Author's warning!!! This is a TEASER for the 14th book in my bestselling series! If you haven't read the other 13 books, there are undoubtedly spoilers in this chapter. Don't ruin the story for yourself! Start at the beginning! :) You can find the other books for sale here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078MHNTH9
Chapter 1
Hereford checked over the damage reports with a wince. Earth's defensive fleet was in rough shape. The Constitution was gone, destroyed utterly. The Independence was badly damaged as well. Dan had pushed his ship to its limits, and it showed. It would be months in repairs.
That would in turn delay construction of the four new keels they'd laid down. While the Connie and Indie had been captured Naga warships, those new vessels would be wholly built by Earth. Now, when they needed those ships more than ever, it looked like they were going to take more time than Earth had left.
Oddly enough, one of the vessels with the fastest repair period was going to be his flagship, the Warrior. Also 'borrowed' from an enemy, in this case the Kkiktchikut, the Warrior had the advantage of a large number of robot repair units. There were far more of them than he'd have expected from a human ship, but it seemed the Kkiktchikut preferred small living crews and as much automation as possible.
His engineers had put the machines to work on repairs right away, and they were already doing wonders. The Warrior's bow had been shredded when he rammed an enemy vessel with it. It was still a mess, but the 'bots were improving the situation so rapidly Hereford felt like he could almost see it in real time. They'd be battle-worthy within days and back to full power within weeks.
The fact was though, even with the Warrior's positive prognosis, Earth was in deep shit.
The surviving Naga vessel had already returned home. They'd left behind Garul and a contingent of troops to assist Earth, but they had their own problems at home. The Kkiktchikut had already annihilated one Naga colony and tried to do the same to their homeworld. The fact they'd come to help defend Earth at all was mostly due to Dan and Beth doing the same thing when the Naga homeworld had been threatened. Their allies could no more afford to lose ships than the humans could.
The bottom line was simple: he didn't have enough forces to repel another attack. The Naga might come and help again, or they might not, and the ships he had remaining in orbit would not survive another assault like the last.
There was a knock on the door. His assistant wouldn't have let many people through. Hereford looked up from his work. "Enter."
The door opened, revealing a familiar reptilian face. Garul was a Naga warlord, one of their leaders. He'd gone all-in on the idea of an alliance with humanity, and Hereford backed the idea on his end. Between the two of them they'd gotten their respective governments talking, and that was a good start.
"General," Garul said, ducking his head. "I was hoping you might join me in a toast."
That was when Hereford saw Garul was carrying something, a small jar of amber liquid and a pair of glasses. The Naga held them up so he could see.
"What are we celebrating?" Hereford answered, his voice a bit more gruff than he'd have liked. "We barely staved off that attack, and we don't have enough forces left to stop another."
"Ah, perhaps toast is not the right word," Garul said. "I am still learning nuances of your language. A Naga would say 'bakar.' It is a salute to those we led and fought with who are no longer here."
That, Hereford understood. He nodded. "We have a similar custom. We will often raise a glass to the fallen."
"Just so," Garul replied, taking a seat across the desk from Hereford. "Our people are far more alike than we are different."
Garul set the small cups down. In terms of size, they were closer to shot glasses than anything else, so Hereford braced himself. He had a feeling whatever this liquid was, it would have a kick if the Naga were drinking it in small doses. The Naga poured until each glass was half full, then slid one across to Hereford.
"I assume we've tested this for biological compatibility?" Hereford asked drily as he picked up the cup.
"Yes, it seems many of our foods are fine for you to eat, although the reverse is not always true. Humans eat an interesting variety of highly toxic substances," Garul replied. "But alcohol seems to be a constant across both our species."
Hereford laughed at that, and raised his glass. "To those we've lost, who gave all they had so we can go on."
"Bakar jus, rekka sum bakar," Garul replied. "We honor those who have obtained honor."
They both drank. Hereford winced as the liquid hit his mouth, in spite of his preparedness. As he'd guessed, the Naga went in for brutal alcohol levels, and there was a spiciness to the liquid he wasn't expecting piled atop. He swallowed it down, though. It was far from the first time he'd toasted the dead with crappy liquor.
"The voices of the fallen call to me sometimes, Hereford."
In Garul's voice he heard all the exhaustion he felt, more in his soul than in his bones. Hereford, too, was visited by ghosts of those he'd ordered to their deaths. "I suppose all leaders worry about that to one degree or another."
"The good ones, at least. The uncaring ones, less so," Garul replied. He shifted in his seat, then leaned in, changing the subject abruptly. " What will you do next? The Kkiktchikut are gone, but only for now. They will return."
"I wish I could tell you I had a plan," Hereford replied, plunking the tablet down on his desk. "We've lost one ship, another will be under repairs for far too long. I don't have much left to work with."
"Perhaps we need to think about a way to build permanent emplacements around our worlds," Garul suggested. "Battle stations which orbited and defended the planet."
"Damn easy to destroy from a distance. You accelerate a big rock fast enough and bang. It's an idea though. We'd need to make sure they could stop that sort of incoming threat."
"A web of distant sensors," Garul suggested. "To warn of incoming objects."
That was part of the problem with defending anything in space. It was damned hard to spot all of the possible dangers coming your way. Hereford had given himself nightmares brainstorming all of the nasty things someone could include in a very small package, far too tiny to be detected as it approached an unsuspecting world. Designer viruses, ecology destroying compounds like the ratzard blood, and myriad other forms of planetary destruction had made for a few sleepless nights.
A fixed target was by its nature easy to attack, because you always knew where it would be. That meant even greater defenses were required. Guns, or shields...
"How large a field can shield technology make?" Hereford asked. His ship had shields, and was over a kilometer long.
"Your ship and the Kkiktchikut dreadnought are the largest two I've seen. The Naga cannot shield something so large."
"Hmmm."
"What are you thinking?" Garul asked.
"I was wondering if it might be possible to overlap shield emitters and protect a planet. Or even part of a planet, if we can make the emitters mobile satellites," Hereford replied. "That new race which attacked with the Kkiktchikut had the ability to overlap shields. Since it looks like they were uplifted, same as the Naga, I'm guessing the shield tech works about the same."
"We did take some prisoners during the fighting on the ground," Garul said. "And captured the remains of several of their ships. It's possible we could learn this, although the power demands would be insane. But I do not think this is a solution for today."
"I agree," Hereford said. "Even if we glean all the science we need from the ships we captured, it will take a long time to build the power generation necessary to support a large shield, not to mention the shield itself."
Not a solution for today, no. But it was a good one. He'd have some teams get to work on a proof of concept tomorrow.
The comm unit on his desk flashed. Hereford arched an eyebrow at it. First a guest, then a call? But again, if it wasn't important... He hit the button. "Hereford here."
"Sir, this Dr. Briggs, in medical. I think you should get down here, sir."
"What's going on?" Hereford asked.
"It's Captain Wynn, sir. She's had something odd occur, and she’s in the Independence sick bay. I’ve been asked to bring a team over to help assess her condition, and based on what I’m hearing, I think you’ll want to come with me.”
Hereford glanced at Garul, who was already rising. "I'm on my way."
Garul held the door, and the two of them set off. They'd only just fought off the invading force. What was going wrong now?
