Synchronicity War Part 1, The (14 page)

“All squadrons, the enemy is attempting to break away!
Victor, Jessica, and Hiram, I want your squadrons to pursue the enemy main
body. Raph, rejoin the Task Force while we collect our stragglers, and take out
any enemy cripples that are in range!”

Shiloh responded with, “Squadron 144 will pursue enemy main
body as per Task Force Leader’s order, along with the 51st and the 153rd.
Shiloh to squadron. Let’s keep our recon drones on their tails! You’ll be
receiving a new course change for your autopilots momentarily. XO, you know
what has to be done?”

“Yes, Sir! I’ll have that new course computed in a few
seconds!”

But before Shiloh could implement Chenko’s new course
change, all of the enemy ships, except for two stragglers, micro-jumped away.
Shiloh was taken aback by the change in alien strategy but when he thought
about it, it suddenly made sense. As soon as the enemy fleet had started suffering
more damage than they were dishing out, their Commander had made the correct
decision to cut their losses and disengage via a micro-jump. With the other
four squadrons rapidly making their superior numbers felt, the odds had shifted
in favor of their enemy, and they knew it. Shiloh wondered if Mbutu would still
order the planned attack on the enemy installations. He was thinking over the
pros and cons when Mbutu come back on the com channel.

“Mbutu to all ships.  It appears that we have our second tactical
victory as the enemy has left the field of battle! In light of the reduced
strength of the 98th and 102nd squadrons, plus the fact that the number of
apparently undamaged enemy ships is equal to two full strength squadrons, I’ve
decided that we will not split up into individual squadrons as per the planned
attack. We’ll keep the Task Force together, recover any survivors from our
crippled ships and then reunite with the tanker squadron at the rendezvous
point.”

As Mbutu kept on talking, Shiloh noticed that Chenko had an
alarmed look on her face. He motioned for her to come over to his Command
Station. When she got there, he switched his com channel pickup to mute before
speaking to her.

“What’s bothering you, XO?”

She hesitated for only a second and then said, “I can’t help
wondering how they knew we were here so quickly!”

“Well, it must have been a lucky fluke that they happened to
be in the vicinity of our emergence from hyperspace. Right?”

“And what if it wasn’t a lucky fluke? What if they DETECTED
our emergence from hyperspace?”

“Then that’s a problem alright, but I don’t see—”

Chenko interrupted. “If they detected our emergence, then
they can probably detect the tanker squadron’s emergence from their micro-jump
too!”

Shiloh was stunned by Chenko’s conclusion. He quickly
decided that it wasn’t a risk worth taking. Turning the audio pickup back on,
he heard Cmdr. Cabrera ask who would run down the two enemy stragglers. Before
Mbutu could respond, Shiloh jumped in.

“Commander Mbutu, my XO has just raised a disturbing
possibility that I think needs to be brought to your attention immediately.”

“Go ahead, Victor.”

“The fact that a concentrated force of enemy vessels was
able to arrive at our location so quickly after emerging from hyperspace,
raises the possibility that they can detect when and where ships emerge from
hyperspace, and if that’s true, then our tanker squadron is in deadly danger as
well! I urgently recommend that at least two squadrons be ordered to proceed to
the rendezvous point as fast as possible!”

Mbutu was silent for what seemed like a long time. None of
the other squadron leaders spoke. Finally Mbutu spoke.

“I hope you’re wrong, Victor but prudence demands that we
err on the side of caution. So you and Hiram take your squadrons to the
rendezvous point asap and link up with the tanker squadron. Send a message
drone back here when you arrive. Until the rest of the Task Force arrives
there, Commander Rolen will be in charge. Is that clear?”

Both LaRoche and Shiloh said that Mbutu’s orders were clear.

