by Dietmar Wehr
“All of us understand the situation, CAG. We’ll do whatever’s necessary to stop them. Is there anything else?” Shiloh felt a lump in his throat. Over the weeks of waiting for the attack, he had come to like all twenty of his fighter A.I.s. Each one was a unique individual with their own quirks and eccentricities. Losing any of them would be like losing someone from his own former crew.
“Yes, there is. Once you’re in the ambush position, cut off communication with the Base the instant that the enemy jumps. Maintain communication silence until the battle’s over. Any questions?”
“No questions, CAG.”
“Very good, Iceman. I’ll be available if you need me until you break communications. Good luck and good hunting to all of you.”
“Ah, roger that, CAG. Iceman clear for now.” It took less than a minute for Shiloh to receive the data concerning the rendezvous point and the estimated time to get there. He passed that on to Korolev. Within a couple more minutes, all the frigates and fighters were responding to the new plan. Cyrano and Bulldog had the furthest to go and even at 400Gs acceleration, it would take them almost 30 minutes to go from the edge of the gas giant’s gravity zone on one side all the way over to the opposite side. The tricky part was arriving at the rendezvous point facing the right direction and at the right speed which in this case meant facing towards the Base’s moon and travelling slow enough so as not to overrun the enemy’s emergence point. Korolev’s frigates with Hunter’s wing as escort, were accelerating at only 66Gs and the frigates were doing their best to be obvious about it. Shiloh wondered if they should send a message drone back to the nearest contact point but then realized that the drone would get dangerously close to the enemy formation before it could enter jumpspace. As he watched the display, he noticed that the tankers, which had been orbiting the moon, were now heading for orbit around the gas giant. From there, they could avoid detection by keeping the gas giant between them and the enemy fleet.
The next 45 minutes were the longest of Shiloh’s life. He couldn’t help thinking about Johansen. She was still alive. Of that he was certain but she was also apparently severely injured and it would be many hours yet before the reinforcement ships could catch up with the damaged frigates. The reinforcement force was almost half way between the gas giant and the enemy fleet, that had been tracked for several hours by long range radar from the frigates. The enemy fleet had moved away from the gas giant in order to get outside of the gravity zone but now disappeared into jumpspace. Within seconds, the com channels to the fighters in Iceman’s squadron shut down. That was the tipoff that the enemy had jumped to the opposite side. Shiloh and Korolev didn’t know precisely where the enemy was but it was clear that Iceman did. With the communications blackout, Iceman was in charge of the ambush. Shiloh called Korolev.
“The CFPs have broken off communications which means the enemy has jumped into their vicinity, Sir.” Korolev’s reply was immediate.
“Understood, Cmdr. I’m ordering the tankers to swing around to the far side of the GG and the reinforcement force Commander will launch message drones back up the supply chain to let HQ know what’s happening, now that the enemy fleet’s no longer in the way.” Shiloh said nothing. There wasn’t anything else to say. Iceman and his team would be accelerating at maximum to get to the optimum firing range which only they knew so there was nothing to do now but wait some more.
It was half an hour later when the passive detection gear on the Base picked up the action. 33 radar sources suddenly started to scan in all directions. They were approximately 5 million kilometers inside the gravity zone. At that distance, any radar energy reflected off of any of Iceman’s fighters, would be too weak for the Base’s detection gear to pick up so the Tactical display only showed the enemy fleet moving towards the Base but now maneuvering in what appeared to be an attempt to evade. Shiloh held his breath. Suddenly there were multiple and simultaneous detonations of what had to be the attack drones’ nuclear warheads. At this distance, the Base’s optics couldn’t tell how many individual explosions. The combined EM pulse of those explosions drowned out the radar emissions so there was no way to tell how many enemy ships were still scanning.
The tsunami of EM and other radiation quickly died down. Shiloh refrained from attempting to communicate with his fighters because of his previous orders to Iceman to maintain communications silence until the battle was over. So until he heard from Iceman or one of the other fighters, the battle was still going on. Finally about 20 minutes later, optical sensors picked up two momentary flashes followed seconds later by the re-establishment of the comm. channel with Iceman.
“CAG, this is Iceman.”
CAG here. Go ahead, Iceman.”
“33 enemy ships, which microjumped in front of us, were destroyed. 31 by attack drone warheads, 2 were rammed by Bulldog and Firefox. Five fighters confirmed destroyed by enemy laser fire. Three fighters are adrift and do not respond to communications. They appear to have suffered damage. Extent of damage unknown. Request that SAR shuttles be dispatched. What should we do now, CAG?” Shiloh had a lot to think about but he needed more information first.
“How’s the fuel situation, Iceman?”
“The five of us that are left, have sufficient fuel to stay on patrol for another 36 hours, CAG.”
