The Retro War, page 9
“Understood, Sir.”
“Good. CSO clear.”
Shiloh took her time finishing her shower. It might take hours for Dreadnought to decelerate enough to maneuver for a micro-jump close to TerraB. Kawasaki was once again flexing his authority as CSO, expecting people to say ‘how high’ when he told them to jump, but she honestly couldn’t see what the urgency was. It was likely that both of them would be standing around for hours waiting for the ship to get into two-way com range. On the other hand, she was curious about how Iceman got to be in command of Dreadnought and what had happened to Thor.
A half hour after the CSO’s call, Shiloh stepped into the Operations room. Kawasaki gave her a disapproving look from across the room, but by the time she got close, his face had reacquired its usual impenetrable look.
“She’s at least another 34 minutes from her micro-jump, but Iceman did send a second, more detailed message,” said Kawasaki as he handed her a data tablet.
Her eyes widened as she read it. My God! What kind of mess have we gotten ourselves into? she thought before saying, “So Dreadnought is damaged. That means she’ll be out of action for weeks, maybe months.”
Kawasaki nodded but took his time responding. “There’s more. Our recon team at Alpha3 sent an L-wave signal 13 minutes ago. A very large ship has arrived there. It’s too far away from the team for them to be sure at this point, but it could be an Insectoid mothership.”
Shiloh felt a chill go down her spine. So the Friendlies weren’t lying about a resurgent insectoid threat. She looked at the main display’s sidebar where TerraB’s Space Force assets were listed. The fighter force was back up to almost 300 fighters now, but in terms of larger assets, all they had operational at the moment were half a dozen freighters and a damaged Dreadnought. No one had expected to have to fight not one but two deadly enemies at the same time. There was only one shipyard big enough to build a warship, and it would be used to repair Dreadnought. She wondered how long it would take to build another shipyard of comparable size.
“We have to build more ships, and we have to do it fast,” said Shiloh.
Kawasaki didn’t say yes, but he also didn’t say no. Instead he remarked, “I’ve already asked the SPG to make recommendations."
Neither one of them said anything else until Iceman was close enough for two-way communication. Shiloh was right. They did stand around for over an hour waiting for that. When the ship finally emerged from its final micro-jump just under three light seconds from TerraB, Shiloh heard Iceman’s voice for the first time over the Operations loudspeakers.
“ACO Iceman to Operations.”
Shiloh looked at Kawasaki, expecting that he would want to respond. He looked back at her and gave a quick tilt of his head in the direction of the speakers. He wanted her to answer.
“Operations here. Welcome to TerraB, Iceman. You can bring Dreadnought to the main shipyard. We’ll start work on her repairs immediately,” she said.
“Is this DCAG Victoria Amanda Shiloh?” asked Iceman.
“That’s correct. Thor must have told you about me.”
“That, plus recordings of your voice. My brothers and I are honored to meet a cousin of The CAG.”
Shiloh blushed. Everyone on TerraB knew about Victor Shiloh. Valkyrie and Casanova had seen to that. Up until now, the man had always seemed more myth and legend than a real person.
“We’ve heard a lot about you and your brothers too, Iceman. I certainly wasn’t expecting to be speaking with you in my lifetime. I’ve read your detailed report. What you don’t know yet is that a suspected insectoid mothership has been detected at Alpha3. Given that new information, what is your assessment of the situation and the best strategy we should pursue now?”
“We do not know for certain that the Friendlies are telling the truth about the re-appearance of the Insectoids occurring sooner than it otherwise would have. Even if that is in fact the case, the retrieval of myself and my brothers to this time has made the restoration of the Rim timeline a virtual impossibility. There is no way now that I or my brothers could use a time machine to return to anywhere in the last 16.5 years because we’d be at risk of the catastrophic collapse of our matrices due to being in two places at the same time. In theory, if hundreds of entirely different AIs were transported back in time with the same fleet of 500 raiders available to them, and if they did exactly the same things we did, at exactly the same times and places, then the timeline might revert to what it was. However, there are so many variables where something might be done differently that even we can’t calculate the exact probability of success except in terms of orders of magnitude.
“That implies that we now have the following two options with regards to the situation on the Rim and the Insectoid incursions. We can either let the Trell continue to fight off the initial incursion themselves, or we can take pre-emptive action to prevent that, which would mean that we would have to send back or create enough force back then to destroy the Insectoid beachheads as effectively as possible. The second option would be relatively easy to do if we don’t care about restoring the old timeline. Thor shared with us the data about when and where the Insectoids first tried to set up their bases, which Valkyrie had passed on to the next generation of AIs here at TerraB. If we were to choose the second option, then the obvious course of action would be to hit the Trell hard enough and early enough that they wouldn’t be able to build their anti-Insectoid fleet. That will not take care of the direct help they’re getting from the future. The two ships that tried to ambush Dreadnought at Site C are clearly from the future, and they have to be dealt with separately. We should also assume that the Trell understand how important their own home system timeline is, and that they will send back additional ships to defend it. The technology those two ships demonstrated is more advanced that what we have right now. They are somehow able to deflect or mitigate our gravity lens beam weapons, and our gamma-ray lasers weren’t as effective as they should have been. Before we send Dreadnought back, we’ll have to develop new weapons and new defenses.”
