The Garoden War. (SpaceFed StarShips Series) Book 7. An exciting, action-packed SpaceFed Series finale that also concludes the Garoden War.: ‘Military Gamble.’ Read online

  SpaceFed StarShips Series

  A Novel by Gerry A. Saunders

  Book 7

  The Garoden War

  Part 2

  ‘Military Gamble’

  Cover art by Gerry A. Saunders

  © Copyright 2017 Gerry A. Saunders

  No part of this publication can be copied, transmitted in any form, without the authorization in writing of the author.

  An exciting, action-packed SpaceFed Series finale that concludes both the Garoden War, and my SpaceFed StarShips series.

  Other Books by this Author

  SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy.

  Book 1. Battles at Zeta Reticuli.

  Book 2. Battle for Delta Pavonis.

  Book 3. An Alliance at Kepler.

  SpaceFed StarShips Series.

  Book 4. Death of Time.

  Book 5. Acarea. A Triumph or Disaster.

  Book 6. The Garoden War. Part 1. Into the Fire.

  Book 7. The Garoden War. Part 2. Military Gamble.

  Book 8. The Definitive StarShipsTrilogy Books 1-3

  http://www.spacefedbooks.com

  Acknowledgements

  All the characters in this book are fictitious. And any resemblance to organizations or real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  While I have made every effort in making this novel as technically accurate as possible. Some stretch of the imagination gives plausibility to achievements that could be the norm by the year 2313.

  Content

  SpaceFed StarShips Series

  Other Books by this Author

  Acknowledgements

  Content

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Second rendezvous point.

  The StarShips, Jefferson, Argonaut, and Illustrious, exited jump, eight light hours away from the remaining four Garoden ships.

  “No word from the Michigan, or the Crillons, Captain,” Lieutenant Farrow stated.

  Captain Garret ignored his science officer’s comment. After all, he hadn’t been expecting any contact with the Michigan, or with the Crillon fleet for that matter until they arrived at this rendezvous point, anyway.

  Garret hit Damage control’s tab.

  “Yes, Captain?” Ensign Blake queried.

  “Ensign, I can see the AI’s damage readout. But I want Lieutenant Travis’s assessment of the situation.”

  “OK, one minute please Captain… Right, there is one small hull breach in section forty-one. But, it's been temporarily sealed, and our droids are already on their way outside to make the repair. Otherwise, apart from getting our force field back up to full strength, we’re in pretty good shape considering what we’ve just been through.”

  “Okay. Keep at it.”

  “Do you need to talk to Lieutenant Travis, Captain?”

  “No, and I don’t want to waste repair time,” Garret replied as he closed the contact.

  He then called Captains Derrick Patterson and Hector Serrell over the re-established All-Ships Open link, and their live images appeared on-screen.

  Garrett was nervous by now, expecting Admiral Winton to take over command at any moment. But Winton just stood quietly next to him, listening.

  “Captain Serrell. What’s the current state of the Argonaut?” Garrett asked.

  At first, Captain Serrell wondered why Winton hadn’t been asking the question. Then shrugged, before replying.

  “A lot of our systems are touch and go, Captain. We’ve sent repair droids out to replace field emitters and some burnt out particle beam collimators,” Hector told him, then paused a moment.

  “But, I’m not sure we could stand up to that sort of punishment again,” he warned.

  “Understood,” Captain.”

  Garrett, then spoke to Patterson.

  “Can I assume it’s the same for the Illustrious, Captain Patterson?”

  “Pretty well, Captain,” Derrick said. “We’re doing the same. But, like Argonaut, we can't fight a drawn-out battle, and hope to survive.”

  “I understand, Captains. Keep my AI updated on your repair progress.” Both nodded and were gone.

  Then, unexpectedly, Admiral Winton finally spoke.

  “Captain. Correct me if I’ve missed something. But, now we don’t have Richardson’s assets…, which, by the way, would most likely be useless… now the aliens know how they work,” he said, sounding irritable. “At least, I assume the Garoden’s do... And…, we’ve shown these aliens that trying to tag us, might backfire on them…,” he added.

  Garrett remained silent, hoping Winton would calm down soon, and speak more coherently.

  “It, therefore, seems to me, Garrett. That we can’t expect to destroy the Garodens in a straight-forward engagement…

  And, it doesn’t take a genius to work out that, at some point, they’ll realize that all they need to do is to follow one of the hundreds of our wormhole threads straight back to Earth,” he stated, then paused for a while, considering their options.

