The Synchronicity War Part 2

by Dietmar Wehr

  “Excellent! Let’s bring that bird back to the nest and then we can head back to base.” Rollins, now looking confused by the source of these orders looked at Morgan and then back at Shiloh who shook his head.

  “That’s premature, Commander. One successful test isn’t enough. We need to do more tests.” Morgan looked like he was about to protest but then thought better of it and said nothing. Looking back at Rollins, Shiloh said.

  “Program the test vehicle for a 10 million km jump and a return, Specialist Rollins. Execute when ready.”

  “Ten million. Yes, Sir.” He had the 2nd test ready in less than 3 minutes and counted down again.

  “Three…two…one…mark.” The icon disappeared again. This time the wait was slightly longer. Almost 11 minutes later, the icon returned and all systems continued to look green. An hour later, they had successfully done three more tests, each time multiplying the distance by a factor of 10. The 10 billion km test was all the way across the Solar System and back. The CFP seemed to be fully operational. Shiloh was starting to relax a bit but when Morgan asked if they could declare the project finished, he looked at Morgan and said,

  “We have to test this arrangement over interstellar distances too, Commander. I want the test vehicle brought back on board and inspected by the technicians carefully. While they’re doing that, Reforger will make a jump to a point that is 1/10th the distance to Alpha Centauri. When we get there, we’ll conduct the next test and if that’s successful, then we’ll jump the ship to Alpha Centauri and conduct the test from there. Any questions, Commander?” Morgan looked deflated. His hopes for a spectacularly quick and successful project, which he could try to claim credit for, were evaporating in front of his eyes.

  “No questions, Sir.” Shiloh looked at Rollins and said.

  “Bring her back, Rollins.”

  “Yes, Sir.” said Rollins cheerfully. Unlike Morgan, he seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. Shiloh walked to the hatchway and said.

  “I’ll be in the Officers’ Mess if I’m needed.”

  The next test jump was successful. Shiloh ordered Reforger to jump to Alpha Centauri. That jump and the necessary deceleration took almost a whole day. The test itself would take almost 55 hours due to the fact that the test vehicle had to accelerate to a modest velocity, then jump to Sol, then decelerate to zero, then turn around 180 degrees, then accelerate back up to the necessary velocity, then jump back and then decelerate to zero once again. When 56 hours had gone by since the start of the test, without any sign of the test vehicle’s transponder signal, Shiloh became convinced the jump drive had failed but he decided to wait 4 more hours just to be sure. After 60 hours and still no transponder, Shiloh called the Bridge and ordered the ship back to the position in the Sol system, where the test vehicle theoretically should be, if it was still there. That took another 26 hours.

  When Reforger arrived at the point in space where the test vehicle should have entered jumpspace, they detected its transponder signal. Telemetry indicated that all systems except for the jump drive were operating normally. The drive unit itself was unresponsive. Shiloh ordered the test vehicle brought back to the ship for a careful inspection. 12 hours later, he had the answer. When the test vehicle arrived at Sol, the jump drive was still operational but just barely. The cumulative strain of pushing that much mass into jumpspace over longer and longer distances, which required higher power levels, had caused metal fatigue in some components of the inner mechanism. When the return jump attempt was made, the surge of power shorted out those components and the jump failed. As a result of precautions taken for just that kind of failure, the Astrogation sub-system decelerated the vehicle and brought it back to the vicinity of where it had emerged from the first jump. Rollin’s report was quite comprehensive. While a message drone jump drive would work for one, maybe two interstellar jumps, it would eventually fail. In order to prevent that, the jump drive had to be scaled up to a larger size, in order to be able to handle the necessary power surges. That larger version would take months to build. If the 2nd crack at Zebra19 was to go ahead quickly, the jump-capable fighter would have to have a 2nd jump drive. Shiloh checked and found out that Rollins was in the Crew Mess presumably having something to eat. He found him there and sat down opposite him.

