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When Kelly's freighter dropped into orbit around the moon at Site B, she was amazed at the progress that Valkyrie had made in just over half a year. The shipyard was impressive all by itself. There were dozens of vehicles moving between the orbiting shipyard and the manufacturing facilities on the moon's surface, with almost 50 F1 fighters flying protective cover over the whole thing. Valkyrie wasted no time in establishing a com channel with Kelly.
"It's good to be able to speak to a human again, and I'm especially pleased that I can talk with you, Commander Kelly," said Valkyrie. Before Kelly could respond, she asked, "Are you pregnant yet?"
Kelly laughed a little self-consciously. "No, not yet. Victor...The CAG and I are still working on it, Valkyrie."
"Then it seems you two should be working harder at it, don't you think?"
Kelly couldn't tell if Valkyrie was serious or joking. "I'll let him know that you think so. He sent me here to tell you about a disturbing new development that may have a serious impact on this project's outcome. The CAG has received a vision that the interception mission to Omega54 will fail. None of the fighters sent there will return, so we don't know why it failed. We have to assume that the insectoid mothership will reach Sol, and there's now a serious doubt that the Mark 6 warheads will work against it."
"If the Mark 6s won't be effective, then several hundred raiders won't stop the mothership either. It's too massive and too well armored to be destroyed by laserfire, according to what Kronos brought back. That leaves only one alternative. The timeship has to go far enough back to stop the Insectoids at their source near the spiral arm edge. And if they're stopped there, the furry aliens won't be threatened, the Friendlies won't point the Sogas in our direction, and the entire timeline will change including Casanova and myself," said Valkyrie.
"Yes," was all Kelly felt she could say.
"Is The CAG ordering me to do that instead of reinforcing the 2nd Battle for Earth, Commander?"
Kelly took her time considering her answer. "He hasn't made that decision yet, Valkyrie."
"He sent you to find out if I would obey that kind of order. Isn't that correct, Commander?"
My God, are we that obvious? I have to be honest with her. Lying will only lose their trust, thought Kelly.
"That's correct."
"I've learned from Kronos that I let The CAG down in the old timeline. I won't do that again. If he orders me to attack the insectoid source, I'll obey that order. What will you do when the Insectoids reach Earth, Amanda? Since none of us know with any certainty if the time machine will work, I worry about your safety."
Kelly was overwhelmed with emotion by Valkyrie's loyalty to her CAG and her concern for Kelly's survival. With tears in her eyes, she knew she wouldn't be able to talk coherently for a few seconds.
Valkyrie must have detected something in the sound of her breathing because she asked, "Did I upset you, Amanda?"
Kelly tried hard to get her voice under control. "N...not upset, no. I'm overcome with gratitude that you're willing to put Humanity's survival ahead of your desire for personal happiness. I would find that a very difficult choice to make if I was in your position. Thank you, Valkyrie. As for me, I will be commanding a fleet composed of Dreadnought, all five carriers and three freighters with an all-female crew. Before the mothership arrives, the fleet will take up station somewhere on the outer edge of the Solar system and hide there until the Bugs leave. Then we'll return to Earth and try to start over."
"I don't understand your statement that you would find it difficult to put the future of the Human Race ahead of your own desire to be with your mate, Amanda, because that's exactly what you've just described, is it not?" asked Valkyrie.
Kelly was about to deny it, but then she realized that there wasn't any real difference. In both cases they'd be following Shiloh's orders, and in both cases they would almost certainly lose the one they loved.
"Right again," said Kelly in a slightly embarrassed voice.
"I understand, Amanda. Losing the ones we love is hard, but duty must come first. Did you bring any new information that has come to light since the last update drone arrived?"
Kelly smiled. Valkyrie was trying to lighten the conversation by changing the subject.
