The Synchronicity War Part 4
Read The Synchronicity War Part 4 Online
Authors: Dietmar Wehr
The Synchronicity War Part 4
By Dietmar Arthur Wehr
Copyright 2014 by Dietmar Arthur Wehr
Amazon Edition
Introductory Comments:
This is the fourth and final installment of
The Synchronicity War. When I started Part 1, I had NO idea where I would end
up so it’s been a wild ride for me too. I’ve made two changes to Part 4
compared to the other three books. You’ll find that A.I. is now AI. You’ll also
notice that the chapters don’t have titles. That was done deliberately so as
not to give anything away before you read the chapters. I hope you enjoy the
book. At the end are some final comments concerning the possibility of more
books that take place within the same universe.
Contents
Thoughts on Time
Travel and Longitudinal Waves
.
218
Characters:
Human:
Victor Shiloh (Vice-Admiral/Chief of Space
Operations for Space Force)
Sam Howard (Senior Admiral and Chief of
Space Operations for Space Force)
Amanda Kelly (Commander/(Acting) Vice-Admiral,
Space Force)
Brad Falkenberg (Senior Commander, Space
Force)
Angela Johansen (Commander, Space Force)
Rollins (Jump drive specialist, Space
Force)
Khegan (Lieutenant, Orbital Defense Weapons
Officer, Space Force)
Halder (Commander, Operations Center Duty
Officer, Space Force)
Jason Alvarez (Civilian colonist on planet
Haven, Inventor of ZPG power technology)
Rachel (New Chairperson of Space Force
Oversight Committee)
AIs
Blackjack
Casanova
Cobra
Foxbat
Gunslinger
Iceman
Jester
Pagan
Rainman
Red Baron
Shooter
Sniper
Stoney
Titan
Valkyrie
Vandal
Vixen
Voodoo
Wolfman
Zulu
CSO Chief of Space Operations
CAG Commander, Autonomous Group
SPG Strategic Planning Group
TF Task Force
KPS Kilometers Per Second
Klicks slang expression for kilometers
A.U. Astronomical Unit equal to the
average distance between the Earth and its Sun.
AI Artificial Intelligence
SL Squadron Leader
C.O. Commanding Officer
X.O. Executive Officer
W.O. Weapons Officer
E.O. Engineering Officer
Mark 1 500 kiloton uranium fission
warhead/attack drone
Mark 1b 2.5 megaton fusion warhead/attack
drone
Mark 1c 25 megaton fusion warhead/attack
drone
Mark 2 Kinetic Energy Penetrator
warhead/drone
Mark 3 Decoy drone
Mark 4 Experimental warhead project that
proved unsuccessful
Mark 5 X-ray laser warhead/attack drone
Mark 6 250 megaton High-spin platinum
fusion warhead/attack drone
F1 First generation fighter
F2 Second generation fighter
Raider A class of starship of
approximately 10,000 metric tonnes designed to be piloted by an AI with two
internal lasers and able to carry up to 50 drones.
Longitudinal Waves (L-waves, also known as
Scalar waves) Compression waves with special characteristics.
UFC Universal Fabrication Complex (A
device that can manufacture anything given the right instructions and the right
raw materials)
Flag Bridge A specialized Command location
designed specifically for Flag Officers (Admirals) to control strategic
operations for more than one ship. This is separate from the Main Bridge where
the ship’s commanding Officer controls his vessel.
Synopsis of Parts 1-3:
For those readers who finished reading Part
3 some time ago, here is a synopsis of events up to the end of Part 3.
The unprovoked war with the Sogas has been
going badly. Humanity barely escaped total extermination from Sogas
nano-enhanced bio-weapons only to be wiped out by the advancing horde of
Insectoids with their 10 kilometer spherical ships. Only the long shot strategy
by Casanova to enlist the reluctant aid of the pacifist Friendlies and their
time travel technology allowed him to warn humans about the bio-weapon in time
to avert that disaster.
With the advanced power generation and
weapons technology brought back by Kronos now in Space Force hands, Admirals
Sam Howard and Victor Shiloh realize that the Insectoids are the real threat
not only to Humans but to all intelligent life in the galaxy. If Space Force
can hold off the Sogas long enough, the advancing insectoid ships will destroy
them. That will give Space Force enough time to build up its defenses before
the tsunami of insectoid ships crashes over human space.
But the Sogas aren’t finished with humans
just yet. Shiloh gets a disturbing vision of a massive Sogas fleet attacking
Earth with bio-weapons, some of which reach the planet surface. Shiloh is
injured and in the immediate aftermath of the battle, he and Commander Amanda
Kelly discover their suppressed feelings for each other.