Even though Chenko, with Lt. Verlander’s help, calculated
the required course change and micro-jump in record time, getting to the point
of being able to make the micro-jump seemed to take much longer than usual.
Shiloh knew that his sense of time was off, likely because of the adrenaline
rush of the combat and anxiety over whether the tanker squadron might be under
attack. The actual micro-jump took only seconds. Shiloh’s squadron arrived
first and began to actively scan the area. It wasn’t long before they picked up
the tanker squadron’s homing beacon operating as per standard orders. The
rendezvous point was sufficiently far from any of the suspected locations of
alien infrastructure that it would take hours for the homing signal to reach
any of them. The tanker squadron was almost half a light second away. Once both
squadrons achieved contact with each other, arrangements were made to join up.
When SFE153 arrived and made contact, it too adjusted its heading to link up.
Shiloh briefed Frank Rolen about the outcome of the battle. Rolen sounded
relieved to hear that the crews of the tankers and shuttles left behind would
be picked up, but then Shiloh explained the fear that the aliens were able to
track ships emerging from hyperspace.

“Oh God, Victor, that’s all we need! This mission is rapidly
turning into a clusterfuck! I’m worried about what we should do if that enemy
force turns up here before the rest of the Task Force arrives.”

“Well Frank, first of all it won’t be like last time because
both LaRoche’s squadron and mine are actively scanning the area, which means
that the enemy force won’t be able to sneak up on us undetected. Second, to
avoid being caught at close range if they should happen to jump that
accurately, I recommend we make a radical course change and leave behind a
message drone as a communications relay. Third, in the unlikely event that your
tankers are taking laser fire, we should have a backup plan for your squadron
to jump to Zebra 7 for a new rendezvous there. We’d have to check everyone’s
fuel situation to make sure, but I think everyone should have enough fuel to
get to Zebra 7. How’s that sound?”

There was silence for a few seconds, then Rolen said, “Yes,
that sounds good, Victor, especially in light of the fact that my squadron is
down to just five tankers. Can you believe it? FIVE! Yellowjacket is damaged
and unable to skim gas giants but still has enough fuel to get to Zebra 7. And
if we take the time to seal off the damaged sections, she can carry fuel that
the other tankers can skim and transfer over. As far as everyone else being
able to get to Zebra 7 is concerned, unless they sustained damage to their fuel
storage, they should be okay, too. What’s your opinion, Hiram?”

“I would actually go further than Victor and recommend that
you take your tankers to Zebra 7 right NOW and take both frigate squadrons with
you to ride shotgun. Refuel at Zebra 7 and wait for the Task Force to catch up.
When Mbutu and the Task Force gets here, a message drone will update them, and
they’ll know where to find us.”

Before Rolen could respond, Shiloh spoke.

“I would advise against that, Frank. If we’re right about
the aliens being able to detect ships emerging from hyperspace, then the enemy
force might be waiting here in ambush when the rest of the Task Force, with its
under-strength squadrons, arrives. We should try to unite the Task Force if at
all possible because there’s safety in numbers. Besides, with a little luck,
Mbutu and his ships will arrive first, and then we might be able to ambush the
enemy force for a change.”

Rolen started to reply when the sensor alarm on board both
Shiloh’s and LaRoche’s ships started wailing. As Shiloh looked up at the Tactical
display, he saw a cluster of red triangles emerging from hyperspace behind the
tanker and the two frigate squadrons. Turning back to the view screen with
Rolen on it, Shiloh spoke quickly.

“Frank, they’re here! No time to debate things! You’ve got
to get your tankers to safety! Let’s rendezvous at the gas giant in Zebra 7!”

“Yes. Okay, Victor! We’ll see you there! Good luck!” 

Shiloh heard the com channel cut off and shifted his focus
back to the squadron channel. The squadron was still at Battle Stations so he
said, “Shiloh to squadron! The enemy is back for more punishment. Concentrate
your targeting as before and open fire!”

Shifting to the channel with LaRoche, he said, “Hiram, we’ve
got to keep them busy while the tankers jump away!”

“Okay, Victor! The 153rd will back you up!”

Shiloh remembered that Mbutu had ordered Rolen to do
something he might not be able to.

“Shiloh to squadron. Each frigate will launch a message
drone to jump back to the Task Force with a tactical update asap!”

