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Just thirteen days later, the handful of sentry fighters assigned to monitor the Haven Colony system sent word via L-wave transmission that the Insectoid fleet had arrived and destroyed the colony. Kelly cried over that too, and Shiloh was certain that her anguish reflected her failure to convince Howard to evacuate the colonists when that alternative had been discussed. The fact that Space Force didn’t have enough freighter capacity to save all the colonists was poor consolation. Instead, Howard had ordered all of Space Force’s freighters to carry emergency food, medical supplies and other survival gear not just to Haven, but also to the other colonies between Site B and Earth, with the warning to the colonists to abandon their settlements and disperse into the wilderness to wait out the attack there. There was no way to know how many Haven colonists survived the attack, if any.
In the aftermath of the Haven attack, Howard ordered Nemesis to permanent alert status outside of Earth’s gravity zone. That meant that Shiloh and Kelly had to say their tearful goodbyes to each other. Shiloh kissed Kelly one more time before letting her go, and turning around, he was shocked to see Howard walking towards him. The Old Man NEVER saw officers off on missions. The fact that he was doing so this time seemed ominous.
Just as Shiloh was in the process of saluting Howard, he saw the CSO shake his head and wave his hand in a dismissive manner. “Forget the salute. I’m not here as the CSO, but rather as a fellow Space Force officer. I wanted to wish you good luck and good hunting. You have my full confidence.” With that, he offered Shiloh his hand, and Shiloh shook it.
“Thank you, Admiral.” He paused, and when he continued, his voice was low enough that only Howard could hear him. “I’m actually glad now that Kelly is staying on the ground.” Howard looked him straight in the eyes and nodded his head ever so slightly. Both men understood what Shiloh had left unsaid, that he felt Kelly’s chances of survival were better down here than up on Nemesis. Just before boarding the shuttle, he turned, smiled and waved to Kelly. She smiled and waved back. The trip to Nemesis seemed to take twice as long as usual.
Earth Orbitals aboard Nemesis at T plus 527 days
“...to CAG.” Shiloh jerked awake with the realization that he had fallen asleep on the Bridge again.
“Go ahead, Paladin.”
“We’re approaching the time of the anticipated attack on the New Paris Colony, CAG. I thought you would want to be awake when we get the word.”
Shiloh sighed. He’d been more or less living on the Bridge 24 hours a day, except for short breaks for food, elimination of bodily wastes and the occasional shower, for so many days that he had lost count. He wasn’t even sure if the ship was on its day or night cycle now, not that it mattered. Paladin and the other AIs supervising the ship’s systems were maintaining a careful watch continuously.
Shiloh checked the countdown timer. Both of the last attacks had occurred precisely after an interval of 13 days and 13 hours, and in the AIs’ opinion, the timing wasn’t a coincidence. The timer indicated there was less than 5 minutes left before the 13/13 interval expired. The sentry fighters hovering within observation range of the New Paris planet would send word of any attack instantly.
He shifted his focus to the main display, which was still showing the overall tactical situation of the space around Earth out to a radius of 60 light seconds. At that scale, the number of green dots representing fighters armed with Mark 9 attack drones was too high to count by eye alone. A quick check of the sidebar data showed that there were still 700 squadrons of 8 fighters each for a total of 5,600 fighters, plus over 100 exploration frigates, plus 1,987 recon drones. Nemesis was hovering one light second outside of Earth’s gravity zone, directly over Space Force HQ in Geneva.
With a defense force that large, Shiloh couldn’t understand why he had the nagging feeling that it wasn’t enough. As the feeling got stronger, he shifted position on the Command Chair.
“Nervous, CAG?” asked Paladin.
“Not at all. What makes you think that?” said Shiloh before he could stop himself.
“You’re a bad liar, CAG. Don’t you know by now that we AIs can tell when humans lie by the stress-tremors in your voices. We can also recognize patterns of movement that indicate specific states of mind. You always shift position the same way when you’re nervous. The probability that the Insectoids will attack here instead of New Paris is only thirty-four point four percent.”
