The Warlord Read online

  “Broadcast Annie’s message to all of our ships and have them rejoin with you within the next ten minutes. I want to see all captains in your conference room at that time.”

  “Aye, Commander.”

  *.*.*.*

  Luke examined the faces of his sixteen remaining warship captains seated at the conference table. They reflected the loss all of them had just experienced, but also a certain acceptance that Luke would get them through it. They expected him to find a way around the difficulties and pull everyone together for a successful conclusion that would save the Milky Way Alliance.

  They were wrong.

  “We’re splitting up,” Luke announced. “Dean, you’re going to keep the Skull Heads under your command. But I’m taking away three of your warships.”

  “Aye, Commander,” Captain Stone replied, his face inscrutable.

  Luke faced Katrina. “Say goodbye to Dean. You’re leaving the 92nd with one other ship. With your two Phantoms, you are going to stand up a new squadron. It will be the 308th Emerald Knights. You will command the Emerald Knights on Tabitha.”

  Katrina was now the only one at the table smiling. On hearing the news of her promotion to squadron commander she jumped to her feet and exclaimed, “Yes, Commander! I won’t let you down.” Grim faces glared back and she sat down abashed. This was not a celebration.

  Luke faced Dean Stone again. “Dean, I’m leaving you here to train the people on Ebene Three. But not like I told Governor Ness. I’m giving you four ships because I want you to set up production here. You know what I did on Moonbase One. You saw what we did on Jigu and Bradley’s Planet. Everywhere we go we establish a beachhead and plant our flag. You’re going to do that here. Got it?”

  Dean looked eager now. “Got it,” he said.

  “Let Governor Ness run the planet,” Luke said. “You have other priorities. One way or another you’re going to hear from me in a month. When you do, I want you to have at least three squadrons ready to field…a full tactical space wing ready for combat.”

  One of Riley Steven’s more ingenious inventions was the unfolding replicator. The design was small enough to manufacture in the small space of a Phantom replicator bay. It was a prepackaged replicator with a built-in gravity sled. When completed, you could float it off the ship to wherever you wanted and hit the start button. Like a tinker toy creation, it unfolded multiple times from an initial twelve-foot-wide cube into a full-sized industrial replicator, large enough to create a complete Phantom with associated escort fighters. Dean would need several of those replicators to meet the goals Luke had just established.

  Luke continued. “When I call for them, promote your three current captains to squadron commander. At least they have some battle experience.”

  “You’ll have it, sir,” Dean promised.

  “Your biggest problem will be finding enough good people who can be trained as crew members. Governor Ness will help with that as long as you don’t step on his toes in the meantime.”

  “Understood.”

  Luke sighed. “I can’t tell from the video how badly Sadie was damaged. But Annie knew we were coming here, so she might try to follow us. If she shows up, take care of her and tell her I said to stay put.”

  “Yes, sir,” Dean said. “I will guarantee her safety. All of us do.”

  “I’m counting on it,” Luke said. He turned to Katrina. “Your mission is to take your squadron of two to the Suneuon system in Fourth Family space. This will be a covert mission. Your task is reconnaissance only. I want to know if this Dracci character is the one raiding other planets, and specifically if he attacked Japurnam Five. Governor Ness thinks that’s who attacked this planet.”

  “Understood, Commander,” Katrina replied, all business now.

  “Don’t get caught.”

  “No sir. We won’t.”

  Luke turned to Grant Jefferies. “You keep command of the Tigers, Grant, but I want four of your ships. I’ll use those and one of the Skull Heads that I’m taking from Dean to stand up the 512th Dragons. That will give us five ships apiece. Between us, we’ll only have the equivalent of one full squadron, but I want the flexibility of two fighting units. We’ll backfill to full strength as soon as we can.”

  “No problem, Luke,” Grant replied seriously.

  “You and I are heading back to Japurnam Five. First, I intend to find out what happened to Annie. Hopefully she’s still there and rebuilding the place. If not, we’ll see. Everyone, combat communication protocols apply. That means daily reports to Moonbase One.”

