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By the time that Midway was approaching Terra Nova's gravity zone, Iceman had heard about the results of TF94's mission and was briefing Shiloh on it.
"They only destroyed five core ships? Why only five?" asked Shiloh.
"Because there were only five core ships there when TF94 arrived, CAG. Number six was gone. The remotely piloted raiders worked well. All five hit their targets, which were blown to pieces. The detonations took out many of the landing craft, and Titan's boys managed to destroy or cripple the rest. When TF94 left, there wasn't a single insectoid craft left that was still operational. Reconnaissance from orbit showed that the Bugs on the ground were heavily outnumbered by the Sogas, and without their landing craft to provide air cover, they were being overwhelmed by the sheer number of Sogas fighting them. I've reviewed the recon data, CAG. Even if the Sogas take back control of their home world, all their major cities have been stripped of metal, and while I can't be certain of the magnitude, I can say that they've lost a lot of their population. Whatever space-based industrial assets they had are now gone too. I think it'll be a long time before the Sogas are able to threaten us again, CAG."
Shiloh shook his head emphatically. "No. They're NEVER going to be able to threaten us again. I'll make damn sure of that! I wouldn't wish the Bugs on anyone, but what the Sogas have gone through doesn't absolve them of what they did to us."
"Understood, CAG. We'll be in orbit within 43 minutes. Commander Kelly has been told of our arrival and I've been informed that she intends to meet you at the spaceport."
Just as his vision had shown. While Shiloh was no longer surprised when his visions came true, he still felt a profound sense of relief. "Bring me up to date on the level of Space Force assets we have now, Iceman."
"Total raider force is now 101, and 21 of them are on recon missions inside Sogas space. We also have 122 fighters, all of which are now converted to ZPG power. At this point in time, 24 of those fighters are being used to train new A.I. pilots. None of them have matured to sentience yet. Production of A.I.s is continuing. The stockpile of drones is as follows: 220 recon, 118 message, 45 Mark 1bs, 167 Mark 2s. Support assets are unchanged at 2 freighters and 16 shuttles of which 12 are jump-capable. Do you want a report on mining, refining and manufacturing output, CAG?"
"No, that's sufficient. Given our available forces now, what would you recommend we do to find and destroy that missing core ship, Iceman?"
"CAG, I've been in contact with the SPG and we've swapped data. They've come up with an idea that I think will enhance our effectiveness against all insectoid motherships regardless of size, but the downside is that this idea will require time to implement."
"I definitely want to hear it, Iceman. Go ahead."
"We now know that attacking a mothership when it's inside a gravity zone is very difficult because of the magnitude of the mothership's own defenses and its multiple parasite craft. If we can catch a mothership outside of a gravity zone, then we hit it will fusion warheads delivered by drones that have jump capability. Think of a message drone carrying a Mark 1b warhead. The drone is accelerated to a modest speed. It then makes a carefully calculated microjump to emerge back into normal space so close to the target that the target doesn’t have time to fire lasers at it. A smaller core ship, such as the one that is missing, could be crippled with one hit or destroyed with two. The much larger motherships would have to be hit by at least 34 Mark 1b warheads, but if we upgrade the warhead yield to at least 25 megatons from its current 2.5 megatons, then the number of hits required will drop proportionately. Having said that, production of enriched uranium will be the major bottleneck. And having said THAT, I should also point out that a very preliminary evaluation of some of the Friendly science data suggests that uranium enrichment efficiency could be boosted by an order of magnitude if the basic science can be engineered to work on an industrial scale."
After an almost imperceptible pause, Iceman continued. "If we decide to go with this strategy, then one raider, supported by at least 2 fighters armed with the new jump-capable attack drones, would monitor every star system that an insectoid mothership might visit. The fighters would stay just outside the gravity zone of whatever planet is most likely to be of interest to the Insectoids, and the raider would stay further out. If they can't ambush the mothership on its way in, they'll get another chance to hit it on its way out. So not only would we get advanced warning of insectoid ship incursions, but we'd also have defense-in-depth. Any advancing mothership would have to run a gauntlet of armed raiders and fighters, CAG."
Shiloh was impressed. It sounded good. In fact it sounded VERY good.
"I like the concept. Now let's talk about execution. How soon can we have jump-capable attack drones with our current Mark 1b warheads?" asked Shiloh.
"Actually we could have some testable prototypes within 48-96 hours. It should be relatively easy to take out some of the data storage components of a standard message drone and replace them with the warhead. When we replaced the heavy hydrogen power plant with ZPG units, we freed up a lot of room. We could have made those message drones smaller, but as you'll recall, the decision was made to continue using the existing design in order to maintain uninterrupted production. If we're going to R&D a much more powerful warhead, then it will make sense to redesign the whole thing to accommodate that larger warhead."
