The Synchronicity War Part 2 (25 page)

The attack didn’t come in the next 24-36 hours.
It came 44 hours later. Howard was sleeping in one of the rooms
near the Operations Center, which were set up with a bed for use by
senior officers who needed to stay nearby overnight. He woke up as
someone not so gently shook his arm.

“Wake us, Sir!” The urgency in the voice brought
him fully awake.

“What’s happening?”

“Long range radar has picked up multiple ships
inbound at moderate speed, Sir!” He forced himself to stay calm. At
least the waiting was over. He was glad he had decided to sleep
with his uniform still on.

“Okay. I’m coming.” Howard got up, grabbed his
uniform jacket and put it on as he followed the young officer back
to the Ops room. The normally quiet room was now abuzz with
tension-filled voices. Howard walked quickly up to the Commander in
charge and said,

“Commander, I want a secure channel to
CINCED.”

“Yes, Sir.” said the officer as he snapped his
fingers at one of his subordinates who quickly returned with a
wireless headset. With the headset on, Howard said,

“CSO to Iceman.”

“Iceman here. Hello Admiral.”

“Can you brief me on what’s happening without
being distracted?” asked Howard.

“Yes however if I don’t respond as quickly as I
usually do, you’ll know why. Our deep space radars in low lunar
orbit have detected 55 ships approaching at a speed of roughly
15,000 kps. They’re now just over 25 million kilometers away. ETA
for a flyby is 27.8 minutes. If they keep this same vector, they’ll
stay outside of Earth’s gravity zone and can jump away at any
time.” Howard frowned.

“That speed is 1/5th of what they came in with
at Avalon. Don’t you find it suspicious that they’re giving us a
nice, long look at their approach, with plenty of time to redeploy
our forces?” There was a slight pause.

“Ah, roger that, Admiral. I calculate that this
leisurely approach vector is intended to pull our forces to one
side so that another group can approach from the weak side at high
speed and catch us off guard.”

“So you don’t believe that this is all of the
three groups combined.”

“Ah negative, Admiral. There’s a high
probability that we’ll be attacked by three separate groups from
three different directions. We should assume that the other two
groups will be at least as large as this one.”

“If they stay out beyond the gravity zone, their
laser weapons aren’t going to be much of a threat to us here on the
ground or am I wrong?”

“Even with atmospheric attenuation, their lasers
could still be lethal but at that range, target accuracy will be
problematical. If this attack is meant to cripple Humanity’s
ability to continue the war, then laser attacks at long range will
not accomplish that goal. War production in this system is so
spread out, that it would be hard to disrupt it without dispersing
their forces. Concentrated attacks like this would work better at
Epsi…Admiral! I’ve just projected their current vector for possible
jump destinations. They could very easily jump to Epsilon Eridani
with a very minor course correction. I do not believe this to be
coincidental.” Howard nodded. Of course, stage a multi-prong attack
on Earth to get all of Space Force’s ships concentrated here and
then come in from just the right angle to make a long range attack
that has to be defended against and then use their velocity to get
a head start jump to Epsilon Eridani and attack the war production
centers there. Very clever and impossible to defend against. There
was no way that any of the ships or jumpfighters could get to EE
before the enemy did. Even if they accelerated to a much higher
velocity and overtook the enemy fleet in jumpspace, the defending
ships would have to decelerate to zero in the vicinity of the
installations they had to defend while the enemy could just
continue on at high speed and make a flyby attack after passing
them again in normal space. And that didn’t even include the
possibility that the enemy wanted them to try to beat them to
Epsilon Eridani in order to weaken Earth’s defenses for a follow on
attack here by another group!

“They’ve obviously given a lot of thought to
this attack. You’ve already vindicated my confidence in you,
Iceman. A human CINCED would not have noticed the potential for a
direct jump to EE.”

“Want to bet their other attacks will be lined
up for secondary jump targets, Admiral?” asked Iceman.

“I won’t bet against that hypothesis but now
that you’ve mentioned it, can you use that to project from where
the other two groups will come from?”

