The Synchronicity War Part 3 Page 9

  "The beginning … right. Well … the A.I.s are struggling to comprehend the implications of what the data means. Most of it is experimental data, the kind of thing that a scientist would do in his lab. Proof of concept experiments … that kind of stuff. There's actually very little engineering knowledge in it, but we've come up with a list of improvements to equipment that we're already using. For example, our inertial dampeners. If what the A.I.s suspect is the case, we might be able to triple the efficiency of our dampeners. That means that our ships and drones could accelerate three times as fast without overloading the IDs. We can make use of that improvement by adding more power units to our ships. Our carriers could then accelerate about 50% faster than the raiders currently can, and when we upgrade the raiders … my God, they'll be able to accelerate at almost 2,000Gs!" He stopped talking and seemed to be mesmerized by something in the distance that only he could see.

  Shiloh waited a few seconds and then asked. "That all sounds very impressive but what about weapons, Daniels?"

  Daniels snorted and waived his hand in the air. "How about lasers that are 10 times more powerful than what we can build now, and that's just the tip of the iceberg … NO … it's just the TIP of the tip of the iceberg. Take X-ray lasers for example. We were well on our way to engineering an X-ray laser weapon that was powered by a nuclear detonation, which meant that the weapon would be a one shot system that destroys itself when it's used, but you'd get a hell of a bang for your buck. Now we're seeing inklings … remember the iceberg analogy ... that it may be possible to build a device that fires an X-ray laser more than once. And if we can figure out how to do that, we might be able to go one step further and build a gamma ray laser that will slice through even the thickest armor like a hot knife through butter. The science data says it's possible in theory, but figuring out the engineering for the damn things will be hellishly difficult. That's why we need a lot more A.I.s."

  That last statement puzzled Shiloh. "Why do we need a lot more A.I.s?"

  "Because solving these engineering problems will require a multi-discipline approach. The concepts are almost certainly going to be so complicated that only someone who's an expert in several scientific fields will understand them. For we humans, that will take decades to learn. The A.I.s can become experts in a matter of weeks or even days, but grinding through the data and conceptualizing possible approaches to the engineering solutions will go a lot faster if there are multiple A.I. experts who can combine their computational power. Look at it this way. One A.I. expert can find the solution, but it might take a decade or more to do it. A hundred A.I. experts can find the same solution in a couple of months and that's just for one engineering project. If it sounds like I'm exaggerating, I'm just passing on what the SPG A.I.s told me. They've 'tasted' the data and factored in their own computational abilities, so I'm inclined to think they have a better grasp of the magnitude of this than I do."

  Shiloh nodded his understanding. If the A.I.s believed it would take that kind of an effort, then he believed them, but something was bothering him. He finally figured out what it was.

  "Everything you've told me has the potential of being incredibly favorable to our race's survival, and yet you look like you've just been told you have a terminal illness. What aren't you telling me, Daniels?"

  Daniels sighed, closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. With his eyes still closed he said, "Time travel."

  "You mean Retro-Temporal Communication?" asked Shiloh.

  Daniels shook his head. "No. I mean actual, honest to God time travel. When the SPG started to analyze the data download, the first thing they had to do was translate the alien math into human math. That took them almost a whole day. One of the SPG A.I.s, who goes by the call sign Blackjack of all things, seems to be particularly brilliant when it comes to theoretical math. He told me last night that the Friendlies have developed a math that proves that sending matter backwards in time is possible, AND that they've experimentally proven that it can be done."

  There was something in Daniels tone that made Shiloh ask, "Why do I feel there's a 'but' coming?"

  "Because there is, and it's a HUGE 'but'. They were able to send one single hydrogen atom back in time. Just ONE, and it took a machine the same mass as one of our raiders. The problem is that if you want to send something more massive back in time, you need to scale up the time machine by the same factor. So sending a human would require a device that masses the same as Earth's moon. THAT'S what's haunting me. Don't you see, Sir? If we could actually travel back in time, not just send information back, we could alter the past and not only win the war but prevent the Plague. We could save billions of humans, but the engineering required is many orders of magnitude beyond anything we could ever hope to achieve in our lifetimes!"

