The Synchronicity War Part 4 (16 page)

"I'm very glad to hear you say that,
Ms Chair." Shiloh was about to say more when she waved her hand in a
dismissive manner.

"Please, Ms. Chair sounds so
pretentious. When we're in a private meeting like this, you can call me Rachel,
and I'll call you Victor and Amanda, okay?"

Shiloh was quite taken aback by this
informality. It was unheard of to call the Chairperson of the Oversight
Committee by their first name, private meeting or not. Not to comply, however,
could be taken as a deliberate insult, and he was anxious to get this new
relationship off to a good start.

"Okay, Rachel, I've asked Commander
Kelly...Amanda to join me for this briefing because, as the Head of the
Strategic Planning Group, she can corroborate what I'm about to tell you.
You're going to hear information that the previous slate of members weren't
told."

Rachel's eyebrows rose when she heard that.
Shiloh had just admitted to her that Space Force had kept secrets from the OC.
If she wanted to cause trouble for Shiloh, she now had the means.

"The reason why they were kept in the
dark is that my predecessor, Senior Admiral Howard, and I were concerned that
this information would be leaked to the public. The nature of this information
is so complex that it could easily be misinterpreted with drastic consequences
for Space Force and the conduct of this war.

"Go on," she said slowly.

"We know far more about the Enemy than
we've admitted. They call themselves the Sogas. They are outwardly canine in
appearance. They attacked us because they were told to by another alien
race."

Rachel's friendly expression turned to
alarm. "My God! Who are these other...I'm sorry. I'll shut up and let you
finish speaking before I ask questions."

Thank God. We finally have a Chair who's
willing to listen for a change.
"We don't know
what this other race call themselves. They are tall, very thin and appear to be
completely pacifist by nature. We've chosen the nickname Friendlies when we
refer to them. They are very advanced in some areas but technically backward in
others. For example, they don't build weapons of any kind and therefore haven't
applied their scientific knowledge to that goal. What they can do is look
forward in time. What they saw was the total extermination of the Sogas, we
humans and another race of small, childlike humanoids at the hands of a species
that has to be seen to be believed." Shiloh activated his tablet and
called up the image that Valkyrie recorded in the alternate timeline at
Omega77, which Kronos had brought back with him. He handed the tablet to Rachel
whose face became white as a sheet. She put her hand over her mouth and closed
her eyes. Shiloh looked at Kelly who had an expression of sympathy for Rachel.

"This will give me nightmares,"
whispered Rachel.

Shiloh nodded. "It HAS given me
nightmares." After a short pause he added. "There's more."
Rachel handed the tablet back to him. "The best way to understand how
these Insectoids operate is to imagine the relentless power represented by
millions of swarming army ants combined with a reproduction cycle that includes
implanting their eggs into living hosts of whatever species they come across."

Rachel looked over at Kelly.

"I wish it wasn't so, but this is all
true," said Kelly.

"I have to ask...how big are these
things?"

Shiloh looked around the room. "As
long as this table and just about as high." He noticed that Rachel's hands
had started to tremble, but she said nothing. She gestured for him to continue.

"The Friendlies didn't want to see any
intelligent species be exterminated. Warning the Sogas about the Insectoids
apparently would not prevent them from being wiped out. What the Friendlies did
see when they looked into alternative futures was that both the Sogas and we
humans would be more militarily prepared if the Sogas attacked us far enough in
advance that both races would mobilize their defenses. That's what they
did."

Rachel closed her eyes momentarily and
shook her head. "Wait a minute. I'm not sure I'm understanding what you
just said. Instead of warning both races so that we and these Sogas could
cooperate in mutual defense, the Friendlies engineered a war? Did I get that
right?"

Shiloh sighed. "Yes, I know it sounds
illogical, but we've learned that other intelligent races don't always think
the same way we do."

Rachel nodded and after a short pause said,
"Is there more?" Her tone clearly showed that she hoped the answer
would be no.

"Yes, but the rest is actually good
news."

"Thank God," she said.

"What we have learned is that because
of interference by the old Committee, the bio-weapon used on the Avalon Colony
was brought to Earth and then spread to the other colonies via a very long
incubation period. All humans, except for roughly eleven thousand, died from
the plague. Those eleven thousand managed to temporarily hide from both the
Sogas and the Insectoids at a new location, which we call Site B, but they too
were eventually overrun by the Insectoids. We know this because one of our AIs
managed to contact the Friendlies and enlist their aid. They built a one-way
time machine and sent an AI back in time to warn us about the bio-weapon. With
that warning, plus breakthrough technologies such as the Zero Point Generators
and the new very high yield warhead, we not only avoided the plague the first
time around, but we also are now able to build weapons capable of defeating the
VERY large Insectoid motherships. In addition, that AI also brought back a
complete database of every Sogas colony, outpost and industrial facility. We
now know when and where the Insectoids will make contact with the Sogas, and
when we can expect them to arrive here. Our plan is to use our new warhead to
destroy the approaching Insectoid mothership when it arrives at the Sogas home
world system. By helping them defeat the Bugs, we hope the Sogas will realize
that further aggression against us is pointless and call off the war."

