Synchronicity War Part 1, The by Dietmar Wehr Read Free Book Online

the money to build a fleet of big ships is one
thing. But it also takes time to build ships like that. Do we have that time?”
     
    Shiloh considered his answer carefully. “I just don’t know,
Admiral. The system where the battle took place is over 28 parsecs from Earth.
That’s almost 100 light years away. If they know which direction to go, they’ll
find us soon. But if they don’t, they’ll have a lot of stars to explore. That
will take time, especially if they explore each system with large groups of
ships.”
     
    Shiloh was about to say more, but the Admiral interjected.
“What if they were able to download navigational data from the 319 or 301? Any
idea what the chances of that happening are?”
     
    “Well, Sir, with the security features that our ships have
to prevent unauthorized accessing of data, I’d say there’s only a remote chance
that they would be able to figure out how to access any data without triggering
the self-erase program. In the case of the 319, the video showed the ship had
taken a slashing hit across her Bridge section. From the external damage, I
would guess that there wasn’t much left of the Bridge computer equipment after
that hit. As far as the 301 is concerned, it’s my impression that SL Torres
would understand the necessity to keep the enemy from gaining access to any
information and would take whatever steps were necessary to prevent that. I’m
sure she would have ordered the 299 to take the same precautions.”
     
    “I see,” was all the Admiral said.
     
    Neither of the men said anything else until they arrived at
the underground entrance to Space Force Headquarters. Howard asked Shiloh to
accompany two junior officers to a debriefing room, which he did. After they
got him a coffee, the debriefing session started. Two hours later they brought
in lunch and continued the session while he ate. He answered a barrage of
questions, looked at computer screens showing data that 344 or one of the other
frigates had collected, and tried to explain to them what the data meant. After
another four hours they were done, and Shiloh was exhausted. One of his
debriefers told him that he and all of his officers would be taken to an isolated
but comfortable hotel for the night. Their personal belongings, which they had
brought with them on the shuttle, had been transferred there already. He went
on to explain that while the official debriefing sessions were over, the Brass
wanted to have the opportunity to talk unofficially with at least some of them
the next day. After that they would be given time off to go home and visit
family, or do whatever else they chose.
     
    Shiloh was escorted to the underground garage again, where
he found a Space Force bus waiting for him. Apparently he was the last of the
group to finish the debriefing. He climbed aboard the bus and found all his
officers, as promised, waiting for him. The bus left as soon as he sat down.
Forty-five minutes later they arrived at the hotel. It was comfortable enough
and certainly isolated. As far as he could tell the Space Force group were the
only guests. The staff seemed perfectly at ease, and Shiloh guessed that this
hotel was actually run by the Space Force to take care of the U.E. government
officials and politicos who frequently visited Space Force HQ. That would make
sense from the point of view of securing the safety of the visitors, as well as
allowing them the flexibility to discuss classified information amongst
themselves, without worrying about being overheard by members of the general
public.
     
    That evening he and his officers were finally able to relax.
Several got drunk, and most went to bed early. The next morning at breakfast,
Shiloh got a call from one of Admiral Howard’s aides, informing him that the
four ships under Cmdr. Omar had returned safely from the battle system, and
were en route to Sol via the same base at which 344 had refueled. Their return
would take longer due to the fact that the