The Lost Fleet: Genesis: A Slaver Wars Novel Read Online Free PDF

Sphere.”
    Commander
Arnett looked in surprise at Admiral Tolsen. “Maybe,” she said with a trace of
doubt in her voice. “We’ve never tried a jump like that before in such a highly
stressed region of space as the gravity well created by the Dyson Sphere. We
don’t know what effect it could have on the hyperdrives.”
    Race shifted
his eyes over toward Madelyn. She was a trusted officer and friend and he took
her words seriously. “If we don’t, the relief fleet will be destroyed. We’re
their only chance.”
    Madelyn nodded,
accepting they had to do this. “The defense globes are ready to deploy as well
as our fighters and bombers.” The WarHawk had eighty fighters and forty
bombers on board. The other smaller dreadnoughts contained similar numbers of
the small attack craft.
    “Then let’s do
this; I’ll send word to Massie and Admiral Lankell they have command of the
fleet.”
    -
    Admiral
Stoddard was working quickly to get his fleet into a defensive formation while
at the same time increasing their speed toward the Dyson Sphere. At any moment,
he expected to see Shari spatial vortexes forming around his fleeing fleet. He
had two battleships, four battlecarriers, ten battlecruisers, and twenty-six
strike cruisers to defend the four fleet repair ships as well as the forty
valuable supply ships at the heart of his formation. He knew from the size of
the Shari fleet the sensors had detected it wasn’t going to be enough.
    “Vortexes
detected,” reported Lieutenant Brier as alarms sounded on his sensor console.
“We have Shari battlecruisers exiting hyperspace around and behind our fleet formation.”
    Stoddard
nodded his acceptance of the report. Pressing his ship-to-ship minicomm, he contacted
Commander Shayla Bream on the battlecarrier Concordia . “Shayla, I’m going
to need all of your fighters and bombers if we hope to get out of this.”
    “I understand,
Admiral,” Shayla answered. “You do realize at the speed we’re traveling it will
make recovering any of them highly unlikely.”
    “I know,”
answered Stoddard, feeling a knot form in the pit of his stomach. This would be
the first time he had sent people on a mission knowing there was no chance of
their returning. “We’re about to be heavily outnumbered, and those fighters and
bombers may be the only hope we have of getting at least some of the fleet safely
to the Dyson Sphere and Admiral Tolsen.”
    Shayla was
quiet for a long moment before replying. “They’re good pilots; they’ll buy the
time those supply ships need.”
    -
    High Lord
Aktill felt elated as his ship’s systems stabilized and the tactical and viewscreens
came on. He had the enemy fleet right where he wanted them.
    “They’re
launching their small attack craft,” warned Lower Lord Samarth.
    “Our point
defense will take care of them,” Aktill replied dismissively. “Concentrate our
fire on the ships protecting those supply vessels. If we can deny the fleet at
the Dyson Sphere supplies, they’ll eventually have to leave.”
    “That fleet’s
coming out toward us,” Samarth said as he quickly pointed to a tactical screen
showing the enemy fleet at the Dyson Sphere breaking orbit and accelerating
outward. They’ll be here shortly.”
    “It will not
matter,” answered Aktill as he gazed at the red threat icons his ships had
englobed. “By the time they arrive, we’ll have destroyed this fleet. This
battle is ours.”
    “High Lord,
I’m detecting an energy surge from some of the ships leaving the sphere,”
reported the Shari officer in front of the sensor console. “They’re opening up
a number of spatial vortexes.”
    “How?” asked
Samarth in disbelief. “They’re too near the Dyson Sphere’s gravity well,
they’ll be destroyed!”
    “I don’t know
how!” Aktill said loudly as his eyes focused on the indicated sensor screen. “I
want all ships to concentrate their weapons fire on those ships nearest us. We
must destroy them!” Once again,