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  "We will do as much as possible in the time we have remaining, Admiral," H'thratly replied.

  "Let us pray it is enough time, Commodore," Yolinar replied and closed the connection.

  "Tavrell, set the defense systems to auto fire. Try to slow down our attackers," the Commodore ordered.

  The man nodded and gave the orders. He turned back to his commander. "We have a plan, Sir?"

  "Not a good one Tavrell, but it is a plan." The Commodore typed on his command console. "Comm I need to speak to Admiral Jlorgans immediately."

  Jlorgans image came up so quickly H'thratly wondered if he had been waiting. "Admiral, I just got off the comm with Admiral Yolinar. We are to run for the anchorage with you as escort."

  The man nodded. "What of our ships still in dock?"

  "Evacuate to the station and jettison them. We can't jump with that much mass. The Admiral is counting on the fact that the Lizards have not attacked civilian targets to keep the planet safe. At present, the closest assistance if five days away," the commodore explained.

  The other man nodded. "We won't last five hours against what's coming. I'll give the order, I read arrival in fifty-two minutes. Will you be ready by then?"

  "We better be, or none of us will leave this system," the Commodore replied. The Commodore's aide arrived while he'd been talking. "G'vens, we need to make room for the crews of the ships still docked. Contact Masters Frolith and Bretnal; tell them to find the room. Hurry!"

  The young man turned and ran back out the door, H'thratly watched him go with a worried look on his face.

  "He'll be fine, Sir," Tavrell said quietly.

  "He better be," H'thratly replied and turned back to the officer. "If anything happens to him, my daughter will kick down the gates of the underworld in order to find me."

  Hall of the Elders (Throne room)

  Tower of Government

  Stardock City

  20 Jun. 10267 CE (AD)

  Terra, Sol System

  Ben looked out at the assembled crowd and the holocameras hovering over them. "As many of you know, my family and I try to keep our personal lives separate from our positions as much as possible. Although it has tended to create a lot of rumors in the tabloids and news services, we feel that we should have the same expectation of privacy that all our citizens enjoy. This policy was agreed upon by your Councilors shortly after our emergence," he said referring to the time when the survivors of Earth returned to the surface of the planet.

  "Today, we would like to share some of that with you. I will confirm one of the rumors from the tabloids; Jorga and I have taken Deirdre Bedouin as our mate and wife. This may not seem like a big deal to those of you from the Empire, as multiple spouses in a relationship are common. For the survivors… well, this just wasn't the way we did things back then. Deirdre is also known to be my older sister. Before The Fall, she was adopted by my father and lived with us for six years. A bond of friendship rather than that of siblings formed between us. I had no idea how she really felt about me, and by extension Jorga, until a few months ago.

  "So, why am I telling all of you this now? Because Deirdre Bedouin is pregnant with our first child." Ben had to pause there as the crowd was applauding and some even cheering. He smiled at Jorga and Deirdre who were standing beside him on the raised dais. Deirdre was blushing, but smiling. Jorga was grinning and winked at her mates.

  After a few minutes, the crowd calmed down enough for Ben to speak again. "As a leader of a nation, it is difficult to find individuals that one can truly call 'friend'. That is not to say that I am not blessed with a lot of friends, I am. But there are those to whom, in our daily lives, we tend to grow closer too. It has been a tradition among humans to ask one of those close friends to stand as guardian for a family's child in the event something happens to the parents. Deirdre, Jorga and I have asked one such close friend to serve in this capacity for us. I'll admit, at first, we didn't know if it would be possible because of his position, but as it turns out it is.

  "Yes, there are political benefits to our choice, but that isn't the reason we asked him. It is because of our trust and admiration for him as a person that we made this choice; after discussing it with them, the rest of our family agreed with the choice." Ben turned and held his hand out to someone behind them that the camera's couldn't see.

  The crowd exploded into loud cheering and applause when Hjoolous stepped forward to join Ben and the women. He was grinning as both Deirdre and Jorga hugged him while he shook Ben's hand. When the crowd finally quieted enough for him to speak, Ben continued. "As I said, yes, there are political advantages to this, but I want to make one thing very clear; no matter what advantages could be gained, there is no way in hell I would ask anyone I did not trust completely to be our child's guardian. After my wives, Hjoolous is my closest friend. I have argued with His Majesty many times in the past, and I am sure I will again in the future, but the man that holds that title is also my closest friend, in whom I have complete and utter trust.

  "Ladies and Gentlemen, my friend, and our Emperor, Hjoolous," Ben said, announcing the grinning Hyclarion and stepping back while clapping with the crowd.

  Hjoolous smiled and waved to the crowd as they quieted down. "I am speaking to you as the person and not as your Emperor. When Deirdre and Jorga originally asked this of me, I was so honored I was literally moved to tears. I did not include Ben in that, because they used the opportunity, the same opportunity, to let him know about the child as well. Until that moment, he had no idea he was going to become a father. Instead of disagreeing with the women for the choice, he joined in their request of me. I was beyond words at the honor and trust they had shown in me.

