Synchronicity War Part 1, The (16 page)

“No, Sir. I have nothing more to add.”

Shiloh got up, came to attention, saluted – which Howard
returned – and left the office. After assuring himself that arrangements for
his crew’s R&R leave were under way, and having received a short message
from Chenko letting him know where to reach her during her leave, Shiloh
accepted an invitation to join several other officers from his squadron at a
resort on the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt. The leave went far too quickly, and
170 hours later Shiloh and his squadron were on their way back to Bradley Base
for system patrol and quick reaction duties in case enemy forces showed up in,
or within striking distance of, the star system containing SFB Bradley.

The next four months were boringly uneventful. Single
frigates were on picket duty in the star systems forming a buffer zone in front
of the system containing the Bradley Base, each in contact with a dozen or more
recon drones strategically deployed throughout those systems. Shiloh and the
other squadron leaders and frigate COs were confident that the enemy could not
sneak up on Bradley Base without being detected. So it was, with only three
more days to go before SFE144 was due to be rotated back to Sol for a longer
stand down, that the period of boredom ended.

Shiloh was asleep in his cabin when the call from the Bridge
came.

“Shiloh here.”

“Chenko here, Sir. A message drone has just arrived and is
signaling that picket ship 257 in Tango Delta 11 has detected a minimum of
three unknown ships moving towards one of that system’s gas giants.”

Shiloh sat up quickly and said, “Any word from Base Command
yet?”

“No, Sir, but I expect we’ll hear something any minute now.”

“I agree, XO. Put the ship and the squadron on alert. I’ll
be on the Bridge shortly. Shiloh out.”

He quickly put on a clean uniform and then ran out of the
cabin and down the short corridor to the Bridge. When he got there, he heard
the voice of the Base Commander over the loudspeakers.

“—signs of enemy activity in Tango Delta 11. Therefore I’m
activating Plan Alpha III. The 55th will immediately jump to Tango Delta 9, the
77th to Tango Delta 8 and the 144th to Tango Delta 6. Truman out.”

As Chenko got up from the Command Station, Shiloh waved her
back down and said, “I’m not taking the Con just yet, XO. Let’s acknowledge our
orders to the Base Commander and get the Squadron onto the right heading for TD
6.”

“Yes, Sir. Specialist Fletcher, acknowledge the144th orders.
Lt. Millar, plot a course change to Tango Delta 6.”

Shiloh walked over to the Communications Station, waited
until the Com Tech had sent the acknowledgement, and then said, “Open an audio
channel to the Squadron.”

“Channel open, Sir.”

“This is Shiloh. Plan Alpha III has just been put into
effect. The 144th has been ordered to Tango Delta 6 asap. You’ll be receiving
the necessary course change data shortly. Because of the short distance to TD6
and back, we won’t have to worry about fuel consumption, and therefore we’ll be
making a high-speed jump. If the enemy chose that star system as their next
destination, it’s imperative that the 144th get there before they do.  Once we
arrive at TD 6, I’ll contact our picket ship already stationed there, and then
I’ll determine how we’ll proceed based on the situation at that time. Shiloh
out.”

He turned back to look at Chenko who said, “Course and speed
for Tango Delta 6 has been plotted and uploaded, and all ships report ready to
execute, Sir.”

“Very well, XO. Helm, execute the course change!”

“Executing course change now, Sir.”

As all eight frigates began to both accelerate and change
their headings via autopilot, Shiloh looked at the Tactical display and saw
that the other two squadrons were also coming around to the new headings for
their own high speed jumps. Two more frigate squadrons remained as they were.
They would continue to defend this star system in case the enemy jumped past
Tango Delta 6, 8 and 9 altogether. That was highly unlikely, but nevertheless
had to be guarded against because the base itself had minimal defenses.

The optimum combination of normal acceleration and Jumpspace
speed enabled the 144th to arrive at the outer edges of the Tango Delta 6
system in just over 12 hours. Even as the squadron decelerated, Shiloh sent a
tight beam transmission to the point in the system where the frigate on picket
duty was supposed to be. With the distance between them measured in light
hours, it was almost seven hours later when Shiloh received a reply from the
picket ship. No sign of enemy activity so far. Shiloh happened to be on the
Bridge when the 339’s message arrived. When Chenko arrived to take her regular
duty shift, Shiloh shared the message with her and asked for her comments.

