The Synchronicity War Part 4 (5 page)

Howard nodded.
Yes of course and you
know this because you'll pass that information back to yourself when you use
the RTC because you'll know I asked the question.
"I understand. Thank
you. Howard clear."

As Shiloh and Kelly walked down the
corridor from the CSO's office, Kelly asked, "Can we eat now?"

Shiloh laughed. "Yes, we can eat now.
We do have a lot of calories to replace after all."

Kelly managed not to laugh out loud, but
she gently nudged him with her elbow to remind him that there were other people
walking down the same corridor who could hear what they said.

When they found a table in the Officers'
Mess and had food in front of them, Kelly said, "When are you going to
talk with Valkyrie?"

Shiloh thought about that for a couple of
seconds before saying, "How about right now? Intercom...connect Commander
Kelly and myself to Commander, Dreadnought."

"Valkyrie here, CAG. Hello Commander
Kelly. Blackjack told me to expect your call."

Shiloh rolled his eyes in mock
exasperation, and Kelly smiled. Was there anything AIs didn't know in advance?
"Did he also tell you why I'd be calling?"

"You and Admiral Howard want to know
why I want to remain on Dreadnought to supervise the installation of the time
machine when that decision hasn't been made yet."

"That's correct," said Shiloh.

"The answer is very simple, CAG. The
time machine has to be built. What other option has the potential to win this
war in a single stroke? If an AI takes a UFC and other equipment far enough
back in time, a very large raider fleet can be built that will be ready in time
to help defend Earth during the most recent attack. If it's planned right, that
additional firepower will overwhelm the enemy fleet before Dreadnought's Bridge
is penetrated. Casanova and Iceman will survive the battle. The raider fleet
can intercept the second enemy fleet, and then attack the Sogas shipbuilding
systems. The war with the Sogas will be effectively over because they won't
have time to rebuild an offensive force before they're attacked by the
insectoid mothership. We, on the other hand, will have plenty of time to get
ready for the Insectoids."

Shiloh frowned. "Why send the raider
fleet to fight in the second Battle for Earth? Why not send it to destroy the enemy
fleet BEFORE it gets to Earth?"

"That would interfere with the vision
that warned of the attack. That vision also mentions Blackjack's idea of
altering the timeline. Without that vision, the time machine project wouldn't
be accomplished. We can't anticipate exactly what would happen if we altered
the timeline earlier. It's far safer to divert the timeline during the most
recent battle, CAG."

It was a persuasive argument but it still
made Shiloh uneasy. "There has to be a downside to this. What is it,
Valkyrie?"

"You're correct CAG. Even if we make
it our number one priority, it will take months to get a ship ready with the
time machine and all the other necessary equipment. That means that everything
else, including building our own raider force to defend Earth during those
months, will be delayed or slowed. In very simple terms, we're faced with a
situation where the faster we try to get the time machine ready, the weaker militarily
we'll be to counter the next Sogas attack. But if we take more time to build
it, the Sogas will also have more time to build even stronger offensive
forces."

Shiloh looked over at Kelly who had a
worried look on her face.

"So what's the best strategy to follow
from here, Valkyrie?" she asked.

"I calculate that the strategy with
the best chance of delaying enemy action for a significant amount of time would
be to launch a massive fighter attack on the Sogas home system with X-ray laser
warhead drones as soon as possible."

Shiloh shook his head. "But they have
RTC too! Our fighters will be flying into an ambush. They'll be wiped
out."

"Not necessarily, CAG. Very soon
they're going to suffer the loss of a significant portion of their offensive forces
as a result of the most recent battle and the interceptions at the colonies. We
know that they can build their ships fast, but we can build fighters and attack
drones faster. If we target their industrial infrastructure, it will take them
months to rebuild it. This won't be the killer blow that overwhelms them enough
to prevent them from warning themselves, but they will lose the initiative.
That will give us the time we need to finish the time machine and complete the
temporal end run around them."

"What fighter losses do you project
for this operation?" asked Shiloh.

"Without support from Dreadnought,
Midway and the light carriers, we should expect 85% losses. With carrier
support I project losses of 35%, CAG."

"Can we get the carriers repaired in
time?"

"The Light Carriers can be repaired
enough to maneuver and jump. Combat effectiveness will be minimal, but they
won't be there to fight. Their biggest contribution will be recovery of damaged
fighters after the battle. Dreadnought's and Midway's combat capability can be
repaired in time for this operation."

Shiloh nodded slowly. The carriers and the
battleship would need to have some human crew on board, and this was the kind
of mission that called for a human in command. That would almost certainly be
him.

"If Dreadnought is to take part in
this operation, it won't be available for work on the time machine,
Valkyrie."

"Understood, CAG. I anticipate that
this operation will be over by the time that the engineers are ready to start
assembling the time machine in Dreadnought's Hangar Bay."

"What's the risk that Dreadnought will
be crippled or destroyed in that battle, Valkyrie?" asked Kelly.

"Crippled is four point nine percent.
Destroyed is zero point nine percent, Commander. I should point out that those
results were based on The CAG commanding the mission. If command is given to
someone else, the probabilities will almost triple."

Kelly looked at Shiloh who blushed.

"I think you're over-estimating my
tactical skills, Valkyrie," said Shiloh.