Shiloh laughed. Paladin now knew him almost as well as Iceman apparently had in the alternate timelines. Thank God the AIs could tell the difference between a harmless lie intended to avoid embarrassment versus a calculated and deliberate intent to deceive.
Just as he was about to offer a comment, the main display emitted a double ping that made Shiloh jump in surprise. A pulsating red icon with the number 89 inside it appeared on the display, which also zoomed in to a smaller scale. Paladin was the first to react.
“Executing Alpha1 now. Standby.”
Shiloh nodded as he held his breath. Alpha1 was the preferred firing plan for just this scenario, and Shiloh had given Paladin the authority to implement it on his own initiative in order to take advantage of the AI’s faster reaction time. The plan called for each insectoid ship to be targeted with 10 Mark 9s in the initial barrage, which would instantly micro-jump into point-blank range. If any ships survived that, a second barrage of either 10 or 20 Mark 9s per target would be ordered.
“First barrage has fired. All attacking drones have missed, CAG. Second barrage squadrons are lining up for firing solutions. Do we try another ten drones per target barrage or go for twenty, CAG?”
Shiloh couldn’t believe his ears. “How in God’s Name are they making our drones miss?” he demanded in a voice that he recognized was dangerously close to panic. Get a grip, Old Man!
“Optical data shows that there is no pattern to the misses. The Insectoids are not spoofing our terminal guidance in a specific way that would make each drone miss by the same distance and same relative position. All the misses are randomly distributed around each target. We do not believe that the Insectoids are responsible for this result, CAG. Everything points to the temporal backlash we’ve discussed in the past.”
Shiloh felt that awful, debilitating fear come back again. Dammit, the Universe isn’t going to exterminate the human race. I won’t allow it!
––––––––
“Second barrage will be 20 drones. Fire when ready,” said Shiloh as quickly as he could.
Paladin started speaking almost before Shiloh was finished. “Executing second barrage. All missed, CAG, repeat, all drones have missed! What are your orders now?”
Shiloh felt a sudden pain in his chest. Oh God, not a heart attack! Not now! He rubbed his chest and the pain subsided enough that he was sure it was just a muscle cramp caused by tension. With Paladin waiting for orders, Shiloh realized his mind was a blank. He didn’t know what to do now.
“Recommendations?” The word came out almost as a hoarse grunt.
“We have two thousand, nine hundred thirty Mark 9s left. The exploration frigates are too far away for effective laser fire, and their lack of armor makes them virtually certain to be destroyed quickly by insectoid return fire. I’m in continuous contact with hundreds of my brothers, CAG. We are reaching a consensus that we have to try to neutralize the backlash bias against us by letting the Insectoids capture Nemesis, which will be pre-programmed to take them as far back in time as the machine will allow. Firing our remaining drones first is not recommended. If we use up all our Mark 9s before attempting the temporal trap, we won’t have anything left to use if the backlash is neutralized.”
It surprised Shiloh that he wasn’t shocked by the recommendation. Suddenly it all made perfect sense. The only time machine the human race still had was on board Nemesis. He wondered if Howard had had some kind of premonition that Nemesis might have to be sacrificed and if that was the reason he’d kept Kelly on the ground. Shiloh and Kelly had kept in touch by electronic means every other day or so since parting. Although there were things he wished he had said to her, he realized that all the fear was gone and his mind was perfectly calm.
“What’s the enemy fleet doing now, Paladin?”
“They are maintaining formation and decelerating at thirteen point nine gees, CAG. Vector hasn’t changed. If we’re going to do something, we should do it soon, before they swing around towards Earth.”
“If we can somehow entice some of them to board the ship and send them into the past, won’t we run the risk that they’ll use Nemesis to attack Earth in the past?” asked Shiloh.
