The Synchronicity War Part 2 by Dietmar Wehr Page B

should shift its engineering and design priorities to
ships that are fully automated and don’t need any human crew at
all.” Shiloh shook his head in amazement that Iceman was able to
get the Old…Admiral to agree to proposals that Shiloh wouldn’t have
dared to try to push through. He was about to say so when he
noticed Tanaka walking towards them. Iceman noticed Shiloh looking
intently in a new direction and swung his optical pickup device to
look that way too.

    “That was a quick chat the Old Man had with the
XO.” observed Iceman. Shiloh nodded. He was thinking the same
thing. When she reached them, Tanaka said,

    “The Admiral briefed me on the retro-temporal
concept, Sir, and also about a planned multi-carrier strike on
Zebra19. I’ll be temporarily assuming command of Defiant and Brad
will be Defiant’s CAG for that mission too. The Admiral also told
me to tell you that Defiant will be ordered to proceed to a parking
orbit and the crew will be granted a week’s R&R, since the rest
of the EWN deployment mission will be cancelled.”

    “You seem to be taking the idea of communication
from the future in stride, Sumi. I don’t think I would have been so
quick to accept the idea if I was in your position.” Tanaka smiled
and shrugged.

    “I guess I’m just relieved that my CO isn’t
crazy after all! Sorry…I didn’t mean…” Shiloh laughed and waived
off her apology.

    “That’s okay, Sumi. I know what you meant.”
After a short pause, he continued. “I assume that Cmdr. Falkenberg
is being debriefed now?”

    “Yes, Sir.”

    “Fine. Then we’ll wait here until he’s done. Any
plans for your R&R, Sumi?” Shiloh listened with half his
attention while he pondered what the future had in store for him
and those humans and A.I.s he’d come to know. The conversation
continued over personal topics and approximately ten minutes later,
Falkenberg arrived. It quickly became clear that he’d been briefed
on the ‘vision thing’ too and Shiloh learned that both Tanaka and
Falkenberg had been ordered not to share that information with
anyone, who didn’t already know about it. He wondered if that was
the best thing to do now. The enemy clearly already knew… or would
know at some point and other Space Force officers might be
receiving visions that they might ignore if they were kept in the
dark about the possibility. With no answers and lots of questions,
Shiloh shrugged and got up.

    “Let’s get back to Defiant. The rest of the crew
may be going on leave but I have a feeling the four of us aren’t.”
As they walked back to the HQ entrance to catch a ride back to the
spaceport, Tanaka and Falkenberg pulled ahead while Shiloh stayed
with Iceman, whose mobile unit couldn’t keep up with the faster
pace. Shiloh looked around at the sky and said.

    “What a perfect day. Just the right temperature
and almost no wind.”

    “The calm before the storm, CAG.” said Iceman.
Shiloh felt another chill go up his spine. Son of a bitch! He
feels it too!

Chapter 6 - The Calm Before The Storm

    Shiloh was right about the four of them not
getting any R&R. He, Tanaka and Falkenberg were busy sifting
through hundreds of personnel profiles in order to recommend
officers for Resolute and Vigilant. Iceman was tasked with
recommending ranks for not only Defiant’s fighter complement but
also for all of the fighters currently in the Sol system, which
required direct digital communication with them and when that was
completed, he and his fighter were transported to the A.I.
production and training facility in Epsilon Eridani to evaluate all
of their fighters for future assignments. That would also be where
decommissioned exploration frigates were to be modified as the new,
A.I.-controlled Sentry Frigates. Because Shiloh was asleep when
Iceman received instructions to take his fighter aboard a tanker
transport, he left a recorded message for Shiloh. When Shiloh woke
up and read the message, it said,

    [Defiant