you are looking for. And remember, calamity requires perseverance.”

  “I’ll remember. Thanks again. Pike out.”

  The comm was disconnected and the Consul blinked off Jon’s display. The Dvorkans were an interesting race. They had dominated their part of the galaxy for so long that they took superiority for granted, much like those drunks on the surface. It would surely come as a surprise to learn that there were races in the galaxy just as powerful as them, if not more so.

  Was it confidence in their power, or something else? There was no sign of defenses in the system, and nothing on the Freedoms scans. Yet somehow they seemed unfazed at the sight of eight unknown warships approaching the planet. Was it just Dvorkan arrogance, or did they have something else up their sleeve? They had charged fines for using cloaking technology in their system… Was it possible that the planet was defended by invisible weapon systems?

  Jon opened a comm with General Tallos, whose face quickly appeared on his display.

  “Yes, Admiral?”

  “Tallos, I’ve got a question for you. Have the Diakans ever experimented with cloaking technology?”

  “There have been many theories that this technology could be developed one day, but this has never been accomplished.”

  “And you’ve never heard of the Juttari, or any other race, possessing cloaking capabilities?”

  “No Admiral. Nothing. As you know, we can build stealth vessels to fool sensors, but nothing beyond that. Why do you ask?”

  “I’m convinced that our Dvorkan friends have this technology.”

  “That is logical. They did levy a fine against us for its supposed use.”

  “Do you see any defenses here?”

  “No, I do not.”

  “Yet, they weren’t very worried about our weapons.”

  “It would indicate the presence of powerful defenses. I’m sure they have the capability to destroy our entire battle group.”

  “Yes, and that capability is well hidden. We need to get our hands on this technology,” said Jon.

  “That would be advantageous. Do you have a plan?”

  “Not yet. We’ll play it by ear for now and see what pops up.”

  “As you wish, Admiral.”

  Jon terminated the connection and Tallos vanished from his display. “Commander, what is our jump status?”

  “All ships are synced with our jump system, which is online and at one hundred percent. We are jump ready, Sir.”

  “Good. Take us out of this system at three-quarters light speed. Once we get on the other side of their star and they can’t see us, jump to their transit point.”

  Yes, Sir.”

  Jon mulled over the cloaking technology some more. Could he still target a cloaked ship with jump bombs? Probably not. If he didn’t know the ship’s coordinates, how could he hit them? A cloaked ship, or weapon system, could counter much of their technology. All the jump battle tactics they had developed would be useless against a hidden ship. The only use a jump system would have in that situation was escape.

  Jon began to regret his decision to not bringing Singh along after all. He had invented the jump bomb technology. If anyone could figure out how to use it to target a cloaked ship, it would be him. Then again, Chief Simmons was a talented engineer.

  If he could get his hands on the cloaking technology, she could reverse engineer it. She could find a way to defeat it. Hell, between her, and the chief engineers on the other ships they should be able to come up with some kind of solution. If they could all work together, that is.

  Jon pulled up the transit point star map the Consul had given him. They had to cover a fair bit of territory to get to the scholar. With any luck, the permits the Consul gave them would keep them moving swiftly. He hoped there would be very few bumps left on this road.

  Chapter 17

  Dvorkan Consul Elita Kang sat in her office pondering her encounter with the strange aliens, and their leader, Admiral Jon Pike. She wondered how much of what he had told her was true, and how much of it was deliberate deception. She wondered most of all how he had gotten here.

  The Empire used the transit points for much, but they also possessed FTL technology. Over the years, many Emperors had ordered long range exploratory expeditions. These expeditions were no trivial matter. The ships would be gone for years.

  Kang didn’t know how they did it. She couldn’t imagine being trapped inside a starship for ten, or twenty years. Of course, they explored many planets and moons, giving them opportunities to leave the vessel. But those opportunities must have been few and far between.

  The expeditions returned with much scientific information about the space surrounding the Empire, inaccessible via transit points. It was valuable information, but it never identified another race using another transit point network.

  The excitement this type of information could create would not easily be forgotten. There would be calls for conquest. Many would hail it as the beginning of a new age of glory. Long range fleets would be built with the sole purpose of conquering this new civilization, and taking the new transit point network for the glory of the Empire.

  But none of that happened. No advanced civilizations were found. Neither were any new transit point networks. So, the question remained, where did Admiral Jon Pike come from, and how far had he traveled? If her suspicions about Pike were correct, the next question was, how did he do it?

