The Depths of War (Dark Seas Book 5) Read online

  The Depths

  of

  War

  a novel by

  Damon Alan

  I’m dedicating this one to my readers. Without you, this would just be wasted paper or electrons. With you we build the Dark Seas universe together, line by line, page by page. My words, your imagination.

  © Damon Alan 2017 All rights reserved, including internal content and cover art. This book may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Cover art may also not be reproduced without written permission, except for usage that pertains to bona fide blogging, review, or other legitimate journalistic purpose associated with the content of this book.

  This is a work of fiction, and any names, places, characters or events are created solely from the mind of Damon Alan, and then revealed via this book to you, the reader. Any resemblance to any human of the estimated 100 billion humans who live or ever have lived is purely coincidental. With technology being what it is today, I should also mention that any AIs in this book are purely speculative and any resemblance to actual AIs is also, you guessed it, purely coincidence.

  1st Edition E-book, distribution solely via Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

  1st Edition print book is available on Amazon.com via Createspace as printer.

  Contents

  Chapter 1 - Arrival

  Chapter 2 - Second Homecoming

  Chapter 3 - Realization

  Chapter 4 - Tumor

  Chapter 5 - Meet the Locals

  Chapter 6 - Admiral’s Personal Log

  Chapter 7 - Emille’s Consent

  Chapter 8 - Swarm

  Chapter 9 - Inward

  Chapter 10 - Battle Proven

  Chapter 11 - Captives

  Chapter 12 - Admiral’s Personal Log

  Chapter 13 - Questions

  Chapter 14 - Intent

  Chapter 15 - Dreadnought

  Chapter 16 - Motivation

  Chapter 17 - A Message Bottled

  Chapter 18 - Planning

  Chapter 19 - Placement

  Chapter 20 - Admiral’s Personal Log

  Chapter 21 - Execution

  Chapter 22 - Surprise Attack

  Chapter 23 - Consequences

  Chapter 24 - Exodus

  Chapter 25 - Homeward

  Chapter 26 - Proof

  Chapter 27 - War Prizes

  Chapter 28 - Admiral’s Personal Log

  Chapter 29 - First Day on the Job

  Chapter 30 - Retribution

  Chapter 31 - Payback

  Chapter 32 - Leadership

  Chapter 33 - Bodyguard

  Chapter 34 - Expedition

  Chapter 35 - Captain’s Personal Log

  Chapter 36 - Meeting Gaia

  Chapter 37 - Battle Fleet

  Chapter 38 - Earth Too

  Chapter 39 - Swamped

  Chapter 40 - A Mystery

  Chapter 41 - A Wisp of Time

  Chapter 42 - A Promise for the Beach

  Chapter 43 - Slow Recovery

  Chapter 44 - Return to Gaia

  Chapter 45 - Captain’s Personal Log

  Chapter 46 - Hamor

  Chapter 47 - Yarrrrr

  Chapter 48 - Friendship

  Chapter 49 - Presents

  Chapter 50 - Tandella Station

  Chapter 51 - Fruition

  Chapter 52 - Captain’s Personal Log

  Chapter 53 - Grand Larceny

  Chapter 54 - Down But Not Out

  Chapter 55 - Split Forces

  Chapter 56 - Admiral’s Personal Log

  Chapter 57 - The Obedi

  Chapter 58 - A New Front

  Important Concepts:

  Chapter 1 - Arrival

  Bn74x00 was once again in the main computation chamber of the Original, the Hive’s first functional colony, after arriving in the Albeus system with news.

  It watched as nanite chains snaked from the wall of energy in front of the containment vessel 00 resided in. Similar ropes snaked from the wall into the humans the Original occupied. While not the actual humans the Original first inhabited, these were descendants of those first occupied. The Original bred them itself, using the humans it was connected to, since the human bodies were functional in every way except mentally.

  The chains enveloped the container carrying 00 before slipping through to complete the data transference interface between them.

  “There is news of the human Dayson?” An interrogative from the Original. As the voice echoed within, the human bodies outside repeated the words from their consumption orifice. Sound was a peculiar and inefficient way to communicate.

  “Important news, Original. The humans had a research colony in the asteroid belt of a red dwarf star nineteen thousand seven hundred light years from the galactic plane. When the fleet that was assigned to find Dayson was discovered, the humans attacked, destroying all but the craft this colony inhabited. Before fleeing to bring news, this colony observed the humans blowing up the star the research facilities orbited.”

  “The Original questions the computational integrity of Bn74x00. Destroying a star is a violation of physical possibility. Share the visual data,” the Original demanded.

  Bn74x00 did so.

  “M-class stars of this mass do not go nova, yet this one did,” the Original confirmed. “The integrity of the Bn74x00 colony is no longer questioned. This threat is not to be underestimated. Immediate research will begin to ascertain the nature of the weapon.” The Original began retracting from the interface.

  “Wait,” 00 said. “There is more. The humans have a star drive that can move almost immediately within a star system. The maximum range of movement is not known. The drive is unrelated to space warping technology, no inclusion sphere was created.”

  “Impossible,” the Original said. The humans outside shrieked the word, as if the Original was unable to process the reality of two different unpleasant revelations regarding human technology. “Nothing moves faster than light without warping space.”