  "At first, I did not understand what the duties and responsibilities of the position would entail and, after speaking to my advisers, was forced to decline this great honor. But they did not accept that, and instead, clarified the role they had asked of me. Once it was clear I had misunderstood, I gathered as much information as I could and returned to my advisers. I am very pleased to say that I am able to accept this role for them." He paused and looked down a moment before continuing.

  "As the Emperor, I have received a lot of honors and awards for this or that action, I enjoy the friendship of many people; among them are the other national leaders. No one has ever offered me the trust and… love that these three people have. Among my people, there is no greater office one could hold then that of 'Parent'. To be trusted by another enough to be asked to stand for them in this position…" he shook his head. "At least to me, there is no greater honor.

  "In our modern society, there is little chance that I will be called upon to fulfill this duty, and I pray I never will, we are a nation at war. All of us know that we can be attacked at anytime, anywhere in our Empire. This only makes my friends request more special and more important to me." He paused and straightened up. To Ben, he knew that the Emperor was back.

  "Speaking as your Emperor, we want all of you here to know that we are very aware of the tireless, seemingly unending work you are doing for us. We are working with your King at his urgent request to alleviate the load you are carrying for us. When all this began, we had no idea how badly you would be overloaded. We believed we would be able to adjust as we went along, but that is not how it has worked out. King Bedouin has undertaken a massive expansion effort because of this. Yes, there will be more asked of this nation, but not until you are able to handle it. King Bedouin is correcting that as we speak. Millions more of your people will be coming home to join you. But as with any project of this size, it will take time.

  "Homes and living facilities have to be built, farming and mining have to be expanded. The infrastructure for the new people has to be built before they get here." Hjoolous grinned. "There is good news on this issue, but I will let your King tell you about it. Today, we are here for the announcement of, and to celebrate the pregnancy that will be the heir to your nation. May the Goddess watch over all of you. Good Day," Hjoolous
finished and stepped back to applause from the crowd.

  Chapter Seven

  Office of King Bedouin

  Tower of Government

  Stardock City

  20 Jun. 10267 CE (AD)

  Terra, Sol System

  Ben and his family, as well as Hjoolous and his guards, returned to Ben's office in high spirits. The crowd seemed happy enough about the announcement, but Ben was still a little worried about how the survivors would take the news. They found Gail Greenwold waiting for them.

  "General Greenwold, it is good to see you again. However, from the look on your face, this is not a social call," Hjoolous said. "Please, rise."

  As Gail stood from kneeling to him, she shook her head. "As much as I wish it were only a social call, Majesty, it is not. I bring news from Admiral Yolinar."

  Ben nodded toward the door to his office. "Let's go inside; we can listen to it in there." He opened the door for the Emperor and the women. He looked at his aide. "Sharon, secure mode until I change it, okay?"

  The woman nodded as the Imperial Guards took positions beside the door.

  Ben pointed to the four guards. "Please make sure these guys get something to drink; they've been standing all morning."

  The big guard closest to him bowed slightly. "Thank you Highness, that would be very much appreciated."

  Ben smiled and reached up to tap him on the shoulder. "If you guys need anything else, just ask Sharon to get it for you."

  The Guard again bowed slightly as Ben winked and closed the door behind him.

  Hjoolous and the ladies had taken up places around the conference table, and Jorga was getting everyone refreshments. "Okay, so what's up Gail?" Ben said as he joined them.

  She nodded and looked up. "Mother, please connect Admiral Yolinar and take data input from him."

  The large Admiral joined them as a hologram at the table and he bowed to the Emperor.

  "Rise Yolinar, tell us what has happened," Hjoolous said.

  The lights dimmed and a hologram of a star system took form over the table. "This is the Onaris system yesterday. As you can see, it was a supply depot and had a small shipyard for minor repairs on our fleets that come there to rearm and restock. Seven hours ago, they detected the approach of very large Lizard assault force. The Sixth Guard Fleet was in the system undergoing repairs and resupply. Based on the numbers they sent to us, the forces stationed there were outnumbered five to one. As the Lizards have not yet attacked unprotected civilian targets, I ordered them to retreat from the system and destroy whatever they could not take with them. The evacuation of the ships still in the dock took longer than planned, as did the destruction of the supply bases. The Sixth Guards and the system defenses engaged the enemy in an attempt to buy more time for the withdrawal. We lost contact with them two hours ago.

  "I have ordered the Ninth Circian Assault Fleet to investigate the system and to search for survivors. If the assets in system made it out, they will arrive at the Belisarius Anchorage in two more days. However, their silence does not bode well for their successful escape," Yolinar explained.

  "What of the civilian planet?" Deirdre asked. "Surely they still have working communications."

  Yolinar shook his head. "The last word we received from the planet was a report of the orbital approach of ten super-destroyer class ships. Nothing further has been received from any unit in the system." He looked pained. "We can only assume that the Lizards have begun attacking planets now as well."

  "Perhaps they simply took out the communications and left the planet intact?" Jorga offered.

  "That is our current hope, Highness," Yolinar replied. "The Onaris system was so small, and so removed from Lizard space, that it was judged to be a low priority target for the Lizards. We could not assign more protection to it." He was silent for a moment. "If our fears are realized, the death toll will be in the millions, in addition to the loss of the fleet, shipyard and depots."