  “I read your report. Very detailed. I especially liked your recommendation for building a larger version but we need something else sooner rather than later. I’m thinking that if the fighter carried two jump drives, then it would definitely be able to make at least two jumps.” He was about to go on when he saw Rollins shake his head.

  “Sorry, Commander. There’s not enough room for two of those drone drives inside the Manned Pilot Module.” Shiloh sighed and said,

  “We have to find a way. You’re off duty now, right?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “After you finish eating, would you come with me to the Hangar Bay so that the two of us can take a close look inside the MPM?” Rollins nodded.

  “Sure, Commander. I’m always up for a challenge.”

  “Good man! Tell you what. I’ll head there now and you follow as soon as you’re finished here.”

  “You got a deal, Commander.” Shiloh thanked him and made his way to the Hangar Bay. It was tiny compared to Defiant’s and right now only contained two personnel shuttles and one CFP. Using the gantry next to the fighter, Shiloh climbed up to stand on top of it and looked at the midsection where the MPM was. He was expecting to see the round hatch leading into the module’s rear section but instead saw a much larger square and very makeshift cover plate. Yes, of course. The drone jump drive was too big to fit down the round hatch, which was just big enough for one human. They had to cut a larger opening and then put a cover over it after the drive was installed. He tried to lift the cover with his hands but it wouldn’t budge. As he pondered how to get it open, Rollins entered the bay and yelled out.

  “It’s attached magnetically, Commander! Hold on and I’ll shut the magnets off for you!” Rollins disappeared under the wing of the fighter and seconds later Shiloh heard.

  “Okay, try moving it now, Sir.” Shiloh did and was rewarded with a moving piece of metal that still wasn’t all that easy to move aside. The compartment inside was lit and Shiloh immediately saw why Rollins was convinced that two drives wouldn’t fit. While the drive itself wasn’t all that big, it was just big enough to take up more than half the width, more than half the length and by the looks of it, more than half the height of the internal space of the MPM. He heard Rollins climb up the gantry and squat down beside him. Something about the setup was nagging at Shiloh. The compartment was about 3 meters long and about 2 meters wide. The drive itself had dimensions of roughly the same proportions in terms of length versus width and had been installed with the same orientation, thereby maximizing the room on all sides for the technicians to work in.

  “How long is the drive lengthwise?”

  “1.88 meters, Sir.”

  “And how wide is the compartment?” Rollins smiled sadly and shook his head again.

  “I know what you’re thinking, Sir. Turning the drive unit sideways and then doing the same with a 2nd unit. No can do, Sir. The compartment is only 1.7 meters wide on the deck.” An idea occurred to Shiloh.

  “Is it wider at some other point?”

  “Well, ya…yes, Sir. You see over to the right? That’s where the pilot’s bunk is along that right wall. When you get above the level of the bunk, the width is 1.95 meters from the top of the bunk all the way up to the upper deck.”

  “And is that high enough for the drive unit?” Rollin’s eyes went wide.

  “Son of a…sorry, Sir. I never considered that. I don’t know off hand but I’ll tell you in a few seconds.” Without waiting for Shiloh’s reply, Rollins jumped down into the compartment and used a tool, taken from his pocket, to measure the free space from the top of the compartment down to the level of the bunk and then the height of the drive unit itself. Shiloh could tell from his e
xpression that the news wasn’t good.

  “Half a centimeter short, Sir.” Shiloh was smiling when he said,

  “And if we remove the mattress from the bunk?” Rollins looked over at the padded mattress which had to be at least 2 centimeters thick.

  “Then we’ll have enough room but it’s gonna be a tight fit, Sir. We’ll have to cut a larger opening and install something to prop up the drive units on the other side.”

  “But it can be done.” It was as much a question as a statement.

  “Yes, Sir. I believe it can be.” Shiloh nodded and gestured for Rollins to climb out. He then made his way down the gantry and waited for Rollins to join him.

  “So you know what I want?”

  “I sure do, Sir. Would you like me to start work right now?” Shiloh laughed. He liked Rollins.

