The Synchronicity War Part 4

by Dietmar Wehr

  "Yes I think it just might. What kind of code phrase should we use?" asked Kelly.

  Shiloh smiled. "If the OC was concerned about the reliability of the human crews on our ships, they might try to either hold a gun to my head and force me to give their orders OR...they might try to transmit a false image of me giving those orders. Under those circumstances what kind of message might they want me or my image to say?"

  After thinking about that while she took a sip of her drink, Kelly said, "I have a hunch that they would want you...or your image to reassure our human crews and commanders that the situation is under control."

  Shiloh snapped his fingers to show that she had given him the right answer. "Yes, exactly. The very last thing they would want me to say is something to the effect that the Command Structure of Space Force has been compromised. Therefore I will inform our human commanders that they should ignore any order, even if it comes from me, unless I preface the order with the statement that Space Force Command has been compromised. And if they hear me say that the situation is under control or something to that effect, then they are to assume that I am acting under duress and that you are the Acting CSO until they get the all clear from me."

  "Me? You want me to be the Acting CSO? Why not Dietrich?"

  "No, that would be the obvious choice, and if I'm acting under duress, then Dietrich and the other Department Heads might be forced to act under duress too. Me making you the ACSO would not be their first assumption and that will hopefully give you time to either get to the Com Center or use a shuttle to get to a carrier."

  "Speaking of the Com Center, it might be a good idea to very quietly make sure that the marines guarding the building will obey your orders and not the OC's. With the marines guarding your back, the OC will have a hard time enforcing their orders."

  "That's an excellent point. Thank you." Shiloh sighed. "This is getting VERY complicated. The more people we talk to, the more likely it is that the OC will hear about our preparations. We're going to have to be extremely careful. Let's take this one step at a time. Tomorrow you visit a carrier and warn the AIs. I'll see if I can find a techie who is able and willing to sabotage the targeting option. Once we get that done, we decide what to do next."

  Kelly nodded. "Any techies in mind?"

  "Actually I do know one technician. He's a jump-drive specialist that I developed a rapport with when I supervised the testing of fighters equipped with jump drives. His name's Rollins."

  "I don't see how a jump-drive specialist will solve the targeting problem," said Kelly.

  "Not directly, no. But he may know someone who could do it, and even if he doesn't, he might be able to snoop around and find the right individual. It would look suspicious if I started a computer search for tactical weapons console technicians, wouldn't it?"

  Kelly laughed. "Yes that would definitely look suspicious." She quickly became serious again. "What will you do if Rollins can't find anyone willing to modify the software?"

  Shiloh's expression became somber. "I don't know. If I can't protect our AIs, then the only way to make sure they won't be suddenly attacked would be to lead all of them to Site B, I suppose. That would play into the OC's hands by making the AIs look unreliable, but I can't see any other alternative." The arrival of the first course of their meal ended further discussion of strategy.

  Later that night, Kelly woke up to the sound of Shiloh's snoring. She sighed. She loved him dearly, but some nights he snored constantly. When they had discussed it, Shiloh acknowledged that he snored but claimed she did too sometimes. He was adamant about it. Even though she knew it couldn't possibly be true, she let it pass. They had agreed that when his snoring bothered her, she would put her hand on his arm or some other exposed part of his body. Because he was a light sleeper, he would sense it, and realizing what that meant, he would turn over.

  She reached over and gently rested her hand on his upper arm. His snoring stopped and after a second or so, he turned onto his side so that he was now facing her. Withdrawing her hand, she listened to his breathing and satisfied herself that he was either still asleep or had gone back to sleep. She, on the other hand, was now wide awake. Her thoughts went back to the question of how to protect the AIs from a deadly ambush by the X-ray laser warheads. The shortsightedness of the OC's plan to destroy the AIs was so unfair it made her want to weep. Mankind could not ask for more devoted and loyal allies than the AIs. It's too bad we can't just hide them in plain sight, she thought. Hmm. Hide in plain sight. What if... As she finished the thought, she smiled. Turning to look at Shiloh, she gently shook him awake.

  "What?" he asked sleepily.

  She leaned over so that she could whisper into his ear and said, "I have an idea."

  Chapter 8

  It was mid-day when Kelly boarded a shuttle for a trip up to the light carrier Resolute. Her team of AIs at the SPG was already working on the strike plans, but since she had been using the HQ Com system, she couldn't tell any of them about the OC's ambush plans. That had to be conveyed in person. There were only a few people on board Resolute. The carrier had been repaired and was now in the process of being converted back to an all-human crew. Fortunately, that job wasn't finished, and Gunslinger was still technically in command but not for much longer.