  "How soon will we know, Admiral?" Hjoolous asked.

  "The Ninth Circian is still ninety hours out, but we will have probes there in thirty-five hours. We could ask a ship to be sent from a nearer system, but it would be an unarmed civilian ship and we do not know where the Lizard fleet has gone or if they have even left yet," Yolinar replied.

  "Discover if there is a merchant ship that will pass by close enough to stop for a quick scan of the system. Please stress that this is only a request and very dangerous. They are not to approach the planet unless there is no sign of the enemy. We do not want to lose any more people if we can avoid it, but we need to know what has occurred there," Hjoolous said.

  "I will see to it, Majesty," Yolinar replied.

  "Admiral, may I see the locations of the last five attacks please?" Gail asked.

  "Certainly, General," he said and typed in the request. The Hologram altered to a wide-scale map that showed the last seven attacks made by the Lizards. "Do you see something we have missed?"

  "Maybe. Mother please add the force used for the attacks and what each target had for defenses," Gail asked looking closely at the display. "I thought so; they’re avoiding contact with well defended targets."

  "Yes, we saw that as well. Does this have significance?" Yolinar replied.

  "It could, Admiral, if they are trying to get us to pull defenses off the larger systems in order to protect the smaller ones. If they did indeed attack Onaris-Four as well, I would almost bet my panties that is exactly what they are doing," Gail replied.

  "Then they will be getting their wish, my staff is already working up a plan to do that very thing," Yolinar said. "They are inflicting considerable damage on us with little to no cost to them. We must move to stop this. This attack on Onaris was very bold; they had to cross a large portion of the Empire to even get there, and they did so completely undetected."

  Gail nodded. "Yes they did, because they know where our ships are, they know the locations of all of our support assets, and they probably know what systems to avoid in order to move about undetected. Admiral, that is what needs to change. If you take defenses away from the larger facilities, you will only be giving the Lizards exactly what they want; the ability to destroy our more important and larger shipyards."

  "We are working on the ship transponders, but what would you suggest for the rest?" Yolinar asked.

  "Move them. Relocate the small facilities to other systems and leave sensors in their place that can track the Lizards if they show up there. Existing sensors need to be either expanded or repositioned in places to minimize the gaps in the detection network," Gail suggested.

  "The Empire is a large place, General. That is much easier said than done. Also relocating the smaller facilities would make resupplying distant units far more time consuming and costly," Yolinar replied.

  "You don't have to move them that far Admiral; just a few light years should be enough to keep the Lizards from locating them. For now, they'll still be able to detect our fleets, but how would they know what those fleets are doing?" Gail asked.

  It was soon discovered that the Lizards had hit Onaris hard. The ships and facilities there did not escape, although the shipyard almost made it clear of the system before it was destroyed. However, the Lizards did not stop with just the Imperial military in the system. While most of their forces were engaged with the Imperial military, a group of ships moved in system and destroyed the planet with anti-matter and high-yield nuclear weapons. By the time Imperial forces arrived to begin rescue operations, it was very difficult to locate survivors because of the amount of dust and other material in the atmosphere of the planet.

  However, there where survivors. Not many compared to the pre-attack population, but survivors none the less. Of the ship crews, only four people were retrieved from the wreckage of the shipyard. The rest had been killed by atmosphere loss and radiation. The planet was ruined, for all intents, dead for the next few centuries while the damage was repaired and the planet healed. The total loss of life was officially recorded as one
hundred and ninety-four million. Onaris-Four had been a farming world with only one small city in the tropical region set aside for the rest and relaxation of visiting military. It had been a Hyclarion colony world with no official military installations at all.

  No matter what the intent of the Lizards had been by destroying that world, what they got was a much angrier Empire. In the first war with the Lizards, it had been an effective tactic to destroy civilian targets in order to demoralize part of the Empire. However, the modern day Empire was not the same as the one from centuries ago. The people were not demoralized, depressed, nor had they lost hope; they were pissed, and that was something the Lizards really did not want.

  It only took three weeks for new workers to begin arriving at Terra. Luckily, the main dome was finished on Mars and most of them were sent there. The first batch had only been two thousand new workers, but it had been all the proof the people needed to see that Ben had indeed been working hard for their benefit. Morale of the workers improved greatly with the arrival of the first ship, and the construction bosses reported many had volunteered to help them during their off hours from their normal jobs.

  When Ben met with the labor board, a slight restructuring was suggested that would increase production on the transponder modules for the ships as well as increase the effort on completing the expansion of the shipyards still being worked on. Ben agreed, but stressed that he didn't want tired or over-worked people in dangerous situations. He also didn't want the production facilities to become slave camps. The leaders assured him that this restructuring should actually reduce the hours each person worked while improving over-all production.

  The plan would temporarily short them in other places as people that had passed security checks were added to higher security projects. New workers coming to the system could replace the ones moved out while they were being certified. It worked to get more of the immediate needs handled much faster, but at the cost of slowing down some of the other, lower priority needs. In some cases, the shortage could be countered by simply adding more drones in place of human workers.