  “Understood,” Grant replied.

  Luke looked around the table and said, “Captains, finish your analysis on this last combat engagement. What do we know about weapon they hit us with? It cut my ship in two. I’ve never seen the Bakkui do that, although the same thing happened to a colony ship on New Hope. Who has this weapon? Is it a secret? Is it the Second Family or the Fourth Family or the Bakkui? There’s a lot here we need to understand.”

  “We’re on it, Commander,” Grant assured him.

  The grim determination of the people in the room would normally make Luke proud. But now all he could think about was Annie. He kept seeing her sprint toward Sadie’s cargo bay door, but not making it.

  “Get your crew changes sorted out within the hour,” Luke ordered. “Because in sixty minutes we’re headed for Japurnam Five.”

  Chapter Three – New Mission

  “Going sub-light,” Rickie announced as they arrived deep in the Japurnam system.

  Luke rose from the observer's chair on Rickie’s command bridge. “Take us to battle stations, Conner,” he said to Rickie’s captain, Conner Watts. Ever the instructor, Luke pointed to the numerous icons around the fifth planet. “See those? I’ll bet anything those are Booker ships.”

  Rickie confirmed his guess. “That is correct, Commander. I detect twenty-five Booker vessels in a variety of classifications. All Phantoms de-interlocked. Fighters launching.”

  “Are we going to attack?” Conner asked. He was extremely young for a ship’s captain. The trip out from Earth was his first operational mission.

  “Most likely,” Luke replied. “They get one chance to say the right thing. Rickie, tell me at ten light seconds.”

  “Approaching that distance now,” Rickie said.

  “Send this message,” Luke ordered. “All ships in orbit around Japurnam Five, this is King Lucas of the First Family. Break orbit immediately or be destroyed. You will be individually boarded to establish your identity and Family allegiance.”

  Seconds later the response came. The voice was nervous and filled with anxiety. “King Lucas! Don’t fire! We are a humanitarian convoy bringing aid to Japurnam Five. We heard it had been attacked. We are non-combatants.”

  “Is that true, Rickie?” Luke asked.

  “Unable to confirm,” the AI responded. “Most of these ships appear to be pieced together from the original Booker design. That indicates a desire to avoid normal First Family restrictions on interstellar combat.”

  “I tend to agree. Are any of them breaking orbit?”

  “Yes, but their flight path could be interpreted as an intercept course.”

  “Send message,” Luke said. “All ships, assume a stationary position above the planet’s northern pole equal to two lunar orbits. Do so now or you will be considered hostile.”

  “All right, all right!” the nervous voice replied. “You said you wanted to rejoin with us. We’re recalculating our course.”

  “Take us up, out of the orbital plane,” Luke said. “All Dragons, go wide spread formation.”

  Grant Jefferies; followed suit. “Skull Heads, deploy. We’re going low, Luke.”

  A faint voice tickled at the back of Luke’s mind. It was familiar but difficult to hear. He closed his eyes and concentrated on connecting. Jeff, is that you?

  The connection to JF307 strengthened. Yes, Majesty. These are not humanitarian ships. They are a new set of raiders that arrived yesterday a
nd have been looting the planet and murdering the inhabitants.

  That was all Luke needed. “Message to our ships. The vessels around Japurnam Five are confirmed hostile. Engage and destroy.”

  “Launch missiles,” Conner shouted. “Rickie, you have the hammer.”

  “Shields. Activated,” Belle announced.

  “I have the hammer,” Rickie replied in a calm voice.”

  The attempted subterfuge by the pirates, heading straight toward Luke’s convoy, now put them at a huge disadvantage. These guys are amateurs¸ Luke thought.

  “You bastards,” came the formerly nervous voice, now angry and vindictive.

  Luke didn’t bother to reply. Why talk to a dead man? He glanced at the tactical display where, one by one, the yellow diamond icons began winking to red. These raiders definitely were not the same ones they had met on Ebene Three. Their combat capability being displayed on the screen was infantile. One of the icons raced away, out of the system. Another followed, then another.