“Okay. Well done, Iceman. Pass that on to the rest of your team too. I need to confer with the Base Commander. Maintain your present vector for the time being.” Shiloh was about to end the conversation so that he could discuss strategy and options with Korolev when he had a thought. “Iceman, what’s your evaluation of the situation now?”
“While the destruction of 33 enemy ships is a tactical victory, this battle has to be considered a strategic defeat, CAG. Relayed radar data from the opposite side of the GG showed 34 enemy ships. Only 33 microjumped to this side. That means that one ship went somewhere else beyond our detection range and my calculations reveal an 89 % probability that the missing ship returned to their nearest base. Therefore reinforcements may be on their way here. In addition to that, the fact that the enemy knew where to ambush the supply convoy as well as knowing enough about this star system to wait for a favorable configuration of sun, gas giant and the ambush star system, indicates that they have detailed astronomic information on star systems that they haven’t surveyed themselves. The only way they could have that information is if they’ve captured at least one of our ships intact and extracted its navigation data. That being the case, we have to assume that they know where all our bases are and where Earth is. We therefore can’t expect to stop their advance here. They’ve already demonstrated their ability to go around Bradley Base.” My God, he’s right, thought Shiloh. Why didn’t I see that myself? If they know where Earth is and all the explored systems in between Earth and their territory, they could launch a massive attack on Earth by using uninhabited star systems that contain gas giants to refuel and there are dozens…hundreds of those kinds of systems that we couldn’t possibly fortify or even monitor effectively! This information has to get back to HQ ASAP!
“I think you’re analysis is correct, Iceman. Standby while I confer with the Task Force Leader.” After the normal delay, he heard Iceman say,
“Ah, roger that, CAG. We’ll be here.” Shiloh switched his com channel to Korolev.
“Sir, this is Shiloh. I’ve just spoken with my CFPs. Here’s the situation. Of the 34 bogeys detected by Johansen’s force 33 microjumped as expected to the opposite side. The 34th has apparently jumped back to their nearest base because there’s no sign of it in this system. 31 bogey’s were destroyed by drone warheads. 2 had to be rammed by CFPs. Additional CFP losses include 5 destroyed and 3 disabled by enemy laser fire. Those last three should be recovered by our SAR teams because their AIs are worth saving due to their experience. As important as that summary is, Sir, what I really need to share with you is my assessment that this whole battle including the convoy ambush, couldn’t have been set up the way it was, unless the enemy had prec
ise astronomical and operational data that they could only have gotten from capturing one of our ships and that means that they almost certainly also know where Earth is and how to get there. We have to warn HQ that Earth or any other colony star system could be subject to enemy attack. The one that got away may trigger another wave of ships.” Shiloh heard Korolev groan, then curse in a low voice.
“Wait a minute, Shiloh! I need to understand the reasoning behind your conclusions better. Why would they need captured data in order to set up this ambush?” Shiloh forced himself to remain calm.
“They had to know about the precise positions of this gas giant and our moon in order to be able to hide in the gas giant’s shadow and still be in firing range of Johansen’s relief force on its way to investigate the convoy ambush. That meant that the course her ships would take to eventually jump to the ambush system, had to be exactly parallel to the shadow cast by the GG. Since we have no indications at all that any enemy ship has surveyed this system, the only way they would know about that precise alignment AND the fact that our supply convoys refuel in that particular star system, is if they got the data from one of our ships. The mere fact that they knew where to ambush the convoy, is pretty damning evidence all by itself of captured data, wouldn’t you say?” Korolev took his time answering.
“Well…when you put it that way, I’m forced to agree. There’s no way that they would send 34 ships to one star system unless they had a pretty good idea of what they’d find there. Damn! We have to get this back to HQ fast! I’ll send several message drones to Omaha Base just to make sure that at least one of them gets through. Is it your assessment that there is no longer any enemy presence in this system right now?”
“Yes, Sir. It is.”
“Then I’m inclined to split the reinforcement force into their separate squadrons and send one to render assistance to Johansen’s survivors, another to investigate the convoy ambush situation and keep the third squadron back here. I’d be interested in your thoughts on that plan, Shiloh.” Shiloh paused to think that over. The bogey that got away left before the fighters destroyed the other 33 ships and therefore wouldn’t know the results of the battle. They wouldn’t suspect a negative outcome of the battle until their 33 ships were overdue in reporting back. That meant the Space Force had some time.
“The enemy Command Structure won’t know about the outcome of the battle for some time so I agree that we can safely split up our remaining forces. Johansen’s survivors and their rescue squadron will probably be back here within 24 hours. I’d expect that the squadron investigating the convoy ambush will find nothing and it’ll be back here within 36-48 hours too. I’d like to get my CFPS back to the Hangar Bay to reload and I’d also like to recall the five units escorting the reinforcement squadrons for jump detection patrol, Sir.” Korolev nodded.
