Synchronicity War Part 1, The (12 page)

With Chenko helping him, Shiloh was able to convince the
shipyard to finish their repairs on the 344 before the new command ship
Marathon was ready. So it was that when Sen. Cmdr. Delvecio officially gave up
the post of Squadron Leader of SFE144, Shiloh’s ship was already back in Earth
orbit and in formation with the rest of the squadron. Twenty-four hours after
that, Task Force 79, under Sen. Cmdr. Yakamura, left Earth orbit.

It took 16 days for them to get to SFB Bradley, and then
there was another two weeks of careful jumping along the Zebra route. The
previously deployed recon drones around each star system’s gas giants were
checked for any signs of alien activity. None were found. When the task force
arrived at Zebra 7 and confirmed that no enemy activity had been detected,
Yakamura called an electronic conference with his squadron leaders.

“Well, we’ve verified that no enemy activity has been
detected near this system’s gas giant in the five weeks since the recon drone
was deployed. Quite frankly, I’m surprised by this lack of enemy activity so
close to their mining system. But, I’ll take whatever luck I can get. However,
that’s not the reason I called this conference. Whoever calculated our
projected fuel consumption was overly optimistic. I’ve just checked the task
force’s total remaining fuel supply and compared it to the estimated
consumption that we expect to realize in jumping to Zebra 9, making our planned
attacks, and then jumping back here.  I’m concerned about the numbers. The plan
calls for us to arrive back here with a minimum reserve of not less than 10%.
If we continue with the Plan as it stands now, our reserve will be only 6.5%,
and that’s for the entire task force. Individual ships’ reserves could be much
lower. I’m not prepared to risk that. So here is what we’re going to do. Shiloh
and Dejanus, you two will take your squadrons and escort all 12 tankers to this
system’s gas giant, where they will skim heavy hydrogen until our estimated
reserves are back up to 15%. You’ll then escort them back here, and when the
task force is together again, we’ll proceed with the rest of the mission. Are
there any questions or concerns?”

Cmdr. Dejanus spoke up. “Yes there is. Am I correct in
thinking that as the senior Squadron Leader, I’ll have tactical command
authority during this refueling mission?”

Yakamura nodded and replied. “You are correct, Commander
Rolen, you’ll still have operational authority for the actual refueling of your
tanker squadron, but in the event of contact with the enemy, you’ll follow
Dejanus’s orders. Clear?”

“Clear, Sir.”

“Commander Shiloh, that goes for you too.”

“Understood, Sir.”

“Good. Now, if there are no other questions …” – there were
none – “then let’s proceed.”

When the communication channel with the command ship
terminated, Shiloh switched over to the open com channel with the rest of his
squadron and gave them the news. By the time he had finished that, all of the
ships involved in the refueling operation had received a data burst from
Yakamura with detailed instructions.

Once underway, Dejanus issued his own orders regarding
formation. SFE144 would lead the way, with the tanker squadron in the middle
and SFE077 in the rear. Apparently Cmdr. Dejanus did not see the need to lead
from the front. Shiloh didn’t think much of that decision, and he was certain
that most of the other ship commanders wouldn’t either. With the transit to the
gas giant expected to take almost 10 hours, Shiloh was glad that his command
shift was nearly over. He wanted to be well rested and on the Bridge when they
neared their destination.

As it turned out, the entire operation was completely
uneventful and, in fact, quite boring. When all three squadrons joined the rest
of the task force just over 32 hours later, Yakamura congratulated everyone on
a smooth operation and ordered the task force to head on course for the jump to
Zebra 9. Jumping past Zebra 8 directly to Zebra 9 took almost 50 hours. The
tension aboard the 344 was palpable, and Shiloh was certain that it was the
same aboard the other ships. The only person who seemed to be immune to the
tension was Lt. Cmdr. Chenko. She remained as totally calm and serious as
before. Shiloh found out that Chenko was an enthusiastic chess player. Wanting
to get to know his new XO better, he borrowed a chess set from one of the crew
and offered Chenko a game in the officer’s wardroom during their overlapping off
duty shift. It wasn’t long before he realized that he was out of his depth.
When Chenko moved her Queen all the way down to Shiloh’s end of the board in
order to pressure his King, Shiloh experienced another vision. In it, he saw
Task Force Leader Yakamura on a view screen saying, ‘I’m approving Commander
Shiloh’s request that all frigate squadrons be refueled before they split up to
start the attack.’

