Synchronicity War Part 1, The (27 page)

Howard grunted. “Makes sense to me. Unless you hear
otherwise, you can assume that you’ll be wearing both hats when you take
command of Defiant. Unless you have something that you’d like to ask or say to
me, you’re free to go, Commander.”

“Thank you, Sir. No questions.”

Shiloh got up, saluted and left. As he made his way back to
his quarters, he decided that he didn’t want to spend his R&R on a beach
again. He would stay in Geneva and relax as much as possible, visit Angela a
couple of times and generally get his thoughts together. The six days went
fast. Johansen was pleased with his new command and seemed to be making
progress on her own recovery.

When it came time to report for duty, a shuttle took him to
the moon base. There he caught a transport ship to the asteroid shipyard where
Defiant was being fitted out. Shiloh didn’t get a good feel for the size of his
new ship until the transport was in the process of docking at the shipyard.
Defiant was big compared to any other ship he’d ever seen, including the
Vanguard Combat Frigate. At 250,000 metric tons mass, Defiant was five times
the mass of Vanguard, and yet she was classified as a light carrier. More light
carriers were in various stages of completion, and the first heavy carrier,
massing half a million tons, was just starting its two year construction phase.
Defiant was built to carry a total of 34 smaller craft. While she was
streamlined and capable of skimming gas giants herself, she would also carry
four Mark 4 fuel shuttles, five personnel shuttles and 25 fighters. Her crew
would total almost 500. Shiloh had already studied her specs, and he was impressed.
Her huge fuel capacity could enable her to travel twice as far as a standard
exploration frigate. She could carry enough consumables to stay in the field
for six months at a time. While she wasn’t intended to engage in combat
herself, her designers had given her four retractable, double laser turrets
just in case the enemy found her. Her jet black hull would minimize detection
by reflected sunlight, and she carried an impressive load of recon, message and
attack drones both for use by her fighters and by the carrier itself if
necessary.

It didn’t take him long to get settled into his impressively
large and very comfortable quarters on board the ship. Only a few of her crew
had already reported for duty. While physical construction was complete, the
shipyard workers were testing her systems and were crawling all through the
ship’s innards. A quick check of the personnel roster showed that his Executive
Officer and Deputy CAG had not yet reported aboard. He didn’t know his new XO
but the DCAG was one of the test pilots from his time at the Alpha Base. A
glance at the rest of the senior officers did not reveal any other names he was
familiar with.
A lot of new faces to get to know.
When Shiloh checked
his personal message inbox, he saw a message from Admiral Howard. He opened it.

[
It’s not official just yet, but by the time Defiant is
ready to leave the shipyard, your promotion to Senior Commander will have made
its way through the necessary red tape. I’m pleased to say that you’ve earned
it. Congratulations!]

Senior Commander! One step below the one star flag rank
of Vice-Admiral.
Shiloh realized that his heart was beating fast, and he
was breathing hard. Did he really deserve this promotion when he wasn’t the tactical
genius that Howard and others thought he was? He was inclined to say no but
SOMETHING was causing his visions and he doubted that it was a Guardian Angel.

With the planned launch date just days away, Shiloh found
himself more and more busy, and he was very glad when Lt. Cmdr. Sumi Tanaka,
his new XO, reported aboard. The fact that his XO was once again a woman made
him wonder if the Bureau of Personnel was doing it deliberately for some
reason. Women in the Space Force officer ranks made up about 46% of the total,
and the odds of getting three female XOs in a row was almost eight to one
against. But he had nothing against women officers, and both Johansen and
Chenko had proven to be quite capable. Tanaka wasted no time diving into her
new duties, and Shiloh saw an immediate decrease in his own workload. With no
fighters aboard yet, his duties as CAG consisted of supervising the fighter
support teams and their officers in the process of getting organized and
familiar with their new duties. He was pleased to see that one of his lesser recommendations
had been implemented. To avoid duplication of personnel, the officer in charge
of each fighter’s support/maintenance team was also qualified to pilot that
fighter if a human pilot was deemed necessary, although Shiloh had no intention
of taking fighters away from their A.I.s’ control. When Brad Falkenberg, the
new DCAG, reported aboard, Shiloh had a long and friendly chat with him about
fighter A.I.s and their apparent sentience. Falkenberg agreed with Shiloh about
the need to treat them as if they were fellow Space Force comrades, and he told
Shiloh that he would encourage the support team leaders to form close
friendships with their fighter A.I.s.

