The Synchronicity War Part 3 Page 4

  "Do we know where the alien colony--"

  Before Shiloh could finish the question, Valkyrie interrupted. "Colony site has been detected, CAG. I've ordered the drone to zoom in on that location. We'll see it momentarily."

  Shiloh waited. As the image on the display shimmered, it zoomed in so quickly that he experienced a momentary feeling of falling. Now the image on the display was of a fairly large area full of ruins. That was the only word Shiloh could think of to describe it. There wasn't a single building that looked intact. Walls, made of something that looked like cement, were partially knocked down. No building had an undamaged roof. Chunks of building material lay scattered in random directions. Something about this scene bothered Shiloh. As he continued to watch the image, he suddenly figured out what it was. The reason this colony site looked like ancient ruins was because there was nothing made of metal. No machines. No vehicles. No metal beams. No metal roofing material. Not a single piece of metal anywhere that could be seen from this angle. He thought back to the scene of the abandoned colony on Haven when Humans pulled out for the last time. Even then, there were still pieces of farm equipment, vehicles and other objects that were clearly made of metal. Not so here.

  "The VLO took all their metal," he said out loud, still not really believing it himself.

  "Roger that, CAG. They might have needed it to repair any damage to their spherical ship inflicted during the battle that Gunslinger witnessed. He did report nuclear explosions. It stands to reason a ship that large might well have the necessary equipment to repair or replace any part of the ship needing it, including the hull. So finding a source of refined metal might be just as valuable to them as finding gas giants for refueling was to us before we discovered ZPG energy. But that's not all they took."

  "What do you mean?" asked Shiloh.

  "They also appear to have taken the alien colonists themselves and any animals those colonists used as food supplies. See those enclosed areas on the edge of the ruins, CAG? Don’t they look like corrals of the kind that human farmers use for cattle, pigs, sheep and other domesticated animals? Only there are no animals in them or anywhere near them."

  Shiloh had a bad feeling about this. The metal he could understand, but taking living creatures, the animals and the colonists themselves? That made no sense unless . . . He pushed the thought away. It was too horrifying to contemplate. They must have taken the colonists as slaves except that building robots to do the menial work was much more efficient and less troublesome than housing, feeding and supervising thousands or even tens of thousands of slaves. What if the slaves revolted? What if they all died from some kind of alien virus or bacteria? In fact, why would a ship's crew risk becoming infected themselves by bringing alien creatures aboard to begin with?

  "I wonder if it could be a kind of ark picking up small numbers of a variety of alien species to protect them against some kind of looming catastrophe?" asked Shiloh.

  "Alien psychology by definition would be different from ours, but it's difficult to understand a culture that would seek to save another species by force. Gunslinger did report that the defending forces were taking losses. Whatever the motivation of the race that built the VLO might have been, they clearly forced themselves on the colonists of this planet," said Valkyrie.

  "We have to find out more about these VLOs. When do you expect to be in contact with Rainman?" asked Shiloh.

  "Not for another 35 minutes at least, CAG. Since both Rainman and TF92 were decelerating from very high speeds, there's no way for us to be sure where his raider is, and the opposite is true for him as well."

  "But we could send out a wide-beam laser burst to cover the area of sky where Rainman has to be. We've always had that capability, but we didn't use it because of the risk of having the signal received by our enemy. Now as far as we can tell, this system is devoid of that alien life form, correct?"

  "That is correct, CAG. I have the Com laser ready. Shall I transmit a signal to Rainman instructing him to respond back with the data on the departing object?" asked Valkyrie.

  "Yes. Send the signal. Let me know as soon as you receive his reply."

  Less than four minutes later, they had the additional data and knew where the departing object was headed. Its destination was the Omega77 star system containing the next nearest alien colony. Pre-jump speed was low enough that TF92 wouldn't have any trouble getting there first, but that begged the question of what they would do when they got there. There was another question that couldn't be answered.

  "How did they know where the nearest colony was?" asked Shiloh.

  "I've discussed this question with Titan and the others, CAG. The consensus is that a ship that large could easily carry smaller vessels that could accelerate to much faster speeds and could therefore be used as scouts to survey nearby star systems."

  "I shudder to think what 'smaller' means in the context of a mothership that is at least 10 kilometers in diameter. For all we know, their scouts could be as massive as our partially completed battleship back in Sol," said Shiloh.

  "Possible, but not very practical. If all you wanted to do was determine if a star system was inhabited, you wouldn't need scouts that massive. On the other hand, you might want defensive vessels that massive to help you defend the mothership," said Valkyrie.

  "Oh shit," said Shiloh in a low tone.

  "Why do Humans speak of excrement with the same reverence that they use when they invoke the name of God, CAG?"

  Good question, thought Shiloh. He had never considered it before and didn't have a good answer. Time to change the subject.

  "Bring the Task Force around to a heading for Omega77. Accelerate at a rate that will allow Rainman to catch up before we jump. I want TF92 to get there at least several days ahead of the VLO. Any questions Commander?"

