Against All Odds Read online

  Against All Odds

  Copyright ©2005, 2011 by Thomas J. DePrima

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  This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

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  Cover art by Martin J. Cannon

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  To contact the author, or see additional information about this and his other novels, visit:

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  An appendix containing technical data pertinent to this series is included at the back of this book.

  * * *

  Creating a series like this would be impossible without the support of many people. Encouragement from my good friend Ted King kept me writing new episodes during the years when I sought an agent or publisher, while his technical expertise kept me focused on making the science sound believable even when it was simply a product of my imagination. Invaluable suggestions and proofreading by Michael A. Norcutt greatly facilitated my efforts to keep elements of the story consistent with Navy ship design and military protocols. My beta readers James Richardson and Adam Shelley have helped keep the details straight and in concert with previous books while improving the grammar of the final draft. This book is probably the most error-free of the series to date and owes much of its grammatical accuracy to Myra Shelley for her outstanding editing work. Thank you all.

  * * *

  This series of Jenetta Carver novels include:

  A Galaxy Unknown

  Valor at Vauzlee

  The Clones of Mawcett

  Trader Vyx

  Milor!

  Castle Vroman

  Against All Odds

  Other novels by this author include:

  When The Spirit Moves You

  When The Spirit Calls

  * * *

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Appendix

  Product Description

  * * *

  Chapter One

  ~ September 12th, 2281 ~

  "Suicide!" Minister of Intelligence Vertap Aloyandro said fervently after viewing the vid message received from the Uthlaro Prime Minster. It was rare for him to display personal emotion in front of his King. He then closed his eyes and shook his head sadly, both because he had let his emotion show and because he was witness to something that might destroy them all.

  "Suicide?" King Jamolendre, the monarch of all Hudeera, echoed in surprise. "I asked for your most positive assessment, Vertap."

  "And I have given it to you, my King. Our recent military actions have allowed us to regain significant territory lost to the Milori over time. No longer are we restricted to travel within our own solar system. But this endeavor, rooted in avarice, will certainly result in our ruination. This proposed pact will be our undoing; it is tantamount to— suicide."

  "Lord Melendret and the noblemen loyal to him favor the pact. They hold great influence among the other nobles."

  "Your Highness, we both know they are drunk with power. They saw our massed military attacks on sparsely populated and lightly defended Milori outposts as great victories, although they were nothing more than lightning raids against an enemy whose reduced resources were stretched far too thin to properly protect its vast territory. When the Milori withdrew their forces, deserting all forward positions along our border, it was to marshal those units in defense of their home world against attacks by Galactic Alliance warships. The nobles foolishly looked upon the withdrawal as a magnificent triumph by our forces. Our nobles have deluded themselves into believing we somehow drove the Milori out."

  The king stood, stretched his six-foot ten-inch frame, and stepped from behind his desk. As he silently circled his enormous office in the royal palace, his scaly, mottled, greenish-brown skin shone brightly, absorbing welcome warmth from the bright daylight streaming in through the windows. The three fingers and opposing thumb of his left hand tightly gripped the right behind his back, and his glance never left the embellished, hand-woven carpet beneath his feet as he passed elaborate sculptures and the magnificent paintings that lined the walls. On the third pass, he stopped near the seating that surrounded a large circular fireplace occupying the center of the room and dropped heavily into his favorite chair. The massive, thickly padded piece of furniture covered in a red velvet-like fabric had been made to his specifications and body contours and included the normal rear cutout for the short reptilian tail all Hudeera males have. He often lightheartedly referred to this chair as his seat of power and always enjoyed its wonderful comfort while he presided over the frequent, informal meetings with the rich and powerful noblemen of the ruling class.

  "If signed by all parties," Jamolendre said, "this pact would combine the military might of four interstellar powers. We know the Galactic Alliance is more powerful than our own meager forces, but surely even they can't stand against the combined might of all four nations."

  The Minister of Intelligence moved nearer his Sovereign but didn't presume to occupy any of the empty chairs without an invitation to sit. "My King, I'm not prepared to agree with that assessment. Admiral Carver has a deserved reputation for defeating enemies who underestimated her abilities and resources. As the senior ranking officer of Space Command in the former Milori territory, which they now refer to as Region Two of the Galactic Alliance, she would be the one to direct the action against any incursion. We would be pitting our forces against hers. I can't imagine a more dangerous opponent."

