The Synchronicity War Part 4 Read online

  Dietrich immediately stood up and started walking quickly to the doors. He gestured with his head for Shiloh to follow him. Shiloh took the hint and left the room as fast as possible. He and Dietrich found the quickest way to get out of sight of the Committee room. When they were back in that part of the building that was off limits to non-Space Force personnel, Dietrich said, "So...those sneaky bastards have thrown the red-hot potato into your lap. I have to hand it to them. They knew exactly how to get the most political advantage out of this and castrate us at the same time. By picking you because of your quote 'willingness to engage the Enemy' unquote, they've essentially put you on notice that Space Force had better go on the offensive pretty damn quick, or your head will be the next one to roll."

  Shiloh shook his head in confusion. "I don't understand why they think they have the upper hand again. They have to know that Space Force is crippled without the cooperation of the AIs, and the AIs will do what I say regardless of whether I'm the CSO or not."

  Dietrich nodded. "I don't understand this new willingness to push back either. Maybe they think they can bluff us into backing down. I don't really buy into that theory because it would require all of them to grow a new set of big, brass balls, and that's unlikely, them being the political animals that they are. What is more likely is that they've arranged something behind our backs that allows them to think they can deal with any potential withdrawal of service by the AIs. Don't ask me what that might be because I have no idea." He paused, then said, "One thing though. Having the title of CSO and the rank to go with it now gives you a lot of flexibility to act. My advice is to use it. Make them react to you, not the other way around. For their plan to work, they need to let you run with the ball for a while. So make the most of it...Sir."

  Shiloh blinked and was about to say that Dietrich didn't have to call him 'Sir' when he suddenly realized. Holy Mother of God! He does have to call me 'Sir'. Now I'm The Old Man!

  It was two hours later as Shiloh was getting settled in the CSO's office that the Committee Chair arrived for a chat. When they were both seated, Shiloh realized he felt he was sitting on the wrong side of the desk. It would take him a while to get used to sitting on THIS side. The Chair, a pugnacious man who was easy to dislike, leaned forward and took several cigars from the cigar box on Shiloh's desk without asking permission.

  After he lit one and had put the rest into his suit pocket, he said, "It seems that you've gotten over your shock from earlier this afternoon. That's good. The sooner you and I, as representative of the Committee, come to an understanding the better. Howard thought he had the upper hand after that disgusting show of force by the AIs, but we now have the upper hand. These infected colonies will enrage the public. They'll demand that we strike back hard and fast."

  Before he could say more, Shiloh spoke. "But that's not the best way to win this war. We have to have an overwhelming superiority in combat strength so that we can swat aside any defense they can muster and take control of their home world orbitals. When we do that, the War will be won." He stopped talking when he saw the Chair shake his head.

  "That may be the best way militarily, but it's not the most politically expedient way. Right now the politically expedient way also has the most popular support. You will conduct this war the way WE want, OR we'll replace you after the next enemy attack. Is that understood, Admiral?"

  After a short pause Shiloh said, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

  The man across from him chuckled. "The AIs? We're no longer afraid of your AIs, Admiral. If you want to play that card, you go right ahead."

  His tone of voice was one of supreme confidence. He actually WANTS me to arrange for another show of force! What has he got up his sleeve? I have to find out somehow. "So what exactly do you want me to do?" asked Shiloh.

  "Here's what we want done." The Chair held up his hand and used his fingers to count off the points. "First, no raiders. Tell the shipyards to cease working on them and resume work on building more combat frigates and heavy cruisers. Second, stop taking armor off the battleship. Why Howard ordered that I don't know, but we need that ship, so the armor goes back on. Third, all ships, including carriers and the battleship, will henceforth be operated and commanded solely by humans. No AIs. Fourth, we want a series of attacks on Enemy colonies as soon as they can be identified."

  It took Shiloh a couple of seconds to realize that the Committee STILL didn't know that Space Force now knew where all Sogas planets were.

  "Fifth, we want all personnel brought back from Site B. That was Howard's pet project, and it's so far away that we can't monitor what's going on there. So whatever it is that's really going on there, we want it stopped."

  Shiloh felt his anger rising. I have to keep calm. Letting him goad me into responding rashly will only play into his hands. "We're building more F1 fighters at Site B, as well as new AIs to pilot them," he said.

  "Not anymore. Why build more F1s at all when we're now building F2s and more AIs here? We are becoming way too reliant on AIs to fight this war. The AI and F1 production facilities at Site B are to be shut down as soon as is humanly possible. The personnel there will be brought back as soon as transportation can be arranged. I want your confirmation that you'll execute those instructions, Shiloh."

  Shiloh looked carefully at the Chair's expression. He looked like a man who has just drawn a line in the sand, and he was daring Shiloh to stop over it. Shiloh really didn't want to give in. Site B was now the only place where a new timeship could be built, but were humans really necessary to build it? Maybe Valkyrie and her AIs assistants could use the F1 assembly line robots to do the actual construction work. He needed time to investigate whether that was possible. One way to get the time was to appear to cooperate with the OC.