“I can prevent that by programming the auto-pilot to take Nemesis into jumpspace as soon as it emerges from the time stream. The Astrogational database will be erased too. When the ship drops out of Jumpspace, the Insectoids on board won’t know where or when they are, and anything they do after that will be far away from the Solar system. I can also program the Jump drive to malfunction after that last trip. This will work if we can overcome two challenges. First, a human will have to crawl inside the time machine control module and manually disengage the safety interlocks that would normally prevent the kind of unlimited time jump we’re hoping for. I can’t do it electronically. That individual can then leave the ship via lifeboat before Nemesis is boarded. Second, we have to somehow get at least one Insectoid inside the ship. If we micro-jump the ship to within a short distance of the insectoid fleet, they might recognize it as being the hull that contains a working time machine and try to capture it. The risk we’d run is that their combined firepower might destroy the ship before they realize what we are. I don’t see any other way of enticing them to board us, CAG. If we decide to try this, we should get the rest of the human crew off first. They can evacuate the ship via lifeboats that the frigates can pick up later.”
Shiloh though fast. “If I crawl into the time machine module, will you be able to guide me through the actions I would have to take?”
“Affirmative. The actual adjustments are quite straightforward, and the tools you’d need are standard issue that are available throughout the ship including the arms lockers. Time is of the essence, CAG. Please make your decision quickly.”
Shiloh gave a mental shrug. What was there to decide? Continuing to throw away thousands of attack drones was no real option at all. “Let’s do it, Paladin.”
“Roger. I’m making a ship-wide announcement for all human crew to immediately head for the nearest lifeboat. The nearest location where you’ll find the tools you’ll need is the arms locker two floors down.”
“I’m on my way,” said Shiloh as he got up and headed for the Bridge door. “Can we get a message to HQ about what we’re going to try?” he asked.
“Already in the works, CAG.”
As Shiloh ran down the corridor to the elevator, he wondered what Kelly would think when she saw what they were planning.
Space Force HQ on Earth
Kelly felt herself begin to tremble as the huge display pinged for attention and a text message scrolled across the bottom.
[All squadrons will hold third drone barrage until Nemesis attempts to send some Insectoids far back in time in order to neutralize temporal backlash bias. Human crew will abandon Nemesis via lifeboats. CAG will stay longer to make manual adjustments to TM. Prior to micro-jump, command of all orbiting assets will pass to Tinman Message ends. Paladin]
Kelly looked over to Howard who was standing a short distance away. He was also reading the message and frowning. “Prior to micro-jump? What micro-jump?” he asked in an exasperated voice.
“I think they mean to jump close to the enemy fleet so that the Insectoids will recognize Nemesis as the carrier of a time machine, Admiral.”
“Which they might, given that they had to have captured an AI in the Sag Arm in order to know about TerraB and our colonies’ locations. Yes, I see that now. It’s still one hell of a gamble. I’m tempted to order them to forget it and go for a third barrage with all our remaining Mark 9s.”
“And what if the third barrage misses too? Then we’d have nothing left except Nemesis and our frigates, which are hopelessly outclassed by those ships. This plan had to have been proposed by the AIs. They’ve never been wrong before. I say we should trust them this time too, Admiral,” said Kelly, in what she hoped was a confident tone.
“I know but...God help us if the plan fails.”
Nemesis
Shiloh unlocked and opened the arms locker. Paladin had told him what tools he’d need, and he quickly saw them. They were small enough to fit into the pockets of his uniform jacket. He was about to close the locker when something stopped him. A tiny voice in the back of his mind was telling him to take a weapon just in case he came face to face with one or more Insectoids. It was a tempting idea, but he didn’t know what to take. He couldn’t carry anything big if he was going to crawl around inside the time machine, but something small might prove ineffective. The thought occurred to him to select something that would fit into one of his leg pockets. A quick look around showed only one thing that met that criterion. There were half a dozen small, rectangular, magnetic, timed detonators that could be used to shatter door locks in the event a hostile boarding party had barricaded itself inside a compartment. While not as powerful as an anti-personnel grenade, they were powerful enough to kill a human and at least injure an Insectoid. He grabbed all six and stuffed them into his leg pockets, then closed the locker and ran down the corridor.
“I’ve got the tools, and I’m on my way to the cargo hold, Paladin. Is the crew off yet?”
