The Synchronicity War Part 3 Read Online Free
Author: Dietmar Wehr
anyone who has already done an interstellar recon mission stays
here. Those A.I.s who seem to have a greater than average ability for strategic
or tactical thinking should be given priority because they may be put in
command of detached forces down the road. The more experience they get, the
better."
"Good. That means Casanova stays here," said
Valkyrie. Both Shiloh and Kelly chuckled. Kelly had been keeping Shiloh up to
date on Casanova's persistent efforts, as relayed to her by Valkyrie, to pursue
some kind of hard-to-understand cybernetic 'union' with Valkyrie. This made no
sense to Shiloh and he suspected none to Kelly either.
"Iceman, how are we fixed for drones?" asked
Shiloh.
"You name it, we got it, CAG. All the escort raiders
can carry full loads of whatever you want, even Mark 1bs with fusion warheads.
Although if they loaded up on those exclusively, there would only be enough
left to give one to each of the remaining raiders for local defense."
"No. The escort force will only carry one Mark 1b each
but I want each of them to also carry two Long Range High Speed message drones
and the rest of their payload can be recon drones. Resolute already has the
standard load-out for this type of mission. The Mark 1bs are merely a
precaution. I'm not expecting trouble and I intend to avoid it if at all
possible. We know from my vision that this new race could very well turn out to
be hostile but the mission objective is to attempt peaceful contact and gather
information about them. The attack drones will only be used as a last resort.
Iceman and Valkyrie, I want both of you to make sure that the escort force
pilots understand that completely."
"We've just told them, CAG," said Valkyrie.
"Well, now that we've got that settled, let's talk
about departure time. Are we finished loading supplies aboard Resolute,
Valkyrie?"
"She's all topped up and ready to leave the second you
give the word, CAG."
"Very good," said Shiloh. He turned to look at
Kelly who looked back at him with an expression that he knew indicated the fear
she was trying very hard not to show. "As soon as the escort force has
been loaded as instructed, we'll leave orbit."
"That'll be in approximately 34 minutes, CAG,"
said Iceman.
"Fine. I'll be aboard Resolute by then. Unless there's anything else, this
meeting is adjourned."
With the meeting over, Shiloh and Kelly walked slowly to the
shuttle that would take him to Resolute. She put her arms around his neck and
hugged him as fiercely as her pregnant body let her. He hugged her back as
fiercely as he dared.
"I know you'll come back, so I won't tell you to be
careful, but I will tell you to get this damn mission over with as fast as you
can, okay?" she said in a husky whisper.
"Roger that, Boss," said Shiloh and they both
laughed. After a long, tender kiss she let him go and he boarded the shuttle.
Chapter 2 Quiet As A Tomb
Resolute's Bridge was as quiet as a tomb. That was partly
due to the fact that with Helm, Weapons and Astrogation handled by Valkyrie,
they didn't need as many humans on the Bridge as usual. Shiloh wasn't alone,
though. Communications, Flight Ops and Engineering were handled by human crew
in order to lighten Valkyrie's load so she could concentrate on the important
stuff. She still had direct access to Communications if she needed it. Shiloh
looked over at the Flight Ops station and nodded his approval. Resolute wasn't
carrying any fighters. They had been left behind on Earth's moon when TF 91
left for Site B, but that didn't mean the Hangar Bay was empty. Far from it.
The carrier now held eight personnel shuttles modified with their own jumpdrives
and ZPG power units. They would act as FTL lifeboats if the carrier had to be
abandoned, since none of the escorting raiders had the capacity to carry human
passengers directly. The raiders could carry the shuttle/lifeboats attached to
their hulls externally and would if the need arose
here. Those A.I.s who seem to have a greater than average ability for strategic
or tactical thinking should be given priority because they may be put in
command of detached forces down the road. The more experience they get, the
better."
"Good. That means Casanova stays here," said
Valkyrie. Both Shiloh and Kelly chuckled. Kelly had been keeping Shiloh up to
date on Casanova's persistent efforts, as relayed to her by Valkyrie, to pursue
some kind of hard-to-understand cybernetic 'union' with Valkyrie. This made no
sense to Shiloh and he suspected none to Kelly either.
"Iceman, how are we fixed for drones?" asked
Shiloh.
"You name it, we got it, CAG. All the escort raiders
can carry full loads of whatever you want, even Mark 1bs with fusion warheads.
Although if they loaded up on those exclusively, there would only be enough
left to give one to each of the remaining raiders for local defense."
"No. The escort force will only carry one Mark 1b each
but I want each of them to also carry two Long Range High Speed message drones
and the rest of their payload can be recon drones. Resolute already has the
standard load-out for this type of mission. The Mark 1bs are merely a
precaution. I'm not expecting trouble and I intend to avoid it if at all
possible. We know from my vision that this new race could very well turn out to
be hostile but the mission objective is to attempt peaceful contact and gather
information about them. The attack drones will only be used as a last resort.
Iceman and Valkyrie, I want both of you to make sure that the escort force
pilots understand that completely."
"We've just told them, CAG," said Valkyrie.
"Well, now that we've got that settled, let's talk
about departure time. Are we finished loading supplies aboard Resolute,
Valkyrie?"
"She's all topped up and ready to leave the second you
give the word, CAG."
"Very good," said Shiloh. He turned to look at
Kelly who looked back at him with an expression that he knew indicated the fear
she was trying very hard not to show. "As soon as the escort force has
been loaded as instructed, we'll leave orbit."
"That'll be in approximately 34 minutes, CAG,"
said Iceman.
"Fine. I'll be aboard Resolute by then. Unless there's anything else, this
meeting is adjourned."
With the meeting over, Shiloh and Kelly walked slowly to the
shuttle that would take him to Resolute. She put her arms around his neck and
hugged him as fiercely as her pregnant body let her. He hugged her back as
fiercely as he dared.
"I know you'll come back, so I won't tell you to be
careful, but I will tell you to get this damn mission over with as fast as you
can, okay?" she said in a husky whisper.
"Roger that, Boss," said Shiloh and they both
laughed. After a long, tender kiss she let him go and he boarded the shuttle.
Chapter 2 Quiet As A Tomb
Resolute's Bridge was as quiet as a tomb. That was partly
due to the fact that with Helm, Weapons and Astrogation handled by Valkyrie,
they didn't need as many humans on the Bridge as usual. Shiloh wasn't alone,
though. Communications, Flight Ops and Engineering were handled by human crew
in order to lighten Valkyrie's load so she could concentrate on the important
stuff. She still had direct access to Communications if she needed it. Shiloh
looked over at the Flight Ops station and nodded his approval. Resolute wasn't
carrying any fighters. They had been left behind on Earth's moon when TF 91
left for Site B, but that didn't mean the Hangar Bay was empty. Far from it.
The carrier now held eight personnel shuttles modified with their own jumpdrives
and ZPG power units. They would act as FTL lifeboats if the carrier had to be
abandoned, since none of the escorting raiders had the capacity to carry human
passengers directly. The raiders could carry the shuttle/lifeboats attached to
their hulls externally and would if the need arose
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