  "Negative, CAG. Vector change has been calculated and is being implemented. Rainman will rejoin TF92 in 53.2 minutes. ETA at Omega77 is 39 hours from now."

  Chapter 4 The Stuff of Nightmares

  The trouble with implanted com units is that someone can call you at any time. The thought came to Shiloh as his implant clicked to notify him of an incoming call while he was in the shower.

  "What is it, Commander?" asked Shiloh before Valkyrie could say anything.

  "The VLO has arrived, CAG. We now have bearings from all our recon drones in addition to our own. The VLO emerged approximately where we expected, just over 300 million kilometers from the planet and just under 224 million km from us. They're traveling at 2,988 km per second and changing direction. The vector change is consistent with what they would need in order to make a micro-jump directly towards the colony planet. I estimate they'll be lined up for the micro-jump in 33.6 minutes, CAG," said Valkyrie.

  "Has there been enough time for the colonists to see them?"

  "Not yet, CAG. They'll see them in another two point three minutes, but we won't see the colonists' reaction for eleven point one more minutes after that."

  "Is the contact drone ready?" asked Shiloh.

  "That's affirmative, CAG. Just give the word."

  Shiloh chuckled. Valkyrie was even more eager than usual. "Not yet. If we send the signal now, before they jump closer to the planet, they'll be able to figure out how close we had to be in order to see them and send a signal back. I don't want them having that much information. We'll wait until they finish the micro-jump plus enough additional time to complicate any attempt at triangulation they might make before we send the signal. That's plenty of time. I also want to see how the enemy reacts. I'll be on the Bridge in about thirty minutes or so. CAG clear."

  Shiloh finished his shower and reviewed the situation for the nth time. Resolute had arrived here in Omega77 almost five days ago, in plenty of time to launch a swarm of recon drones towards the colony planet and to position the carrier at just the right point. As he had done so often, he imagined the tactical layout in terms of a clock. If the VLO was assumed to be coming from the planet's three o'clock position, then R
esolute was at the five o'clock position. It was also closer to the planet than the VLO, but that was just a relative comparison. The actual distance between planet and TF92 was still almost 200 million kilometers. If the VLO didn't jump closer, it would take over a day for them to reach the planet. With the right micro-jump, that huge ship could be in orbit around the planet within forty-five more minutes. That would still give TF92 enough time to see the post-jump position, send the contact message and get a response before the VLO reached the planet. The message drone was far enough away from TF92 that giving away its own position would not help the newcomers in finding the Task Force's location.

  As he got dressed, he gave himself a mental pat on the back for insisting on getting here so early. Those five days had also enabled his recon drones to very carefully maneuver close enough to the planet to get a good look at what the enemy aliens actually looked like. With the drone in a low orbit, they were able to see the aliens walking around the colony. Technically they were humanoid, but a better description would be wolf-like creatures walking upright on their hind legs. Their fur-covered heads were distinctly canine in appearance with a very noticeable snout. Clothing was apparently limited to the torso. Arms and legs were bare but also covered with fur. It was easy to rationalize their aggressive behavior with their carnivorous appearance. What was more difficult for Shiloh was resisting the impulse to waver on his resolve to exterminate this race when he saw images of their young. They didn't look menacing at all. In fact, he was certain that Kelly would have described those children as cute in a puppy dog kind of way. His doubts became so strong that Shiloh ordered the images off the screen. Human children were cute too. That hadn't stopped the wolf race from killing billions of them. He had had to keep reminding himself that his unborn child deserved to grow up safe from these predators. With the cute puppy dog images gone, the doubts dissolved away too.

  He entered the Bridge twenty-nine minutes later after a leisurely breakfast including a single cup of black coffee, no sugar that represented half of his weekly coffee ration. With milk and sugar both in very short supply since the move to Terra Nova, he had gotten used to drinking coffee black. At least the cattle brought to TN seemed to be thriving, although expanding the herd was going to be a long-term project. He wouldn’t be eating a steak anytime soon.

  Valkyrie spoke before he even reached the Flag Officer's Station. "They're just about lined up for the micro-jump, CAG. I expect to see it any second now."

  Shiloh nodded. The light now arriving at TF92 reflected the position of the VLO as of 12.4 minutes ago. It had already jumped, and what Valkyrie really meant was the light from the new position would reach them any second now. The tactical display pinged to announce an update. As expected, the new position was just over 45 million kilometers from the planet, which would allow the VLO to decelerate at 1Gs and drop into orbit around the planet in 8.5 hours. Valkyrie hadn't detected any noticeable response from the colonists yet, but that was based on the VLO's pre-microjump position. The half dozen ships in orbit around the planet had not yet reacted, and Shiloh didn't expect them to. They, and he, were waiting for the other shoe to drop. It wasn't long in coming.

  "VLO has launched parasite craft, CAG. Minimum of twenty-one but there's a high probability of a lot more. They're accelerating at 121Gs and they'll reach the planet in 14.6 minutes if they don't jump closer."