  Consul Kang deduced that these beings had some superior form of propulsion technology, and she was determined to find out what it was. But she had to be careful. She couldn’t allow anyone else to take the credit for the discovery. It had to be hers alone. Then she might finally
be allowed off this desolate rock they called a planet.

  With such a discovery, she could easily obtain reassignment to one of the civilized core worlds. Even that filthy Senator Kass couldn’t stand in her way. To think that she was sent to this rock, on the fringes of the Empire, for merely denying that pig’s sexual advances. Of course, breaking his arm didn’t help, but he had asked for it. In Jon Pike’s words, she tried to be gentle.

  Kang chuckled to herself. She liked Jon Pike, although she wasn’t sure why. He seemed more Dvorkan than alien in some ways. There was power in him. More power than she saw in many high ranking Dvorkans twice his size. And it wasn’t just physical power, although she had seen plenty of evidence of that. In hindsight, it seemed fitting that he sought the Builders. He, himself seemed to come right out of a book of legends.

  What were these calamities his people faced that pushed him out this far? That part of his story she believed to be true. As was the strange part about finding the Builders. What an odd quest.

  Indeed, these were the parts of the story that convinced her of this secret technology. Her friend, the expert on the Builders, had told her once that if they still existed, their home would be farther than any Dvorkan vessel could reach. Yet Jon Pike would try, after arriving here from who knows where.

  A communication request came through disrupting her thoughts. She accepted it, bringing up a three dimensional Dvorkan face floating just above her desk. The face flickered, as their sun interfered with the signal.

  “Yes, Captain Keer. Have you discovered anything?”

  “We followed the aliens, as you ordered, your worship” said Keer. “We were cloaked the entire time, and they did not detect us. They traveled at sub light speeds first, and then established low FTL speeds. We stayed with them and matched their velocity. When they got around to the other side of our star, where they couldn’t be seen, they vanished.”

  “So? They activated their cloaking technology. What of it?”

  “That is what we thought, your worship, but when we scanned to determine their location, we found nothing.”

  “I understand that scanning for cloaked vessels is no easy matter,” said Kang.

  “My scanner operator is very skilled, your worship. If they were cloaked, he would have found something. There would be an echo. There always is. The challenge is not in knowing there is a cloaked ship in the vicinity, it is in finding its precise location. But in this case, there was no cloaked ship.”

  “What about the transponders we gave them? Surely you were able to detect their signal.”

  “We tried, but again found nothing.”

  “Perhaps their cloaking technology is more advanced than ours.”

  “That’s what I thought, but I also suspected something else might be going on. So I checked the transit point they were traveling to, and received word that their transponder had been picked up, meaning they had already reached the transit point.”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “It is. But clearly it isn’t.

  Kang couldn’t believe her luck. She was right. Jon Pike did have a secret. One that would raise her status tenfold. “We know their ultimate destination. Have one of your ships pick up their trail, and continue following, but remain hidden. I want to know everything they do.”

  “Yes, your worship. It will be done.”

  Chapter 18

  “How far are we from our previous coordinates?” said Jon, after travelling through the first Dvorkan transit point without incident.

  “Nine-hundred-and-eighty-seven light years,” said Commander Henderson.

  “Just like the jump gates in our region of space. How long until we reach the next transit point?”

  “Six Earth standard hours, Sir. We have to travel through this star system first.”

  “Alright, you have the bridge, Commander. Contact me if anything out of the ordinary happens.”

  “Understood.”

  Jon left the bridge heading toward his quarters. He needed to get some rest, but also to see Breeah and Anki. He hadn’t seen very much of them since entering Dvorkan space, and looked forward to a little downtime. When he arrived at his quarters, he found both Breeah and Anki glued to one of the displays.

  “Jon!” said Anki, jumping up and running to him as he stepped through the door. When she neared, she leaped into the air, flying straight at him.

  “Hey!” said Jon, catching her in midflight. “You’re starting to get a little big for that stuff. One day soon you’ll be knocking me down.”

  Anki wrapped her slender arms around his neck and giggled. “I’ll never be able to knock you down, Jon.”

  “Don’t be so sure, little one. You’re becoming quite a warrior.”

  “I’m still a kid.”

  “Yeah, and a feisty one at that.” Jon set Anki down and she ran back to her mother. “What are you two looking at?” Jon said, joining them.