“Ah, roger that, Admiral. Already computed.
Check your tactical display. I predict one of the other two groups
will line up for a jump to the Avalon system, while the other one
will aim for either the Omaha Base or the Bradley Base systems.
Bradley is the more likely target given how close it is to their
systems. If we lose Bradley, then staging attacks on them will be
more difficult.” As Iceman was talking, the tactical display showed
two yellow lines added to the single red line bypassing Earth with
the most probable jump destination for each. Howard marveled at how
intelligently this attack was planned. All three projected
trajectories would come within 960,000 kilometers of Earth without
interfering with each other. But why didn’t they all jump into
firing range of Earth at the same time, he wondered. Surely this
first group, now designated Beta1 since they couldn’t be sure which
of the three alphas it was, wasn’t going to come waltzing in at a
mere 5% of light speed? The answer suddenly came to him.

“They’re going to microjump that last distance
probably at the same time as the other two fleets jump in as well.”
said Howard with certainty.

“Highly likely.” agreed Iceman. Something was
still nagging at Howard. By letting the Deep Space radars detect
them, the enemy had lost the element of surprise.

“Any idea why they gave up the element of
surprise by letting us see them at a distance, Iceman?”

“The only rationale I can think of is
misdirection. They want us focused on Beta1 while the main attack
comes from another direction.”

“But you’ve computed the other directions.”

“Unless Beta1’s lining up with Epsilon Eridani
is meant to mislead us too.”

“Are we still radar scanning all other avenues
of approach?”

“Ah, roger that, Admiral. The lunar radars can
continue to scan the entire sky while still keeping a close eye on
Beta1.” They can’t…” The cluster of red dots comprising Beta1
disappeared from the tactical display. Howard wanted to say ‘they
jumped away’ but Iceman beat him to it.

“They’ve jumped away, Admiral.”

“Yes I see that. Does that mean the attack is
over?”

“Possibly. If they weren’t expected to be
detected that far away, they may have decided to call off the
attack altogether. Given their speed, it’s unlikely that they
microjumped a short distance intending to reverse course. If the
attack is indeed over, then my vision is wrong. For that reason
alone I’m reluctant to declare a victory, Admiral.” Howard looked
around him at the Ops Center. That staff were standing at their
stations and clapping or shaking hands with each other. They
clearly thought the attack was over. He looked up at the tactical
display and the sidebar showing the status of all of the ships. The
red status lights denoting Battle Stations, were starting to shift
to the green of normal status.

“THAT’S what they’re up to!” yelled Howard
smacking his right hand into his left palm. “They’re lulling us
into a false sense of security! We think we’ve won and we’re
letting our guard down! Iceman, tell all our ships to stay at or go
back to Battle Stations and prepare for a mass emergence from
jumpspace!”

“Ah, roger that, Admiral. Message sent. The
acknowledgements are coming back slower than normal, Admiral.”
Howard looked back at the status lights. A couple had shifted back
to red but the rest of the greens were not changing and another red
shifted to green.
They’re not listening to him, God
dammit!

“Give me a Fleet-wide Comm. channel! QUICK!” The
Duty Officer looked confused by Howard’s obvious anger and seemed
frozen by it.

“Don’t just stand there like an idiot! Put me on
a Fleet-wide channel NOW!” yelled Howard. The sudden surge in
volume made the officer jump with surprise.

“Ye…yes, Sir! Right away, Admiral.” When Howard
got the hand signal confirmation that the channel was open, he
said,

“This is Admiral Howard. I order all ships to
return to Battle Stations IMMEDIATELY and stay that way until
ordered otherwise! This battle is NOT over! Be prepared for a
massive…” The tactical display suddenly was filled with red dots.
The REAL battle was beginning.

Commander Tanaka forced herself to relax. The
initial adrenaline rush resulting from CINCED’s call to Battle
Stations was wearing off. With 24 1/2 minutes left to go before
Beta1 reached Earth, they had time to consider their response
carefully. She had her implant switched to receive the Fleet-wide
channel being used by Iceman for verbal communications and
Defiant’s A.I. Astro-Helmsman, Maverick, was also monitoring that
channel. Tanaka could speak to him without automatically
transmitting to Iceman but was able to hear both.

“Why isn’t Iceman moving units into the
projected path of Beta1, Maverick?” she asked.

