by Dietmar Wehr
"The problem is that all the hull armor that was stripped off before the OC interfered, has now been put back on. We'd have to strip it off again. By the time we do that, we won't really end up that far ahead of continuing the new build at Site B, and that new ship will have much more cargo capacity. Besides, the shipyard here that would do the Dreadnought conversion can now build another raider instead."
"I'm sure you know best. You've come a long way from the frigate commander you used to be. You've proven that you can handle the CSO's position, so I won't try to change your mind. If you don't mind me asking, how are you and Commander Kelly doing?"
Shiloh laughed again. "Things couldn't be better, Sam."
This time Howard laughed. "I'm glad to hear that. Women like Kelly don't cross every man's path. Those of us who are lucky enough to meet one should hold on to them. Oh, hell, I'm starting to ramble, and you've got better things to do than listen to a former boss tell you how to run your life. Thanks for taking my call, Victor."
"It was a pleasure talking with you again, Sam. Any time you want to chat, I'll take the call. Shiloh clear."
* * *
In the days and weeks that followed, every member of the OC resigned and either quit politics altogether or, in the Chair's case, committed suicide. Eventually the Grand Senate nominated and confirmed a new slate of members. During that process Shiloh pretty much had a free hand, and he made the most of it. Contact with the Friendlies included an arrangement to have a Friendly ship near Omega77 when a Space Force ship would attempt to retrieve a dead Insectoid. As a gesture of good faith, Shiloh ordered Kronos to transfer all information relating to high-spin, platinum warheads to the Friendlies. It was to be transferred to the Sogas on the understanding that they would be told where the information came from and why.
With just over a month left before the insectoid attack on Omega77, Shiloh stood in the Ops room looking at the main display with considerable satisfaction. The latest drone messages had confirmed that the Sogas seemed to be pulling ships back from the three systems previously used as jumping-off points for attacks. While exact ship identifications couldn't be obtained from long-range passive observation, it did appear that those ships were being sent to the colonies where the Insectoids would first make contact. As he stood there, Shiloh became aware that Kelly had come up to stand beside him.
"I heard about the latest scouting report," said Kelly. "Is it just me, or does it feel like this war with the Sogas is over?"
"I sure as hell hope so, but I'm not ready to lower our guard just yet. With the additional recon drones now deployed at any system with a gas giant, we'll be able to pinpoint the exact position of any advancing Sogas fleet. And if I see a Sogas fleet headed our way, we'll use the RTC to send ourselves that information, and we'll intercept them before they get here. I'm not letting any Sogas ships into our space again." He paused and Kelly sensed he wanted to say more but was holding back.
"Do I detect a 'but' hiding in there somewhere?" she asked.
Shiloh shrugged. "Well, if Valkyrie's timeship works, all of this is academic. When the new raider fleet arrives at the 2nd Battle for Earth, we'll have an overwhelming superiority in forces, and we can disarm the entire Sogas empire from space and keep it disarmed indefinitely. What worries me is how the Friendlies will react to that strategy."
"We could ask them, you know."
Shiloh shook his head. "No way am I giving them a heads up on this strategy. They think sufficiently differently from us that we can’t know what they'd do with that information. The timeship/raider fleet is our Hail Mary play, and I'm not risking Friendly interference." After a pause, Shiloh felt her hand touch his arm. He looked at her.
"It's almost time for the new Chair's private briefing. We should go," she said.
By the time they got to the small conference room where the briefing would be held, the new Chair was already there. She greeted both of them warmly. As far as the AIs could determine from their in depth investigation of her background, she was not involved in any shady or illegal activity. Her reputation was that of a hardworking, conscientious member of the Grand Senate. After a lot of discussion, Shiloh and Kelly had agreed that she should be told SOME of the truth but not all. When all three were seated, the Chair leaned forward and began speaking.
"Before you begin your briefing, I'd like to assure you, Admiral Shiloh, that it is not my intention to interfere with or second guess your strategic military decisions. I understand that my predecessor did that with deplorable consequences. I don't pretend to understand military strategy, and I won't let the Committee as a whole get in your way. I'll be guided by the original mission statement of the Oversight Committee Enabling Act which says that its primary responsibility is to see that budgetary funds allocated to Space Force by the Grand Senate are spent appropriately and that Space Force personnel are not engaged in any illegal activity. Having said that, I and the other members of the Committee can best speak on your behalf to the rest of the Grand Senate if we have some idea of what's happening."
"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 incl
udes 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.
Chapter 12
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 j
ump is confirmed."
"Fine. Is it still heading for Omega44 as in the old timeline?" asked Kelly.
"Gunslinger. I'll hand that one off to you."
"Affirmative, Commander Kelly. This VLA timeline matches our data perfectly so far."
"Very good. Let's hope she jumps soon."
The actual jump itself was observed several minutes later. With confirmation that no Insectoids were left in this system, Resolute micro-jumped as close as possible to the Sogas colony planet. Minutes later, Kelly was sitting beside Wolfman's brain case in the specially equipped shuttle that was on its way down to the planet. The normally spacious shuttle was now crowded with a four man fire team of marines and their gear, Kelly, Wolfman, an AI mobile unit, the RTC and a decontamination chamber that the passengers would use before returning to the carrier. Kelly and the marines wore combat armor over top of bio-hazard suits that had their own filtered air supply. The trip down took almost 45 minutes before the shuttle entered the planet's atmosphere. When the shuttle pilot announced that they were approaching the colony site, Kelly unbuckled herself and moved forward to stand in the flight deck just behind the pilot. Kelly, the pilot and co-pilot were watching the screen with the zoomed in video image.