The vision must have made his expression change because
Chenko asked, “Are you alright, Sir?”

Shiloh quickly regained his composure and replied in the
affirmative. Four moves later Chenko declared checkmate, and Shiloh tipped over
his King.

As he was putting the pieces and board away, he said,
“Before we emerge into Zebra 9, XO, I’d like to see a calculation of the
squadron’s fuel reserves and the estimated consumption for carrying out the
mission and jumping back to Zebra 7.”

Chenko acknowledged the order, and Shiloh left the wardroom.

When TF79 finally arrived at Zebra 9, their sensors revealed
a big surprise. The entire system was EM dark. No artificial emissions were
detected at all. Yakamura immediately called another conference session with
his squadron leaders. As Shiloh listened to him explain how the recon mission
had definitely detected six strong point sources of EM emissions along with
other signs of industrial activity, he reviewed once again Chenko’s report on
SFE144’s fuel situation. Due to the detour of escorting the tanker squadron to
and from the gas giant, SFE144’s remaining fuel was now below the minimum
required for conducting the raid itself and the return jump. Once he had that
conclusion clearly in his mind, he returned his full attention to the
conference discussion. SFE153’s Cmdr. LaRoche was speaking.

“—appears that they knew we were coming and shut down all
energy sources to make it harder for us to pinpoint them. That suggests we
should reconsider this mission if the element of surprise is gone.”

SFE051’s Cmdr. Cabrera started to respond but Yakamura cut
him off.

“This mission will proceed regardless of whether we still
have the element of surprise or not. I will not abandon this mission merely
because they might be expecting us. What kind of signal would that send them?
Any other comments?”

Shiloh spoke up. “Yes, Sir. I have a concern regarding my
squadron’s fuel situation. Our tanker escort mission depleted our reserves to
the point where we won’t have enough fuel to jump back to Zebra 7 if we’re
unable to refuel after the attack. I’d like to request that all of the frigate
squadrons be refueled now, prior to the start of the attack. That way there’ll
be no risk that any ship will end up being stuck in this system and unable to
jump back to Zebra 7. I realize that this request will delay the start of the
attack, however it seems to me that we’re more likely to have time to refuel
when the enemy doesn’t know we’re here, than after the attack when whatever
enemy ships are in this system are alerted to our presence.”

Yakamura turned to the other screen and said, “What do the
rest of you think of this suggestion?”

Only one squadron leader wanted to attack first and refuel
later, and his argument was only half-hearted. All the others agreed with
Shiloh. Yakamura nodded.

“Very well, in light of the support for this request, and
because I feel the risk imposed by the delay is minimal, I’m approving
Commander Shiloh’s request that all frigate squadrons be refueled before they
split up to start the attack. My XO will coordinate the refueling. That’s all
for now.”

After the conference ended, Shiloh passed the refueling
order to his squadron and ordered his Helm Officer to follow the instructions
of the tanker assigned to the 344. While that was going on, he called Chenko to
the Bridge. When she arrived next to his Command Station, he turned toward her.

“You heard the news about the emissions blackout?”

Chenko nodded.

“Comments?”

She thought carefully and then replied. “I agree that they
are probably expecting us, and that begs the question of how did they know we
were coming.”

Shiloh nodded. “Yes, and the only answer I can think of that
makes any kind of sense is that they detected our recon ship and figured out
that we would follow up with a massed attack. But how did they detect the Gnat?
She never approached the inner system, nor did she detect any enemy vessel. She
was far enough out from this system’s star that any reflected light would have
been extremely difficult to detect, unless an enemy ship happened to be
relatively close. And the odds of that happening are literally … astronomical.
I can’t help feeling that we’ve overlooked something. By the way, I’ve
convinced Yakamura to let all frigate squadrons refuel now. I’ve passed the
word to the squadron, and Lt. Verlander is looking after our refueling.”

