by Dietmar Wehr
“At least as good, maybe even better, Sir.” Howard opened his eyes and stood up. With obvious anger, he raised his right arm and slammed the data tablet, that Shiloh hadn’t even noticed him holding, down on his desk.
“That’s just GREAT!” Looking up at Shiloh, he said, “Do you have any idea of the position this information puts me in, Shiloh?” Before Shiloh could respond, Howard waived him off.
“No, of course you don’t. How could you? You haven’t had to deal with our political masters or all the bullshit political maneuvers they’re constantly trying to pull!” He paused to take a deep breath while he tried to calm down. When he did calm down, he said,
“No one was more surprised than I was, when the Oversight Committee accepted and then got the whole Assembly to accept our planned shift to a war footing but there was a catch. In return for a virtual blank check, they made it clear they had better see some results within a reasonable period of time. If I were to go back to the Committee now, and tell them that the planned raid on Zebra19 is called off, after promising them that we’d strike back hard as soon as possible, they’ll want to know why. I haven’t told them yet about this vision technology because I can’t prove that it can be done. Your visions and the report’s conclusions are certainly thought provoking and convinced me but I know these people and they wouldn’t consider that sufficient proof. If I asked them for funding approval for that project, they’d turn it down and I’m convinced that would be a disaster. So what I did was describe the project as an attempt to develop a faster-than-light communication technology which, if you think about it from the right point of view, the retro-temporal technology could be described that way. So without that justification, that means I can’t cancel the mission. It also means that I can’t go back to them and say that we’ll be on the defensive for God only knows how long until we can deliver a surprise knockout blow, that will end the war in one fell swoop. If I tried that, they’d relieve me of command for not being aggressive enough. Do you see where this leaves us, Shiloh?” Shiloh nodded. He did indeed see. Up the creek without a paddle. Howard was silent for what seemed like a long time as he paced back and forth from one side of his office to the other. Shiloh tried to think of a useful suggestion but couldn’t think of anything. Finally, Howard came over to his desk and sat on the corner.
“Do I remember correctly, that Iceman’s vision described you returning from Site B after Iceman won the battle for Earth?”
“Yes, Sir. That’s my recollection as well.” Howard paused as if he were struggling with a momentous decision and then apparently made up his mind.
“Okay. This is what we’re going to do. The preliminary plan for Site B was to send people there for the duration of the war in order to keep its location and even its existence a secret. That will still be the case but I’m changing Site B’s whole reason for being. Instead of it being just a backup production and R&D facility, it will instead become the basis for a completely different way of fighting this war. Site B will build up, and hold onto, the knockout punch, that Valkyrie’s talking about, until it’s ready to be used. In the meantime, the rest of our production capability will go towards pursuing our current strategy of gradually pushing the enemy back, which I now know will be futile and that means that a lot of good men, women and A.I.s will have to be sent to their deaths deliberately because our political masters are too God damned stupid to agree to anything else!” His anger having rising to the fore again, he paused. When he spoke again, his voice was low and sad. “That’ll be the burden that I will have to carry. Some of those sacrificial lambs will almost certainly be people you know so you’ll get to carry a little piece of that burden too because with our hands tied like this, there’s no way to avoid these sacrifices. Are we in agreement on that, Shiloh?”
“Yes, Sir.” said Shiloh reluctantly. Howard nodded sympathetically.
“The worst part of it is that we can’t tell any of them what’s in store for them. We have to be able to look them in the eye and lie to them about their chances of success, otherwise if it becomes common knowledge that future attacks are a waste of lives and resources, morale will collapse.”
“Yes, Sir. I’m curious to know what my involvement with Site B will be but if I’m going to Zebra19, with the risk of being captured, the less I know, the better.” Howard groaned.
“Good Lord! I’d forgotten about that. You already know too much but you have to lead the mission. If I relieve you of that responsibility now, it’ll generate too many questions that we’d be better off not having to answer. All I’ll tell you now is that at some point, you’ll be going to Site B, if you haven’t already figured that out from Iceman’s vision. As far as Zebra19 or 15 is concerned, your ‘unofficial’ orders, which can’t be written down for reasons I’m sure you understand, is that you’re to avoid risking your carriers at all costs. 3rd Fleet will proceed to Zebra19 as you see fit and at the first sign of enemy forces, you’ll disengage your carriers and pullout even if that means leaving your fighters behind. Am I clear on that, Admiral?” That didn’t sit well with Shiloh. Even if he could stomach the sacrifice of all his fighters, leaving the field of battle that quickly could be interpreted as cowardice.
“I’m not sure I can do that, Admiral.” Howard looked like he was about to burst a blood vessel but then calmed down again.
“Alright. I’ll amend my verbal orders. Try to disengage from combat as quickly as possible, given the deployment of your forces. Can you do that, Admiral?”
“Yes, Sir. That I can do.” With orders that vague, he could justify just about any action he decided to take.