All of sudden, it was launch day. The ship was fully manned
and all systems had checked out. It was time to put her through her paces. The
next 48 hours were spent going through a series of performance trials,
including microjumps and gas giant refueling both by fuel shuttles and by
direct skimming. Shiloh’s supersonic, intermittent scoop procedure was now the
officially recommended way of skimming. With all trials completed and her fuel
tanks full, Defiant set her vector for the Epsilon Eridani star system and the
CFP manufacturing facility there in order to pick up her complement of fighters
and A.I.s. With fuel to burn and the certainty of being able to refuel there,
Shiloh ordered the ship to accelerate to a higher than usual velocity in order
to minimize Jumpspace duration. His Astrogator told him they set a new record
for the fastest jump from Sol to Epsilon Eridani. Shiloh suspected that his
Astrogator was exaggerating but didn’t bother to check if it was true or not.

When Defiant arrived at Epsilon Eridani, they found 25 eager
fighter A.I.s chomping at the bit to land on the carrier and see some action.
After all were safely aboard, and Defiant was on its way to their first
destination, Shiloh called a briefing of all senior officers, fighter support
team leaders and by electronic means, all A.I. pilots.

As he stepped up to the podium, Shiloh said, “Remember this
briefing, people. This is the first operational briefing for this ship, and
you’ll be able to tell your grandchildren about it some day.”

There was general laughter at that, and Shiloh could have
sworn that some of the laughter came from the A.I.s.

“As you may or may not know, we’re on our way to Bradley
Base, but that will be a quick stop to refuel and check the status of enemy
activity, if any. Our mission is not what I was hoping for, namely that we’d be
sent to launch a counter-strike on enemy star systems. Unfortunately, there’s a
more urgent task that only we can perform for the time being. HQ is convinced
that the aliens have downloaded astrogational data from one of our captured
ships, data that pretty much lays out all of human-explored space and the
locations of all our colonies, and Earth.”

There was a groundswell of murmuring which quickly died down
again.

“That means they could penetrate deep into our space using
systems containing gas giants to refuel, and then strike at military or
civilian targets. Right now we have no early warning system in place. Well, our
job is to set one up. We’ll be deploying fighters in star systems with gas
giants, in a buffer zone between our colonies and where we think the aliens
are. This buffer zone will consist of five layers that are each about 10-12
light years wide. The Bradley Base star system is in the second layer. Layers
one and two will have fighters deployed in them by tankers. We’ll take care of
layers three to five. This means multiple jumps, and it will take us an
estimated 65 days.”

That brought groans from the human personnel. Shiloh held up
his hand.

“Yes, I know that doesn’t sound very exciting, but we need
this early warning system. Each gas giant will have two fighters deployed to
monitor any enemy activity near it and to report such activity by message
drone. Monitoring fighters will avoid detection and especially combat, whenever
possible.”

More groans, and this time Shiloh was sure that those were
coming from the fighter pilots themselves.

“The intention here is to keep the enemy in the dark about
our early warning system. If they find out about it, they’re likely to try to
punch a hole in it by destroying the sentry fighters, and we want to avoid
that. One out of each pair of fighters will be equipped with a refueling module
so that it can refuel itself and the other fighter indefinitely, but I can
assure you fighter pilots that you won’t be expected to stay on station out
there forever. When you detect enemy vessels, you’ll observe their activity
and, if possible, determine which star system they appear to be headed for
next. Then you’ll send a message drone with that information to the nearest
base, using the high speed boost maneuver that Iceman and Maverick perfected if
necessary. Thereafter, you’ll continue to monitor your gas giant. Systems that
have more than one gas giant will have more than one pair of fighters. If
you’re detected, your orders are to disengage and leave the vicinity of the gas
giant, and then send a message drone with that information. Fighters will each
carry one and only one attack drone to be used when combat is unavoidable. The
rest of the two payloads will be evenly split between message and recon drones.
Detailed contingency plans will be downloaded to our fighters at the end of
this briefing. That in a nutshell is the mission. Are there any questions?”