  “I have to agree with you, Admiral,” Garrett said, knowing that Winton was right so far. “But all the same, the Crillons seem to be doing better than us against these Garodens,” he added.

  “No, it only appears that way because Captain. Richardson helped the Crillons the first time around. And, this time, we’re helping them.”

  “Even so, it doesn’t really matter, Admiral. If the other two Garoden ships return soon… then, we’ll all be dead and gone, anyway.”

  Admiral Winton reluctantly nodded agreement. Like Captain Garrett, he could also see their new Navy going down the pan.

  “Admiral,” the ship’s AI interrupted. “Something is coming out of a wormhole thread. Something I cannot interpret.”

  Viceroy Verice shook his head, trying to remove the blackness that had invaded his mind. He felt giddy and sick at the same time while attempting to hold onto something to steady himself.

  “Griken,” he cried out in pain, a feeling he had never known before.

  Although Verice was almost blinded, he could just see that his Science Officer was acting in the same way. In fact
, looking around he could see that everyone on his ship’s bridge was gasping in pain like something had been ripped out of their bodies.

  Is it just on the bridge? Verice wondered. Then, deciding he needed to be in his personal pod, tried to picture it in his mind. But nothing happened. He trembled, realizing that he couldn’t teleport.

  Then, he remembered the lessons he’d had in his teens that had taught him about their Companion brain’s abilities. And, realizing what had happened, struggled for breath for a moment.

  “Our companion brains power source has died,” he yelled out to everyone, as fear ran through his mind.

  Initially, his crew responded with the same distress that he felt. Then later, having calmed down somewhat, all of them struggled to change the way their brains functioned, now that they were on their own, and, without companion brains to execute their wishes and commands.

  Verice’s vision slowly returned, as his body and implants adjusted to the new situation.

  “Cratic,” he called. “Double check that the Navigation AI hasn’t been compromised. Then plot a route out of here, and back to Garoden.

  “Yes, Excellency,” Cratic acknowledged, as he contacted the ship’s Navigation AI, to check that it was operational.

  Then began to verify coordinates with the AI. After which, he informed Verice that the AI hadn’t been compromised, before manually tapping in Jump fourteen’s coordinates on his input screen.

  “Griken, are you in good order?” Verice asked.

  “Just about, Excellency.”

  “Then, on Cratic’s clearance mark, sync our ship with the other ships.”

  “Yes, Excellency,” Griken replied.

  “Excellency, our monitoring link with Z186 has terminated,” Griken then warned Verice.

  “We must leave, now,” Verice replied, expecting a response from his Companion, at first.

  Then groaned, having remembered that wasn’t possible anymore. And issued the order.

  “Griken, make ready to leave. Now. Oh, and Griken, send a message to Z188 and Z189. Tell them they are to return directly to Garoden on completion of their mission.”

  “Yes, Excellency,” Griken hastily replied, setting their departure sequence in order as he spoke.

  Verice knew that the journey back to Garoden wouldn’t take as long, as it had in getting here. Their Pathfinder ship no longer existed so his ships wouldn’t be limited to a hundred light-year jump. Therefore, they should easily be able to jump two hundred light-years at a time.

  Then Viceroy Verice sat back and closed his eyes, thinking about what had happened.

  He knew that the Garoden’s High Command would reprimand him for losing some ships. He assumed that they would also correct any error that had caused their Companion brains to fail.

  Nevertheless, he would make damn sure that they sent a whole fleet of forty ships, next time. Then, they would crush these creatures like bugs. The Aliens mental feats wouldn’t be able to help them.

  Yes. Now Verice had calmed down, he realized that he was looking forward to returning to this place.

  We’ll make the Aliens pay for this, he thought as anger boiled within him again. Revenge was what he, and the Garoden race would demand. And, revenge is what they would have, he decided.

  Navigation Officer Cratic went to press the Clear to Jump command to Verice, then remembered he had to speak the command.

  “Excellency, we’re synced, and ready to Jump.”

  Chapter 1

  Starship Scimitar

  Stardate, 2313.

  Wolf 363, 99.6 Light years out from Sol.

  The Earth’s Starship Scimitar attempted to keep its forward momentum going, as it rolled past the first of the two Garoden Star Destroyers firing a barrage of particle beams directly at the Garoden ship’s missile launch area as it went.

  Captain Prince was on the Scimitar’s bridge with his command officers, together with officers from their technical and scientific departments. All of them busy checking their systems and weapons capabilities, in the hope they could recover from the situation they were in.