“Well, Sir. I don’t think we can jump to any conclusions
just yet, even though TD 11 is just over four light years away, and it wouldn’t
take those ships long to get here. They may still be in TD 11, or they might
have turned around and gone back home OR they could easily have jumped to TD 8
or 9 instead. How long we wait here is a good question.”

Shiloh nodded. “I agree with your assessment. The question
I’m now trying to grapple with is how close we take the squadron to the picket
ship. I don’t want to give away her position if those alien ships do show up,
but then again, waiting for hours for a transmission to reach us eliminates a
lot of tactical options. What do you suggest?”

Chenko pondered that for a few seconds while Shiloh waited.
Finally she said, “My recommendation would be that the Squadron not be any
further away than five light minutes. It’s unlikely that the tactical situation
would change drastically in that period of time, but further than that could be
problematic.”

“Yes, I agree. When you take the con for your duty shift,
that’s what I want you to arrange. Let’s put the squadron within five light
minutes of the picket ship, on a heading that’s in the general direction of the
nearest gas giant, at a speed of ... 1500 kps. At some point, I’ll want the
squadron to loop back around, but we don’t have to worry about that now. Let’s
keep our link to the picket ship active at all times so that they know our position
and vector. Also keep a message drone ready to deploy in case something
develops that Base Commander Korolev needs to know about.”

“Yes, Sir. Even though I’m early for my duty shift, I can
relieve you now if you wish.”

“Thank you, XO. I’ll take you up on your kind offer.” In a
louder voice Shiloh said, “The XO has the Con!”

As Chenko took his place at the Command Station, Shiloh took
one last look around and then left the Bridge for a bite to eat in the
Wardroom, followed by a short power nap in his cabin.

When no sign of the enemy ships appeared during the first 12
hours, Shiloh felt more relaxed. He ordered the crew, which had been on alert
status, to stand down to normal routine. When another 24 hours went by without
news, the all too familiar sense of boredom that he and the crew had suffered
through while on defensive patrol at Bradley base, seemed to resurface. Over
the last several months, he and Chenko had established a routine whereby they
would meet in the wardroom during their overlapping off-duty hours for a game
or two of chess. Shiloh was getting better at it, and he would actually win the
occasional game. This time he was losing badly and Chenko seemed to notice.

“You seem distracted, Commander. Your game isn’t up to the
standard that you’ve been displaying lately.”

Shiloh nodded. “You’re right. I’m having difficulty
concentrating on the game. This waiting is getting to me more than usual. When
we were on defensive patrol at Bradley, we weren’t expecting trouble, and we
had the occasional simulated battles with the other squadrons to look forward
to. Here, it’s just us, and we could be in the fight of our lives literally at
any minute. What worries me more than anything else is the thought that there
may be more than the three ships that 257 detected. I’m confident this squadron
can hold its own against more or less even odds, but if we’re outnumbered,
things could get really nasty. Unfortunately the Powers That Be, in their
infinite wisdom, did not give any guidance in the Alpha III plans as to when,
and under what circumstances, I’m allowed or required to withdraw the squadron
from combat.”

Chenko did not respond right away but then said, “Let’s hope
that situation won’t arise, Sir.”

“Amen to that, XO.”

Chenko made a move. “Checkmate.”

Shiloh nodded and tipped over his King.

Chenko said, “Another game?”

“Nope. My mind’s not into the game at the moment. Let’s hope
my strategic skills are sharper when the enemy finally does show up.”

Shiloh got up from the table, nodded to Chenko and walked
away.

Six hours later, as Shiloh was getting ready to assume the
Con for his Bridge shift, Chenko called him.

“Bridge to Commander Shiloh!”

“Shiloh here, go ahead.”

“339 has just received a contact report from one of the
recon drones. Six unknown ships tentatively identified as hostiles have been
detected approaching the furthest gas giant. With the transmission lag from the
drone, that news is over ten hours old, but we’re just getting it now.”