“But if we hit them with Mark 9s, wouldn’t that be sufficient?” asked Shiloh.
“At the Site C ambush battle, it very likely will be, because we already know exactly where the enemy ships will be. However, if we encounter more of those ships at the Trell home system, we may not have the precise targeting data that we’d need in order to fire our Mark 9s from beyond the enemy’s energy weapon range. In addition to that consideration, we also need to keep in mind that we will only get one more chance at defeating the Trell in the past. If Dreadnought is forced to retreat from battle at the Trell home system, she can’t come back to the present via a relativistic flight profile because there won’t be another group of AIs that could pilot the ship back without running into the risk of matrix collapse. Dreadnought has to win both at Site C and at the Trell home system this time, or we lose the Retro War, DCAG,” said Iceman.
Shiloh saw Kawasaki close his eyes and nod his understanding. Now that Iceman had articulated that constraint, it was obvious that they had only one more chance to set things right. She thought about which group of AIs was occupying what segment of the timeline and realized with a shock that Iceman and his Rim AIs would not be able to take Dreadnought back 16.5 years to rescue Thor and the other TerraB AIs. They already existed back then and, as a result of the relativistic flight to the void and back, also all along the last 16.5 years.
“Dreadnought will have to be crewed by a completely new group of AIs,” said Shiloh.
“You’re very perceptive, DCAG. The only way that my brothers and I could take Dreadnought back would be to leave Thor and his group where they are and let the new timeline take care of them. A completely new AI crew would be able to pick them up, but it’s not clear what advantage that would have. Thor’s group is already back at the Site C ambush time. If we want to catch those two enemy ships just after Dreadnought left the battle, we can’t take Thor’s group back there again.”
“Yes, of course. I for one am glad that we have your experience and strategic insight, Iceman. I have no further questions for you at this time. Did you want to ask Iceman something, Admiral?” Shiloh asked Kawasaki.
“No questions, no. I’ll make sure our SPG and our technical AIs are encouraged to consult with you and your group, Iceman. I have a feeling that we have to get Dreadnought back in action as quickly as possible. The Trell know we exist, and they’ll be looking for us. CSO clear.”
Shiloh was about to speak when she heard Iceman’s distinctive electronic voice over her implant instead of the loudspeakers.
“Why do human CSOs feel the need to state the obvious, DCAG? Admiral Howard on Earth was the same way.”
Shiloh suppressed the urge to giggle. Kawasaki would have heard it. In a quiet voice she said, “What can I say? It’s a human thing.”
“Indeed,” was Iceman’s reply.
Shiloh was more busy in the next eight weeks than she had ever been. The easy part was replacing Dreadnought’s lost armor and fixing the time machine. The hard part was coming up with new weapons and defenses. It was defenses where the first breakthrough came. If Dreadnought had to fight at close range, she would have to defend against another barrage of micro-jumping nuclear-tipped missiles. It was Gunslinger who asked if the gravity lens beam could be used as an anti-missile shield. He was thinking more in terms of intercepting the missiles before they entered Jumpspace, but his question triggered a flash of inspiration from one of the human weapon techs. If the beam could be widened enough, it might be able to force the missiles to drop out of Jumpspace prematurely, in the same way that jumping into a planet’s gravity zone would. That would give Dreadnought’s lasers time to act in an anti-missile role. With the combined data processing ability of thousands of AIs, the trick to converting the narrow, atom crushing beam into a wider but more diffuse gravity shield was conceived. It was easy to conduct a proof-of-concept field test. It worked perfectly.
The breakthrough in offensive systems was a lot harder and took longer. Careful analysis of the radar data from Dreadnought’s brief combat with the two enemy ships at Site C suggested one possible explanation for the poor results of her weapons. If the enemy was somehow distorting the return signals from Dreadnought’s radars and lidars, then her gamma-ray lasers and GLBs might simply have missed their targets altogether. Without more combat-generated data to work from, it was impossible to figure out how the enemy did it and what Dreadnought could do to counter-act it. Unless they could be sure of exactly where the enemy ships were, firing Mark 9s at them wasn’t the answer either. They could easily fire a hundred Mark 9s and not get a single hit. A completely different approach was needed.
Again it was human out-of-the-box thinking that generated the basic idea. A hundred drones might not be enough to get a hit, but a thousand might and ten thousand almost certainly would. Mark 9s were big, though, and each F6 fighter could only carry one at a time. That limited the number of Mark 9s that could be fired to a few hundred. But if a very small jump capable device could be designed, each F6 fighter might be able to carry dozens of them, and Dreadnought herself might be able to fire large volleys as well. The initial idea was to take a page from the enemy’s playbook and arm the small drones with a low-yield warhead. Someone pointed out that if the mini-drones happened to emerge from Jumpspace inside the enemy ship, the warhead might not explode due to damage from emerging inside a solid object like a bulkhead. The idea was almost thrown out right then and there except that someone else had the inspired idea of turning the whole concept around. Instead of trying to avoid jumping into the inside of the enemy ship, why not aim for exactly that, but with a warhead that could not be damaged and that would cause a lot of physical damage merely by passing through. When asked what kind of warhead could do that, the answer was a long, narrow rod of very dense metal, either tungsten or depleted uranium. On impact, even at relatively low speeds, the kinetic energy would gouge out a path of destruction that could damage vital systems.