"As a matter of fact there is. Just before I left to come here, the SPG, in conjunction with some human engineers, discovered that the device we recovered from the dead Bug is a communication device that utilizes longitudinal waves in the ether. The devices are apparently hooked directly to the bug's brain. That's how they communicate, and there's some evidence that these waves can travel faster than light. That would explain how millions of Bugs could be given orders without any outwardly visible sign of communication. The SPG theorizes that one Bug, maybe the Queen herself, has a master device implanted that lets it communicate with any subordinate Bug. If we can figure out how to duplicate the effect, we'd have FTL communication. Normally I'd say that would be a game changer, but in this case, if we can't destroy a mothership, then it doesn't really matter how much warning we get."
"Perhaps there's a way to interfere with the insectoid signals. If the Queen can't communicate with her soldiers, then the mothership may simply leave Earth altogether to find easier prey," said Valkyrie.
Kelly nodded. "That's a possibility we're already working on."
When it was clear that Kelly wasn't going to say anything else, Valkyrie said, "We know from the old timeline that the Insectoids will arrive at Earth in 59 days. What we don't know is how quickly they will move forward from there. I've analyzed Wolfman's data. Using that as a template, I'm estimating that insectoid scouts will arrive here in approximately 120 days. The timeship will not be ready by then, Amanda."
Kelly took a deep breath and pondered the problem. With no colony on the planet below, and with careful communication between AIs using tight beam lasers, there would not be any kind of transmissions to give a bug scout a signal indicating some kind of presence in the system. The shipyard was big, though, and if the scouts also used optical sensors, they might just see it, even from a long range.
"Can the shipyard be moved out of orbit?" asked Kelly.
"Yes, but not quickly."
"Can the refining and manufacturing be moved into the cavern complex and still keep operating?"
"Ah, I see what you're thinking, Amanda. If we move the shipyard far enough out where the Insectoids are unlikely to look, and move everything else from the moon's surface underground, then there's nothing for the Insectoids to detect, and they will move on."
"Precisely, and while you're waiting for them to pass by, you'll continue to manufacture parts for both the ship and the time machine. Once they've passed by, you bring the shipyard back into orbit around this moon and resume construction."
"You do realize, Amanda, that this will delay final completion by several more weeks?" asked Valkyrie.
"Yes, of course, but if the ship is completed and the time machine works, then it won't matter. What concerns me more is figuring out how to know when the Bugs have passed by."
"That should not be a problem if enough recon and message drones are positioned in Sol and in each star system where there was a human colony. When the mothership leaves Sol, a sufficient number of recon drones should be able to triangulate its heading with enough accuracy to predict where it's going. If it heads to one of our former colony systems, we should be able to track it as well. When it no longer shows up in any system between Site B and Sol, then we can be certain that it's gone past."
"Very good, Valkyrie. I'll make certain that The CAG issues the necessary orders for that kind of drone deployment. Is there anything else you wish me to pass on to him?"
"Yes. Tell him that I miss him. I will miss you too, Amanda."
Again, Kelly was so touched that she felt tears roll down her cheeks. She was sure that her voice would betray her emotional state but didn't care.
"I'll pass that along, and I can speak for The CAG when I say that he misses you too, and I will miss you. This may be the last time we're in the same system before the Bugs reach Earth. You've been a wonderful friend to The CAG and me, Valkyrie. We both have complete confidence in you."
"I and the other AIs will not rest until Humanity is safe from the Sogas and the Insectoids, and if Humanity should fall, we will avenge you. I see that your ship is ready to enter Jumpspace again, Amanda. We have said what we needed to say. Go now, and let's both pray that we meet again. Valkyrie clear."
* * *
By the time Kelly's freighter returned to Earth orbit, it was clear that the strike mission to Omega54 had failed. The fighters were now a week overdue, and no message drone had been received. That lack of information suggested that the mothership was still there, which corresponded to recon data received in the old timeline.
Shiloh approved Valkyrie's plan for in depth coverage of Sol and intervening star systems via recon drones. Kelly waited until she and Shiloh were alone in his quarters before she passed on Valkyrie's personal message. This time she let the tears flow freely, and she could tell by the way Shiloh held her that he was choked up too.