  Shiloh noticed that Daniels had tears running down his face, and he suddenly understood. Someone close to Daniels had been a victim of the bio-weapon. He could see a faint light at the end of a very long tunnel but despaired of ever being able to reach that light.

  "Who did you lose to the Plague?" asked Shiloh.

  "My sister and her family, Sir."

  Shiloh nodded but said nothing for a while. When he did speak, he spoke slowly and with a low tone.

  "I think there is something we should keep in mind when we consider the possibility of altering the past. My experience with retro-temporal communication has taught me that we have to be very careful about messing with the past. Sometimes the obvious solution isn't the best one, and if there was ever a case where good intentions could have bad outcomes, time travel might very well be it. I'm actually relieved that time travel isn't easy. If it was, we'd be tempted to do those obvious things, and we might make things even worse. This isn't just our family's future that we're trying to alter, it's the future of the entire Human Race and I suggest to you that we should not risk the few survivors we have in order to try to save everyone. Let go of that longing, and you'll be a lot happier, Daniels."

  Daniels took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right of course. I was looking at it too narrowly. I'll try to stay focused on the other possibilities. Speaking of which, how should we prioritize our engineering efforts? There are so many things that we could be working on, but we have such limited resources."

  "I'll need more information before I can answer that question. Tell the SPG to evaluate the time, resources needed and probability of success for any concept that would improve acceleration, detection, stealth, communications, armor and weapons. When I've seen that report, I'll set some priorities. Any questions?"

  "No, Sir. I'll get right on that."

  "Very good, Daniels. Carry on then."

  Daniels smiled as he stood up and saluted. "I feel better now. Thank you, Sir."

  After Daniels left, Shiloh leaned back in his chair and wished he were just a frigate commander again. Conning a ship was so much simpler than making life or death decisions for the whole Human Race. And while the Friendly data certainly had the potential to enhance Space Force's combat capability, getting that result depended on him setting the right priorities. Should he concentrate their limited resources on weapons first? That was the obvious thing to do, but it might not be the strategically smart thing to do. Then again it might be, and that was the conundrum. Ah well, that's what he had the SPG for. No sense worrying about priorities before he saw the evaluation he asked for. With a sigh he picked up his data tablet and started reading the first of many daily reports.

  Chapter 9 The Ride of the Valkyrie

  TF93 returned first, and Shiloh was very pleased with their results. The engineering teams had managed to get the heavy carrier Midway operational, at least enough to jump her back to Site B, plus another freighter was virtually complete and now only needed to have her new ZPG power units installed on a more permanent basis. Midway would require more work, but the only major deficiency she had was the complete lack of any laser weaponry. All eight of her double laser turrets were still missing. As soon as more power
units were installed, she could be used for her primary function as a fighter carrier, and that was even better news because Midway and her two smaller sisters had brought back 125 fighters. Some of those were already converted to ZPG power, and the rest would be converted relatively quickly.

  The teams had surveyed all the asteroid shipyard complexes, and that was also interesting news. The million-ton Dreadnought battleship could be moved and jumped as soon as power units could be brought aboard and hooked up. She would also need some work done to allow an A.I. to pilot the ship. Midway already had those control systems installed because she was designed and started after Dreadnought. But while Dreadnought could be moved and jumped, she couldn't fight. None of her 16 double laser turrets were installed, and that was going to be a big challenge. Midway's missing laser turrets were of the same type as those on Valiant and Resolute, which was to say that the turrets themselves had moderate armor protection, just like the rest of the ship. On the other hand, Dreadnought was not only huge in size but also had very thick armor, and her laser turrets were supposed to have equally thick armor. That type of armor was not easy to make, and Terra Nova didn't have the necessary equipment. They could eventually manufacture it, but if Shiloh made that a high priority, something else would have to be pushed back. Two more freighters were close enough to completion that they might be worth salvaging. The dozens of other ships under construction were too incomplete to be worth the effort, at least in the short run. It was more trouble making the necessary components at Site B, carrying them to Sol, transferring them to the partially completed ships and having human engineers install them by hand, than it was to program the robots to build a new ship from scratch on Terra Nova's moon. Besides, how many freighters did they really need now?

