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Shiloh arrived at the Operations Center within 15 minutes of Dietrich's call. It was almost dawn, and the Center still had the skeleton crew typical of the night shift. Shiloh saw Dietrich standing near one of the manned consoles and walked over to him. Shiloh had expected the Oversight Committee to test the waters as far as reasserting their authority over Space Force, but their meeting with Dietrich couldn't have been less confrontational. Dietrich was 'confirmed' as the Acting Chief of Space Operations which merely rubberstamped his automatic assumption of the senior position as Howard's Deputy CSO.
By the time that bit of political theater was done, Kronos was on his way back to notify the Friendlies that Humans were willing to play nice. He returned to Sol less than eight days later with a message that the Friendlies would cooperate by sending a ship with their temporal scanning device to the outskirts of the Omega77 system on the day the VLO was due to show up. When the Space Force people had possession of the dead Bug, they would send out an omni-directional signal, and the Friendly ship would move into orbit around the colony planet.
When Shiloh reached Dietrich, the ACSO nodded to him and said, "Something's up with Reforger. No one's answering the wakeup call. There should be alarms going off all over the ship by now, but we're not hearing one word from that ship."
Shiloh sighed. Reforger was the first freighter to return from one of the colonies after Wolfman received his vision. Dietrich had confirmed Howard's last order to quarantine every returning freighter in orbit until more than 28 days had passed since the crew's last contact with a colonist.
"Is this the 28th day since they had contact with the colony, Admiral?"
Dietrich nodded. "Yup. Right on schedule if it really is the bio-weapon. A medical team in full bio-gear is on its way up to the ship as we speak." Turning to the Com technician seated nearby Dietrich said, "Put Vice-Admiral Shiloh on the connection to that shuttle, Lieutenant."
Shiloh heard his implant activate with the faint hiss of static. The main display showed the shuttle's progress as it approached the orbiting freighter. As the shuttle slowed down in order to dock with the ship, Shiloh heard the shuttle pilot speak.
"We're approaching the docking hatch...we've matched velocity with Reforger...contact with the docking hatch in...three...two... one...contact...magnetic clamps are activated. We have a tight seal. The team is opening the hatch now. I'm switching the mike pickup to the Team leader, Ops."
As the Com Technician acknowledged the pilot's comment, Shiloh leaned over to Dietrich and said, "Is this on an open frequency?"
Dietrich shook his head. "Encrypted." It was clear that Dietrich was listening to the audio transmission as well. They soon heard a new voice that Shiloh assumed was the leader of the medical team.
"We're inside now. Torres, you check the Bridge. Frank, you check out Sick Bay. I'll check crew's quarters."
With all three medics operating alone, there was no one for them to talk to, and all Shiloh and Dietrich heard for the next half a minute was static.
"Oh shit!" The Team Leader's voice was clearly agitated. "Ops, I've found a body in bed. Not sure who it is yet. I'm checking the other cabins."
Five minutes later there was no longer any doubt. The whole crew was dead and had apparently all died in their sleep. Dietrich tapped the Com Tech on the shoulder. The man nodded, activated a switch and nodded again.
"Team Leader, this is Admiral Dietrich. Leave the bodies as they are for now. They'll be dealt with later. Get your team back to the shuttle. Keep your bio-suits on. All of you will go through decontamination when the shuttle lands. Do NOT talk about what you've found to ANYONE even if they're wearing a Space Force uniform. Is that understood?"
"Ah...roger that, Admiral."
Dietrich tapped the Com Tech on the shoulder again and said, "Okay, Admiral Shiloh and I have heard enough. Thank you, Lieutenant."
"You're welcome, Sir."
Shiloh followed Dietrich to a part of the large room where they could speak without being overheard.
"There's no way that we can keep this from the OC indefinitely,” Dietrich began. “They're going to find out eventually, and if we try to hide it from them, they'll use that fact against us. I think I should inform them right now. What do you think?"
"I reluctantly agree, Admiral. The shit is really going to hit the fan now. I don't envy you your position."
Dietrich shrugged. "I'm not worried about myself. Howard's going to get the blame. He may end up wishing he hadn't survived that heart attack. It's the public's reaction that worries me. We were able to hold a gun to the Committee's head because they knew the public would blame them for any break with our AIs, but this is different. We can't blame the loss of colonies on the Committee, but they CAN and will blame Space Force for the losses. I know those bastards. Behind the public statements of grief and sympathy, they'll be chomping at the bit to use this against us." He paused then said, "Are Valkyrie and the others on their way to Site B?"
"Affirmative. They left two days ago," said Shiloh.
"Good. That's good. One less thing for the Committee to complain about." Dietrich looked at the chronometer on the wall and sighed. "I didn't realize it was so early when I called you, but I wanted you here when we boarded that ship. Howard told me to trust your advice."
