Synchronicity War Part 1, The (17 page)

Shiloh checked his ship’s status, and saw that it was at
Battle Stations and that Chenko seemed to have everything well in hand. His own
Bridge crew were speaking in low tones into their microphones in order to be
able to hear voice commands from Shiloh or Chenko. The Tactical display was now
showing the sensor data from the various recon drones actively scanning the
space near the squadron. Shiloh found that he was breathing fast due to
adrenaline rush and fought to slow it down.
At least this time they won’t
catch us by surprise
. He asked himself what else he could do to improve his
ship’s chances of making it through this battle successfully. If the Bridge
took a direct laser hit, most of the senior officers would be killed. Perhaps
the XO should be redeployed in Engineering just in case.

“XO.”

Chenko looked at him and he waived her over.

“Yes, Sir?”

“Just to be on the safe side in case the Bridge takes a hit,
I want you to shift your conning of the ship to Engineering. Verlander can take
the Helm Station and the Con temporarily until you get to Engineering.”

While the full meaning of this sank in, Chenko said nothing
for about two seconds, then nodded and turned away, giving orders to Lt.
Verlander and the other Bridge crew about her intention to resume command of
the ship after reaching Engineering. Shiloh checked the time display and saw
that the 339 would be receiving his message right about now. The next four
minutes seemed to take forever.

At that point, the Tactical display pinged to notify Shiloh
of a new contact. A single ship emerged from Jumpspace at the extreme edge of
the recon drones’ scanning range. Its transponder automatically answered the
electronic challenge with 339’s ID. Before the Weapons Officer could verbally
announce the ship’s arrival, Shiloh spoke.

“I see her, Lieutenant. Fletcher, add the 339’s to the open
squadron channel.”

“Yes, Sir. Go ahead, Sir.”

“Commander Caru, I see that you got my message.”

“Yes, Commander. But I’m not really sure if I want the enemy
to take the bait or not.”

They both chuckled. Shiloh was certain that he would have
had some reservations as well if their positions had been reversed. At least,
Cmdr. Caru hadn’t disputed Shiloh’s orders. Technically he wasn’t required to
obey Shiloh’s orders because they were the same rank and the 339 wasn’t part of
the Squadron. On the other hand, refusing to cooperate in any plan that had a
good chance of a significant victory against the enemy would have been
difficult to justify to Admiral Howard afterwards.

“Commander, I’d like to add the 339 to the squadron fire
control net, and therefore it would be ideal if you brought your ship closer.
Okay with you?”

“Yes, that’s fine. We’ll stand a much better chance of
surviving the battle if we’re not dangling out here all by ourselves when they
show up. I’ll have my Weapons Officer get in sync with yours.”

“Excellent. Keep your channel open. Good hunting to you and
your crew and to the Squadron. I expect we’ll see some action very soon.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Shiloh could tell that Caru was continuing to talk to his
own people because his voice sounded further away as he turned his head away
from the microphone. Shiloh figured they had another three to five minutes
before the enemy showed up, but they reacted much faster than that. Less than a
minute after talking with 339’s Caru, the Tactical display pinged again, and
this time six ships emerged from Jumpspace. They were almost immediately
designated as hostile contacts. In a split second reaction, Shiloh touched the
view screen command alerting the Squadron to commence fire. Sen. Lt. Sykes
acknowledged instantly.

“We have good targeting data! Opening fire! Two Hits by God!
Weapons recharging and ready to fire in three … two … one … firing again!”

Shiloh watched the display as one and then another of the
enemy ships staggered from damaged propulsion effects and blew apart. Another
enemy ship was clearly damaged, even as Caru’s 339’s ship symbol started
blinking, indicating hull breeches and atmospheric venting. She was the obvious
target since not enough time had passed to allow her to merge with the rest of
the squadron. Shiloh could dimly hear Caru yelling to his crew about damage
control, and then suddenly his voice was cut off. The symbol on the display
broke apart and faded away. Shiloh realized he had been holding his breath and
forced himself to breathe again. Looking back at the enemy formation, he
realized that there were only two enemy ships left, and one was falling behind
the other. Just then, power to the Bridge flickered for half a second, and on
his Command Station half a dozen status indicators changed color from green to
yellow. The ship had been hit, but apparently not too seriously. Before he
could say anything, the lead enemy ship jumped away. Seconds later, the lagging
ship blew apart.