  By then it was too late. The confluence of red diamond icons on the screen meant all the remaining raider ships had been destroyed. One of the fleeing bandit icons also turned red and finally the last two escapees winked out, indicating they had gone to lightspeed.

  “Status?” Luke asked.

  Rickie replied in an even voice. “Combat operations complete. Twenty-three hostiles destroyed, two escaped. No casualties on our side. Captain Conner, you have control.”

  “I have control,” Conner acknowledged.

  Great news for a change, Luke thought. “My commendation to all ships. Conner, work with Grant and set up combat patrols. Initiate after action routines and search for survivors. I want a combat analysis of this engagement compared to our last one in the Ebene system. Why did we lose ships there and not here?”

  “Aye, Commander,” Conner replied.

  “But first, take me to the surface.”

  “Yes, sir. Rickie, take us to the royal palace.”

  Luke gripped the grab bar in front of the bridge’s main viewing window and watched the planet grow in size as Rickie performed a combat descent. The continent below was in daylight but obscured by weather. Lightning flashes rippled across the cloud tops.

  The foul weather prevented Luke from getting a bird's-eye view of the damage to the palace. When they finally broke out of the weather, the scene made his heart stop. The elegant palace, once so opulent, was nothing but rubble.

  JF307’s voice appeared in his mind. Your Majesty, I recommend you not view the palace grounds. They are all dead.

  Luke ignored the warning and left the command bridge. “I’m going outside, Conner. Wait for me.”

  “Aye, sir.” Conner looked at the ceiling. “Major Rios, have your ground forces escort the Commander while on the surface.”

  “That’s not necessary,” Luke growled over his shoulder.

  The new Phantoms had a crew of seventy, almost half of whom were ground troops. As crew sizes increased, more facilities had been added and each warship had its own medical bay and training facilities for the soldiers.

  When Luke reached the cargo bay, the ship’s full complement of thirty soldiers stood at attention. The platoon leader saluted and didn’t say a word. He and his men fell in behind Luke, arms at the ready.

  Luke ignored them and stepped out of the ship onto the devastated landscape. He could identify one or two of the demolished areas by remaining, half-standing walls.

  “Jeff, what about Annie? Did she make it off planet?”

  There were no speakers amidst the rubble but Jeff’s voice registered in his mind. Yes, Your Majesty. But her yacht was damaged during her escape from the palace. Sadie was destroyed in orbit while attempting to escape.

  The descending darkness that had clouded Luke’s mind since the first message on Ebene Three threatened to choke off his consciousness. He paused and struggled to focus on his immediate surroundings. Anything to keep his heart beating. How could he live without Annie in his life? When he opened his eyes, an ominous vision began to replace the darkness.

  He would find the people responsible for this attack. Whoever had dared to do this to his new bride would pay dearly. He would bring the entire military might of the Milky Way Alliance, and his own royal status as king of the Nobility, down on those responsible for this treachery. With that mission firmly etched in his heart, he inspected the site.

  Dead bodies lay strewn throughout the destroyed palace. Luke could not recognize any of them as the corpses had rotted in place for over a month. He had met many of the servants and retainers during the two weeks he and Annie spent here. They had been a loyal bunch and showered Annie with affection. It was difficult to see them in this condition. “Jeff, make a note of all their names. Someday I will build a fitting memorial to their service. I don’t want these people forgotten.”

  I have done so, Your Majesty.

  Thirty minutes later he had seen enough and turned back to the Rickie. After wanting to get to Japurnam Five so badly, he could not leave the planet soon enough. First, there was a duty to be taken care of.

  Luke asked JF307, “Is someone going to bury these people?”

  The planetary government has collapsed. At the moment, most communities are still in early recovery mode. Many population centers suffered similar damage.

  This was almost as bad as what the Bakkui did to planets, but there was an important difference. This contemptible act was all the worse because humans were the perpetrators. How could they do this?

  An even more important question, “Who did this, Jeff?”