“Glad to hear it.” said Howard with just a tinge of sarcasm. “By the way, you’ll be happy to know that 3rd Fleet will be getting the first six Mark 3 decoy drones. Maybe that’ll help. Now…are we done talking, Admiral, or do you have another bombshell to drop on me?” Shiloh squirmed in his chair.
“Actually, Sir, I have a suggestion, that might make things a little bit easier. If you haven’t already chosen an A.I. to ‘advise’ the Strategic Planning Group, then I recommend Valkyrie for that assignment. Not only will her insights be useful to the group but it’ll also get her out of Harm’s Way if she’s reassigned before we head off to Zebra19.”
“You say…HER…strategic insights are as good as Iceman’s so I’d be foolish to say no. I’ll have her new orders issued within 24 hours and I won’t even ask why you’re referring to Valkyrie as a she because I don’t think I want to know. Anything else, Admiral?”
“No, Sir.”
“I’m relieved to hear it. In that case, we’re done here.” Shiloh nodded and left. When he returned to Defiant, he went to the Hangar Bay, where Valkyrie’s fighter was now docked. After borrowing a headset and plugging into Valkyrie’s external communications socket, he said.
“I have good news and bad news, Valkyrie.”
“I’m listening, CAG.”
“The mission to Zebra19 is still on. You’ll receive orders within 24 hours, to report to Space Force HQ where you’ll be an advisor to the Strategic Planning Group. I know that you want to go on the raid but in my opinion, your strategic insights are too valuable to risk losing. Admiral Howard is going to need all the strategic help he can get. Because of Iceman’s vision, we know that this assignment will be temporary but I don’t know how long your posting there will be.”
“Will I have to give up my fighter?”
“Yes but you’ll be using the same mobile ground unit that Iceman used.”
“What have I done to deserve this punishment, CAG?” Shiloh was taken aback. It didn’t sound like Valkyrie was joking.
“I don’t understand, Valkyrie. Why do you consider this as punishment?”
“Because I’ll be tied down to a unit that has limited visual and auditory sensors, can barely move and can’t fly. Compared to piloting a fighter, that’s like you being tied down to a bed 24 hours a day with one arm, one eye and one ear working. How would you feel if that happened
to you, CAG?” Shiloh was stunned and then ashamed at not having realized the implications of what he was proposing.
“Your analogy is something I wasn’t aware of. Now that you’ve pointed that out to me, I understand why it may seem to you as punishment however that was not my intention at all. Iceman didn’t complain about being hooked up to the mobile unit.”
“Because it was only for a few hours. I’d be hooked up to it for weeks, maybe months.”
“You’re correct and that’s not acceptable. What alternative can you suggest, that would still enable you to be in communication range of HQ?”
“Earth now has a permanent fighter patrol used for jump detection. If I’m assigned to that duty, I’ll be close enough that I can interact with members of the SPG day or night while performing my patrol duties.”
“Excellent idea. I’ll contact Admiral Howard right now and request that your orders be modified accordingly. Thank you for setting me straight on that, Valkyrie. I admit that I still have things to learn about the best way to interact with A.I.s. If you think I’m making a similar kind of uninformed decision in the future, I want you to challenge me on it.”
“You’re forgiven, CAG and I’m relieved to hear that it was an honest mistake.”
“Thank you, Valkyrie. Now I need you to recommend your replacement as VF001 squadron leader and also your thoughts on which squadron leader I should put in overall command of 3rd Fleet’s fighters for this mission.”
“I’d say Maverick for both slots but he and Hunter are already slated to be transferred to Epsilon Eridani. Therefore my recommendations are Vandal for SL and Tumbleweed for overall command.” Shiloh smiled. Vandal was one of the veterans, from Defiant’s first mission, that was moving up in rank and chain of command fast. Iceman liked him and clearly Valkyrie did too.
“Very good, Valkyrie. I accept your recommendations. Advise Vandal that he’ll get a field promotion to SL as soon as you depart. I’ll advise Tumbleweed of his responsibilities at the appropriate time. CAG clear.” As he handed the headset back to one of the support techs, he said,
“Intercom…Bridge Com.”
“Bridge Com here, Sir. What can I do for you?”
“You can patch me into a comm. channel to Admiral Howard.”
“Yes, Sir. I’ll have that set up for you shortly. Please standby.” About a minute later, as Shiloh entered his quarters, his implant reactivated.
“Bridge Com to Admiral. I have the link now, Sir. I’m switching you over. Go ahead, Admiral Howard.”
“Did you forget to tell me something, Shiloh?” asked Howard.
“Actually, Sir, it’s something I just learned upon my return.” Shiloh went on to explain Valkyrie’s unhappiness with the idea of being literally grounded and half blind for months as well as the alternative. To his surprise, Howard was immediately sympathetic.
“Yes, I see why she found that an unpleasant prospect. I have no objections to her fighter being assigned to close Earth defense patrols. We can do the same thing if and when we add other A.I.s to the SPG advisory function. I’ll make sure her orders are modified and thank you for bringing this to my attention, Admiral. Should I ask if there’s anything else?”