"Good! Let's get to work on the prototypes right away. I want one of your boys to design a jump-capable attack drone that can handle anything up to a 50-megaton warhead, and I want the payload to be modular so that we can use the basic drone as a message drone if needed. Then it easily can be configured not only as an attack drone but as a recon drone, too. That way we'll have one standard chassis that can be used for a multitude of mission types."
"Very clever idea, CAG. I've already sent the necessary instructions. What about the enhanced uranium enrichment process?"
Shiloh nodded. "That will definitely have a high priority, but I want to talk with Daniels and the SPG about priorities for all our R&D projects. Schedule a meeting at ... 0730 hours tomorrow."
"Let's hope Commander Kelly will let go of you that early, CAG."
Shiloh chuckled but made no verbal comment. Iceman had managed to lighten his mood and Shiloh was grateful for that.
As his shuttle came to a stop, the hatch opened and Shiloh stepped down onto Terra Nova's soil once again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the fragrant smell of the local flora and human occupation. It's a good day to be alive, he thought. Opening his eyes, he saw Kelly walk quickly towards him with a look of relief on her face. He wondered if he saw a tinge of sadness, too.
As she came up to him, she put her arms around his neck, hugged him and whispered into his ear, "I heard what happened. I understand why you had to go."
He carefully hugged her back. "I now understand why, too. I didn't when I left." He paused, not certain whether to say what he wanted to next. "I'm sorry I couldn't save Valkyrie. I know how close you were to her. I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye."
Kelly pulled back from her embrace, and Shiloh saw the tears rolling down her cheeks. Her reply surprised him.
"Before she cut off communications, she transmitted a message to Iceman with instructions for him to pass that message on to me when Midway got back, but it's actually a message to both of us. She told me that she would have refused any order from you to abort the ramming attempt and the reasons why. She said that she loves us both and regrets not being here to see the birth of our child. She said if it's a girl, she would like us to name her Valkyrie."
Shiloh got over his shock quickly. At the speed with which A.I.s communicated with each other, that message would have taken only a fraction of a second to transmit to Iceman. He mulled over her request. Valkyrie Shiloh. It would take some getting used to, but yes ... he could live with it, and he couldn't think of a better way to honor his dead friend.
"Yes, I agree, but what if it's a boy?"
Kelly smiled, all traces of sadness now gone. "Well ... Valkyrie could be his middle name, or we could break it up into two names ... Val Kyrie Shiloh? Val has been used as a male first name before."
He quickly thought about that and said, "Let's go with middle name. Now that we've covered that, tell me how you’re doing?"
She nodded, "I'm fine. The medics say everything is proceeding normally. I’m just glad I'm not the only pregnant woman on this planet. It's nice to be able to get together with others in the same condition who understand what it's like! Men say they understand, but they really don't."
They both laughed. When they finished, her expression became serious. "Iceman tells me that the mission was only partially successful and that we're still in danger."
He nodded, making a mental note to have a chat with Iceman about scaring his wife. "A tactical victory but a strategic defeat. We're not out of the woods yet."
She sighed then asked, "Are your riding-off-to-battle days over now?"
"I hope so, but I can't promise you that." He could see that she was trying hard not to cry new tears.
"Okay. Can you come home with me now, or do you have things to take care of here first."
"Everything that shouldn't wait has already been taken care of. I'm yours until tomorrow morning. How about I drive us home this time?"
"I'd like that,” she said with enthusiasm. Shiloh let her go in order to return inside the shuttle for his gear but saw that one of the shuttle's other passengers had taken it upon himself to carry his CSO's gear to the waiting ground vehicle. Shiloh thanked him by chatting with him for half a minute. Kelly stood next to Shiloh with a proud smile on her face.
––––––––
Shiloh was late for the 0730 meeting. Daniels and the other humans attending the meeting had mischievous smiles on their faces which Shiloh was certain were due to something funny that Iceman had said to them before he got there. He was willing to bet it had something to do with Kelly and sex being the reason for his lateness. If so, then Iceman was right, but Shiloh was damn if he was ever going to tell him that!
"Okay Commander. Bring me up to speed on R&D," said Shiloh.