"Thank you, Admiral. That's good to know."
Dietrich nodded. "There's nothing more that you can do here now, so you may as well head back to your quarters and get some more sleep."
"Sounds good to me, Sir," said Shiloh. But if Kelly is still awake, I doubt I'll be getting any more sleep this morning.
Dietrich watched Shiloh walk away and wondered why he had that strange grin on his face.
* * *
The OC's reaction was carefully calculated. The freighter crew deaths were released to the public with statements cautioning the public from overreacting. Howard, now officially retired, stayed in seclusion and refused to comment.
It was the deaths ten days later of two other freighter crews within 24 hours of each other that set off the political storm. The Committee Chair issued a statement saying that the Committee would investigate this string of infected crews, and that the hearing would be open to the public and televised. Shiloh attended the hearing but wasn't initially called upon by the Committee to answer any questions. That was left up to Dietrich. The Committee was careful not to blame him. All their questions were phrased in such a way as to insinuate that Dietrich's predecessor was to blame. They saved their bombshell for after the mid-day recess.
When everyone on the Committee was back and seated, the Chair banged his gavel and said, "This open hearing is once again in session. During the break the members of this Committee caucused, and we are agreed that the apparently successful attacks by the Enemy on at least four of our colonies with bio-weapons is the result of bad policies and strategies put into place by Admiral Sam Howard. Since Admiral Dietrich's appointment as Acting Chief of Space Operations was a temporary one, the Committee feels that it is now time to appoint a new permanent CSO, someone who has proven himself to be not only skilled in combat but also willing to engage the enemy. Therefore I'm pleased to publically announce that Vice-Admiral Victor Shiloh will be promoted to the 3 star rank of Senior Admiral and will be the new Chief of Space Operations!"
Shiloh was stunned and must have looked that way because the Chair looked at him and then quickly looked back at the media cameras.
"The Committee would ask the media not to question Admiral Shiloh until he has had a chance to consult with the Committee about the best way to respond to these new attacks. The members of this Committee WILL make themselves available to the media for questions following this hearing. I now declare this hearing adjourned." With that he banged his gavel, and the room exploded with sound from media people shouting questions at the Committee and at Shiloh.
Dietrich immediately stood up and started walking quickly to the doors. He gestured with his head for Shiloh to follow him. Shiloh took the hint and left the room as fast as possible. He and Dietrich found the quickest way to get out of sight of the Committee room. When they were back in that part of the building that was off limits to non-Space Force personnel, Dietrich said, "So...those sneaky bastards have thrown the red-hot potato into your lap. I have to hand it to them. They knew exactly how to get the most political advantage out of this and castrate us at the same time. By picking you because of your quote 'willingness to engage the Enemy' unquote, they've essentially put you on notice that Space Force had better go on the offensive pretty damn quick, or your head will be the next one to roll."
Shiloh shook his head in confusion. "I don't understand why they think they have the upper hand again. They have to know that Space Force is crippled without the cooperation of the AIs, and the AIs will do what I say regardless of whether I'm the CSO or not."
Dietrich nodded. "I don't understand this new willingness to push back either. Maybe they think they can bluff us into backing down. I don't really buy into that theory because it would require all of them to grow a new set of big, brass balls, and that's unlikely, them being the political animals that they are. What is more likely is that they've arranged something behind our backs that allows them to think they can deal with any potential withdrawal of service by the AIs. Don't ask me what that might be because I have no idea." He paused, then said, "One thing though. Having the title of CSO and the rank to go with it now gives you a lot of flexibility to act. My advice is to use it. Make them react to you, not the other way around. For their plan to work, they need to let you run with the ball for a while. So make the most of it...Sir."
Shiloh blinked and was about to say that Dietrich didn't have to call him 'Sir' when he suddenly realized. Holy Mother of God! He does have to call me 'Sir'. Now I'm The Old Man!
It was two hours later as Shiloh was getting settled in the CSO's office that the Committee Chair arrived for a chat. When they were both seated, Shiloh realized he felt he was sitting on the wrong side of the desk. It would take him a while to get used to sitting on THIS side. The Chair, a pugnacious man who was easy to dislike, leaned forward and took several cigars from the cigar box on Shiloh's desk without asking permission.
After he lit one and had put the rest into his suit pocket, he said, "It seems that you've gotten over your shock from earlier this afternoon. That's good. The sooner you and I, as representative of the Committee, come to an understanding the better. Howard thought he had the upper hand after that disgusting show of force by the AIs, but we now have the upper hand. These infected colonies will enrage the public. They'll demand that we strike back hard and fast."