“No, Sir. Nothing else. Thank you.”
“Fine. Howard clear.”
It was three days later when the frigate group was finally up to full strength. Shiloh was dismayed by how inexperienced most of the carrier and frigate crews were but realized that when you expand like mad, people get pushed upwards far faster than they normally would and that meant that a lot of newly promoted officers and crew would have to learn and become proficient in their new duties fast. Howard wanted 3rd Fleet to leave for Zebra19 almost immediately and pointed out to Shiloh, that with at least a dozen refueling stops before the Fleet even got to Zebra 12, there would be plenty of time for Shiloh to interact with his ships’ COs and conduct field training. Shiloh was forced to agree. 24 hours later he gave the order for 3rd Fleet to leave lunar orbit on their way to Bradley Base as an interim stop on their mission.
Chapter 8 - But You’re Not Thinking Temporally
Getting to Zebra19 would be the longest trip that Shiloh had ever undertaken. Over 240 hours just to get to Bradley Base, and then 3rd Fleet would start hopping along the Zebra chain of star systems with a bypass of Zebra9. In fact, they would give Zebra9 a wide berth. The recon frigate Ranger, had carefully surveyed a course that diverged from the path at Zebra7, then curved around back into alien space in a long detour, that ended with Zebra19. Shiloh knew that one of the less urgent tasks for the recon frigates was to eventually find a shortcut from Bradley Base to the closest point of the Zebra chain detour. For now though, 3rd Fleet had to follow the long way.
The arrival at Bradley Base was a welcome interruption of the repetitive jumping, refueling and more jumping. Despite the howls of protest, Shiloh insisted that all gas giant skimming be done the fast i.e. bumpy way. Refueling at Zebra12 and 15 was risky enough without making it worse by taking the more comfortable but longer supersonic procedure. He wanted the crews to get used to the stomach-churning rollercoaster sub-sonic version and if the vibration and rattling caused any equipment problems then the time to find that out was on the way there and not under the threat of imminent combat. The thought also occurred to him that if one of his ships, especially one of his carriers, developed a serious enough technical problem, he could use that to justify aborting the mission. Howard wouldn’t be happy if he did that but Shiloh was damned if he would risk disaster by taking just 2 carriers into battle instead of 3. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that Valkyrie was right. They had to hit the enemy systems with at least enough firepower to have a good chance of rolling right over the enemy. Hitting them with anything less was just asking to have their heads handed to them.
Korolev was still Base Commander and when informed of Shiloh’s request to swap fighters again, which was backed up by Howard’s authority to do so, agreed to the swap readily. The Base got 20 of the less experienced fighter pilots and 3rd Fleet’s squadrons picked up 20 pilots with at least some experience and more importantly, more maturity in terms of their developing personalities. With the Base’s refueling capabilities available, Shiloh relented and gave 3rd Fleet a break from direct refueling again. When Shiloh compared notes with Korolev, the Base Commander confirmed what Shiloh had heard, which was that no sign of enemy activity had been seen since Defiant’s encounter at Blue2 and Green4 even though almost a month had gone by since then. Korolev was convinced that the enemy was planning another attack on Bradley Base. Shiloh thought it was far more likely that the enemy was diverting reinforcements to Zebra19 to prepare the ambush of 3rd Fleet but he kept his opinions to himself. Korolev wasn’t cleared to know the whole story about retro-temporal communication.
Refueled and rested, 3rd Fleet accelerated away from Bradley Base and headed for Zebra2, the closest system with gas planets along their path. 313 hours later, 3rd Fleet emerged at the very edge of the Zebra12 star system. The crews were by now used to the routine of searching for each other after being scattered due to tiny differences in jump drive calibrations that made jumping and staying in a tight formation from one star to another impossible. Shiloh was on the Bridge but was standing beside the Command Station while wearing the newly developed Flag Officers’ Command Helmet, that effectively allowed him to get the same visual information that could be displayed on the main tactical viewer and stay in contact with all ships and fighters, regardless of whether he was on the Bridge or not. With sensors linked to the special gloves he wore, he could gesture with his hands to activate virtual controls projected in front of his eyes. By the time 3rd Fleet reached Zebra12, Shiloh had become proficient with the new technology. In case he needed to secure himself from violent ship maneuvers, the Bridge had a spare acceleration chair if he needed it.
With his helmet now showing him the tactical situation within a radius of 30 light seconds, he watched as the icons representi
ng all nine ships gradually returned to station around Defiant, the Fleet flagship. When they were back together, they would microjump to the general vicinity of one of the four gas planets in this system. Just like Sol, two of the gas planets were large giants while the other two were significantly smaller. As luck would have it, they were distributed around the system sun fairly evenly, thereby making it even more complicated for the enemy to keep an eye on all four of them. Not impossible but not easy. He was about to order the communications system to set up a conference call with all ship COs and Squadron Leaders when his vision faded to black. At first he thought the helmet’s virtual display was malfunctioning but then the scene in front of him changed to the real Bridge. Tanaka was standing in front of him and talking to him.