  “I’m not going to order you to do that but I won’t stop you if you decide to start working on it in your free time. As long as it gets done and works, I don’t care if it takes a few more hours so I’ll leave it up to you.”

  “Thank you, Sir. I’ll have to do some preliminary planning before I can actually start to install anything and I’m eager to do that part.”

  “Very good, Rollins.” said Shiloh as he patted the man’s shoulder. “Let me know when it’s ready. I’ll inform Cmdr. Morgan about this.”

  Morgan wasn’t happy and Shiloh knew why. When the two drives were installed, the vehicle would have to be tested again. Shiloh had no sympathy for him. Individuals like Morgan were the price that the Space Force had to pay for promoting people faster than they normally would be. Morgan had either passed his level of competence or figured they HAD to keep promoting him as long as he didn’t screw up TOO badly. Well guess what, Cmdr? When I get back to HQ, I’m going to make sure your career takes a sharp turn for the worse!

  The new modification took almost two days. Shiloh had made a mental note to commend the technical team in general and Rollins in particular when he filed his project report to the Old Man. Because he was certain this modification would work, Shiloh allowed the test to begin here in Sol. 55 hours later, the test vehicle returned from its jump to Alpha Centauri and back. One drive unit was shorted out. The other was still operational but it shorted out too when they applied a power surge to simulate another jump. Shiloh transmitted a detailed report to Howard and asked him if the latest results were good enough to proceed with the Zebra19 mission. The reply was short and to the point.

  [Valkyrie agrees with me that the mission can now proceed. Good job. Your recommendations re: Cmdr. Morgan will be acted upon. Get back here, Shiloh. I want you and Defiant ready to execute your next mission asap. End of message]

  Reforger settled into her parking orbit around the moon 11 hours later. Morgan found orders waiting for him that relieved him of command of the ship. Shiloh didn’t know where he was being assigned next but whatever it was, Morgan clearly didn’t like it. Defiant was manned and ready to begin the mission. When Shiloh read his new orders, he was surprised to learn that the search for a suitable location for Site B would not be conducted by jumpfighters after all. Replacing their jump drives after each scouting mission made no sense. Instead Defiant would act as flagship and tanker for a squadron of A.I. controlled sentry frigates. Instead of carrying fighters in her Hangar Bay, she would carry a dozen Mark 4 fuel shuttles. The rest of the squadron would consist of 4 frigates. When the squadron was ready, Shiloh gave Maverick, Defiant’s new Pilot/Astrogator, the command to order the squadron to leave lunar orbit. They were on their way and even Shiloh didn’t know exactly where they were going to start their search. Maverick knew and would keep all jump destinations secret from the human crew.

  Chapter 13 - Task Force 89 Arriving!

  144 days later, the squadron was back in Sol and in lunar orbit. As soon as communications with HQ were established, Defiant received a text message from VF001’s Squadron Leader. Shiloh was on the Bridge when it arrived and he watched it scroll across the bottom of the tactical display, just as it had appeared in his vision.

  [Vandal to CAG. Hunter has returned to Bradley. Strike Mission to Z19 successful. Hunter said to tell you that he wouldn’t have made it back if not for the reserve jump drive that you insisted jumpfighters have. Thanks for looking out for us, CAG. End of message]

  That message was followed almost immediately by a voice message from HQ Operations that Admiral Howard would be arriving at Defiant by shuttle within 12 minutes. Shiloh was so shocked by the message that he personally spoke with Operations to confirm it. The Chief of Space Operations NEVER travelled to the moon to greet returning ships. It was unprecedented. The message was confirmed. When the shuttle settled down in the Hangar Bay, a nervous Shiloh stepped up to the craft’s entrance and nodded to ship’s Security Team Leader who opened a ship-wide intercom channel and said.

  “Chief of Space Operations arriving!” As Howard stepped onto Defiant’s deck for the very first time, Shiloh and his senior officers, who were standing behind him, gave the Admiral a textbook perfect salute, which he returned and then offered his hand to Shiloh.