  “The star system,” Anki said excitedly. “This place is incredible. Did you know that four of the planets are populated, as well as several of their moons? Plus, there are space stations, and a gazillion ships traveling between them all.”

  “Yes, these Dvorkans have built an impressive Empire.” Jon kissed Breeah, and sat down beside them.

  “Do we know if this is a Dvorkan system?” said Breeah.

  “Good question. I’m not sure. The Consul said that there are a lot of aliens in the Empire. This may be one of the alien systems.”

  “We should go down to one of the planets and find out,” said Anki, jumping out of her seat again.

  “I’m afraid we can’t. We’re just passing through on our way to the next jump gate.”

  “But we should explore while we’re here.”

  “We’ll get the chance when we reach our destination. We’ll have to go down to the surface to find this scholar. We’ll get a chance to look around then. Hopefully that planet will be friendlier than the last.”

  “Do you think this scholar will help us?” said Breeah.

  “I’m not sure, but I’m hopeful. The Consul said she was the leading expert on the Builders in the Empire. I’m thinking she’ll jump at the chance to help us once we tell her we’re looking for them.”

  “And if she doesn’t?”

  “She will. And if she doesn’t, we’ll just continue with the original plan.”

  Breeah glanced back at the display. Anki had selected one of the planets, and zoomed in to get a closer look at the great cities on the surface. “I was thinking, this Empire seems quite powerful. It might be worthwhile to create an alliance with them,” said Breeah.

  “Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I just need to learn a bit more about them first. From what the Consul told me, they have an extremely aggressive history. That seems to be behind them now, but who knows? The problem is, the only way they could help us is if they had the jump system, and I’m not comfortable with that. Who’s to say they wouldn’t just try and invade us instead?”

  “Do you think they can?”

  “I don’t know enough about them to know the answer. I’d like to think that between the UHSF and the Diakans, that we are strong enough to defeat them, but can’t make that conclusion without more data.”

  “Perhaps when we return from our mission, you can try and arrange a meeting with their Emperor. Plant some seeds for future cultivation.

  “That would be wise. Hopefully we’ll have time to do so.”

  “I wonder what is happening back home. Perhaps the Erinyie have been satiated for now?”

  “We can hope. As intriguing as this is,” said Jon, waving a hand at the display. “We can’t forget what’s at stake.”

  “No, we cannot,” said Breeah. “But for now, we can relax and enjoy a meal together.”

  Jon smiled. “My thoughts exactly.”

  Chapter 19

  “New request for orbital support, Sir,” said the tactical officer on General Calledonius’s flagship. “The Triumph is moving into position t
o target the surface.”

  “Very well,” said Calledonius. “Keep monitoring the situation.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Requests for orbital support are increasing daily,” said Captain Madox. “The insurrection is growing.”

  “So it seems,” said Calledonius.

  “I don’t understand it,” said Madox. “We have complete orbital control. A rebellion has no hope of success.”

  “And yet, it continues to grow,” said Calledonius. “It was an error in my judgment.”

  “Sir?”

  “The Kemmar are not the most rational of species at the best of times, and this is their home world. I should have foreseen this. It was wishful thinking to assume that the population would accept human rule without a fight.”

  “A fight is one things, Sir. But this is something else entirely. They are choosing death.”

  “Yes. They prefer it to occupation. I can see the logic. If the roles were reversed, as old as I am, I’m not sure I would behave any different. Would you?”

  “No, Sir. I don’t think I would.”

  “Unfortunately for the Kemmar, the roles are not reversed, and this rebellion will be crushed. It is only a question of how much suffering the Kemmar are prepared to endure.”

  “Unidentified jumpspace disturbance detected,” said the computer. “Launching jump bombs.”

  “On screen,” said Calledonius.

  The viewscreen switched orientation to show a fleet of enormous black, tubular ships appearing all around the UHSF armada positioned around the Kemmar home planet.

  “The Erinyie,” Calledonius muttered.

  The jump bombs began to detonate as the ships appeared, although each one blew up outside the great Erinyie hulls, leaving the sinister ships undamaged.

  The Erinyie response was swift and merciless. Silver beams burst forth from the black vessels, ripping through the hulls of their outclassed foes.

  Calledonius looked on in horror as dozens of tiny suns formed, where UHSF ships blew apart. “Emergency jump,” he said finally. “All ships.”