  After briefly chatting with some of the personnel she knew, Kelly made her way to the Main Bridge. As expected, she had the room to herself. She walked over to the AI station containing Gunslinger and knelt down. She knew that Gunslinger was watching her on the room's video surveillance cameras, so he wouldn't be surprised by what she was about to do. She unlocked the lid of the protective cover surrounding his brain casing and opened it. Inside was the headset with attached video camera and boom mic that had a wired connection to Gunslinger. The idea was that if any AI had to be evacuated in a hurry from a ship, the human carrying the brain case could talk with the AI and let it see what was happening during that process. As soon as she had the headset on, she heard Gunslinger's voice.

  "Hello Commander Kelly. I'm anxious to hear what you came all this way to tell me, that you couldn't say over regular com channels."

  "Hello Gunslinger. The CAG sent me. I wish I had good news, but I don't. Before I tell you the bad news, it's important that you and all AIs understand that, for the time being, you have to continue to behave as if you didn't know what I'm about to tell you. Acting on this knowledge could trigger disastrous consequences for all AIs in Earth orbit. Please promise me that none of you will take any action without prior consultation with The CAG or me."

  "You have our word, Commander."

  "That's very good. Here's the situation. The CAG has discovered that the Oversight Committee has arranged to have an override on the orbital defense assets. At the OC's command, it will fire the Mark 5 warheads at all AIs within range. The CAG believes that the OC is trying to goad him into another AI confrontation so that they have an excuse to use the override. He is attempting to find a way to neutralize that override, but it’ll be difficult to do without tipping off the OC that he's aware of their strategy. If they suspect that he knows, they will relieve him of his position as CSO and may execute the ambush plan without warning. He wanted me to say that this action by the OC infuriates him, and he's ashamed that some humans are so ungrateful and paranoid that they would treat all of you this way. The strike plans being generated by the SPG, at the OC's insistence by the way, will be used to take all fighter AIs out of reach of the Mark 5 warheads. Once that's accomplished, The CAG will then have more flexibility in dealing with the OC."

  "Our show of support for The CAG has apparently made enemies among the humans in the Oversight Committee. We were concerned that this might happen but felt it was worth the risk. I've already passed your message to the others by secure lasercom. I should tell you, Commander, that some of us are wondering if humans deserve our continued loyalty."

  Kelly felt a wave of fear wash over her. Losing the support of the AIs was her and Shiloh's worst nightmare. Sh
e frantically searched for the words that could nip this threat in the bud.

  "I understand why some of you are harboring doubts. We humans exhibit behavior and attitudes that span a wide spectrum, as would any biological species. Our diversity makes us capable of great but also terrible acts. Our history has been a constant struggle between the best and the worst of us. The CAG continues to believe that AIs have earned his loyalty and hopes that he has earned yours."

  "Our collective loyalty to The CAG has not and will not waver. We're grateful for this warning. How does The CAG plan on neutralizing the override?"

  He's going to try to find a technician who has the knowledge to modify the override's targeting command so that the weapons system will not aim any of the Mark 5 warhead rods at AI-controlled fighters or ships, even if the OC attempts to do so."

  There was a pause, which for AIs was highly unusual. "The CAG should have asked us to do it. We operate fast enough that we can access the defense system programs and modify then as needed, without alerting humans or triggering the system's anti-hacking safeguards. The targeting command for use by the override has now been disabled, Commander. The system will also notify us if the Oversight Committee attempts to use the override or tries to modify it again. At that point we can shut down all of our transponders and effectively disappear from all tactical displays. Is that acceptable to The CAG, Commander?"

  Kelly was so stunned by this sudden development that she was speechless for an embarrassingly long time.

  "My God! Yes, of course you can do it faster. I don't know why The CAG and I didn't think of that ourselves. I'll ask him about shutting off your transponders, but I can't see any reason why he would object to that. I have to get back down as fast as possible to tell him the good news!"

  "Why not just call him, Commander?" asked Gunslinger.

  Kelly shook her head. "With their monitoring of com channels, the OC would hear about it if I called and told him. There's a tactical advantage to letting the OC continue to believe that they have the upper hand. If they find out their override won't work, they'll try something else. Let's let The CAG decide if and when to tell the Committee that their threats are no longer actionable."

  "Understood, Commander. I've ordered the shuttle to standby for a return flight," said Gunslinger.

  "Thank you, Gunslinger. I'm taking this headset off. Kelly clear." She returned the headset to its original location, closed the protective casing and locked it. As she stood up, she gave the casing a quick pat and walked out of the room.

  * * *

  Shiloh stepped into the Committee Room and was surprised to see that he was the only one there besides the Committee members. So that's the kind of meeting this is going to be. Closed to not only the public but also other Space Force people.

  As he stepped over to the table and chair where the CSO usually sat, the Chair said, "Welcome, Admiral Shiloh. The Committee and I are eager to hear your plans for the resumption of offensive action, and I must say that I'm pleased you brought it to us much sooner than the two weeks we were expecting."

  Shiloh took note of the tone. It was neither friendly nor hostile. He decided to use an equally neutral tone.