  “Welcome aboard Defiant, Admiral.” said Shiloh shaking the offered hand.

  “It’s a real pleasure to be here. I almost never get a chance to see our new ships from the inside. The precision welcome was a nice touch.” Turning to Shiloh’s officers, Howard said,

  “I wish I could say that I’ll be here long enough to spend some time with all of you but that’s not going to be possible and right now, I have some important matters to discuss with the Commander. Shiloh, let’s go to your cabin.” As soon as they were inside Shiloh’s quarters, Howard turned to him and said,

  “So you found it.” Shiloh laughed.

  “Boy did we ever! It’s perfect, Admiral. Abundant mineral resources AND a first class planet that’s perfect for human colonization based on what we could observe from orbit. We brought back soil and plant samples for analysis but it looks damn good! It has a moon that’s loaded with iron, nickel and other useful metals including uranium and there are more resources on the moons orbiting one of the gas giants.”

  “Well don’t get your hopes too high about the planet. Even if the climate is perfect, the local biology may not be friendly to us but the metals…yes, that’s worth getting excited about. That’s what Site B has to be first and foremost, our main production center. Do you or any of the crew know where this star system is?” asked Howard as he sat down in a comfortable chair.

  “No, Sir. Maverick and Shooter, that’s the A.I. piloting the frigate that found it, know the exact location, which means the other A.I.’s do too but no one else. I made certain of that.”

  “Good, good. That means I won’t have to exile them there for the duration of the war. Your crew can go on R&R but not you, I’m afraid. The SPG is adamant that Site B has to be set up as soon as possible if not sooner. That’s why I came up here instead of the usual pilgrimage of you coming to see me. There’s a convoy of A.I. controlled freighters waiting to leave orbit. The convoy flagship will be the new light carrier, Valiant. You’ll assume command of the Task Force. Tanaka will be promoted and given command of Defiant. Things are moving fast now with the attack on Earth only 72 days away. Iceman is now conning a cruiser. We’re in the process of converting a dozen more combat frigates and cruisers to A.I. control. By the way, Iceman will be given a field promotion to Senior Commander, to take effect 24 hours before the expected attack. He’ll be put in charge of all mobile defenses near Earth and that will include a lot. Plans are to pull in the Quick Reaction Task Force from Omaha Base at the last minute too. Oh, one more thing, Valkyrie will be Valiant’s Pilot/Astrogator. She’s been pestering me for a ship and she’s earned it. You’ll also be pleased to know that we’ve started mass production of a larger, far more reliable jump drive for fighters. We’ll have six squadrons of fighters available for defending Earth and all of them will be jump-capable although not all will have the improved versions. That’s pretty much it in a nut
shell. Any questions?”

  “Yes, Sir. How much does the Oversight Committee know about these preparations?” Howard smiled.

  “They know that a battle is coming.” He nodded when he saw Shiloh’s puzzled expression. “The SPG is fully in the loop now and by the way, a majority of its members are A.I.s now too. The SPG told the Committee the truth, just not ALL the truth. What they said was that they think there’s a high probability that the enemy will strike directly at Earth. What they didn’t say is that the probability is 100% because of the warning that we have. What they also didn’t say is that the A.I.s are convinced this attack is actually a diversion to pull our defense forces away from the colonies and bases. That means we should be prepared for another attack somewhere else at roughly the same time. When I heard that, I questioned the whole premise of our force buildup here. Valkyrie then pointed out to me that the diversion could actually be a legitimate attack too and if we try to defend against both, we could lose both battles. Given that we were warned about this one and not another one, it may be that letting them win somewhere else may be the lesser of two bad options. In any case, I’m not going to risk the lives of 12 billion people on Earth in order to maybe defend a few hundred thousand somewhere else. I think that would be a huge mistake and if I attempted to split our defenses, the Committee would sack me and for good reason!” That made a lot of sense to Shiloh too.