  “See the data,” 00 invited.

  The Original re-established full contact, and once again 00 shared information from the battle at the human research system.

  “The data provided is proof of unexpected capabilities. The humans are superseding the research capacity of the Collective, something so unlikely that it should be impossible. While the conglomeration of processing units currently assigned to Bn74x00 is inadequate to research the data on the star destroying weapon, it is sufficient to continue the hunt for Sarah Dayson. It is imperative that she is taken alive and brought to this location. The data regarding human research successes will be pulled from her mind directly.”

  “This colony serves the greater will,” 00 answered.

  “Go to Mindari and find her. With the destruction of her extragalactic research facility, it is probable she returned to Alliance space in order to recover from the loss. Find her. Take her from the illusion of safety. Bring her here.”

  Nanites once again retreated from the container that housed 00. When the units that comprised the Original were clear, 00 was swept from the room to a holding chamber for debriefing by lesser colonies.

  Chapter 2 - Second Homecoming

  24 Noder 15331

  “It’s been two years since we were anywhere near the actual galaxy,” Sarah Dayson argued. “We’ve been stuck in place, doing nothing, while people die.”

  “That may be, but Emille Sur’batti nearly died the last time,” Thea said. Her tone rode the edge of exasperation. “A big part of the problem was the sedative administered to her reacting with the anti-gravity wave drug in her system. I can’t, however, guarantee that was the only re
ason for her illness.”

  “Since that event she’s shown no illness, and we need to see conclusively if she can operate in the galactic plane,” Sarah countered. “I’ve already talked to her, and she’s willing to go back if it means getting more defenses set up for this world.” She stood and walked to the window of her apartment, breathing in and exhaling slowly, knowing it was loud. She wanted Thea to feel her irritation. “Why do you have to be so uncooperative?”

  “Because I’m your friend.” Thea stood from Sarah’s couch and walked to stand next to her. “If Emille can’t bring you back, everyone on the Stennis will die. If this community takes that kind of blow now, I’m not sure Heinrich is someone people will follow if we need the military to defend us. She may be the most competent, but she is not the most liked.”

  Giving Thea a sideways glance, Sarah snorted in derision before answering. “Are you kidding me? That woman is better at tactics than I am. And she’s got the crew of the Stennis thinking she’s a magician. And if you tell anyone I said that, I’ll have you kidnapped.”

  That elicited the first laugh of their meeting, probably the first real sign of the respect that flowed between the two women. More often than not, they butted heads with regularity.

  Sarah needed to return to the galaxy proper and secure more ships for the defense of Refuge from the Alliance, or by any other means necessary. She wasn’t sure how yet, but there was a way to weaponize the adepts against the Hive. And once she found that way, she would do what she was meant to do. Destroy the enemy who threatened not just humanity, but the stability of the universe itself.

  They stood in silence for two minutes, looking out over the tropical ocean of New Korvand. A passenger jet was on approach into the now busy airport, it left a white trail as it pushed through the humid air.

  “There are days I’d welcome a good kidnapping,” Thea finally replied. “Someone to snatch me away from all this and make me live on one of these deserted islands that dot this area.”

  Sarah nodded, then grinned at her friend. “Yeah, I get that. Me too. Sometimes I want to resign and spend what time I have left on a boat, sailing ahead of the storms and living off the sea.”

  Thea slapped her on the back and turned back toward the living area. “Let’s do that. You get a boat all set up, then kidnap me. We’ll be the sea witches.”

  Sarah followed her friend toward the couch, shaking her head. “You can’t walk away any more than I can.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s why I said kidnap me.”

  They laughed and sat back down before returning to business.

  “Seriously, I’m not kidding about Heinrich,” Sarah said. “She’s really good. And with the conversion of the Stennis complete, I think she’s going to be at least as effective against the Hive as I’ve been.”

  “Then send her to the galaxy,” Thea said.

  “Whoa,” Sarah said, pausing. “Is this really about the people I’d be taking? Emille? Or me?”

  “All three, idiot. Our people can’t afford to lose you,” Thea answered. “The symbology of that blow would be lethal to morale.”

  “Have you seen the Stennis?” Sarah asked. “You and I need to go up there for a tour.”

  “I’ve seen the specs. Who do you think helped get all those resources diverted to the project?”

  “Well, thank you for that.” Sarah shrugged. “I’d say he’s a reborn killer, but that doesn’t even start to describe it. He’s a completely different machine. Half battlecruiser, half carrier, with a punch that far exceeds his size now. If the current Stennis had been mine when I fought the Schein, the outcome would have been different. The Fyurigan engineers installed lasers, of all things.”

  Thea looked perplexed, then scoffed. “Lasers? Nobody uses lasers. They’re useless.”

  “That’s because most battles take place at hundreds of thousands of kilometers, not the ranges we’ll be engaging with the Stennis. Lasers are ineffective at range, and railguns aren’t, battles are over before the first laser is fired.”

  “I’m not stupid,” Thea said. “Durrrrr… I know things.”

  Sarah laughed. “I’m not Alarin. I can’t read your mind and know what you have in there.”