Daniels quickly lost his smirk and cleared his throat. "Yes, Sir. The evaluation of R&D projects that you asked for before leaving for Sol was completed while you were away. We ... and by that I mean myself, my senior staff and the SPG, evaluated the addition of a newly designed jump-capable attack drone and a much more powerful fusion warhead last night. We're all agreed that both of those projects should be started immediately and concurrently. After that, the priorities are as follows: uranium enrichment, inertial dampener upgrade, high energy GLB, field propul—"
"Wait," interrupted Shiloh. "It sounded like you said GLB. What is that? I haven't heard that term before."
Daniels' face got red. "I'm sorry, Sir. I forgot that we hadn't discussed that yet. GLB is an acronym for Gravity Lens Beam. Back at the beginning of the 21st Century, the Russians discovered that artificial gravity could be magnified tremendously via a very narrow beam. They were able to rip apart matter at the atomic level with this gravity lens beam but they were never able to make it into a practical weapon. The range was just too short, and the power requirements were too large. The Friendlies have figured out how to extend the range and at the same time reduce the power consumption, but there are a lot of engineering challenges to be overcome in order to have something that could be used in the field. Potentially we could have a weapon capable of slicing a 10 km diameter bug ship in half, but we'd need something a lot bigger than a raider to carry and power it."
"Would Midway be big enough and have enough power?" asked Shiloh.
Daniels smiled and said, "Big enough? Yes. Could we modify her to generate enough power? Maybe."
After a short pause, Shiloh said, "Is that why it's not at the top of the list? The time required to engineer it and then modify Midway?"
Daniels nodded. "Yes, Sir. That's it exactly. Modifying Midway will be a huge job considering that we don't have a shipyard ready to handle the work, but the weapon could be used in a ground installation if we can figure out how to power it. Assuming we can aim it accurately enough, we could fire the beam from the ground and hit a target outside Terra Nova's gravity zone. At the very least it would be the perfect planetary defense system, but even that will take weeks to figure out and months to build and perfect, Sir."
Shiloh shook his head. Of course it would. He now had the classic tradeoff to ponder. Develop the jump-capable attack drone, which could be done relatively quickly and deploy a system of armed sentries that stood a good but not perfect chance of stopping one or more advancing bug motherships, or go for the perfect defense that might not be ready in time. Trying to do both at the same time was the worst possible choice because then both strategies would be delayed. It actually wasn't a difficult decision when he came right down to it. An imperfect defense is better than no defense at all, but maybe he could tweak it a bit.
"I agree that the upgraded attack drone comes first, but what's the impact if we move the gravity lens beam planetary defense project to come up next, instead of enhanced enrichment?"
"We would have a very limited number of high yield warheads, which means that they would have to be in the right place at the right time in order to be useful,” answered Wolfman.
Or defend just one planet, thought Shiloh before responding. "Understood, but suppose we set up an early warning system with raiders and message drones and keep our limited number of high yield attack drones right here in Site B? Our Fighters can carry them, and with retro-temporal communication we might even know exactly where the VLOs will arrive when they get here. Then we can have the fighters standing nearby and ambush them before they know what hit them."
"RTC is not foolproof, CAG," said Wolfman. "It will only work if the attack CAN be defended against. There are tactical scenarios that the Insectoids could employ which can't be defended against with our current resources. The SPG would like to propose a variant of your strategy. Instead of concentrating all our high yield warheads here, we feel that moving them forward to a system that is highly likely to be visited by additional VLOs is the way to go. That system would be Sol. Then, if word of the battle gets back to the bug rear areas, any VLOs that move up are almost certainly going to go there to overwhelm whatever opposition may be located there. Consider the incentives they would have. An active defense implies biological entities that might serve as hosts. It also implies metal from two sources, the defenders and the defeated mothership. If we can stop them at Sol, then they aren't going to be able to scout this far forward, and Site B will remain hidden to them. I would also point out to you that if we're going to keep a permanent defensive force at Sol, then we may also want to restart the robotic asteroid mining complexes there because that could be an additional source of enriched uranium."
It was a tempting plan. The derelict bug mothership drifting in that star system now would make the perfect lure to get new VLOs away from any gravity zone, so that the new attack drones could jump right on top of them. And if the reinforcement VLOs were detected by the sentry raiders to be bypassing Sol altogether, they could still get word back fast enough for the ambush forces to move from Sol to the next bug destination and attack them there. It was the perfect compromise between the ideal defense-in-depth strategy and Shiloh's 'fortress' suggestion. He made his decision and then waited to see if he got another vision.
Nope, no vision.
"I approve your variant strategy, Wolfman. Sol will become the line in the sand that we don't let them cross. As soon as we have working jump-capable attack drones, I want some of them deployed to Sol in case the missing core ship shows up there. So now let's discuss how we implement the decision that I just made. Daniels, you start."
