The Synchronicity War Part 3 Read Online Free Page A

since there was limited
space on board the shuttles for food and water. So while the shuttles could in
theory carry humans back to Site B themselves, the stark reality was that,
depending on how far away from Site B they were, if the crew had to abandon
Resolute, they might all die of thirst before the shuttles got home. But if the
shuttles were carried by raider vessels with their much higher acceleration and
therefore higher potential jump speeds, they would make it back okay.
     
    Shiloh turned his attention back to the main display. The
bulk of the Task Force was finally getting close to the Earth. Though still
over a million kilometers away, they were in Earth's shadow and would remain in
it as they moved closer. Titan, Valkyrie's choice as Escort Force Leader, had
already detached six raiders to make their own microjumps to other parts of the
system where they could take a close look at various elements of Space Force
infrastructure. TF92 would come back together at a predetermined rendezvous
point which was a particular asteroid, one whose position was accurately known
and which did not have any human facilities on it. One of the six detached
raiders was at the rendezvous point already, acting as a communication relay in
case anyone found something unexpected.
     
    "Recon drones have been launched, CAG," said
Valkyrie.
     
    "Acknowledged," said Shiloh as he watched the
drone icons move away from the Task Force on the display. One of the drones was
veering off to one side as it headed for the moon. When it left Earth's shadow,
it would keep its orientation such that no reflected sunlight bounced back to
the moon or the Earth, just in case there were enemy detection devices there.
     
    "Any transmissions of any kind?" asked Shiloh even
though he already knew the answer. If there had been either the Com technician
or Valkyrie would have told him already.
     
    "None so far, CAG. I'm not detecting any sources of
light or heat from Earth either, although at this distance our equipment isn't
sensitive enough to detect the light and heat from something like a campfire.
Naturally cloud cover would block just about anything smaller than a whole city
on fire."
     
    Shiloh nodded, aware that Valkyrie was watching the entire
Bridge through several video cameras. "How long before our recon drone is
close enough to detect sources that small?"
     
    "Hard to be precise, but I'd give it another 18 minutes
or so before we have any chance of detection, CAG."
     
    "And how long before we can expect data from the moon
drone?"
     
    "Four to five minutes. We should be able to tell what
the state of the lunar bases are by then, CAG."
     
    "Very good, Commander. In the meantime, I'll take care
of some personal business." Shiloh got up from the Command Station chair
and headed for the exit that led to the room where he could eliminate some
bodily wastes. Valkyrie and the other A.I.s knew what the phrase 'take care of
some personal business’ meant. Even after all this time, they were still amused
and fascinated by the human need to excrete liquid and solid waste. He'd lost
count of how many times he’d had to change the subject to avoid a conversation
getting into the gritty details of the whole process. As he left the Bridge, he
consciously had to resist the urge to declare that someone else 'had the Con'.
Those words belonged to the days when he was a ship CO. and that was no longer
the case. He was now the Task Force Commander.  This was entirely superfluous
since his permanent rank of Chief of Space Operations granted him command of the
Task Force automatically. He wanted to engrain the principle into the crew and
the A.I.s to ensure that when someone else was in command of a Task Force,
their authority would be clearly understood. He also got pleasure from being
able to address Valkyrie or any other A.I. as 'Commander'. Strictly speaking,
she was the Commanding Officer of Resolute. He might be senior to her, but he
was just a passenger.