  They sipped their teas for a moment in silence, Sarah waiting for Thea to ask about the laser cannons.

  Thea sighed. “Okay, I’ll bite. How effective are the lasers?”

  “You mean you actually don’t know the answer to what you were mocking?” Sarah asked, an exaggerated expression of shock on her face. “The new guns are highly effective inside five hundred kilometers. Moderately out to two thousand. Even if they don’t penetrate, inside a certain range they add a lot of heat to the target. We’ve had small asteroids explode from the expansion stress caused simply by heating the exterior of the rock during our tests.”

  “Is that what you do with your spare time? Make gravel?”

  Sarah grinned. “Yes. That is exactly what I do.”

  “How are you powering the new guns?”

  “The reactor that used to power the cooling vane pumps for the drop to realspace now powers the laser arrays. We have gigawatts to spare,” Sarah answered. “We’ve removed and cannibalized the entire realspace reentry system. Titanium is hard to find.”

  They talked about the specifics for a while. Thea, because she was the civilian leader of New Korvand, would have final word on any mission back to the galaxy.

  “Do you really think you can go up against a fleet with one ship?” Thea asked.

  “That’s wrong thinking,” Sarah replied. “We have the firepower of an orbital station now. And once we test Peter’s new fighters and mix that with the powers that Emille has unlocked, we also potentially have the ranged strike capability of a heavy carrier. In one ship.”

  “But you still take damage just like any other ship,” Thea countered. “And you don’t take it like an orbital station or a heavy carrier.”

  “True. That’s why we’ll use hit and run tactics on any Hive encounters. We’ll stay aware of any need to change location.”

  “You have a few problems with this plan. The first is the Hive are machines, their response to your arrival will be practically instantaneous from our perception, and second, the Hive will get smart and install their own lasers so they can hit you before you jump out. Not to mention Emille can’t keep up that rate of movement. She’ll be worn out and leave you stranded.”

  Sarah shook her head. “No, Thea, you don’t get it. We pop in, hit the enemy in one or two locations, and then we pop back out to interstellar space to give Emille recovery time. That will put us in a position where if we find a target rich environment, we’ll send in the fighters to do their thing. Even if they build lasers, we have an ablative hull, and we’ll pick lightly protected targets. They can’t build enough ships to defend everything. We might have to replace some hull plates from time to time, but that’s no big deal. There will be losses, but the enemy will be ravaged. I don’t see how they could counter this.”

  “Maybe it will work, maybe it won’t. But the price to pay for failure is too high,” Thea countered. “It’s a great plan if you don’t consider that all our eggs are in this one basket.”

  She had a point. Thea was often a smart woman who saw the bigger picture. Not that Sarah was going to admit that. Not that there was much of a choice. The Hive knew the region the Seventh Fleet was in. Eventually they’d come.

  The last time Sarah had used her hit and run technique in battle was over two years ago, and it had proved highly effective against both Orson and the Hive fleet she’d destroyed at Korvand. The use of the adepts and the new strategies they opened up had given the Entalia, a pocket dreadnought, its first victory since Korvand fell over a decade before.

  But it wasn’t conventional warfare. It wasn’t the powerful overwhelming the weak. If anything it was more like the lightning strike of a guerrilla war, hitting vital targets and retreating to safety in both distance and location.

  �
��That’s just it, Thea, the goal is to hit the enemy where they keep their eggs,” Sarah said. “We can penetrate deep, bomb planetary targets, hit space stations, supply depots, manufacturing centers. Places that won’t be defended as well as a target on the front, because the Hive will think those areas safe. We will prove them wrong, forcing them to pull cruiser fleets from the front and lessen their offensive capabilities against our people. That sort of thing could turn the tide in humanity’s favor.”

  “Blah, blah,” Thea responded. “That’s a bunch of speculation and you know it.”

  “Not if it works. My Teplo maneuver was speculation until it worked, then it became common practice.”

  Thea crossed her legs and bounced her lofted foot. She did nothing else for an unbearably long time, staring idly out the patio door glass at the emerald green sky.

  Sarah didn’t interrupt. If time had taught her one thing, it was that if Thea was pausing, it was because she was considering.

  “Okay, you can try this, on two conditions. The first is that you admit failure if it doesn’t work. I know how stubborn you are. Secondly, you’re to contact the Alliance and obtain medical supplies. Nanites, sterile stock, anything I might need to outfit a modern hospital. We’re no longer part of the Alliance, and while the Stennis is technically their ship, in reality it’s ours. Possession, you know. So explain to them what you can do for them, and then get what you can for us.”

  It was Sarah’s turn to pause. The second part of Thea’s demand was what she’d planned to do anyway. She certainly had no intention of returning the Stennis to the Alliance, it was needed far more here. Not that Alliance brass would see it that way. The first of Thea’s conditions was tougher. It made her first attempt critical, it had to succeed or she might not get another opportunity. That meant she had to find a target and successfully strike. Sometimes that was a challenge in the vastness of space, but one she was up to.

  “I agree. But neither you nor I get to decide what constitutes a success. I know how you are too.”

  “So who decides?” Thea asked.