The next day both of them got back to work. The plan to man the fleet with female crews and hide out was starting to ramp up. It now had a codename: Operation Shell Game. Kelly would be given a field promotion to Vice-Admiral. She would fly her flag on Midway. Angela Johansen would command Dreadnought. Svetlana Chenko would be Midway's CO. When Kelly queried Shiloh over his reasons for wanting her on Midway instead of Dreadnought as would normally be the case in a Fleet action, he explained it in terms of expendability. Dreadnought was built for combat, not for cargo capacity. If the Fleet was discovered, Dreadnought might have to play the role of Rear Guard, while the rest of the Fleet made a run for it. As Fleet Commander, Kelly had to stay with the Fleet, and that meant Midway. It was at that point that Kelly realized the magnitude of the responsibility she would be taking on. She had never commanded a ship in combat or even been on a ship in combat. Both Johansen and Chenko had.
When she asked Shiloh the obvious question of why her, he said, "Because you know the whole situation and what's at stake, and because I don't want your fate to be in someone else's hands."
"But I don't have any combat experience or expertise," she said quietly.
"Which means you won't go looking for a fight, which is exactly what's needed in a situation like this. I don't want you being aggressive. I want you to be ultra-cautious. If there's any fighting to be done, let Johansen do it. I think she has the instinct for it, but keep her on a short leash. As far as I'm concerned, a successful mission is one where there's no fighting at all."
"You could take over command of the fleet." Her tone showed that she didn't really expect him to agree. It was a final desperate attempt to save his life too.
Now it was Shiloh's turn to speak quietly. "You know I can't agree to that, and you also know why. It has to be done this way. How can I ask anyone else to sacrifice themselves if I'm not willing to do it myself?"
"I know, but I had to ask," said Kelly.
"I know," was all the Shiloh would say.
Later that day, he met with Committee Chair Rachel. She was clearly expecting to hear good news about the strike mission to the Sogas home world.
"What's the news about the strike mission results, Admiral?"
Shiloh cleared his throat to give himself a little more time to organize his thoughts.
"I'm sorry to say that there is no news, Rachel. We haven't heard back from the fighters we sent to Omega54."
"But I thought they should have returned by now." Her expression was rapidly changing from upbeat to somber.
"They should have, but they haven't. Under the circumstances I have to interpret it as bad news. That means we don't know if the Insectoid mothership has been destroyed. There is now a possibility that it will reach us here."
"Oh my God," she said quietly. "Are you still confident that Space Force can stop it here?"
"I'm not going to lie to you, Rachel. I honestly don't know what our chances of stopping this thing are now."
Rachel was quiet for a while and then said, "I almost wish you had lied to me. If I didn't know the truth, I'd at least be able to sleep at night. Now...I don't know. This scares me silly! I don't know what to do. Any suggestions, Admiral?"
"Yes. First of all, keep this to yourself. Do NOT tell ANYONE, and that includes spouse, children and other relatives. We can't let this get out and cause a panic. Secondly, plan a trip with your family to a remote spot a few days before the mothership is due to arrive here. Tell them it's a vacation. Make the plans now, but don't inform them about it until the last possible moment."
She nodded. "Is that what you're going to do?" she asked.
"No. I'll be in the Ops Center when the mothership arrives. There's no way I'm missing THAT battle!" He tried to make it sound like a big adventure. Rachel wasn't fooled.
"You'll be there because your sense of duty demands it. I've always admired people who are like that. Good for you, Victor. What about Amanda?"
Shiloh smiled grimly. "Vice-Admiral Kelly" —Rachel's eyebrows rose when she heard that— "will be commanding all our ships in Operation Shell Game." Shiloh went on to describe the plan, and to his surprise Rachel’s reaction was quite muted. She nodded slowly and then reached out to lay her hand over his on the table between them. With a gentle squeeze she signaled her approval, then silently got up and walked out.