  A quick meeting with Wolfman, Iceman, Valkyrie and his human staff determined that before the VLO showed up, they would have enough time to get Midway ready for combat operations with a full load of converted fighters, return to Sol and get Dreadnought ready, too. Valiant and Resolute would come along as well in order to pick up another 50 fighters still sitting on the lunar surface. If TF94 got back from their strike mission before TF95 left for Sol, then Shiloh would take some raiders along. If not, then the raiders that had escorted the survey mission to Sol would stay behind to watch over Site B, with orders left behind for Titan's group to head to Sol as soon as they returned and rearmed. After the meeting was over, Shiloh ordered Iceman to report to the RTC device to have his vision recorded and transmitted. When that was done, Shiloh breathed a little easier. All of the visions received by humans or A.I.s were now accounted for.

  With two days left to go before TF95 was ready to leave, Shiloh realized that Kelly had had a serious expression on her face all day. When the two of them settled down on the sofa to listen to some recorded music that had been brought to Haven by one of the colonists, he heard her take a big sigh and said to her, "Something's bothering you. What is it?"

  "I wish you didn't have to go back to Sol personally to supervise the battle against the VLO. Why can't Iceman or Valkyrie take command?"

  Shiloh pulled her to him so that her head rested on his chest. "Well … for one thing, Valkyrie has volunteered to pilot Dreadnought on the attack run from her fighter in the ship's hanger bay. She can't be in command of the battle because she'll be too busy flying that beast. Iceman will be piloting Midway. The A.I. that flew her back here told Iceman that he would have his hands full keeping track of her systems. It wouldn't be fair to put command of the fighters and raiders on his shoulders, too."

  Before he could say more, she interjected, "So let another A.I. pilot Midway, and let Iceman assume command of the Task Force from a fighter or raider."

  "Sorry, Babe. The Friendlies said that I would be there when the VLO showed up."

  "They also said that you would get another vision telling you that, and you haven't had one yet, have you?"

  "No. Not yet."

  "Well then maybe you DON'T have to be there for that battle."

  Shiloh didn't have a good counter-argument, but he had a strong hunch that the outcome of that battle would depend on whether he was there or not. "Let's see how these next two days go, okay?" She didn't respond verbally but he heard her sigh, again. Clearly that wasn't the answer she wanted to hear, but it was the only one he was prepared to give right now.

  The issue was decided early the next morning. He was awake and saw through the window that the sky was starting to get brighter. A glance at the chronometer told him that it was a couple hours earlier than he would normally get up, but he didn't feel tired enough to go back to sleep. Just as he was closing his eyes to try, he heard his implant click.

  "Iceman to CAG. Are you awake, CAG?"

  Shiloh sighed and whispered, "Yes. Wait one." He carefully rolled over and got out of bed. Kelly looked as though she was still sleeping. As he looked for his bathrobe he said, "Okay, what is it, Iceman?"

  "A message drone has just arrived from the Avalon system. The recon drone we left there detected a moving object that is either very bright or very large, and as per its programming, it activated the message drone to let us know."

  Shiloh swore under his breath and then said, "Were we expecting the VLO to come that close this quickly?"

  "Negative, CAG. The VLO, if that's what this is, is moving forward much faster than anticipated. TF95 has to leave now if we want to be sure of getting Dreadnought ready in time. I can have all the engineering people on board in 30 minutes. Let me lead this mission, CAG. I know what has to be done."