He paused, still wondering what implications the latest
vision had in store for them, and then continued. “When the 144th is ready to
start its attack run, I’m going to stay on the Bridge but only in my capacity
as Squadron Leader. You will take the Con for this ship. I’ll use this Command
Station and you will con the ship from the Helm Station. Any questions?”

Chenko thought for a moment, then said, “No, Sir. That’s
clear enough and I can see why you want to do it that way. Having
responsibility for both the ship and the squadron in a combat situation might
be overwhelming for one person to handle.”

“Excellent. You can wait until I send the Squadron to Battle
Stations before you take over Verlander’s station.”

Chenko acknowledged that and left the Bridge.

When Shiloh returned his attention to the refueling, he saw
that 2 of the 12 tankers were refueling each frigate squadron. As the fuel
shuttle approached the 344, Shiloh felt himself getting impatient. His ship had
refueled this way dozens of times before, but this time the process seemed to
be going slower than usual, although a glance at the chronometer told him it
wasn’t. It was his own sense of time that was off, and he wondered if he was
experiencing a rush of adrenaline. It would account for his distorted sense of
time, but as to why he would be feeling a rush of adrenaline now when their
scheduled attack was still a couple of hours away, he had no idea.

In point of fact, 20 minutes later that all eight frigates
in SFE144 were finished their refueling. Shiloh watched with satisfaction as
the last fuel shuttle disengaged and returned to its tanker. He immediately
activated the com channel to the command ship, and Yakamura’s face appeared on
the view screen.

“All finished refueling, Commander?” asked Yakamura.

“Yes, Sir. Request permission for the 144th to leave the
Task Force and proceed to the target.”

Yakamura’s face showed the barest hint of a smile as he
said, “Permission granted. Good hunting, Shiloh.”

“Thank you, Sir. See you on the other side.”

“Absolutely! Yakamura out.”

The screen went dark. Shiloh turned to his squadron com
channel and said, “Squadron Leader to squadron. Prepare to execute course
change.”

He then waited for all his ships to electronically
acknowledge their readiness for the computed course change. As soon as all
eight ship’s Helm Officers had signaled ready, Shiloh touched the flashing
amber EXECUTE symbol on his Tactical Command Screen. Maneuvering computers
pre-programmed with the desired course took control of each ship and made the
exact same turn. At these speeds, leaving the course changes for a formation of
ships to manual control was asking for collisions. Shiloh watched the
squadron’s actual course come around very slowly to the desired course. With
the residual speed left over from the hyper-jump, making a micro-jump to the
vicinity of the target would take only a few seconds. To retain the element of
surprise for all of the targets, all six frigate squadrons would micro-jump at
the same time, which meant that none of them could jump until all six were on
the proper heading for their target. Shiloh checked a smaller screen, which
showed the status of all the Task Force’s squadrons, and noticed that squadrons
098 and 102 were still listed as undergoing refueling. He also noticed that the
Command Ship, all of the tankers, and the 16 frigates that were not finished
refueling, had already changed course for the heading that the Command Ship and
the tankers would use to micro-jump to the other side of the star system, where
the rendezvous point was located. Shiloh was just about to make a comment that
Senior Commander Yakamura was in a hurry to get to the rendezvous point, when
the Com Tech suddenly sat up and yelled out.

“Firefly’s shuttle just reported that Firefly has suffered
some kind of hull rupture!”

Shiloh looked over at him to see if more information was
coming. The Com Tech started to say something and then stopped abruptly, but
only for a second or two.

“No communication from— Dragonfly reports she’s taking laser
fire!”

Shiloh was about to ask ‘from where’ when the Com Tech
continued.

“Sprite’s shuttle stopped transmitting in mid-sentence!”

Shiloh looked back at the squadron status board. The yellow
symbol indicating refueling operations beside the tanker squadron suddenly
changed to flashing red, meaning they were under enemy fire. The symbol beside
the Command Ship also changed to a flashing red. Shiloh switched on the main
com channel that the Command Ship usually used.