  "I will order the immediate halt to F1 and AI production at Site B and the repatriation of our people from there as soon as we can find the transport capacity," said Shiloh.

  "Very good. See, that wasn't so hard, was it? If you play ball with us, we'll cut you some slack in terms of your military priorities. How soon can your people plan for a fighter strike on an enemy colony, Admiral?"

  Shiloh decided he would try to buy more time. "Well, I'd want our light carriers fully repaired before we undertake an operation like—"

  "Forget the carriers. Our fighters can conduct a raid all on their own. They've proven it can be done, so let them do it. How soon?"

  "Two weeks minimum."

  The Chair looked like he wanted to reject that as too long but then apparently changed his mind. "Okay. I did say we'd cut you some slack, so you've got your two weeks to come up with an attack plan. In the meantime, we expect to see my five points being acted upon. I think that'll do for a start, so I'll leave you to it." Without another word the Chair got up and walked out.

  After the man had exited the outer office, the CSO's Aide, a nervous looking Lieutenant, appeared in the doorway with a folded piece of paper in his hand.

  "Excuse me, Sir. Admiral Dietrich stopped by while you were talking with the Chair. He gave me this to give to you." He handed the paper to Shiloh.

  The message was short.

  [The internal communications system has been compromised by the OC. Watch what you say and to whom you say it. SD.]

  Shiloh thanked the Lieutenant and leaned back in his chair. Somehow he would have to keep the OC happy for the 131 days until they could attempt to recover a dead Bug from Omega77 and the additional 32 days until they could try to intercept the VLO when it arrived at the Sogas home system. In the meantime, he would have to find a way to appease the OC with regards to their desire for raids on enemy colonies without suffering a lot of casualties among the AIs. That, Shiloh was certain, was the OC's real objective.

  One thing had to be done right away. Kronos had to be sent back to the Friendlies. Shiloh couldn't use his implant or the HQ com system to call him without risking interception. Kelly would have to go off planet and deliver the message directly. Any future communi
cations of a sensitive nature between him and his AIs would also have to be carried up to orbit by Kelly. It would be a pain in the ass, but it was the only way to be sure that the Committee didn't hear something they shouldn't hear.

  Chapter 7

  On the day after his appointment as the new CSO, Shiloh decided that he should make the rounds of the Headquarters building and introduce himself to the people working there. It was mid-day when he arrived at the Operations Center. After briefly chatting with the officer in charge, Shiloh went from station to station to chat with each of the personnel on duty. All the personnel seemed pleased by the attention from the new CSO and were willing to talk, except for the Senior Lieutenant at the Orbital Defense Weapons Station. As Shiloh made the rounds, he had noticed him watching, and the young officer's expression was one of concern. When it was his turn with the CSO, he seemed nervous and clearly did not want to look Shiloh in the eye. His answers were terse, almost to the point of being rude.

  During a pause in the conversation Shiloh took a close look at the console in front of the Officer. He recognized the weapons systems controlled from this station as being the growing clusters of Mark 5 X-ray laser drones in Earth orbit. There were already over a hundred in orbit now, with more being deployed almost every day. This was the key station that would repel another sogas or insectoid attack. As Shiloh looked at the three small screens facing the Officer, a part of one display caught his eye.

  [AI TARGETING STATUS - - - ON STANDBY

  O.C. COMMAND OVERRIDE STATUS - - OFF]

  Shiloh had enough presence of mind to keep his face from showing his shock. The Committee had secretly installed a command override that allowed them to aim all the Mark 5 X-ray laser warheads at all the AIs that were in or near Earth orbit. THAT was why the Chair was practically begging Shiloh to order the AIs to execute another show of force. If they did, the Committee would fire the Mark 5 warheads in a surprise attack and destroy any AI within range! They would then claim that the AIs had gone rogue and that the Committee had no choice but to defend the planet! Shiloh managed to exchange a few more pleasantries with the sullen Officer and then walked away. Outwardly he appeared calm, but inside he was boiling with rage. Those stupid bastards! If Humanity turned on its AIs, they would lose their loyalty forever and deservedly so!

  By the time Shiloh calmed down, he realized that he was on the roof of the building, just like that day when Howard brought him up here to chat. The brisk breeze felt good on his face, and he decided that this was as good a place as any to think about what to do next. He had to pretend that he didn't know about this betrayal, otherwise the OC might just go ahead and use it without provocation. He had to find a way to either disable the override or the targeting system without compromising the use of the drones against legitimate targets, but he had no idea of how to do that. That meant he had to find someone who did know AND was willing to technically commit sabotage, which under Space Force regulations was a very serious offense. Kelly was back from her mission to brief Kronos about his return flight to the Friendlies. He needed to brief her on this new development, and it had to be someplace where there was no chance of the OC listening in, so his and her quarters were out. It didn't take long to come up with the idea of the two of them having dinner at one of the out-of-the-way restaurants in the city. A nice, quiet booth at the back should be pretty safe. He went back to his office, gave his Aide some instructions and spent the rest of the working day reading reports and dictating memos.