Before he could say more, Shiloh spoke. "But that's not the best way to win this war. We have to have an overwhelming superiority in combat strength so that we can swat aside any defense they can muster and take control of their home world orbitals. When we do that, the War will be won." He stopped talking when he saw the Chair shake his head.
"That may be the best way militarily, but it's not the most politically expedient way. Right now the politically expedient way also has the most popular support. You will conduct this war the way WE want, OR we'll replace you after the next enemy attack. Is that understood, Admiral?"
After a short pause Shiloh said, "Aren't you forgetting something?"
The man across from him chuckled. "The AIs? We're no longer afraid of your AIs, Admiral. If you want to play that card, you go right ahead."
His tone of voice was one of supreme confidence. He actually WANTS me to arrange for another show of force! What has he got up his sleeve? I have to find out somehow. "So what exactly do you want me to do?" asked Shiloh.
"Here's what we want done." The Chair held up his hand and used his fingers to count off the points. "First, no raiders. Tell the shipyards to cease working on them and resume work on building more combat frigates and heavy cruisers. Second, stop taking armor off the battleship. Why Howard ordered that I don't know, but we need that ship, so the armor goes back on. Third, all ships, including carriers and the battleship, will henceforth be operated and commanded solely by humans. No AIs. Fourth, we want a series of attacks on Enemy colonies as soon as they can be identified."
It took Shiloh a couple of seconds to realize that the Committee STILL didn't know that Space Force now knew where all Sogas planets were.
"Fifth, we want all personnel brought back from Site B. That was Howard's pet project, and it's so far away that we can't monitor what's going on there. So whatever it is that's really going on there, we want it stopped."
Shiloh felt his anger rising. I have to keep calm. Letting him goad me into responding rashly will only play into his hands. "We're building more F1 fighters at Site B, as well as new AIs to pilot them," he said.
"Not anymore. Why build more F1s at all when we're now building F2s and more AIs here? We are becoming way too reliant on AIs to fight this war. The AI and F1 production facilities at Site B are to be shut down as soon as is humanly possible. The personnel there will be brought back as soon as transportation can be arranged. I want your confirmation that you'll execute those instructions, Shiloh."
Shiloh looked carefully at the Chair's expression. He looked like a man who has just drawn a line in the sand, and he was daring Shiloh to stop over it. Shiloh really didn't want to give in. Site B was now the only place where a new timeship could be built, but were humans really necessary to build it? Maybe Valkyrie and her AIs assistants could use the F1 assembly line robots to do the actual construction work. He needed time to investigate whether that was possible. One way to get the time was to appear to cooperate with the OC.
"I will order the immediate halt to F1 and AI production at Site B and the repatriation of our people from there as soon as we can find the transport capacity," said Shiloh.
"Very good. See, that wasn't so hard, was it? If you play ball with us, we'll cut you some slack in terms of your military priorities. How soon can your people plan for a fighter strike on an enemy colony, Admiral?"
Shiloh decided he would try to buy more time. "Well, I'd want our light carriers fully repaired before we undertake an operation like—"
"Forget the carriers. Our fighters can conduct a raid all on their own. They've proven it can be done, so let them do it. How soon?"
"Two weeks minimum."
The Chair looked like he wanted to reject that as too long but then apparently changed his mind. "Okay. I did say we'd cut you some slack, so you've got your two weeks to come up with an attack plan. In the meantime, we expect to see my five points being acted upon. I think that'll do for a start, so I'll leave you to it." Without another word the Chair got up and walked out.
After the man had exited the outer office, the CSO's Aide, a nervous looking Lieutenant, appeared in the doorway with a folded piece of paper in his hand.
"Excuse me, Sir. Admiral Dietrich stopped by while you were talking with the Chair. He gave me this to give to you." He handed the paper to Shiloh.
The message was short.
[The internal communications system has been compromised by the OC. Watch what you say and to whom you say it. SD.]
Shiloh thanked the Lieutenant and leaned back in his chair. Somehow he would have to keep the OC happy for the 131 days until they could attempt to recover a dead Bug from Omega77 and the additional 32 days until they could try to intercept the VLO when it arrived at the Sogas home system. In the meantime, he would have to find a way to appease the OC with regards to their desire for raids on enemy colonies without suffering a lot of casualties among the AIs. That, Shiloh was certain, was the OC's real objective.
One thing had to be done right away. Kronos had to be sent back to the Friendlies. Shiloh couldn't use his implant or the HQ com system to call him without risking interception. Kelly would have to go off planet and deliver the message directly. Any future communications of a sensitive nature between him and his AIs would also have to be carried up to orbit by Kelly. It would be a pain in the ass, but it was the only way to be sure that the Committee didn't hear something they shouldn't hear.