  "The Galactic Alliance apparently believes they're entitled to annex all of the territory formerly claimed by the Empire simply because they conquered the Milori. How can they possibly control an area that large when they didn't have enough warships to cover Galactic Alliance territory before it was tripled in size?"

  "It has long been an accepted reality of war that to the victor belong the spoils, my King."

  "I don't deny that the Milori, be
nt on conquest of the galaxy, invaded Galactic Alliance territory on two separate occasions, but our noblemen don't feel that one small fact entitles the Galactic Alliance to all the territory of the former Empire. We suffered at the hands of the Milori for generations and we are entitled to a share of the conquered territory.

  "That the Milori twice invaded the Galactic Alliance is not what concerns me, Sire. It's the fact that Space Command twice defeated the Milori invaders handily. And they did promptly return the former Gondusan and Hudeera territories taken by the Milori during our decades of hostilities as was agreed before we commenced our raids against the Empire's border positions. They promised nothing else."

  "We took our former territories back ourselves, Vertap–– although the actions of Space Command against the Milori certainly helped make it possible by drawing off the forces protecting the border."

  "My King, this proposed pact calls for the entire area annexed by the Galactic Alliance to be divided equally among the four signatories; that's considerably more than a share of the conquered territory. The Galactic Alliance isn't being asked to share, they're being ordered to get out. They won't leave without a fight."

  "Their presence is no longer needed here, or wanted. With the Milori defeated and beyond any hope of ever resurrecting their forces, this part of the galaxy rightfully belongs to those who suffered for so long."

  "The Uthlaro and Tsgardi never suffered under the Milori, your Majesty; they were active trading partners at all times and benefited greatly from their association. Do you feel this entitles them to half of the conquered empire?"

  "They're included in the pact because we need their ships," Jamolendre said angrily. "Like the Gondusan territory and ours, their realms border the former Milori Empire and neither has any particular love for the Galactic Alliance."

  "And what of the Ruwalch Confederacy? They share a significant common border with the former Milori Empire as well."

  "The Ruwalchu are too far away to be of consequence. Their border with the Milori Empire territory is over two hundred parsecs from their home systems and they rarely travel this far out. I've always been amazed the Milori didn't lay claim to part of their territory decades ago."

  "The distance might have had something to do with it— and the Milori were preoccupied with us and the Gondusans. But perhaps the real reason is the Milori feared them. My agents have reported that the technology of the Ruwalchu is far superior to our own, or that of their other neighbors. "

  "We asked them for assistance when the Milori were driving us from our territory, but they refused to become involved unless the Milori invaded their space. I'll be damned if I'll see them benefit in any way from this accord!"

  "Yes, my King. Have I understood correctly that this pact was first proposed by the Uthlaro?"

  "That's right. They have the longest common border with the newly annexed Galactic Alliance territory and they fear their Dominion will be targeted next if the GA isn't stopped and pushed back inside their former borders."

  "That's a preposterous position. The Galactic Alliance has never exhibited unprovoked aggression towards any of its neighbors. For many decades it has shared common borders with three nations— three nations far less capable of defending themselves than the Milori— but it never coveted its neighbor's space. It only responded to an invasion of its territory by the Milori. And it even went so far as to allow a battered Milori invasion fleet to leave GA space after being defeated the first time. If the Milori hadn't invaded a second time, the Galactic Alliance would not have had to attack the Milori home system. Annexation became a necessity after the second defeat to ensure the Milori threat was gone forever. The Uthlaro are using fear of invasion as an excuse to expand their own territory and want to use us to help them accomplish their goals."

  "Perhaps, but our own nobles won't be restrained from moving into the annexed territory to acquire new systems and they believe the might of our combined forces will leave Space Command with no option but to quit the space."

  "We've twice witnessed how Space Command responds to invasion fleets that threaten their territory, my King. I fear that any incursion will bring a dire calamity unforeseen by Lord Melendret and his supporters. I rather doubt Space Command will be as generous with us as they were with the Milori. After all, the Milori were declared adversaries all along, while we were allies. Are we prepared to have all our territory annexed by the Galactic Alliance should we declare war and be defeated?"

  The king remained quiet for several moments and then responded, "We shall have to make sure it doesn't come to that."

  "There's one more consideration, my King. The Uthlaro claim they wish our participation so we appear to have a united front. They no doubt appeal on that issue because our small fleet will add little to the combined forces arraying against the Galactic Alliance. Should our forces be destroyed in this campaign, who is to protect us from invasion by our Uthlaro 'allies?'"