  The sun was just starting to set when Shiloh and Kelly, now wearing civilian clothes, rendezvoused at the street level in front of the main entrance to the HQ. They briefly kissed. It was obvious by now that EVERYONE knew about their romance, and while a relationship between a subordinate and her superior was frowned upon, there wasn't an actual regulation against it. Still, by mutual consent, they tried not to flaunt it.

  Half an hour later, they were seated in a comfortable booth at the back of a small restaurant with dim lighting. Shiloh's Aide had done some research and claimed the establishment was highly recommended. It was one of the few restaurants that still hired human waiters to serve customers instead of automated bars and robotic food carts.

  With the drinks and meal ordered, Kelly leaned over and said in a low voice. "Something's bothering you. I can tell."

  Shiloh nodded. "You're right. I made a discovery today that makes me want to strangle those OC bastards." Even though he spoke in an equally low tone, Kelly could hear the rage threatening to break through.

  "What did they do now?"

  "They've added a backdoor override on the orbital defenses to allow them to fire on all AIs within range."

  Kelly looked so shocked that Shiloh was afraid she wouldn't believe him.

  "My God! That's monstrous! Do the AIs know?"

  Shiloh shook his head. "Not yet, and we have to be careful about how we tell them. We can't risk using the HQ Com System. One of us, and I think it'll have to be you to avoid suspicion, will have to go to one of the carriers, talk privately to whichever AI is in command, and advise him to use the lasercom system to pass the information on to the others."

  Kelly took a deep breath and nodded. "I can take a shuttle up as soon as we're finished here." She looked surprised when Shiloh shook his head.

  "No. If the OC is monitoring our movements, and we have to assume that they are, that'll look suspicious. They're so goddamned paranoid now that if they suspect we know, they may use the override right then and there. Wait until tomorrow. Catch a ride on a scheduled shuttle flight to one of the carriers. It doesn't matter which one. Tell the AI in Command that the OC is looking for an excuse to use the override, and therefore our best counter-strategy is to not give them any excuse while I look for a way to covertly neutralize the threat. You should also tell them not to react in any way that would arouse suspicion. Tell them I'm working on a plan to find an excuse to move them out beyond the effective range of the Mark 5 warheads. If the Committee wants to see plans for a fighter strike on enemy planets, then I'll accommodate them. We're not going to wait two weeks to present the attack plans. I want the SPG to come up with a strike plan within 48 hours that uses all available fighters."

  Kelly reacted as expected. "But we don't want to send our fighters on strike missions because the enemy would be warned and our fighters could be heading into an ambush!"

  Shiloh smiled. "The OC wants our fighters sent on strike missions hoping they'll suffer losses from enemy action. What they will see is lots of fighters heading out, away from the Mark 5 warheads by the way, and at the appropriate time a much smaller number of fighters returning without any unused attack drones. They will assume that the attacks actually took place and we'll confirm that assumption with After-Action reports that describe fierce battles and heroic action on the part of our AIs. What they won't know is that the attacks never actually took place and that the destroyed fighters are actually holding station a long way out beyond Pluto with all of the Mission's attack drones, just in case we need them to defend Earth against a Sogas attack."

  "Yes, of course. I like it," said Kelly. After a pause she said, "What about the override? Any idea on how to neutralize it?"

  "I know what I'd like to do, but I don't know if it can be done that way. For the override to work, the system has to aim the warhead rods at AI-controlled fighters. When that command is issued, targeting instructions will be sent to the warheads based on the transponder signals that all fighters send when they're in Earth orbit. If the system tells the operator that the command to target the fighters has not been executed, then there's no point in ordering the warheads to fire. So if we can somehow modify the system to keep the targeting command on standby no matter what the operator does, then the fighters are safe. And if we have enough warning of any attempt to use the override, we'll contact the fighters and tell them to shut off their transponders. You and I will have to come up with a code word that will let the AIs know to shut down their transponders and accelerate ou
t of Earth orbit. That same code word should also notify our human ship commanders that something is up, although I'm not sure what I want them to do in that kind of situation. "

  "What do you mean?" asked Kelly.

  Shiloh shrugged. "Well, do we want our human ship commanders to only obey my orders or only Titan's orders or only YOUR orders. You see what I'm getting at? If the OC is about to strike against the AIs and they find out their override won't work, they may relieve me of my position and tell Ops to order our carriers, and whatever combat frigates may be available, to fire on the AIs. Unless our ship commanders know that they're supposed to ignore that kind of order, they may end up doing the OC's dirty work.

  Before Kelly could respond, the waiter came back with their drinks. When he left, she said, "Now that I'm thinking of possible scenarios, I don't think one code word will be enough to cover all contingencies. I can think of several different situations where we might want our human commanders to act differently too." She waited for Shiloh to take a sip from his drink and respond.

  "I don't want to make this more complicated than we have to. I'll be interviewing candidates, for carrier command assignments, who will be taking over from the AIs. We could give them each a data chip with very specific orders from me that they are not to fire on our fighters or any other AI-controlled ship under any circumstances. If ordered to do so, they are to only obey verbal orders from me...or from you, as long as they hear the correct code phrase or don't hear the wrong code phrase. That should cover all possibilities, shouldn't it?"