  They already knew that the ship’s stealth capability was burnt to a crisp, and they didn’t have any Antimatter or Nuke missiles left. Worst of all, the Scimitar’s Jump and Skipper drives were damaged and off-line. While Prince’s companion vessel, Alexander, was just a mass of fused metal after a ferocious battle had ended in failure.

  Prince could still see the remnants of the Alexander as it slowly rolled away from them, leaving a trail of debris in its wake. He shuddered, then sighed deeply, as he thought about his wife Carrie, who had been Alexander’s Executive Officer. And hoped that Carrie had died quickly.

  Captain Prince was thirty-four, but he felt more like fifty right now. The loss of his wife an hour earlier had hit him hard and had significantly increased the stress he was under. And, even though the real war had only just begun, he was already tired of it. However, he had no other option than to keep going.

  Prince knew it was a long shot, but he had to try to overload the Alien’s protective screen while his ship’s beam weapons were still active.

  Lieutenant Carter, Scimitar’s science officer, was still reeling from the shock, and couldn’t quite believe their bad luck as he looked at his display, then checked it again.

  “Captain, three more Garoden ships are about to join us,” he warned.

  On hearing this, Captain Prince’s heart virtually stopped for a split second as he realized that unless they could come up with something straight away, they were almost certainly going to die, right here, and now.

  Just then, at two light minutes out, he saw three wormholes form. They all watched the jet-black centers, ringed with swirling frothy white vortexes of energy that seemed to leap randomly around the rims, as the wormholes opened.

  Then they saw the three Garoden Star Destroyers slide majestically out of their wormholes and come to a halt.

  To everyone’s surprise, however, the Garoden ships remained stationary and did nothing.

  Carter looked up from viewing his tactical screen. “Captain, did you notice that the first two Garoden ships stopped firing at us, from the moment our jump drive failed and our protective screen collapsed?”

  “I hadn’t, but yes, you’re right,” the Captain agreed.

  “Captain, our Particle Beam’s grid has run out of power now. We’ve nothing left,” weapons officer, Lieutenant Samuelson, called out.

  Just then, Tammy, the Scimitar’s AI, came back online, after having carried out a self-repair and reboot of the ship’s hull sensors.

  “I believe I am about to be boarded, Captain,” she stated.

  Captain Prince was deep in thought, so didn’t respond. Under different circumstances, he would have seen the funny side of the AI’s statement that made it sound as if she was the Captain of the ship. But, right now he was too busy thinking.

  He was sure that the only reason the Garoden ships would have ceased firing, was to board and capture the Scimitar and the valuable information the ship would yield.

  Then everyone heard a dull thump, which seemed to have come from the starboard side of the ship.

  “A large vessel has locked onto my hull,” the AI informed the Captain.

  “Agreed,” Lieutenant Carter confirmed, seeing a localized, and rapid rise in their hull’s temperature.

  “A breach is imminent. Location, section thirty-one. Junction of corridors three and four,” Tammy warned.

  “Tammy, get the marines there, double quick,” Prince ordered his AI.

  “Yes, Captain.”

  “Then prep the port shuttle, and make ready for launch.”

  “It is being done, Captain.”

  “Good. Ensign Jarrow. Send all none-critical personnel to the port shuttle. Now,” he ordered.

  “On it, Captain,” the female duty officer acknowledged, as she picked up the shuttle’s remote command communicator and started contacting the relevant crew members. Then she stood up and
straightened her uniform, showing off her beautiful figure as she did so. And, with her jet black hair flowing behind her, headed off to the port shuttle.

  Captain Prince couldn’t help smiling to himself, seeing all of them mesmerized by the sight as they watched her leave.

  “The aliens have cut through the hull…Captain. They’re coming aboard,” his AI Tammy, warned him.

  “Aah…, that’s good, their vessel has sealed the connection breach. No air leakage detected, Captain,” she confirmed. All the while counting the number of intruders who had boarded their ship.

  “Captain, we now have fourteen aliens on board, all of them in battle armor.”

  “Right, where are they? Which hallway are they going down?”

  “I don’t know. The aliens seem to have disappeared, Captain.”

  “What? Where too?”

  “I don’t know, they’re not registering on my sensors,” Tammy replied.

  “They must be in stealth mode, Captain,” Lieutenant Samuelson suggested.

  “Then they must have a much better stealth system than their ships,” Prince dryly commented.

  Marine Captain Gerard, together with his complement of eight Marines dressed in full battle armor, and carrying heavy-duty blasters, moved cautiously out into corridor three.

  “Anyone’s sensor grid picking these aliens up?”

  “We’re not getting anything,” Sergeant Burrows replied, after re-checking his helmet’s display.