  The king was silent for several minutes and the Minister of Intelligence began to wonder if he should quietly depart. He was about to declare his departure when the king suddenly said in a more subdued and weary voice, "Vertap, I share your concerns, but I'm caught up in something I'm powerless to control. I don't wish to join this pact with the Uthlaro, but the nobles led by Lord Melendret have sufficient support to ensure we will. If I oppose too strongly, my power base will be so eroded that I'll be nothing more than a figurehead— a figurehead ripe for removal. It's an open secret that Melendret covets my crown. I can't let that fool depose me. I must sanction the Uthlaro plan."

  "I understand my King," the Minister of Intelligence said solemnly.

  * * *

  "And we are meant to believe this union will somehow benefit the kingdom?" First Warlord Kalisnacos asked angrily as he stood in front of his chair in the large circular building that was home to the Tsgardi War Council.

  A warlike alien race that bore a striking resemblance to tall, upright Terran baboons, the Tsgardi were only space travelers by virtue of having enslaved an expedition of peaceful travelers to their planet. They had forced their visitors to bring them to Flordara, where, through brutality, they quickly subjugated the entire race. Under threat of death, the Flordaryns began making spaceships for the Tsgardi, a species whose lack of intellectual acuity ensured they would never be capable of producing their own.

  "Our ships are no match for those of Space Command," Kalisnacos continued, his short, thick, grey fur bristling. "Their ships are faster, their hull plating far superior. Our Flordaryn slaves have made no improvements in our technology since we conquered them, while Space Command continues to improve their fleet with every new class of ships. Is our role in this endeavor to be nothing more than to act as cannon fodder?"

  "The Uthlaro are promising to share their technology with us if we become signatories," Premier Warlord Qerdesqa said. "Our participation will bring Light-375 speed to every ship in our fleet."

  "That's a lie," Kalisnacos said. "The Uthlaro have never exceeded Light-262. They promise what they can't deliver."

  "Light-262 capability was the most they would allow their shipyards to sell to anyone other than their own military," Qerdesqa said. "Their own ships have had Light-375 capability for some years. They also promise to help us improve our hull plating by providing Tritanium, for a price."

  "Light-375 will make us faster than most of the ships in Space Command," First Warlord Ramdesci said, standing to deliver his comment. "And if we could strengthen our hulls, we would at last be able to face them on an equal footing."

  "And when are these marvelous improvements to be made?" Kalisnacos asked. "The Uthlaro want to start this offensive immediately. It will take many years to replace the outer hull plating on every one of our three hundred warships, and perhaps just as long to improve our engine speed once we have the knowledge."

  "As soon as Space Command is driven out of the new territory the Uthlaro will help us begin to upgrade our ships," First Warlord Ramdesci said.
"It will be worth the wait to become the equal of Space Command."

  "We believed the Milori to be far superior to Space Command," Kalisnacos said, "and we've seen what happened to them. Space Command destroyed their fleet with ease and then laid waste to their home world when Maxxiloth still refused to surrender. The same could happen to us."

  "The Milori invaded Galactic Alliance space," Ramdesci said.

  "And how would our actions be any different?" Kalisnacos asked rhetorically. "The Galactic Alliance laid claim to all of the territory belonging to the Milori at the time the Milori surrendered to them unconditionally, although they allowed the Gondusans and Hudeera to reclaim the space taken by the Milori since Maxxiloth's great-grandfather first began to expand their borders into the domains of other nations."

  "With the combined might of the four members of this pact," Ramdesci said, "Space Command won't stand a chance. Most of their ships are hundreds of light years away, while ours are already massed at key defensive outposts along our border. They can be made ready to cross into Region Two within a week. The Uthlaro have promised more than six hundred ships to this effort. We have three hundred ourselves. The Gondusans would add more than seventy and the Hudeera have more than thirty. That's a thousand ships. Space Command has only about four hundred warships total, and most of them would have to remain behind to defend their original territory."

  "The Uthlaro don't have six hundred warships," Kalisnacos said loudly. "Our spies report they have only about three hundred, at most. They have a few dozen battleships and cruisers, an equal number of frigates, and the rest are destroyers. It's an impressive fleet to be sure when compared to the Gondusan or Hudeera forces, but not so impressive when compared to that of Space Command."