“Okay. Put the Squadron on alert. I’ll be on the Bridge
directly. Shiloh out.”

As Shiloh was about to leave his cabin, he felt a wave of
dizziness that was strong enough to force him to sit down. The view of the
cabin faded out and was replaced by a vision of a wounded Chenko asking him how
he came up with the idea of luring the ships into an ambush by ordering the
picket ship to micro-jump closer. The vision faded before he heard his own
reply. When the cabin came back into view, the dizziness went away and Shiloh
was able to stand again. He ran to the Bridge where Chenko had already vacated
the Command Station.

As Shiloh sat down he asked, “What’s our status, XO?”

“The Squadron’s on alert. No further reports from 339, Sir.”

“Very well. XO, you’ll con the ship while I handle the Squadron
as we did last time. I’m going to send a message to 339 which I want the rest
of the Squadron COs to hear as well.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Chenko snapped her fingers at the Com Tech to make sure he
was paying attention. He nodded and began manipulating his controls. Chenko
then walked over to the Helm station and tapped Lt. Verlander on the shoulder.
He immediately got up and let her take the Helm Station.

When Shiloh received word that the communications setup was
ready, he said, “Shiloh to 339. This is what we’re going to do. I want 339 to
micro-jump to a point 50,000 km in front of the Squadron’s path. Those enemy
ships will detect your emergence and jump in to intercept. That’s when we’ll
surprise them! While 339 is doing that, the Squadron will deploy a dozen recon
drones in a shell around our current location with active scanning and will go
to Battle Stations. As soon as the enemy ships jump into combat range, I’ll
give the command to open fire. We’ll concentrate our fire. 344’s Weapons
Officer will determine the targeting sequence. 339 does not have to acknowledge
this message. Your arrival by micro-jump will be reply enough. Shiloh out.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard Chenko order the
ship to Battle Stations. With Chenko looking after the 344, Shiloh motioned for
Senior Lieutenant Sykes, the Weapons Officer, to come over to his station.

“Sir?”

“I want you to concentrate the squadron’s fire, Lieutenant.
Pick three targets and assign three frigates to each of the first two, with the
remaining two frigates on the third. As soon as a target is clearly damaged and
no longer maneuvering, switch to a new target. Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.”

As Sykes went back to his station, Shiloh checked the status
of each frigate in the squadron. All were now at Battle Stations. The larger Tactical
display showed that a wave of recon drones had been launched and were moving
into their prearranged positions. Sensor data from their active scanning was
being received but nothing to report so far. With a touch of the simulated
button on his Command Station view screen, he opened up the audio channel for
squadron communications and heard Falkenburg talking.

 “—if they don’t take the bait?”

Before anyone else could reply, Shiloh said, “If those enemy
ships don’t try to ambush a single frigate, I’ll be very surprised. But if it
does happen, I’ll seriously consider going after them directly. Anyone else
have any questions?”

Cmdr. Adams replied, “Yes, Sir. Will 339 be joining us in
the battle?”

“That’s the plan, Felicia. As soon as 339 arrives, she’ll be
ordered to join the squadron and tie her laser fire into our collective
targeting strategy. In the meantime, I want our recon drones to be out in
front. Let them take enemy fire. Don’t use your ship’s active scanners unless
you’re no longer getting sufficient targeting data from the drones to get hits.
If the 344 is knocked out of action, then Commander Sanchez will assume
temporary command of the squadron. Rico, if you see my ship unable to maneuver
and I’m out of communications, then take over, okay?”

“Okay, Victor. I got that!”

“Speaking of communications, Fletcher!”

The Com Tech looked over.

“Make sure a message drone has the latest data and launch it
back to Bradley Base ASAP!”

“Yes, Sir!”

“Okay, everyone. Let’s stay on our toes! It’ll take another
two and a half minutes for my message to reach the 339 and then another few
minutes for them to change heading for a micro-jump here. If a ship shows up at
about the right time, let’s not fire on it until we know for sure it’s NOT the
339. I’ll keep this channel open, and I want idle chatter kept to a minimum.
Standby everyone.”