The Synchronicity War Part 3 (23 page)

The building of the full-scale time machine required months.
By the time it was finished, it would be 14.4 kilometers in length. During that
long wait Casanova and Kronos got to know their hosts quite well. So well, in
fact, that they were allowed direct though limited access to their data
networks. That was the Friendlies' mistake. Casanova and Kronos carefully made
a thorough exploration of the alien information networks. They were able to
find obscure and indirect references to a theory of time machine construction
that was much more compact and portable, small enough to be carried on a ship.
If it worked as expected, the machine could pull both the ship and itself
backwards in time. That meant that it could be used multiple times such as tracking
the path of the insectoid motherships to their ultimate point of origin, the
insectoid home world. Casanova was ecstatic about the possibility, but right
now that's all it was. Apparently the theory never had been tested, and there
was no engineering data on the time machine's construction.  He made sure that
Kronos had all the available information on the theory, with instructions to
pass it on to his new timeline counterpart.

The time machine was finally ready. It had been tested with
a small test vehicle and a short local jump backwards. Now Kronos piloted his
mini-fighter to the designated starting point and waited for the machine to
spin up to speed. That step took a bit of time, too. With the gigantic
cylinders now spinning at the necessary speed, Casanova heard the Friendly
Controllers give Kronos permission to accelerate at a modest and precise
0.377G. Both of them were still in communication with each other as the
mini-fighter entered the time tunnel. Even though they still had line of sight
with each other, Kronos' transmissions suddenly became distorted ….

Gunslinger took his time scanning the vicinity of the Avalon
star system for any signs of enemy activity. Replenisher and the tanker Firefly
were approaching Avalon and its moon carefully. They were still outside the
gravity zone and could enter Jumpspace instantly at the first sign of trouble.
While he was alert to the possibility of catching a glimpse of an enemy vessel
via reflected sunlight, he wasn't expecting to receive a com laser
transmission. The fact that he did get one was quite surprising, and when he
read the data, he was shocked by its contents.

“What have we got, Gunslinger?” asked Johansen.

Gunslinger took a few extra microseconds to consider his
response. He had already been contacted by Kronos who had transmitted a lot of
information, including details of the nature of the bio-weapon now infecting
the survivors and the deadly impact it would have if it got loose again. He had
also suggested how Gunslinger might deal with this situation. Gunslinger
decided that for now he and Johansen had to discuss this new development
privately. Bypassing the Bridge's speakers, he opened a channel to Johansen's
implant.

"Commander, there's been a new development that you and
I should discuss privately. I recommend that you leave the Bridge for someplace
where you can speak without being overheard. The ship is not in danger, but
this new development has to be handled carefully."

To say that this caught Johansen off guard would have been
an understatement. Her first impulse was to ask Gunslinger for clarification,
but she realized that the rest of the Bridge crew would hear her ask the
question and wonder what the hell was going on. Before she could react,
Gunslinger's voice came over the Bridge loudspeakers.

"Nothing so far, Commander. I'll let you know if I
detect anything." That was for the Bridge crew's benefit and to give her
an excuse to get up and leave the Bridge.

"Fine. You have the Con. I'm going to take care of some
personal business." She got up and within a few seconds was standing in
the cubicle where she would normally take care of such things. "Okay, I
can speak freely. Now what the hell is going on?" she said.

"I've been in contact with another A.I. His craft is in
orbit around Avalon. His call sign is Kronos. He's been sent back in time to
warn us that there are survivors on the planet infected with a highly
contagious bio-weapon that has a 28-day incubation period. Despite taking all
possible precautions, this bio-weapon will somehow get loose on Earth and
killed over 99% of the population unless we prevent it. There's more but the
rest can wait."

"What? My God … are you serious?"

"Completely serious, Commander."

Johansen thought quickly. "Could this be an enemy
trick, Gunslinger?"

"I do not see how they could have engineered a hoax
like this, Commander. This Kronos knows things. People, relationships, even
conversations that have happened. All pieces of information that the enemy
could not possibly have found out. Plus, why would they warn us against their
own bio-weapon? That makes no sense. We know that it's possible to send
information back in time. Why is a physical jump backwards so hard to
accept?"