  But they would. Shiloh was certain of that. "Can we estimate the tonnage of those craft yet?" he asked.

  "I can give you a range, but it's quite wide. Minimum of 8400 metric tons. Maximum of 25,500 metric tons. As I gather more observational data, I'll be able to refine that range estimate."

  "At least they're not battleship size. How soon did we estimate that we could safely transmit the contact signal?"

  "Not for another twelve minutes," said Valkyrie.

  Shiloh realized he was drumming his fingers on the armrest of his chair, an obvious sign of impatience. Why not transmit now? So what if they know the bearing the signal originated from. They won't know the precise distance, only the maximum distance it could be, given the reaction times. The volume of space that we could be in would be in the trillions of cubic km. I want to know what their reaction will be, dammit!

  "Order the contact drone to transmit now, Commander."

  After the barest hint of hesitation, Valkyrie responded. "I've sent the order, CAG. I'm ordering Resolute to go on High Alert."

  "Do you really think they'll--"

  "Parasite craft have micro-jumped, CAG!" interrupted Valkyrie.

  Her sudden announcement was so unexpected that Shiloh jumped with surprise. As he looked at the display, the swarm of smaller craft was now much closer to the planet. Just outside its gravity zone to be exact. So he was right about the secondary micro-jump. Those craft would now reach the planet within a few minutes. With two recon drones now drifting in low orbit around the planet, he expected to get a bird's eye view of what was about to happen. He heard the display ping for attention and saw that the defending ships were accelerating out of orbit towards the incoming swarm. The space combat lasted only seconds. It was obvious which defending ships were badly damaged when their acceleration suddenly dropped to zero. None of the visible attacking ships lost acceleration. So either their damaged ships weren't reflecting sunlight in the right directions to be seen, or none of the attacking ships suffered enough damage to affect their acceleration. Within a few seconds, all the defending ships were coasting, and from the shifting intensity of their reflected light, were also tumbling. When all the reflections from the attacking craft disappeared, it became obvious that they were landing. Shiloh was impressed. Even at the minimum tonnage, an 8400 metric ton ship was big enough to make landing on a planet tricky but not for this race apparently. With the recon drones preprogrammed to direct their video cameras at any ascending or descending craft, it was only seconds before Shiloh saw the zoomed in video feed on the main display. One of the craft was about to touch down near the edge of the alien colony. Its configuration was a streamlined shape with stubby wings and a thick hull. As soon as it touched down, mammoth doors swung open at the front end and black dots emerged. That put the size of the craft in perspective. After a few seconds, the drone adjusted the zoom and Shiloh was suddenly a lot closer.

  "My God, they're ants!" exclaimed Shiloh.

  "Not exactly, CAG. While there are similarities in overall body structure such as their segmented bodies and multiple appendages, the resemblance is superficial. The main difference is size. These aliens are approximately four meters long and over one meter in height. The other obvious difference is that ants have six legs while these creatures have six legs plus two arms. If you look carefully, you can see that all of them are carrying what appear to be weapons."

  Shiloh's stomach was threatening to heave. He could easily image the horror of seeing hundreds of these ant-like things, which were waist high and long as a car, coming towards him. They might not be ants, but they still looked like Bugs, and they scared the hell out of him! He heard a sound from the Com Tech behind him and looked around. The man had his hand over his mouth and was doubled over while he was clearly trying his best not to throw up. As Shiloh looked back at the display, the image split into two. The new image was from the other drone. Its view was of the colony as a whole, and Shiloh could clearly see that the colony itself was surrounded by landing craft with thousands of ant-things moving rapidly towards the colony.

  "The defenders have opened fire," said Valkyrie.

  At first Shiloh couldn't see anything that confirmed her assertion, but then he saw one of the ant-things suddenly knocked backwards and fall flat on the ground. It didn't move. On the other image with the wider field of view, he saw what had to have been mortar or artillery shells exploding among the emerging horde. Then he noticed shadows moving quickly over the colony. Seconds later several more landing craft dropped down into view but stayed in the air. White light streaked down from the airborne craft at several targ
ets within the colony and the artillery fire stopped. Laser fire used for tactical ground support. These Bugs don't miss a trick.

  The ground battle petered out quickly. With the last of the ant-things now out of the landing craft, the first drone shifted its camera to follow the Bugs into the colony itself. The wolf people were being rounded up into multiple groups. Shiloh was able to catch a glimpse of the body of a local being carried by one of the ant-things away from the buildings out into an open field. The body wasn't moving. With so much movement, the unsophisticated computer controlling the first drone became confused about what it should be focusing on and the camera stopped moving. When it became obvious that drone #1 was not going to be of any further use, Valkyrie dropped that image and let the image of the whole colony take over the entire display. The field of view was so wide that individual wolf people and ant-things were just tiny dots. While he waited for the apparent chaos to turn into something meaningful, he looked at the sidebar time display.

  "How long until the VLO receives our signal?" asked Shiloh in a voice hoarse with stress.