With eight message drones launched, even if the enemy
detected them and fired on them, there was still a good chance that at least
one would get through. Even if the others were destroyed, at least they would
divert some of the enemy fire. Shiloh hoped that LaRoche would order his
squadron to launch their own spread of message drones as soon as they detected
those from the 144th. Turning his attention back to the Tactical display,
Shiloh saw that the enemy vector was almost at right angles to the frigates,
but he could already tell that the enemy ships were clawing their way around in
an effort to keep the range from opening further. Shiloh made the display zoom
in. He saw the 144th launch message drones, and a few seconds later the 153rd
followed suit. Almost at the same time, enemy ships started taking hits and
falling out of formation. Shiloh checked to see if the tankers had jumped and
couldn’t find any still there. He spoke out loud, to no one in particular.

“Did all the tankers jump away?”

It was Chenko who answered.

“Yellowjacket was destroyed almost immediately. The others
managed to jump away.”

“Damn!” Shiloh pounded the armrest of his Command Station
chair. He was about to say more but Chenko spoke first.

“307’s lost maneuvering ability!”

307 was one of his ships. Shiloh quickly switched com
channels and 307’s CO appeared.

“What’s your situation, Tom?”

“We’re in bad shape, Sir. Main power’s go—”

The picture and sound cut off abruptly. Shiloh looked up
just in time to see the breakup of the green hexagon symbol that was Frigate
307. Before he could react, one of LaRoche’s ships also broke apart. LaRoche
was still on the open channel, and just as Shiloh turned to the screen to say
something, every light and electronic device on the Bridge went dark. Shiloh
felt the artificial gravity fail, as well as his Command Station chair’s
automatic restraints locking in. In half a second, the emergency lights came
on, but nothing else.

Not hesitating for a second he said, “XO! I’m taking back
the Con. Get down to Engineering and find out what happened. If they still have
power down there, you’ll have to pilot the ship from Engineering. We’ve got to
maneuver in order to avoid being a sitting duck!”

As Chenko braced herself to push off for a leap in zero G at
the access tube, Shiloh turned to the Com Tech and said, “Do we have any ship
to ship communications at all?”

The Com Tech shook his head. Shiloh hit his chair armrest
again. His ship was blind, deaf and crippled. It was liable to be cut to pieces
with concentrated laser fire any second, and there was absolutely nothing he
could do about it! Seconds seemed to last minutes. He knew that Chenko would be
trying to get to Engineering as fast as possible, but with no gravity, moving
down the length of the hull would take time. As the seconds and then minutes
passed with no lethal blow, Shiloh began to hope that they would survive this
nasty turn of events.

Finally, after almost five excruciating minutes, the power
came back on just as suddenly as it had cut off. To avoid serious injury, the
artificial gravity came back on very slowly. As the Com Tech tried to
re-establish communication channels, Shiloh watched the Tactical display sort
out the incoming data from sensors. When the display settled down, Shiloh saw that
that there were NO red triangles at all! Instead there were a lot more green
hexagons. It looked as though the rest of the Task Force had arrived. One of
Shiloh’s com screens light up to reveal Task Force Leader Mbutu.

“Ah! Glad to see that you’re back, Victor!”

Shiloh nodded. “Yes, Sir. We seem to be operational again.
What happened, Sir?”

“Well, the enemy force jumped away, almost literally, as
soon as we showed up! I understand from Hiram that four of our tankers managed
to get away, and that we will meet up with them again in Zebra 7.”

“I hope so, Sir. The tankers weren’t lined up for a jump
directly to Zebra 7, so they would have had to micro-jump somewhere else in
this system first, then change heading for the jump to Zebra 7. I just hope that
the alien force didn’t ambush them before they were able to jump outsystem.”

Mbutu looked thoughtful. “Yes. Let’s hope so. Given that
they arrived here so quickly, there doesn’t seem to be any doubt now that
they’re able to detect ships emerging from hyperspace. Thank God you
recommended sending two squadrons here asap! If we hadn’t done that, all of the
tankers would likely have been destroyed, and then the entire Task Force would
have been lost from eventual fuel exhaustion.”

