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having the Kepler completed for their own use. In the two
weeks the aliens were here, they kept a small security force on the shipyard
and kept the crew working on that ship.”
    “What happened
to that security force?” asked Kurt, wondering if some of them had been
captured. They could be a treasure trove of valuable information.
    “There were
twenty of them altogether,” Tomalson replied, his eyes narrowing sharply.
“Twelve of them were killed when the station crew realized your fleet had
returned and was attacking the Profiteer ships. The other eight, while banged
up pretty good, are in the brig, awaiting questioning.”
    “What about
the Kepler ?”
    “She’s going
with you when you leave,” the fleet admiral answered. “Still needs a lot of inside
cosmetic work, but most of her weapons, the sublight drive, and the hyperdrive
are operational. We’ll fill the cargo holds and her two flight bays with most
of what’s needed to finish her. In addition, we’re loading two large cargo
ships with missiles and other munitions your fleet might need.”
    “What about
her energy shield?” Kurt asked. Even from here, he could see a lot of the small
antennae like emitters that powered the shield were missing.
    “Not
operational,” Tomalson admitted with a grimace. “Take the Kepler back to
Newton. The station there can finish the ship. Most of the shipyard’s crew
will be transferring to Newton as well to give you a trained force of ship-construction
people. We’re also in the process of bringing the rest of the Kepler ’s
crew up from Earth. Only about half of them have been trained and have any
actual space experience.”
    “Newbies,” grumbled
Kurt with a sigh. They would have to learn quickly if they were to fight a war.
    “There are
also two light cruisers in the other bays,” Tomalson continued. “The Dallas and the Birmingham were being updated with new sensors and particle
cannons when the attack commenced. The majority of their crews were on leave,
and we’re in the process of recalling them. Colonel Hayworth feels he can have
both cruisers ready in four more days.”
    “The Kepler and the two light cruisers will greatly enhance the fleet,” Kurt said, looking
over at the older admiral. “What about the bombers and the fighters?”
    “Done,”
responded Tomalson, with a half-hearted smile. “Only problem is that most of
them are still in their assembly crates, and the pilots need a lot of
training.”
    “What about
the fighters and bombers based on this shipyard?” Kurt knew there were two
fighter squadrons and one bomber squadron permanently assigned to the station.
    “They’ll be
going with you also. We’ll cram them into the Vindication ’s bay. Captain
Watkins won’t be able to launch anything until they’re unloaded. Of course that
will give you a group of well-trained pilots for those three squadrons.”
    “They can help
train the newbies,” responded Kurt, thinking about how to get the new pilots up
to speed as rapidly as possible.
    “We’ll also be
sending the fighter and bomber construction facilities along with you. We can have
everything disassembled in two weeks and loaded aboard four cargo ships.”
    “Where will we
put them?” asked Kurt, recalling how the station above Newton was set up. It
was large, but there wasn’t much room to add anything else, let alone new
construction facilities.
    “We’ll have to
enlarge Newton Station,” Tomalson answered. “We already have a team of
engineers designing a new addition. We’ll add a new construction bay, a large
manufacturing assembly area, and a new flight bay for fighters and bombers.
There were some discussions about disassembling part of this station and
shipping it to Newton. It would be the quickest and easiest way to get what we
need. We’re just not sure we’ll have the time to do it.”
    “We would have
to dedicate a lot of cargo ships to move everything,” Kurt said, as he looked
around the massive