Free Galactic Empire Wars: Rebellion (The Galactic Empire Wars Book 3) by Raymond L. Weil Page B

nonaligned worlds to our side in this
war? I’ve read reports from the Kiveans that some of those systems have some
very advanced warships, particularly the one that gave us the ion cannons.”
    “Perhaps,” replied
Mitchell, recalling the plan that he and Colonel Nelson had come up with. It
had been necessary to call in several Kiveans, including Marken, to come up
with a workable option. “There are forty-two nonaligned worlds within two
thousand light years of the solar system; we hope to get at least ten of them
to join a new Alliance we’re trying to form. The Kleese are just too powerful
for us to fight alone.”
    “The fleet’s
ready,” Kelly said. “All six fleets are now fully crewed and ready for combat
operations. We have three more battlecruisers coming online this week and they’ll
begin their space trials shortly.”
    “That’s one of
the items I wanted to talk to you about,” Mitchell said as his eyes focused on
the Fleet Admiral. “I have other plans for those battlecruisers and the new
light cruisers we just completed. I’m turning them over to Colonel Nelson for a
special mission. Commander Adamson on the Constellation will be in command of
the warships. There will also be a large number of assault ships going as well.”
    “So it’s about
to begin,” Kelly said, taking in a deep fortifying breath. He suspected that
General Mitchell wouldn’t be committing that many ships to this mission unless
he thought there was a good chance there would be combat.
    “Yes,”
answered Mitchell with a heavy sigh.
    “How many
assault ships are you sending on this mission?
    “Two hundred.”
    “Two hundred!”
exclaimed Kelly his eyes bulging at the number.
    “We feel it’s
necessary if the mission is to succeed.”
    “Are you
certain you want Commander Adamson to command and not one of our fleet
admirals?”
    Mitchell
looked at Kelly with a serious look in his eyes. “That’s something else I
wanted to talk to you about. Commander Adamson has performed admirably in all of
the off world missions we’ve sent him on. I would like to see him promoted to
the rank of admiral.”
    Kelly nodded;
he'd been considering that promotion himself after reviewing all of the
candidates in the fleet. Adamson was highly qualified, particularly after his
missions to the trading station and the Kivean home world.
    “Very well,” Kelly
replied with a smile spreading across his face. “We’ll assign the Constellation
permanently to Seventh Fleet as its new flagship.” The original plans had been
for all the new warships to be held in reserve to fill in for damaged or destroyed
ships in the six regular fleets. Kelly knew they'd have to construct more ships
to fill that role now.
    “I think it’s
a wise move,” Mitchell commented with a satisfied look upon his face. “There’s
a very good chance Seventh Fleet will have to fight a major engagement against
the Kleese, most likely against the Zaltule themselves.”
    “Should we add
another battlecruiser or two to his fleet?” asked Kelly, worriedly. All the
other fleets had six battlecruisers assigned to them. Admiral Adamson had only
four even though he would command far more assault ships.
    “No,” replied Mitchell,
shaking his head. “We need to keep our six fleets at full strength just in case
the Kleese strike here instead of the nonaligned worlds.”
    “You think
that’s likely?”
    “It’s a low
probability,” answered Mitchell, recalling what the military strategists and
Kiveans believed. “Marken said his people think the probability is under twenty
percent, particularly since we haven’t launched any type of attack against the
Kleese in recent years to draw their attention to us.”
    “Except for
starting the Kleese-Strell war,” replied Kelly with a frown. “If they ever find
out we were responsible, they’ll descend upon us with a vengeance.”
    “They won’t
find out,” promised Mitchell, confidently. “There’s no evidence we