  It was a combination of non-AI spacecraft and one other vessel which I have not seen before. I would classify it as a dreadnought. Without apparent effort, the large warcraft destroyed the squadron you left to patrol the system.

  Luke would have to leave yet another ship behind to get the place on its feet. He was suffering defeat in detail by continually splitting up his forces. He was already stretched incredibly thin, but he would not abandon this planet. This was where Annie had wanted to have their baby. And she hinted strongly that she was considering it as their permanent home. For that alone, Luke would rebuild the palace and the whole planet if necessary. He owed that to her memory.

  But first, there was a bill to pay. Or more appropriately, he thought, a revenge to exact.

  As Luke boarded his waiting Phantom, he gave an order to the planetary AI. “Send all the records you have of this battle to the AI on my ship. I will appoint a new planetary governor. His instructions are to be carried out as though they were my own. Is that understood?”

  “Perfectly,” JF307’s voice responded over the ship’s speaker system.

  “And get Rickie up to speed on the royal families. Copy all the ships in orbit as well. Politics, personalities, everything you got.”

  JF307 paused momentarily. “I will do my best, Majesty. Your spacecraft are not built for such extensive archival information, but I shall transmit everything that you might require.”

  *.*.*.*

  On the bridge, Luke took his observer seat next to Conner. “We need to leave someone here to rebuild the place. Any recommendations?”

  “I’d pick Major Rafael Rios,” Conner suggested. “He is our ground commander; you just met him. He was in the army back stateside before he joined the Alliance. Smart guy. A lot smarter than me, I’d say.”

  “Sounds good. Make it happen, and make him understand that when I return…and I will…I want every brick back in place.”

  “Got it,” Conner said.

  “Captain Jefferies is calling,” Rickie announced.

  “Go ahead,” Conner and Luke said at the same time, turning to the communications screen which illuminated with Grant’s grim visage.

  “Luke, we found Sadie,” he said without preamble. “You need to get up here.”

  Conner spoke first. “Rickie, rejoin with Captain Jefferies at once.”

  “En route,” Rickie responded, already accelerating
up through the atmosphere. “ETA two minutes.”

  *.*.*.*

  Once Rickie interlocked with Jefferies’ ship, Luke hurried to Valentine’s cargo bay. Pieces of Sadie were laid out haphazardly.

  Just like most of Slater’s squadron, Sadie had also been sliced in two. In her case, after the fatal blow, the fragments had collided with other debris and wound up in battered chunks.

  Jefferies explained the urgency of his call to Luke. “When we brought a part of the central core system on board, it triggered a recording. Play it, Valentine.”

  “On audio,” Valentine said.

  Sadie’s voice filled the cargo bay.

  “This is a communication for His Majesty King Lucas of the First Family. If you get this message to His Majesty, he will reward you. Luke, Annie is alive. The ship that attacked us scooped her up with a few other survivors. I did not recognize the type of vessel, nor could I communicate with it and I did try. Most of the ships were from the Sixth Family, but I also detected abundant dialect from Fourth Family as well. I sense an evil alliance building against the First Family, but I cannot tell you more than that. They are leaving this star system and I am unable to track them…my systems are failing…”

  Grant glared at Luke. “The Sixth Family? That makes no sense. I thought it was all Fourth Family.”

  But for Luke, the question didn’t register. “She’s alive,” he whispered to himself. The blackness that threatened to choke off his mind lifted and a glimmer of relief flickered across his face. He suddenly felt unsteady on his feet.

  Grant moved to his side. “You okay, Luke? Guys! Escort the Commander to our guest quarters.”

  *.*.*.*

  Luke woke up feeling refreshed for the first time since leaving Ebene Three. He practically hadn’t slept for the two-week return journey. He tried, but each night he had lain awake worrying and what-ifing in his mind.

  The wall clock above the stateroom’s replicator bar read 10:00 AM. Finally, he had gotten a full night’s sleep. He sat up on the side of the bed to collect his thoughts.

  True, Annie was still in mortal danger, but there was a big difference between mortal danger and dead. Somehow the world seemed brighter.