warships. That dreadnought didn’t have any effect on the ship that destroyed it. Then they saw several Alliance ships cross the star drive limit and jump to safety. Terl, watching his feed from the human system, saw Admiral Dorg’s ship approaching the star drive limit as one of those small battleships bore down on it. The Earth ship fired its energy beams, but the Admiral’s ship disappeared just as the beams tore through the space his ship had just occupied. Terl was numb. According to the sensors of Mass Destruction, only 178 ships had been able to jump to safety. The humans had destroyed 1,800 Alliance ships, including 40 percent of Cainth’s total warships. Terl thought, “Admiral Dorg was right about these humans; they are a race to be feared. Now we know what happened to our ships at the colony world.” Then a small thought wormed its way into his consciousness: “They know where we live.”
“That didn’t take long,” Atlas said.
Danielle and Tag had watched the destruction, horrified at the loss of life on both sides. Tag said to Atlas with a heavy heart, “So many killed; such a waste of potential. There’s got to be a way to avoid all this slaughter.”
Atlas said nothing for a minute and then spoke in a soft thought. “It is called growing pains. Sometimes a civilization dies, but those that weather the storm come out better and stronger for it. You must endure until the task is completed.”
“Well, at least Admiral Kosiev was right,” Tag said. Danielle looked at Tag with raised eyebrows. “This marks the end of the beginning. Atlas, can you get the admiral on a communication channel without revealing yourself?” Instantly Admiral Kosiev appeared on their screen.
“Admiral, congratulations on your victory,” Tag said.
“Thank you, Mr. Gardner. It was costly. We lost more than 150 ships and some of the Alliance fleet escaped.”
“How long will it take before your ships could be ready to fight again, Admiral?”
“We just need to resupply our stores of missiles and provisions. Probably forty-eight hours. Why do you ask?”
“I think it’s time we paid our Cainth neighbors a visit and welcomed them to the neighborhood.”
“We’d be violating the twenty-light-year limit if we did,” Kosiev said.
“That limit disappeared with the Alliance order to occupy our system, Admiral. We’re going to take this war to our enemies and see if we can fight it on their ground, not ours. We at the very least are going to declaw the cat that has been threatening us for two hundred years.”
Kosiev smiled at Tag and said, “It would be nice if I could repay them for the Moscow. I owe them.”
“Have the engineers found the asteroids for the fortresses, Admiral?”
“The first four have already been boosted out of orbit, and the mining engineers are already blasting the surface to install the layer of power cells. They should be hollowed out and environment controls and weapons installed by the time they make Earth orbit in three weeks. The second four are having the black hole generators and drives installed as we speak. They will arrive two weeks later. Incidentally, I’ve never seen power cells as large as the ones being installed. If we can charge them, they should pack quite a punch.”
“My understanding is that each of their Coronado shields should cover 15 percent of the Earth’s surface and overlap each other when fully installed. Every day in direct sunshine will add 18 percent to the charging load. They should reach full charge and start storage within eight days of coming online. Most of our ship-making capability has been delayed to produce the power cells in time for installation. When the Melbourne moved that comet, it led to the idea of their creation. If we can protect the planet, we should have enough ships released to take the war to the Alliance.”
“Prepare your ships, Admiral. I’ll talk with the director and general staff, but I think they will go along with my plan. Once the platforms are in orbit and functional, the rest of the fleet would be at our disposal. Now that they know our capabilities, I don’t see any reason to hold the prisoners on Europa. They should add to the fun, especially after watching their ship self-destruct with their lifeboats. Let’s just say we’re returning some of their citizens and oh, by the way, let us help you remove all your weapons of war. This has been a long time coming, Admiral. The fun is just starting.”
“What about the Alliance?”
“We’ll deal with them when we have to. It’s going to take time for them to organize another attack. By the end of the next month our shipyards will have two hundred ships to replace the 150 you lost. I don’t think they can produce the two thousand they lost quite as quickly. Ultimately, time is our best friend. Let’s hope the Alliance gives us enough. Either way, the Cainth are going to see us again, and this time we will decide their future.”
Kosiev smiled, looked out of his viewport at the unblinking stars, and knew for the first time that he was going to go and visit some of those outside of the limit. Tag was right: the fun was just beginning.