The battle was over.

Shiloh checked the display’s duration of battle indicator
and was shocked to see that the entire battle had taken less than 30 seconds!
His squadron display showed that 299 and 301 were damaged.

“Shiloh to Squadron. Report damage and casualties as soon as
you have that data.”

Shiloh noticed that Sen. Lt. Sykes was listening to his
earpiece and looking at him at the same time. When it was obvious that Sykes
was no longer listening to anything, Shiloh motioned him to come to his Command
Station.

“Is there something I should know, Lieutenant?”

“Yes, Sir. I’ve just been informed that Commander Chenko was
slightly wounded when her console in Engineering shorted out from a power
overload. She’s on the way to Sickbay and I’ve been informed that I have the
Con, Sir.”

“Very well Lieutenant. Find out what damage and casualties
we’ve sustained, and then get back to me.”

As Sykes returned to his station, Shiloh said in a louder
voice, “Lieutenant Sykes has the Con.”

The other Bridge personnel nodded their acknowledgement. By
the time Shiloh received all of the After-Action damage and casualty reports,
he realized that the 144th had been very fortunate. Only two crew killed and
half a dozen injured. Both 299 and 301 were still space worthy and, in fact,
had all their weapons functional as well. Upon further reflection, Shiloh
admitted to himself that the Squadron’s luck was due to Cmdr. Caru and 339’s
misfortune to suffer the brunt of the enemy’s attack. After thirty minutes had
passed without any further sign on enemy activity, Shiloh ordered the Squadron
to stand down from Battle Stations. He left the Bridge to go to Sickbay and ran
into Chenko in a corridor on the way there. The right side of her head was
covered with the sprayed on bioplastic material that functioned as a bandage.

“Glad to see you’re up and around, XO. What happened in
Engineering?”

Chenko nodded and took a breath. “As best we can tell, the
ship took a laser hit. The hull armor mitigated most of the energy, but enough
got through to cause a power surge in some of the equipment, which I happened
to be standing next to, Sir. How did we make out?”

“Only two other frigates took any significant damage, but
they’re still operational. The enemy lost five ships outright and the sixth
might be damaged to some degree too, but it managed to bug out. We lost the 339
though. By concentrating exclusively on her, the enemy gave us time to inflict
serious damage on them, and that shifted the odds decisively in our favor.”

“Then congratulations are in order, Sir. You’ve achieved a tactical
victory. Can I ask how you came up with the idea of using 339 as bait to lure
the enemy here, Sir?”

Shiloh hesitated. After all this time, he dearly wanted to
tell someone about his visions, but he had this nagging feeling that now was
not the best time.

“Well, let’s just say that I had a flash of inspiration.”

Before Chenko could say anything else, he continued. “Are
you up to finishing your shift on the Bridge?”

“Yes, Sir. The medics told me the anesthetic would last that
long. After that I’ll be too dopey from the painkillers I’ll have to take.”

Shiloh nodded and smiled. “Fine. Let’s get back to the
Bridge then. I’ll stay on as Squadron Leader until your shift ends, and then
I’ll take the Con for the next four hours.”

When they got back to the Bridge, Shiloh ordered two message
drones sent to Tango Delta 8 and 9, informing the squadrons there of the battle
and outcome. He then called the COs of frigates 299 and 301.

“Felicia, Marcus. Your ships have taken the most serious
damage and crew casualties. I’m going to detach both your ships from the
Squadron, with orders to return to Bradley with my After-Action report. You can
let Korolev know that the rest of us will stay in this system while we await
further orders.”