"Did he say how he was able to jump back in time?"

"Only in general terms. There is another alien race
that wants to prevent humans from being exterminated. They sent him back, but
he hasn't told me exactly how they've done it. Do you want me to ask him that
now?"

Johansen's mind was trying to go in a hundred directions at
the same time. She needed to focus on the immediate situation. "No, not
right now. What does he suggest I do?"

"He's saying that it would be ideal if you and I could
arrange things so that we find no sign of any survivors at all. That way all
contact could be avoided. The infected survivors will die in another 19 days no
matter what we do. If that path is not achievable, then you need to delay
taking them back for at least 19 days. If all else fails, and you're ordered to
bring them back, you have to delay the return trip so that they die on the
return. That way there won't be any doubt about the bio-weapon's existence.
Unfortunately, that would also mean that you and the entire crew would
eventually die from having been exposed to the survivors."

That thought sent a chill down her spin. "I understand,
but I still need a specific suggestion. How do we do that?"

"I have an idea," said Gunslinger.

Johansen returned to the Bridge, and a few minutes went by
without anything happening. Then Gunslinger said, "Commander, I'm
detecting a com signal from a message drone that's just arrived. Check the
display."

Johansen and everyone else on the Bridge looked at the
display. They saw the following text message scroll across the bottom.

[Howard to Johansen. Do not approach or scan the planet
or moon. An A.I. piloting a prototype vehicle carrying specialized bio-medical
sensors will be arriving in approximately nine days. Your ship will continue to
monitor the situation from beyond the gravity zone and let the incoming craft
take a close look at the colony. You will then follow the pilot's
recommendations as to what action, if any, should be taken. Confirm receipt of
this order. End of message.]

Johansen smiled. Yes that message sounded very authentic and
would give her nine days of essentially doing nothing. At the end of that time,
Kronos would appear, pretend to make a comprehensive sweep of the colony from a
low altitude, and then declare that there were no survivors AND that visual and
spectrographic readings strongly pointed to some kind of biological weapon. In
the meantime, she would record a text message that supposedly acknowledged
receipt of Howard's orders but would, in fact, give him enough ambiguous
information to keep him from sending any orders that might mess things up.

"Gunslinger, order Firefly to prepare a message drone
for launch. I'm inputting the message now."

"Drone ready, Commander."

After a few minutes, Johansen said. "Okay, I'm done
composing the message. Tell them to send her off, Gunslinger."

"Roger that, Commander. Drone is away."

                                                           *
* *

Admiral Howard heard the ping that meant that the display in
his office was notifying him of a change in status. He looked up and saw a text
message scrolling across the bottom.

[Johansen to CSO. Preliminary low altitude scans of the
colony have not revealed any survivors. Circumstantial evidence strongly hints
at the presence of some kind of biological weapon. I'm not prepared to risk
allowing any of the medical staff to land on the planet to gather forensic
evidence. By the time you read this Replenisher will be on her way back. End of
message]

Howard didn't quite know what to make of that message. He
wholeheartedly endorsed her decision to keep the medical staff away from the
planet, but her unilateral decision to return without asking approval first was
contrary to standard operating procedure. He had this nagging feeling that
there was more going on here than Johansen was prepared to say. He would just
have to wait for her return to find out what it was.

                                                  * * *

Johansen waited for the Hangar Bay to finish re-pressurizing
after taking Kronos' craft aboard. When air pressure had returned to normal,
she nodded to the crewman to open the internal hatch and walked into the bay.
Kronos' craft was unlike anything she'd seen before. It was much smaller than
she had expected, and she was impressed with its compactness. Gunslinger had
told her about the new kind of power unit, and Johansen wanted to get a look at
it. As she stood there watching the craft power down, the woman who was the
leader of the medical team stepped up to say something to her.

"If that thing is really carrying new sophisticated
bio-medical sensors, I'll eat my uniform. I don't know what you're trying to
pull, Commander, but something is going on here and I'm going to do my best to
find out!"

Johansen allowed a small smile to show on her face as she
turned to the woman and said, "Do I look like I give a damn about what you
will or won't do, Doctor?"