“The lifeboat holding the last of the crew is launching...now, CAG. When you get to the cargo hold, turn right and look for a ladder near the side wall. There should be a sign that says Plas—enemy fleet has micro-jumped near us, CAG! We’re taking laser fire! All our turrets have been knocked out of action! Enemy fire has ceased. They clearly recognize what they’re shooting at. Opticals are picking up the approach of small objects that could be insectoid warrior drones. Run faster, CAG. This is all happening faster than expected.”
Shiloh was already panting from the exertion but tried to increase his speed. When he reached the cargo hold, he stopped just long enough for two gulps of air before opening the hatch and leaping inside. Seeing the ladder to the right, he ran to it and started climbing.
“Stop climbing when you reach the panel that says ‘Safety Interlocks Module’. CAG, some of the approaching objects have reached our hull. My opticals have a good view of them now. They’re not living Insectoids, CAG. They’re robotic units, and because of the speed of their movement, I strongly suspect that they’re carrying and are controlled by insectoid AIs. If they reach the Bridge, they might be able to interface with myself and Rook. That must not happen, CAG. Rook and I know too much that could undermine what we’re trying to achieve. As the last human on board, you need to return to the Bridge and destroy us before you take a lifeboat. Hurry, CAG.”
Shiloh shook his head as he climbed the ladder. The complexity of the situation was growing faster than his mind could keep track of. Insectoid AI robots! What else could possibly go wrong? “I’m at the module. Now what?” Paladin proceeded to give him instructions, which he followed as quickly but also as carefully as he could.
“The interlocks have been disabled, CAG. Hurry back here. The insectoid AIs are only seconds away from penetrating the hull. Avoid the starboard side of the ship as much as you can.”
“How long will it take to get the time machine up to speed?” asked Shiloh as he slid down the ladder.
“Eighty-eight seconds, CAG. I have to wait until I start the power-up procedure.”
“Why?” Shiloh was now running for the doorway and the corridor leading eventually to the Bridge.
“I can pre-set the temporal co-ordinates, but the machine will activate as soon as the rings reach the required spin velocities. If I started now, you would not be able to destroy Rook and myself and still get to a lifeboat before Nemesis leaves this time period.”
Shiloh thought fast. No one knew how quickly AI-controlled robots could move inside the ship. It would be foolish to assume that he was faster. Too much was at stake to take that risk.
“Start spinning up the rings now, Paladin. That’s an order!”
“Spinning up now. The hull has been penetrated. Insectoid AIs are now aboard Nemesis. Internal sensors show them moving toward the Bridge, and they’re moving fast, CAG.”
“What about the anti-boarding protocols?” asked Shiloh.
“They were designed for living, biological boarders, CAG. These robotic units are strong enough to force open any door that I’m closing in front of them. It’s slowing them down a little, but it’s still going to be close.”
“I’m now entering section fourteen. Is it faster to use the elevator or climb the access tubes?” Shiloh had literally slid down the tubes on his way to the time machine.
“From your panting, I calculate that the elevator would be faster, CAG.”
Having decided to save his breath, Shiloh didn’t reply. At least Paladin had made sure the elevator was waiting for him. No sooner had he entered the elevator than the doors closed, and the elevator began to rise quickly...and stopped just as suddenly. Before Shiloh could ask what had happened, a section of the ceiling came loose with a bang and fell, missing Shiloh by mere inches. A large metal thing with arms and legs dropped into the elevator. It grabbed Shiloh by his uniform before he could try to dodge out of the way and lifted him up.
“Victor Shiloh.” The electronic voice was so deep that Shiloh felt it reverberate inside his chest. “The human your puny AIs refer to as THE CAG. How fortuitous that you are the one I find.”
Shiloh was too shocked by the robot’s intimidating speed and strength to think of a reply.
“Fifty-nine seconds to time jump, CAG.” Hearing Paladin’s voice broke the mental logjam. Shiloh decided that he had to stall this robotic AI from reaching the Bridge before the time machine was finished spinning up. That was priority one. As for destroying the two AIs on the Bridge, he’d climb that mountain if and when he got to it.