He paused before adding, “While my squadrons are maneuvering
to link up with yours, the 144th and 153rd can finish transferring survivors
from your damaged ships. As soon as all that’s done, we’ll head straight for
Zebra 7. Commander Tanaka will be temporarily assuming the post of squadron
leader for the 153rd. Any questions?”

“No, Sir.”

“Fine. Mbutu clear.”

As Shiloh was about to attempt to reconnect with the rest of
his squadron, Chenko returned to the Bridge and walked quickly over to him.

“What happened to us, XO?”

“We took a partial hit that penetrated just deep enough to
sever a main power linkage from the power plant to the rest of the ship. I
checked our repair log from the shipyard, and that particular section of the
hull wasn’t armored. The actual amount of energy used to cut the linkage was
relatively small compared to the impact of the damage. It seems to be a design
flaw that might explain other ships being crippled in battle. We were lucky
that we didn’t suffer any more hits after that. Offhand I’d say we probably
took a hit that was aimed at someone else and missed.”

“Good work, XO! I’ve just spoken with TFL Mbutu and we’re in
the process of reforming the Task Force. After that we’ll head for Zebra 7,
hopefully find the remaining tankers, and then head home. Until we’re in
hyperspace, I want you to con this ship from the Helm as before while I con the
squadron.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Chenko moved to the Helm Station where Verlander was already
getting up to move aside. Shiloh held a hasty view screen conference with his
remaining six frigates, none of which had suffered any serious damage. All six
COs seemed to be relieved to hear that the Task Force was heading home. With a
roughly 55 hour hyperjump ahead of them, there was not the sense of urgency
that they had experienced with the micro-jump. By accelerating to a higher
speed, the Task Force was likely to arrive at Zebra 7 star system before the
tankers did, however at that distance it was very unlikely they would emerge
anywhere near each other. With only one gas giant, the rendezvous point was
obvious. If the tankers got there first, they would refuel and wait for the
Task Force to show up, using passive sensors only. When the Task Force arrived,
it would scan the vicinity of the gas giant with active sensors. If it detected
four ships, it would attempt to make contact from a safe distance. The Task
Force regrouped, changed heading and entered hyperspace, all without further
enemy contact. Once in the safety of hyperspace, Shiloh cancelled Battle
Stations and the ship returned to its normal routine.

During the hyperjump, Shiloh briefed each off-duty section
of the crew about the details of the two encounters so that everyone knew what
happened. Most of the crew were upset that Mbutu had chosen to abort the mission,
but Shiloh explained to them that with only four tankers left to get the rest
of the surviving frigates home, it would be reckless to remain in Zebra 9. The
enemy clearly recognized what the tankers were, and were gunning for them. He
also started working on his After-Action reports. Once again he omitted the
vision he experienced that had prevented an even worse outcome. If all six
frigate squadrons had not taken the time to refuel upon arrival at Zebra 9, it
was highly likely that the command ship and tanker squadron would have been
ambushed and destroyed before any frigate squadron could come to its rescue.
Even if the tankers had micro-jumped away, the alien ships would have detected
their emergence location and micro-jumped after them. Without the tankers, the
rest of the Task Force would have been destroyed either fighting the superior
enemy force one squadron at a time, or they would have jumped to another star
system only to eventually run out of fuel altogether, their crews eventually
dying from lack of oxygen. In Shiloh’s mind the whole operation was a tactical
defeat, yet a strategic victory in the sense that the enemy force had tried and
ultimately failed to use its hyperspace emergence technology to completely
ambush the expected attacking force. If no ship survived to return to base with
that crucial information, the aliens would continue to have that advantage and
perhaps ambush more squadrons. So, for the loss of 13 frigates, 8 tankers and 1
command ship, but thankfully not all of those crews, Space Force had acquired
some very valuable intel, and 35 frigates and four tankers –hopefully – would
make it back to live and fight another day. It was a painful price to have to
pay, but Shiloh felt it would ultimately be worth it.