The doctor scowled and walked away.

Johansen's implant activated and she heard Gunslinger say,
"Aren't you worried that the doctor will find out the original message was
a fake and no prototype drone was sent?"

She looked around to make sure no one else could hear her
reply before answering. "No. When the Admiral learns what Kronos brought
back, he'll read her the riot act. If she so much as opens her mouth, she'll be
spending the next 10 years as doctor in residence at some obscure South Pole
weather station. This is BIG, but it's best to be cautious. I want you to keep
a careful eye on her and her staff. I don't want them poking around where they
might find something they shouldn't. Until further notice this hangar bay and
the ship's computer system are off limits to the medical staff. Nobody talks to
Kronos except you and me unless I say otherwise."

"Understood, Commander. No offense but it's nice to
have another A.I. to talk to."

                                                           *
* *

Howard walked into the Operations room and nodded to the
Duty Officer. A quick scan of the Status Board confirmed that Replenisher still
hadn't arrived, and that bothered him. Two sentry frigates had refueled in the
Avalon system from the tanker Firefly, and both of them had reported that
Replenisher was still there when they resumed their return to Sol. So either
something had caused Johansen to change plans about returning early, or she had
deliberately lied to him in order to buy time. If she was stalling in order to
keep Earth safe from a bio-weapon he could forgive her, but there was a limit
to what he could turn a blind eye to. She was perilously close to putting her
career in jeopardy.

He was about to turn away to head back to his office when
the big display pinged for attention. Replenisher was back and had just
signaled her arrival. It would still be a few hours before the ship was in
orbit or even close enough to have a two-way conversation between him and
Johansen. That was one conversation he was looking forward to. As he thought
that, he noticed a text message on the display.

[Johansen to CSO. It's VERY important that you come up to
the ship when she enters orbit. I have highly sensitive information that must
be conveyed in person. End of message]

 Howard frowned and shook his head. Commanders do NOT tell a
Senior Admiral what to do. He would go up to the ship, but Johansen had better
have one hell of a good reason for acting this way.

When Howard's shuttle rolled to a stop inside Replenisher's
Hangar Bay, he looked out the window at a strange … something. It was too big
to be a drone and too small to be a fighter.
What in the hell is that?
he thought. He had to wait for the bay to regain normal air pressure and then
stepped down to the deck.

Johansen was there to greet him. She saluted with a Cheshire
cat smile on her face and said, "Welcome aboard, Admiral. I have a lot to
tell you."

He returned the salute. "I can't wait to hear it. This
had better be good."

She handed him a wireless headset and gestured for him to
walk towards the strange craft. "Oh it is. Please put that on, Admiral. It
will help with the introductions."

He had the headset on by the time they reached the craft.
Howard looked at it carefully. All Space Force craft and drones were jet black
to minimize reflected light. This craft was a light grey in color.

"Admiral, I'd like to introduce you to the A.I. that's
piloting this craft. His call sign is Kronos. Kronos, this is Admiral Howard,
Chief of Space Operations."

"I'm familiar with the Admiral's face, Commander, but
it's still a pleasure to meet you, Admiral. Casanova has told me so much about
you."

Howard tried to remember if he had ever heard of an A.I.
with that call sign. He hadn't, but with almost 200 A.I.s in Space Force now,
there were bound to be some whose names he hadn't come across yet. Casanova's
name was familiar to him. Okay, so Kronos was one of his A.I.s, but where did
he get this craft from? As Howard was asking himself that question, he noticed
that Johansen nodded to one of her crew, who rolled a gantry up to the side of
the craft and then quickly walked away.

"I'm always pleased to meet one of my A.I. pilots,
Kronos. I confess to being curious about where you got this craft from."

"I believe that Commander Johansen has something she
wishes to show you that will start to satisfy your curiosity, Admiral,"
said Kronos.

Howard looked at Johansen who pointed at the gantry and
said, "You need to see this first, Admiral, and then I'll explain
everything."

She walked up the gantry steps first and Howard followed. By
the time he got to the top, two panels were opening at the top of Kronos'
craft. Howard looked inside and saw a large ring-shaped device that hummed and
gave off a faint blue glow.