“Yes, go ahead and do that. Okay, I’ll redeploy the three frigate squadrons, bring the tankers back and send out the warning drones. Now what was it you said about SAR teams recovering the disabled CFP AIs? Is that really necessary, Shiloh? Even if the AIs are still intact, we won’t have any CFPs for them to pilot. Why not just write them off?” Because they’re intelligent beings you stupid ass! thought Shiloh. He took a second to get his voice under control.
“Well, first of all, CFP AIs are especially good at learning and they can transfer their ‘wisdom’ for lack of a better word to other AIs so recovering them will only make our future CFP force more capable by adding to its experience pool. Secondly, even though the tech weenies swear up and down that the AIs aren’t sentient, they certainly ACT that way and that includes behavior that seems to be motivated by pride in being part of the Space Force Brotherhood. If we expect them to continue to be willing to sacrifice themselves if necessary to protect us, then we need to demonstrate to them that their survival matters too.” He heard Korolev take a deep breath.
“I’m not sure I accept your second point but the first one makes sense. I’ll arrange for Search and Rescue teams to recover those AIs if they’re still intact. Anything else, Shiloh?” Shiloh was about to say no when a new thought popped into his head.
“Well, Sir…something’s just occurred to me. Sending message drones back down the chain will mean that HQ won’t get our warning for…6 days at the earliest. I’d have to check if this is feasible but I wonder if one of my CFPs can accelerate to a high enough speed to launch a message drone that could jump directly to Sol without any intermediate stops. If the drone doesn’t have to use any of its own fuel to accelerate to jump speed, it might be able to make it all the way.”
“Now that is worth looking into. If you think it’ll work, go ahead and do it. I’ll still send other drones back the normal way just to be sure and also to let our other bases know to be on alert. Anything else?”
“No, Sir. Nothing else.”
“Very good, CAG. Carry on.” Shiloh immediately switched back to Iceman’s channel.
“Iceman, this is CAG. I’ve spoken with TF Leader. Your team is to return to the Hangar Bay asap to rearm and refuel. Contact Hunter and advise him that his fighters are to return to Base orbit and establish a jump detection patrol. SAR teams will be dispatched shortly to recover the disabled fighter AIs. I also have a mission that you can evaluate for me. Can a fighter reach sufficient speed to enable a launched message drone to make it back to the Sol system in one jump? If the answer is yes, then determine which of the remaining operational fighters, including Hunter’s flight, has the necessary fuel reserves to launch the message drone and return to Base. Transmit that data to me as soon as you have the answers. Any questions, Iceman?” Shiloh wasn’t really expecting an answer quickly but he got one.
“Glad to hear about the SAR teams, CAG. We were beginning to wonder if we were considered worth the effort. A single jump by message drone from here to Sol is theoretically possible but not certain. In order not to miss the Sol system altogether, the message drone has to be launched on a trajectory with a higher degree of accuracy than is usually tolerated. There is an additional complication. A fighter can accelerate to the required speed but a normal fuel load would be insufficient to enable the fighter to return to Base. One option would be to rendezvous with a fuel shuttle either on the outward or inward leg or both. None of the operational fighters in this system currently has enough fuel to reach launch velocity and return to base.” Iceman’s comment about being considered worth the effort to recover sent a chill down his spine. If we break faith with these boys, we’ll have a hard time winning it back, he thought. I have to be honest with them.
“Iceman, it pains me to admit this but not everyone here understands that you and your fellow fighter pilots are sentient beings that should be treated with the same respect and loyalty as any human member of Space Force. It’ll take time to change their minds. Sejanus and I are working on that. Continuing to perform reliably is the best thing that all of you can do to speed up that process.” This time there definitely WAS a longer pause than just the light speed lag.
“Thanks for being straight with us, CAG. We know we can always count on you to watch our backs. One more thing regarding the single jump to Sol problem. Bradley base has one of the new Mark 4 fuel shuttles, which has the capability to be piloted by one of us instead of a human crew. Any of us that are successfully recovered from the cripples, can pilot the shuttle which will therefore have a higher acceleration profile and that will make it easier to refuel the fighter.”
“Understood. Very good, Iceman. Excellent idea! I’ll see you all personally when you’re back in the Hangar Bay. CAG clear.” Shiloh called Sejanus and told him to relieve Shiloh at the Command Station. When he’d been relieved, Shiloh headed down to the cavernous Hangar Bay and confirmed that there was a Mark 4 fuel shuttle and that it did have the capability to be piloted by the advanced A.I. units.
Chapter 16 - I Need Two Volunteers
None of the A.I. units piloting the disabled CFPs had been recovered by the time that Iceman and his team landed in
the Hangar Bay although the SAR teams were on their way. As soon as the maintenance techs started working on refueling and rearming Iceman, Shiloh walked over to stand in front of Iceman’s fighter, where the optical scanning unit could see him. Using his implanted com equipment, Shiloh spoke to Iceman.
“Iceman, can you see me?” asked Shiloh as he waived to the optical unit.