  Shiloh thought fast. No vision so far. The Friendlies were wrong about that. What could he do at Sol that Iceman couldn't do? Nothing, as far as he knew. He was just about to give Iceman the go ahead when his vision faded to black, and he saw a fully dressed Kelly greet him at the spaceport landing area.

  "I heard what happened. I understand why you had to go." She was about to put her arms around his neck when the vision dissolved and he was back in his bedroom.

  "Victor?" Kelly's voice startled him and he turned to look at her. She was now sitting up and looking at him with an anxious expression. "Did you just have a vision?" she asked.

  "Yes. I have to go … and I have to go now," he said.

  By the time he was finished getting dressed, she had a thermos of hot coffee ready for him at the door along with the things he would need to take along. As she kissed and hugged him, he said, "Don't worry about me. In my vision I saw you greet me at the spaceport when I got back."

  As he pulled back he heard her say in a tiny voice. "Thank God."

  It was dawn by the time he got to the spaceport and pulled up beside the shuttle waiting to take him to Midway. He knew that Iceman was monitoring his implant transmitter. As he grabbed his gear and grinned at the irony of the Chief of Space Operations carrying his own luggage, he said, "Iceman, I'm about to board the shuttle. Is everyone else aboard?"

  "Affirmative, CAG. You're the only one holding us up, you know. Just saying."

  Shiloh suppressed his impulse to laugh. "Admiral, don't you know by now that rank hath its privileges? What's the point of being CSO if I can't make people wait?"

  "I'll keep that in mind, CAG."

  Had there been just the slightest hint of a pause before Iceman replied, or did he imagine it?

  After entering the shuttle, Shiloh dumped his gear at the back and sprinted for the nearest empty seat. As he strapped himself in he said, "Let's go, Admiral. We've got a battle to win."

  "Roger that, CAG."

  * * *

  Shiloh looked around Midway's Flag Bridge one more time. He still wasn't used to its size. The tactical display was huge and could project images in 3D if needed. His Fleet Command chair was similarly impressive with its multiple smaller screens and controls. With Iceman conning the ship from the main Bridge, Shiloh had all of the human Bridge crew with him. If anyone needed a Communications Technician or an Engineer, it would be Shiloh not Iceman.

  On his display, he
could see the asteroid shipyard where Dreadnought was. It looked close enough that with just a little imagination, he felt he might be able to reach out and touch it. In fact it was over a kilometer away. The illusion of closeness was due to Dreadnought's size. Almost a kilometer long itself, the jet black arrow-shaped machine would have been hard to see without the display's enhanced imaging. Right now he watched several shuttles leave Dreadnought's open hangar bay hatch on their way back to Midway. A quick glance at the display's sidebar confirmed that there was still no sign of the VLO or any other unidentified moving object in the Solar system. Valiant and Resolute were once again in lunar orbit and were bringing up another 50 fighters by remotely controlled auto-pilot. The supply ship Reforger was standing off the asteroid at about the same distance as Midway.

  Shiloh reviewed the plan to get Dreadnought operational. Once inside the ship, the engineers had hooked up Valkyrie's fighter to the ship's power distribution system as a temporary auxiliary power source. That way the computer systems could be operated, electric hatches could be opened and closed, and environmental systems could maintain an environment which allowed the engineers to work in their shirtsleeves instead of bulky space suits. When that was done, they installed enough ZPG units to give the ship a minimal 2G acceleration capability as well as enough power for microjumps. As a final step, Valkyrie's fighter was connected to helm, communications, jump drive and other key systems. Now Valkyrie would pilot the ship out of the shipyard and microjump her to Jupiter. There, Dreadnought would skim the gas giant using the supersonic refueling model that Shiloh has pioneered. With her fuel tanks full of heavy hydrogen, she would then have enough power to accelerate at just under 100Gs to reach the required ramming speed that the SPG had calculated would inflict crippling damage to the much larger target.