Naturally there were, and Shiloh did his best to answer all
of them. When there were no more questions, he said, “Alright, then. This
briefing is concluded. Let’s do this right. Our ship has a reputation that
needs building. You’re dismissed.”

The trip to Bradley Base took just over 241 hours. Shiloh
made sure that Defiant had enough fuel to skip past the star system where the
convoy had been ambushed. When the ship dropped out of Jumpspace in the Bradley
Base star system, which was designated as Omega 4, Shiloh was on the Bridge at
his Command Station. The ship emerged at the extreme edge of the system at a
distance from its sun that would have been beyond the orbit of Neptune if they
had been in the Solar System. The gas giant, where the Base was located, was
almost on the opposite side of the sun, which blocked a direct line-of-sight
path between the base and Defiant. Even with their exit velocity of 500
kilometers per second, it would take days to reach the base traveling through
normal space. That was why the Astrogator was already calculating a series of
micro-jumps that would bring Defiant on an approach vector to the Base at a
distance that should be just inside the detection range of the Base’s
patrolling fighters. The three microjumps with vector changes in between took
almost another hour. After the third microjump, Defiant sent a tight beam
low-powered laser signal to the Base with a message announcing their arrival.
The reply came eight minutes later. Defiant was cleared to enter orbit around
the Base’s moon. No further enemy activity had been detected since the battle.
There was no personal message from Base Commander Korolev, but there was from
Iceman.

“Welcome back, CAG! Now that you’re back, we’ll see some
action!”

Shiloh chuckled and made a mental note to respond to Iceman
when they got closer. The trip into orbit was anticlimactically uneventful,
which suited Shiloh just fine. After sending a greeting to Iceman and the other
fighters that were on jump detection patrol, Shiloh discovered that Korolev was
asleep, but Sejanus was awake. With Tanaka in charge on the Bridge, Shiloh went
back to his quarters and had a confidential chat with Sejanus by video.

After the usual salutations, Shiloh said, “Listen, Marcus. I
wanted to talk with you about Iceman and the others. You’ve got what … 25
fighters here now?”

“That’s right, Sir. They made good our losses from the
battle.”

“How evolved are the newcomers at this point? Have they
displayed the same level of individuality as the veterans?”

Sejanus pondered that for a bit and then said, “I’m not sure
they’re at the same level of eccentricities, but they definitely act as if
they’re sentient.”

“The reason I’m asking is that I’ve got a ship full of
rookies, for lack of a better word. They’re only just starting to evolve their
own identities. I’m thinking of swapping half of your veterans for half of my
rookies and pairing up one of each for the deployment we’ve been ordered to
make.” He then went on to explain the buffer zone early warning network that
Defiant was tasked with setting up.

“Yes, I can see how that would benefit things if the sentry
fighters detected enemy activity. I’m not sure Korolev would agree to it,
though,” said Sejanus.

“I’m not sure she would have any authority to veto it.
You’re the Base CAG. Those fighters are your responsibility, not hers.”

Sejanus didn’t look happy. “Yes, but she’s not only the Base
Commander, she's also the Task Force Commander, too, don’t forget, and my
squadron of fighters is part of that Task Force.”

Damn
, thought Shiloh
. I did forget that
.

“Okay, I guess she really does have a veto. I’ll talk with
her when she’s awake and see if I can convince her to sign off on this. Now, on
to other things. Has there been any sign at all of enemy activity? Anything?”

Sejanus shook his head. “Not a peep. I almost wish they’d
send a few ships to recon the system or something. At least that would break up
the boredom a little bit. I can’t help wondering if they’re planning something
big.”