"And if they don't call off the war,
then what?"

"Then we continue building the new F2
fighter and the larger raider until we have a fleet large enough to overwhelm
them in one massive strike."

Rachel leaned back and covered her face
with her hands. "No wonder you didn't tell the old Committee. God! What a
mess! I can see that finding just the right strategy to get through this
minefield would be very difficult even without political interference. I now
have a MUCH better understanding of why you had to act the way you did."

Kelly leaned forward and laid a hand on
Rachel's arm. "Do you see why we think that telling the other members of
the Committee would be a risky thing to do?"

Rachel lowered her hands and sighed.
"It goes against the grain to hide things from the other members, but
unfortunately I have to admit that a couple of them would not be able to keep
this secret. Therefore I agree that I'll keep what I've heard here to myself
and that the rest of the Committee will have to be kept in the dark until it's safe
to tell them. I'll rely on you to let me know when we reach that point."

Shiloh nodded. "When we do get to that
point, I will definitely let you know."

Rachel gave a slight smile and said,
"I'm almost afraid to ask. Is there anything else you haven't told me
yet?"

Shiloh smiled back. "Nothing that has
to be kept secret. Routine information about our fighter and raider programs,
the high yield warhead, Site B. That will all be covered in this
datafile." He handed her a data chip.

"Thank God for that!" she said
with relief. She stood up and said, "I don't know about you two, but I
need a stiff drink. Before I go, I just have one question, and I want an honest
answer. Can we win against these...insectoid...things?"

"The answer is yes we can, and we
will, Rachel," said Shiloh.

"I believe you, and you'll have my
complete cooperation. And now, I need that drink. Both of you are welcome to
join me by the way."

Shiloh smiled and shook his head. "Not
me I'm afraid, but ah, Amanda is free to do so if she wishes," he said,
looking Kelly in the eye. She gave a barely perceptible nod of understanding
and looked at Rachel.

"I'd love to join you for a drink,
Rachel."

A little subtle reinforcement of the
need to keep all this secret won't hurt,
thought
Shiloh as he watched both women walk away.

Kelly sighed as Shiloh started to slowly
stroke her naked back and derriere with his right hand. They always took turns
doing this after making love. They both agreed that the caressing was as much an
act of expressing their love as it was a physical sensation. To Shiloh’s
surprise and delight, Kelly turned out to be the kind of woman who just loved
to run her hands over his naked body, sometimes for over an hour at a time. Not
only did it feel wonderful, but it also seemed to generate some interesting
conversations. This time Kelly was in a mood to talk strategy.

"Have you decided who to send to
Omega77?" asked Kelly.

"Resolute. Brad Falkenberg will be in
overall command, but Gunslinger will handle Helm and Weapons." Kelly's
next words caught him completely by surprise.

"I think I should go on that mission
and supervise the recovery of the Bug." He was so surprised that he
stopped stroking her back.

"Hey, don't stop!"

He resumed the stroking and after a short
interval said, "You don't think Brad is capable of handling the recovery
himself?"

"No, that's not it. The Friendlies are
going to be there to scan the Bug with their temporal equipment. Well that's
all nice and fine, but what if they don't tell us what they find? If we bring
our RTC along, we can then use it to trace that Bug's existence back in time to
find out where it's been, what it's done and to whom. When we're finished with
it, then we hand it over to the Friendlies."

Shiloh shrugged. "Okay but why do you
need to go? You don't know how to operate the RTC, do you?"

"No, but Wolfman does, and he's a
member of the SPG. If he goes, then I as leader of the SPG should also go.
Someone who knows the stakes has to be in charge of the mission. Don't you
agree?"

"Yes. Wolfman knows the score, and
Brad doesn't. Wolfman shouldn't have to take orders from someone who doesn't
know the BIG PICTURE and I've already made it clear that carriers will have a
human CO from now on, so that means that I can't put Wolfman in charge. I just
wish you wouldn't be gone so long. I've gotten used to having you around you
know."

"Me too. I wonder how good Falkenberg
is at stroking naked female backs," she said playfully.

"Not as good as I am I'll
betcha."

She sighed. "You're right. It wouldn't
be the same."

Shiloh laughed. "Just promise me one
thing."

"Okay, what?"

"Be careful out there."

"I will. I promise."

                                                    
* * *

Kelly stepped onto Resolute's Bridge and
noted the low level of sound. All she could hear was the soft hum and beeps of
equipment. None of the Bridge personnel were talking. The main display was
showing the tactical situation in the Omega77 star system.

As she moved to stand beside the Command
Station chair, Falkenberg said, "The bug mothership is probably close to
reaching jump velocity. In fact, it may have already jumped considering how
long the light from it is taking to get to us, but I recommend we wait until
the jump is confirmed."

"Fine. Is it still heading for Omega44
as in the old timeline?" asked Kelly.