Free The Slaver Wars: First Strike (The Slaver Wars Book Four) by Raymond L. Weil Page A

over three hundred and seventy warships to mount the attack,” Admiral
Streth pointed out. “That’s more ships than our Federation had when the Hocklyns
originally found us. Not only that but these ships are much more powerful with
stronger weapons and greatly enhanced energy screens.”
    Hedon had
spent some time reviewing the specs of the ships in the Ready Reserve and had
been a little surprised to see that the Federation had gone back to using
railguns. Granted, they were much more powerful and cycled faster than the old
ones, but they were still railguns. Admiral Teleck had explained that they had
experimented with other weapon systems in the past, but railguns were
unbelievably reliable and still capable of causing a lot of damage.
    “It sounds
like a lot,” Major Andrews commented from where he was sitting next to his
wife. “But we know the Hocklyns possess a massive fleet of their own; a fleet
that numbers in the thousands. At some point in time, we will be facing them as
well as the AIs.”
    “I like the
idea of us attacking them,” spoke Commander Adler, leaning forward in thought.
“It is something they won’t be expecting and may give us a significant tactical
advantage, at least for a while.”
    Commander
Adler and his executive officer Major Timmons, formerly of the battle carrier
Victory and First Fleet, had gone into cryosleep to be part of the future war
with the Hocklyns. They had both been surprised and then excited at the idea of
Operation First Strike.
    “We will have
the element of surprise,” agreed Hedon, nodding at Adler with a vengeful smile
on his face. It was good to see some familiar faces in the room. “If we time
our attacks properly, we can drive them back hundreds of light years and free
some of their slave worlds in the process.”
    “Military
Intelligence agrees,” Colonel Grissim added with a nod of her head. “The Hocklyns
have almost always had the upper hand in their conquests, and to the best of
our knowledge no one has ever attacked them first. They won’t be expecting it.”
    “What about
allies?” asked Amanda, looking over at Admiral Kalen who was also in the
meeting. “Surely, in all of these years, you have found a few?”
    “You would be
surprised,” commented Kalen, shaking his head sadly. “There are a number of
civilizations within four hundred light years of us, but most are not highly developed.
It seems that a lot of civilizations stagnate in the late agricultural age.
Their development seems to slow and most of their progress surrounds
agriculture and making their lives more bearable. There is no desire or drive
to go out and explore beyond their planet.”
    “So we have no
allies?” stated Admiral Streth, feeling disappointed. He would have thought after
all of this time there would be at least a few.
    Admiral Kalen
looked at the group and then continued. “We do have four races we have
encountered in our explorations that are highly developed. Three agreed to aid
us in the war against the Hocklyns once we showed them what the Hocklyns would
do to their worlds. They have built up sizable war fleets and have been tasked
with securing their sectors of space against Hocklyn aggression. This will help
to defend our flanks as well as force the Hocklyns to spread their forces.”
    “You said
there were four advanced races,” Richard pointed out, his eyes focusing on
Admiral Kalen. “What about the fourth one?”
    “The
Albanians,” muttered Kalen with a heavy frown creasing his forehead. He let out
a deep frustrated sigh. “They are a mystery to us. The race is highly developed,
and in many areas their science is far ahead of ours, but they are refusing to
get involved. They will not aid us in the war.”
    “Why not?” asked
Admiral Streth, arching his eyebrows. “Don’t they understand the threat the
Hocklyns represent?”
    “They
understand, but they believe they can talk to the Hocklyns and avoid bloodshed.
They don’t believe in