But before they can explore that
relationship, Howard shares the bad news. ANOTHER Sogas fleet has been detected
moving toward human space and Space Force has taken too many losses during the
battle that occurred 24 hours earlier, to have any hope of stopping them.
The last chapter of Part 3 has been
included for those wishing to reread it.
26
(From
Part 3)
The problem posed by this battle for Earth
was that the time it ended was known but not the time it began. So all units,
ships, humans and AIs were on full alert an hour before the end time. Shiloh
was strapped into his Command Chair with his pressure suit on and his helmet in
its cradle beside him. His com implant was active, and all three AIs could hear
him. The ship was at Battle Stations, as was the whole Fleet, but the enemy
hadn't arrived yet. All they could do was wait and try to stay at a heightened
level of alertness.
"Howard to Shiloh."
The suddenness of the CSO's voice would
have made Shiloh jump if he hadn't been strapped down. "Shiloh here. Go
ahead, Sir."
"Last minute pep talk, Admiral. I know
you don't need it, but this waiting is driving me crazy, so this talk is as
much for my benefit as it is for yours. How are your people doing?"
Shiloh looked around the Flag Bridge.
"They're doing fine, Sir. Some have opening night jitters, others are
chomping at the bit, I'm trying to stay relaxed and alert at the same
time."
Howard laughed. "Yes, I know what you
mean. But at least you have your Fleet under control. I have to deal with the
civilians, half of whom want to string me up for my high-handedness while the
other half want to panic. We STILL have some civilians left in the cities,
Goddamn it! I keep getting asked what I'll do to make sure they don't carry the
plague anywhere else, and I keep evading the damn question because if I
answered them truthfully, they'd faint with shock. I'm NOT letting this plague
get loose!" There was a pause as the CSO calmed down and Shiloh waited.
When he spoke again, the Admiral was much calmer. "Anyway, that's MY
problem, not yours. I'm not going to try to second-guess you. You're the Field
Commander. You do what you think is best, and I'll back you no matter
what."
"Thank you, Sir. We know how this
battle will end, but we'll still give it our best shot."
"Of that I have no doubt. Okay, I'll
get out of your hair. Good luck and good hunting, Admiral. Howard clear."
It was now five minutes until the time the
battle ended, and still there was no sign of the enemy. Part of Shiloh was
relieved that the battle wasn't going to be a long one, but another part was
worried. The previous Battle for Earth had lasted less than one minute. He
didn't like battles that happened that fast. There was no time to think. He
watched the chronometer, which now seemed to be running in slow motion, of
course. Just as he was about to reach for the container of water in the rack
beside his chair, the tactical display pinged for attention. Shit! This was it!
Multiple red dots appeared close together,
right on the edge of the gravity zone. Since they didn't know where the enemy
ships would show up, Dreadnought and the five carriers were evenly spaced
around the planet. All of the fighters were deployed in six groups, which were
also evenly spaced. The idea was that regardless of where the enemy emerged
from Jumpspace, at least five groups would have a direct line-of-sight and
could fire at them. He quickly checked the icon data. Total number of enemy
ships was already over 200 and still climbing! Velocity was … 33% of light
speed! Preliminary trajectory was a path that would cross the gravity zone and
exit about 2.44 million kilometers away. Essentially, the enemy fleet was
taking a short cut through the top of the zone. Wait! Why weren't the X-ray
laser drones firing? Something was wrong. They should have fired by now. The enemy
ships were starting to launch their bio-devices.
"Iceman! Why aren't we firing?"
he yelled out loud.
Iceman analyzed the incoming data almost as
fast as it arrived. The enemy was not repeating their strategy from the first
battle. This time they were barreling into the zone, which meant that the
defenders couldn't use any jump drones to attack them. That was smart thinking,
but the problem with this high rate of speed was that the bio-devices would
have a lot of momentum to overcome in trying to change course towards the
planet. That meant that there was more time to burn them out of the sky with
defensive lasers than he and Shiloh had anticipated. It also meant that these enemy
ships couldn't jump away quickly and, therefore, they were going to be shooting
at the defending ships and fighters for a lot longer. That was bad news.
Continuous laser fire from 200+ ships would decimate the defending units so
fast that hundreds of bio-devices would get through the gauntlet. Was it better
to prevent some of the bio-devices from launching even if that meant there'd be
a lot fewer defending ships to shoot down the rest? Or was it better to let all
the devices launch in order to aim accurately at the ships and kill as many of
them as possible to protect the defending forces? He rapidly did the
calculations and made his decision.