Both frigate COs acknowledged the order and soon were on
their way back to Bradley Base. With plenty of fuel to spare, both ships
accelerated to a very high rate of speed before entering Jumpspace and arrived
back in the Base star system in less than twelve hours.

It was almost 36 hours later when a message drone arrived
with orders for the 144th squadron to return to Bradley Base. By this time,
Shiloh had ordered his ships to collect as much of the alien wreckage as they
could. Some pieces were too large to fit into the cargo hold of a frigate, and
those were tagged with locator beacons for future retrieval. None of the
smaller pieces held bodies or parts of bodies, much to Shiloh’s relief. If they
had, he would have seriously considered leaving them behind as well, rather
than risk contamination with alien viruses or bacteria. His ships, however, did
find some of the larger pieces of wreckage of the 339, and those DID contain
bodies. They were recovered and brought back to the Base. It reminded Shiloh of
all the dead Space Force crews lost in the original battle, and at Zebra 9, who
were probably now floating in the depths of space, and who would be for all
eternity.

When the Squadron arrived back at the Base, Shiloh met with
Sen. Cmdr. Korolev, the Base Commander. As Shiloh entered her office, she got
up and walked around her desk to offer her hand, along with congratulations.

“Welcome back, Commander. Congratulations on an outstanding
victory!”

Shiloh shook her hand and said, “Thank you, Sir. I just wish
that Commander Caru and his people could be here to share in it.”

Korolev nodded solemnly and said, “Yes indeed. Their bravery
and sacrifice will be recognized and remembered. Too damn many of us have met
the same fate! But at least we’re starting to give as good as we get!”

“Yes, Sir.”

Korolev gestured to the comfortable chair opposite her desk.
“Have a seat, Commander. Let’s talk.”

Shiloh sat down and waited.

When Korolev had settled back in her own chair, she said,
“In case you hadn’t heard, the 55th and 77th did not find any sign of enemy
activity. I’ve ordered them back here too. Since the 144th was about due to
rotate back to Sol when we got the picket alert, your squadron will be released
from sentry duties here in a day or so. You may as well take back the alien
debris with you. We don’t really have the appropriate facilities to analyze
them here. I’m going to ask you to take back the bodies of our fallen
comrades-in-arms as well.”

“Of course, Sir.”

“Good. Now I’ve read your After-Action report but I want to
hear what happened from you, in your own words. Go ahead.”

Shiloh took a deep breath.

“Well, Sir, there’s really not much to tell that wasn’t in
my report. We arrived at Tango Delta 6, and made contact with the 339. When her
recon drones detected enemy activity, I got the idea of using their jump
emergence technology against them, and ordered 339 to micro-jump to our
position. She did so, and the enemy followed a few minutes later. We were ready
for them, and by concentrating our fire on just three of their ships, we took
them out before they could fire back. From that point on, our numerical
superiority overwhelmed them. Unfortunately, the 339 was closer to them than we
were, and so they concentrated their fire on her. I would have been happier if
we’d gotten them all, but as you know, one got away.”

Korolev frowned. “Yes, that was unfortunate, but I don’t see
how you could have prevented it. It means they’ll know that moving in the
direction of Tango Delta 6 will bring them closer to us, but that’s just
something we’ll have to live with. They were bound to find out that information
sooner or later. I’ll be VERY glad when the new combat frigates start showing
up here in substantial numbers. Then maybe we can actually push them back into
their territory for a change.”

“Yes, Sir!”

“You may also be interested to know that the R&D boys
are finally getting somewhere with detection of ships emerging from Jumpspace.
They’ve figured out how, now they just have to figure out how to do it
accurately enough to be of some tactical use to us. I heard that you had some
considerable input to the recommendations from the Strategic Planning Group.
Was the Autonomous Fighting Platform one of your ideas, Commander?”

“Well Sir, you know how it is with brainstorming sessions.
The ideas get thrown around back and forth so fast that it’s hard to keep track
of who come up with what idea. So I really can’t say.”