Shiloh snorted. “Oh, I’m pretty sure they are. The question
is are they going to attack Bradley again or go after a new target. That’s why
we’ve got to set this early warning network up pronto. When will Korolev be on
duty again?”

“Well as you know, she doesn’t take regular shifts at Ops,
but according to her normal schedule, I’d expect her to be up in about four to
five hours.”

Shiloh smiled. “Good! That’ll give us time to practice fuel
skimming the giant. By the time we’re done, we’ll be fully refueled, and
Korolev will be awake. If she’s okay with the fighter swap, we can do that
while Defiant is heading out for the jump to our first deployment target. I’ll
leave her a message to call me when she’s available. It was good to see you
again, Marcus. Shiloh clear.”

With the video call over, Shiloh decided to let Tanaka
handle the refueling operation. It would be only her second time in charge of
that operation, but she had handled the first one just fine, and he was
confident she could handle this one too. He would observe the operation from
the back of the Bridge, but let her keep command of the ship.

Switching the intercom channel to the Bridge, Shiloh said,
“Bridge, this is Shiloh.”

Tanaka answered almost immediately. “Go ahead, Skipper.”

“Sumi? Take the ship out of orbit and into GG orbit to
conduct a refueling operation.”

After a slight pause, she said, “Conduct refueling
operations from the gas giant, yes Sir! Any other orders, Sir?”

“Not right now. Let me know when we’re about two minutes
from contact with the giant’s atmosphere, would you?”

“Certainly, Sir.”

“Very good, Sumi. Carry on. Shiloh clear.”

The refueling operation went off without a hitch, while
Shiloh watched. As Defiant, now back in orbit again, came out from the back
side of the gas giant, Base Commander Korolev called. Shiloh was in command
again since Tanaka’s duty shift was over.

When Korolev’s face appeared on the main display, Shiloh
said, “Hello again, Commander. Thank you for responding to my message. Are you
aware of Defiant’s mission?”

“Yes, Shiloh. I got the notification with the last resupply
convoy. I was told to cooperate as much as possible.”

Hoho
, thought Shiloh.
That makes a difference.
Howard didn’t tell me that part.

“Excellent. Here’s what I want to do.”

He explained the idea of taking half of the Base’s
experienced fighters and replacing them with ‘rookies’ and why. Korolev, to her
credit, didn’t show any negative emotion.

“I have no objections to that at all. In fact, you’d be
doing me a favor if you take Iceman, Maverick and Hunter. Their cheekiness is
starting to get annoying.”

Shiloh laughed. “I can understand that, and yes, I’ll be
glad to take those cheeky bastards off your hands. I’d like to start the
transfer right now while Defiant swings around to our jump vector. Okay with
you?”

“Fine, fine,” said Korolev waving her hand. “I’ll have
Sejanus coordinate that with your people. Anything else you need from me,
Commander?”

“No. That’ll do nicely for now. We’ll see you on our return
leg. Shiloh clear.”

Shiloh let Falkenberg make the arrangements with Sejanus’s
deputy CAG and listened in to the exchange between the Base and those veteran
fighters selected to transfer to Defiant. Iceman, Hunter and Maverick were
borderline ecstatic. The others were pleased, too. Shiloh couldn’t help
wondering if those three were starting to consider Korolev as annoying, too. It
took almost three hours of acceleration before the incoming fighters all
landed, transferred their jump detection gear to the rookies, who then launched
to take their place in the patrol. Those fighters that stayed behind adjusted
their trajectories to cover any temporary holes in the detection grid, until
such time as the newcomers could take their stations.

As Defiant settled down on the vector that would allow it to
jump to its first destination, Shiloh reviewed the deployment plan. The five
layers of star systems were color coded, with red being the closest to the
sphere of space inhabited by humans, the next being orange, then yellow, green
and finally blue. Defiant would deploy this initial batch of fighters in the blue
layer, with the first target system designated as Blue1. The path to Blue2 and
the rest looked like random changes of direction, but Shiloh knew it actually
represented a carefully calculated path that minimized the total amount of time
required to jump between systems.