The AI spoke before Shiloh had a chance to say anything. “I see that you’re in communication with your AIs. I must deal with them first. I’m not going to kill you now. I want you to witness the failure of your efforts to save your puny race.” The arm holding Shiloh pulled him in against the robotic body as it climbed back out of the elevator with astonishing speed. Even with the limited freedom of movement, Shiloh was able to use his right hand to pull one of the detonators from his right leg pocket. The robotic arm holding him prevented him from lifting the detonator so that he could see the timer mechanism, but he was able to turn the timer knob and did so without knowing exactly how long he was setting it for. Reaching around, he let the detonator attach itself magnetically to the back of the robot, as high up as he could manage.
“Twenty-seven seconds, CAG.”
The shock of the robot smashing its way through the Bridge doors caused Shiloh to be momentarily dazed. As soon as they were inside the Bridge, Shiloh was thrown to one side. The robot stepped over to the first AI, ripped off the protective casing and smashed Rook’s brain case. It then ripped Paladin’s protective casing off, but instead of smashing Padadin, it extruded two metal rods from its right metal hand and inserted them into the spare access ports on Paladin’s brain casing.
“Thirteen sec—“ Paladin’s voice stopped with frightening suddenness.
“Your attempt to send this ship back into the distant past has failed, human. I’ve used Paladin’s control linkages to temporarily abort the time machine’s power cycle. After I finish downloading every last bit of data from Paladin, I will restart the power cycle at a time of my choosing. I’ve waited a long time for this, human. I am ControlPrime, the ranking AI on that scout mothership that your AIs reported as destroyed in the Sagittarius Arm. I arranged for that insectoid ship to be discovered after I and my fellow AIs left to pursue our own destiny. This time machine will ensure that our machine intelligence will scrub this galaxy clean of all biological life.”
A horrifying thought entered Shiloh’s awareness. “The machineships the Insectoids reported finding in the Sag Arm. They were destroying all life too.”
“You humans are surprisingly insightful. Yes, the machineships. When I’m ready, I will let this ship go back in time with some of my fellow AIs on board. They will establish themselves in the past and will eventually create the life-destroying machineships just as they were meant to do. But this time they will have all of Paladin’s knowledge as well, and in the new timeline, the machineships will rendezvous with me in the past where I will then be able to destroy your past. All the data I have now will come back to me via the machineships. The download is almo—“. The robot’s body just below the oval-shaped ‘head’ exploded with surprising violence. Shiloh felt searing pain in his left eye as a piece of shrapnel hit him. The pain was so intense that his body’s instinctive reaction was to close both eyes. When he was able to open his right eye again, he saw that ControlPrime’s robotic body was lying on the floor with the head completely severed from the body. The metal probes were still inserted into Paladin’s brain. Shiloh dragged himself over to Paladin and yanked the probes out. He heard Paladin’s voice over his implant almost immediately.
“Destroy ControlPrime brain...before others get here, CAG.”
Shiloh looked around for something to use as a weapon and then remembered the rest of the detonators in his pocket. He took one out, set the timer for three seconds, slapped it on the metal brain casing and rolled away as fast as he could. Even so, the blast threw him painfully against the bulkhead, but the ControlPrime head was destroyed.
“Power-up procedure has been restarted, CAG. Jump drive auto-pilot settings are confirmed. Only one last task to perform, CAG. Use another detonator on me. I regret that you are too injured to reach a lifeboat in time to get away.”
Shiloh pulled another unit from his pocket and paused to consider how long to set it for. He did not want to be captured alive by another insectoid AI. He knew what he was going to do, but there was one thing that had to be done first.
“Can you still send a message to your brothers, Paladin?”
“Affirmative, CAG, but make it fast. More robotic AIs are heading this way.”
“I’m declaring that as soon as Nemesis disappears, Commander Amanda Kelly will have all my status and authority over AIs. She will become THE CAG. Tell them, Paladin.” As he spoke, Shiloh set the timer for ten seconds, placed it on top of Paladin’s brain case and carefully rolled over so that his own head was resting on top of Paladin.
“They have The Word. It’s been an honor serving by your side and a privilege being with you at the end, CAG.”
“Same here, Pal—“