“Iceman and the CSO have agreed that the enemy
wants us to react to them now so that another force can jump in at
high speed from the opposite direction, where we’d be weakest.”
Tanaka cursed herself for not seeing the obvious. Tactics were not
her strong suit but she should have been able to figure that out
herself. The tactical display was showing data relayed from HQ Ops.
To the red line of Beta1’s projected closest approach to Earth were
now added two yellow lines coming from two different directions.
Before Tanaka could ask, Maverick anticipated her question.

“Those are the trajectories for two other
fleets, which Iceman thinks the enemy will use in order to jump to
Avalon and Bradley Base systems with minimal course corrections
after they fly past Earth. Beta1 can do the same for Epsilon
Eridani if they wanted to.”

“Oh, great! All three of those systems have
minimal defenses now because everything mobile was pulled back
here.”

“Yes, this attack, if it happens this way, will
have been carefully planned.” Whatever Tanaka was about to say next
was pre-empted when the red dots of Beta1 suddenly disappeared. A
quick check showed that the Deep Space radar was still operating
and that had to mean that Beta1 had jumped away and hadn’t jumped
closer.

“Did we just win?” asked Tanaka cautiously.

“Iceman is saying we should remain on guard.
Some of the human controlled ships are standing down from Battle
Stations.”

“We’re remaining on Battle Stations until CINCED
gives us that ALL CLEAR.”

“CINCED to all ships. Remain at Battle Stations
until told otherwise.” Tanaka heard Iceman’s voice command over the
Fleet-wide channel. After several seconds, Maverick said,

“Most of the human-controlled ships are not
obeying Iceman’s order.” Tanaka bit her lip. She had a bad feeling
about all this. Suddenly she heard Admiral Howard’s voice.

“This is Admiral Howard. I order all ships to
return to Battle Stations IMMEDIATELY and stay that way until
ordered otherwise! This battle is NOT over! Be prepared for a
massive…” Tanaka jumped when the tactical display gave a VERY loud
ping and two groups of red dots appeared relatively close to
Earth’s gravity zone boundary. Before she could say anything, each
enemy fleet launched a swarm of tiny very fast objects that quickly
turned on a direct heading for Earth. She felt the ship start to
maneuver violently and heard the Weapons Officer yell out.

“Our turrets are acquiring targets…we’re
firing!” The maneuvering was becoming increasingly violent.
Maverick’s making the Old Girl evade for all she’s worth! I hope
the crew were all strapped in!
Out loud she said,

“What are we firing at, Maverick?”

“Iceman has ordered all ships and fighters to
target the small objects accelerating towards Earth.”

“How many are there?” asked Tanaka.

“1144.”

“Oh, God! Can we stop them all?”

“Unknown at this point.”

“Shouldn’t we be firing at their ships, Sir?”
The Weapons Officer’s plea was tinged with fear.

“We follow Iceman’s orders, Lieutenant! Let
Maverick do his job!” Tanaka concentrated on the tactical display
which wasn’t easy with the sudden jerks of her head from the
evasive maneuvers. The two enemy fleets seemed to be veering off in
an attempt to stay out of Earth’s gravity zone.
They’ve
delivered their payload and I bet they’ll jump away as soon as they
can avoid jumping into the gravity zone!

As soon as she finished that thought, the entire
Bridge went dark for a fraction of a second followed by the
activation of the battery-powered, emergency lights. Nothing else
was working. The display was dark. The maneuvering had stopped and
the artificial gravity was off.
Shit! We’ve gone ballistic and
that predictable course makes us a nice big fat target!

“Maverick, are you still with me?” she asked. No
response. Without power, Maverick couldn’t communicate with her.
She had to do something. As she started to unbuckle herself, the
room was suddenly filled with a searing white light. She had just
enough time to realize that the entire left side of her body was
being burned but before she could scream, her consciousness faded
to a deep, cool black.

Chapter 15 - I Don’t Report To You Anymore

Howard fought his exhaustion and looked around
the Committee room. Unlike past sessions, there was no casual
banter among the observers. Instead there were tense whispers. He
checked his chronometer. Almost 8 hours since the battle. The
Committee Chair had called for this emergency session but the
members hadn’t all arrived yet. Those who had were caucusing in
another room prior to starting the official meeting. He felt a hand
on his right shoulder, looked around and saw Cmdr. Kelly with a
sympathetic expression on her face.