"No, CAG. I was actually very
conservative in my calculations. You've consistently demonstrated a high level
of tactical insight. Experience is the key, and you have more direct combat
experience than any other Space Force Officer."

"But I'm not as fast as an AI"

"Correct, but if you set the overall
tactical parameters, one of us can take care of the execution and laser fire
control. The best of both worlds, CAG."

"In that case I want you to be my
Deputy Commander, Valkyrie."

Kelly nodded her agreement.

"I'm not as good as Titan or Vandal,
CAG. Are you sure you wouldn't rather have one of them?"

"Not a chance, Commander. You'll be in
direct command of Dreadnought as well as my Chief Tactical Officer. You'll be
taking Iceman's role for this one. I insist on it!" said Shiloh.

"Thank you, CAG. I accept the
assignment. If we're going to do this, then Dreadnought should be moved to one
of the shipyards soon."

"I agree, and I'll see that it's done.
Anything else, Commander?"

"Negative, CAG. I'm looking forward to
this fight. I have some unfinished business with the Sogas."

"You and me both, Valkyrie. CAG
clear."

Howard was surprised when Shiloh came back
to his office an hour later. After Shiloh outlined the overall strategy and the
plan of attack on the shipbuilding infrastructure of the Sogas home system,
Howard did what any good leader does. He played Devil's Advocate and began
poking holes in the concept.

"Did Valkyrie take into consideration
that the defense of our colonies is going to use up almost all of our stockpile
of Mark 1s? What is this attack force going to use against the enemy
infrastructure?" asked Howard.

Shiloh nodded. He had already asked himself
this question and figured out the answer.

"We'll have to use Mark 2 kinetic
energy drones, Sir. Any kind of orbiting structure hit by several of those will
suffer a lot of damage. Sure they can repair that kind of damage but the idea
here is to buy time, not conquer them outright. If we can take a small number
of Mark 1s along, we'll save them for any really big targets we find."

Howard looked skeptical. "I'm not
thrilled with this whole concept. We don't know for sure if the time machine
will actually work, and even if it does work, there's no guarantee that a massive
raider fleet will show up right before the last battle. And to top it off,
Valkyrie is proposing throwing what little offensive strength we have left into
what basically amounts to a roll of the dice by attacking the Sogas home system
in spite of their RTC defensive advantage! No! I'm not going to approve that
plan. We're going to stick with our current plan of rebuilding our defensive
force of fighters and raiders and our stockpile of Mark 5 X-ray laser drones.
We're going to let the enemy come to us, and when he does, we'll kick him in
the balls hard. And when we're strong enough, then we'll go on the offensive
and destroy every shipyard, every fabrication facility and every other military
asset they have. That was Iceman's strategy, and I think it's the correct one.
Valkyrie will just have to accept that. I'll authorize repairs to Dreadnought,
Midway and the light carriers just in case they might come in handy down the
road, but the pace of the repairs will have to fit into the overall allocation
of resources and manpower for the fighter/raider program. Unless you have
something else to talk about, we're done here, Admiral."

As Shiloh walked away, he wondered how
Valkyrie would take the news. Her plan or some variation of it was the only way
to bring back Casanova, and for that matter Iceman too. Howard's refusal meant
that hope was now gone. Valkyrie wasn't going to like that, and Shiloh wasn't
happy about it either. He was convinced that however good a tactician he might
be, having Iceman around made him even better, and that had to be worth taking
some risks. His train of thought was interrupted by the activation of his
implant.

"Valkyrie to CAG."

"CAG here. How did you know I was
finished talking with the Admiral?"

"I monitored the outgoing communications
from his office. If he's talking with someone else, it's likely that he's no
longer talking with you, CAG. What did he say?"

Shiloh didn't really want to discuss it
while he was walking through Space Force Headquarters corridors with lots of other
people passing by in both directions.

"I'd prefer to wait until I'm back in
my quarters before we discuss that question. I'll call you when I can speak
freely. Shiloh clear."

When he arrived at his quarters he was
relieved to find that Kelly wasn't there. With the connection re-established,
he said, "The CSO will not approve your idea of a quick strike to give us
the time we need to build the time machine. Mass production of fighters,
raiders and Mark 5 attack drones will remain the first priority. The time
machine project will not move beyond the planning stage for the time being. I'm
sorry, Valkyrie. I wanted Iceman back too, but the Admiral thinks your strategy
is just too risky."

"What do you think, CAG?"

Shiloh hesitated. He wasn't sure what he
thought about Valkyrie's idea. Howard had a point. The outcome of following
that strategy wasn't as certain as Valkyrie made it sound.
When in doubt,
look at the BIG PICTURE.
He and Howard knew from Kronos that the first
insectoid mothership would arrive at the Sogas colony world in roughly 150
days. That was only five months away. Shiloh marveled at the fact that he had
lost track of how much time was left before Humanity had to deal with the
Insectoids. The key to beating the Insectoids was the high-spin platinum
warhead, and they were making good progress on the first prototype. That wasn't
a problem. The Insectoids would take care of the Sogas, and so Space Force
really only had to worry about fighting off additional Sogas attacks for
another five months. After that...He let the thought dangle. Was that the key
to this whole thing? After the Insectoids neutralized the Sogas, and the
insectoid mothership was vaporized with high-spin warheads, the pressure would
be off. Then they could work on the time machine/ship. Shiloh realized that
Valkyrie was patiently waiting for an answer.