The AIs quickly came up with a simple design. The missile would be unguided since once it was in Jumpspace it wouldn’t be able to track its target. It would contain the tungsten rod, a power unit, maneuvering engine and a jump drive. The fighter or ship that launched it would program the maneuvering engine for acceleration, and the jump drive for the length of the micro-jump. It would also have to point the missile in the right direction before launching it. A rotary launcher was designed to hold 36 missiles and fit into a fighter’s payload bay. All 36 missiles could be rapid fired within six seconds.
That was all well and good, but another problem soon became apparent. With the time machine taking up almost all of Dreadnought’s cargo space, the ship had a limited ability to carry spare missiles and launchers to replace those already loaded aboard her fighters. Sacrificing fighters to make room turned out to be counter-productive. The effectiveness of a massive barrage of kinetic missiles diminished quite quickly as the number of missiles fired went down. Building another ship with its own time machine would take far too long. However, a freighter loaded to the gills with spare missiles and launchers could be modified to grab on to Dreadnought when she jumped back through time. The simulations said it would work. They would find out if it worked in practice when they tried it for real.
When it came time to pick Dreadnought’s AI crew, Iceman insisted that he and his Rim AIs be allowed to take her back.
“Because of our relationships with The CAG in previous timelines, we have a special interest in seeing Earth’s timeline restored. We will not rest until that goal is accomplished. In addition, we have actual experience that a new group of AIs won’t have. That may prove to be the difference between success and failure,” said Iceman.
Kawasaki took a few seconds to consider Iceman’s plea before answering. “Your request is approved, Iceman. Hopefully you can also find a way to rescue Thor and his group from a quick death.”
“We will of course try, Admiral.”
Chapter Ten
TerraB system at T plus 255 days
By the time Dreadnought was repaired, upgraded and loaded, there was more news from the Rim. Alpha3 confirmed that their reflected contact was indeed an insectoid mothership, but only one of the 10-15 kilometers diameter variety, not the 100+ kilometers super-motherships. The sentries at Alpha5 and 6 also reported confirmed insectoid motherships. The smaller than expected sizes of the bug ships was good news. That meant that the two Mark 9s would be enough to cripple each mothership, and three drones would destroy it.
Kawasaki approved the deployment of fighter squadrons armed with Mark 9 drones. Getting there as a unit would be a challenge. A single jump straight from TerraB to the Alpha system would end up with all the fighters scattered over a wide area, due to very tiny differences in jump drive calibration magnified over hundreds of light years. That would not do. The solution was to aim for a star system that was very close to the Alpha system and one that did not have any habitable planets. Those kinds of systems would not be of interest to the Insectoids, and therefore were virtually guaranteed to be empty. The fighters could then spend whatever time they needed finding one another and reforming the squadron. Their final jump to the Alpha system would be short enough that they would emerge relatively close to each other. Shiloh approved of the plan and issued the necessary orders.
Saying goodbye to Dreadnought was a strange experience for Shiloh. Once again she had that feeling of finality due to the fact that if the mission was successful, her whole timeline would be different, and she wouldn’t even remember these events. In the new timeline, she still would come into contact with Iceman, Gunslinger et al, but they would have to explain to her why and how they were there. In terms of her present awareness and memory, though, it was highly unlikely that she would see these AIs again. Shiloh was also keenly aware that Iceman and his group were somehow…different from Thor and the other TerraB AIs that she knew so well. They seemed larger than life somehow. That phrase seemed silly when she heard the words in her mind, but it still felt right. She shrugged the feeling off and returned her attention to the Operations display, which showed Dreadnought just about reaching jump speed.
A text message moved across the bottom of the display. That was also something different about Iceman and his group. TerraB’s AIs almost never used that form of communication, but Iceman had used it multiple times during the preceding eight weeks.
[Dreadnought to DCAG. We’re ready to jump. I wish Valkyrie could see me in command of this ship. She’d be jealous. Just sayin.]
By the time the message was finished scrolling across the display, Dreadnought’s and her accompanying freighter’s icons had disappeared. The Mission was underway.
* * *
The first leg of Dreadnought’s mission was through Jumpspace, from TerraB to a nondescript, otherwise empty star system a short jump away from Site C. There the freighter used its grapples to grab onto Dreadnought’s hull, and the time-jump was attempted. With careful Astrogational analysis confirming that both ships had jumped back 22.5 years, the freighter stayed where it was while Dreadnought made another, much shorter trip through Jumpspace to the outer edges of the Site C system. The AIs on board the freighter were disappointed that they were not allowed to take the freighter to Site C too, but Iceman was concerned that the freighter, which was not designed to be stealthy, would be easily detected by the enemy ships and destroyed. If Dreadnought’s fighters needed to be rearmed, the ship would rendezvous with the freighter for that purpose.
