The Synchronicity War Part 2 Read Free Page A

Station. Both of them had grim
expressions on their faces. Shiloh tried to project an expression
of serene confidence as he looked at them.

    “So they obviously know now that they’ve been
under surveillance. I doubt very much that they’ll still be in the
same orbit by the time the Strike Force gets there. If either of
you have any suggestions, now’s the time to offer them.” There was
silence for about five seconds.

    “Can the sentry fighters launch more recon
drones?” asked Tanaka. Shiloh shook his head.

    “Both of them launched all their recon drones in
order to make the initial contact. They still have a few message
drones and one attack drone, both totally unsuited for regaining
contact.” After a short pause, the Astrogator said.

    “If our no. 1 priority now is to figure out
where this enemy force is headed next, I think I may have a way to
do it.”

    “You’re right. That IS our no. 1 priority at the
moment. Go on.” said Shiloh. The Astrogator took a deep breath
before continuing.

    “Well…assuming that they intend to penetrate
deeper into our inhabited space, there are only two paths they can
follow from here, that make any kind of sense and a limited number
of star systems that have gas giants that they can reach from
Green4. So we calculate the trajectories, that this enemy force
would have to take to reach those systems, and we deploy a net of
recon drones across both trajectories. The drones will use
intermittent active scanning with evasive maneuvers between scans.
That will reduce the chance of being hit by laser fire unless the
enemy ships get close. To prevent that, the drones will be
accelerating in the same general direction as the enemy fleet. In
fact, I would even recommend having more than one net of drones. If
the first net is destroyed, the 2nd net can continue to track them
and if necessary a 3rd net as well. If we manage it right, the 3rd
net can last until the enemy actually jumps away.”

    “Which won’t do us any good.” said Tanaka
immediately.

    “Why not?” asked Shiloh.

    “If I was the alien commander and I saw wave
after wave of enemy recon drones retreating in front of me while
bombarding me with radar, it’d be obvious to me that the enemy is
trying to figure out where I intend to jump to next. So what I
would do is change the heading to aim at a completely neutral
destination, jump a couple of light years out of this star system,
and then reorient the fleet to my real destination.” The Astrogator
nodded.

    “Yes, I agree. That would be the logical thing
to do.” he said.

    “I’m still waiting for a USEFUL suggestion.”
said Shiloh. Neither of the other two responded. Shiloh leaned back
and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds, then said.

    “Let’s assume that they weren’t finished
refueling when they detected and destroyed the sentry fighters’
recon drones. They could have easily changed direction and resumed
refueling. If that’s the case, then we may have enough time for
Iceman’s Strike Force to be redirected to engage in a stern chase
and maybe catch up to them before they break out past the gravity
zone boundary.” The XO and the Astrogator looked at each other then
back at Shiloh.

    “What if the enemy fleet scans behind them as
they accelerate away from Green4A?” asked Tanaka.

    “Would you give yourself away by doing that,
after going to all the trouble of destroying the enemy’s recon
drones in order to disrupt enemy surveillance efforts?” asked
Shiloh.

    “Well, when you put it that way, I’d have to say
no but the Strike Force has to find them in order to be able to
attack them. How do we do that?”

    “Good ques…” Before he could finish his
response, Shiloh’s vision went black and his hearing went silent,
all for about a second and a half. The blackness was replaced with
a familiar scene of him standing in front of Admiral Howard’s desk.
This time he could hear Howard clearly.

    “Dammit, Shiloh, I don’t