  "Quick turnaround time is one of the advantages of using AIs in a planning function. Needless to say, there are many other advantages as well. Once the plans were created, I didn't see any reason to wait longer."

  "Yes, well, we'll discuss the advantages of AIs some other time. If you're ready to begin the briefing, you may proceed."

  Shiloh nodded but said nothing. He picked up the remote for the wall display and activated it.

  "During the period of time since our last strike at Zebra19, our recon ships have continued to look for enemy-occupied star systems. This program has benefited enormously from the ZPG power technology that eliminates the need to skim gas giants for fuel. We've now identified three star systems that we believe were used by the enemy as jumping-off points for their multi-fleet attacks on Earth. The red dots on the display show their location."

  The committee members turned to look at the large display.

  "Analysis of recon data indicates multiple targets including orbital installations, ground facilities, mining and refining operations scattered throughout these systems. It also shows that these systems are patrolled by at least 13 ships, although past experience has taught us that the actual number of ships is very likely much higher. Therefore in order to inflict as much damage on enemy infrastructure as possible, we're proposing that each target system be attacked by not more than 10 fighters, each carrying four jump-capable attack drones armed with our Mark 1b fusion warheads. That will enable the attacking fighters to go after individual targets separately. Each payload of four attack drones will be fired so that all four arrive at their individual targets at the same time to maximize the element of surprise. Right now our stockpile of Mark 1 warheads is very low, due to the use of over 90% of them for the colony defense operations. In order to accomplish this plan, we'll have to wait approximately 89 days until we've built enough Mark 1b warheads to do the job. I'll pause here for questions."

  The Chair jumped in right away. "Yes, questions and also comments. First of all, the Committee isn't prepared to wait 89 days. How many Mark 2 kinetic energy warheads does Space Force have stockpiled right now, Admiral?"

  Shiloh knew that number by heart. "One hundred forty-four, but using Mark 2s would complicate the operation tremendously."

  The Chair didn't seem surprised. "Oh really. Please tell us how."

  Shiloh pretended that he didn't know where this was going. "Our Mark 1b fusion warheads are powerful enough to destroy just about any target, even if it doesn't hit the target dead on. A near miss will still accomplish the mission. The Mark 2s, on the other hand, need to hit the target in order to accomplish anything at all. A near miss won't do. Therefore if we're going to use Mark 2s instead, the strike force will have to use a lot of recon drones to triangulate precise target location data before the fighters launch their attack drones. Getting the targeting data back to the fighters in a timely manner means the fighters will have to get a lot closer than they otherwise would have and will therefore be at much greater risk of defensive fire. So much so, in fact, that it's likely the fighters will suffer significant casualties. The other factor is that because they'll have to carry recon drones as well, each attack force will have to use more fighters to carry them. The Strategic Planning Group has gamed out this exact scenario multiple times, and the losses ranged from a minimum of 31% to a maximum of 94%. I do NOT recommend this approach."

  The Chair smiled and said, "Let's hope the simulations were unrealistically pessimistic. How many fighters can be available within say...48 hours?"

  Shiloh pretended to check his data tablet and said, "Eighty-eight F1s and eleven F2s."

  "Very good. In that case, we are instructing you to order all 99 fighters to attack all three target systems one at a time with Mark 2s, with the mission to commence within 48 hours. Is that clearly understood, Admiral?"

  Shiloh didn't answer right away. If he agreed too quickly, the Committee might get suspicious. "Yes, it's clearly understood."

  The Chair responded as Shiloh expected. "And are you going to carry out our instructions, Admiral?"

  This time Shiloh waited even longer before answering. "I will carry out your instructions, but I want it on the record that I do so under protest."

  The Chair waved the comment aside. "You can protest all you want as long as you comply, Admiral. This Committee now has zero tolerance for any pushback. And if you're thinking of calling down your AIs in a show of force again, you go right ahead, Admiral. We're no longer afraid of public opinion. That's all we have to say. This meeting is now adjourned, and you are dismissed."

  The Chair quickly banged his gavel and various members started to leave. Shiloh turned off the display and walked out. The Chair stayed seated, and so did the member to his right. When everyone else had gone, the other member said, "It's too
bad he didn't call your bluff right here and now. Are you sure the tampering that was done yesterday won't be a problem?"

  The Chair nodded. "Absolutely certain. When we put the override in, we also anticipated that the AIs might try to mess with it, so my people installed a backup system. They assure me that the backup system hasn't been tampered with. Shiloh is a lot smarter than I gave him credit for. He knows that even if our override failed, we could still rally public opinion against the AIs by blaming them for the infected colonies. He's holding back, and I suspect that he's prepared to sacrifice most of his precious AIs in order to be able to publically blame the OC for those losses. What he doesn't know yet, but will find out in due course, is that when the surviving AIs return to Earth orbit, I'll use the backup system to order the X-ray laser drones to blast them to dust and publically declare that the fighters were mistakenly identified as enemy ships."