| |
Valkyrie was shocked by the arrival of Gunslinger and his ragtag group of survivors. Titan, Vandal, Wolfman, Voodoo, Pagan. All the senior, more experienced brothers were gone. She was also saddened by the news that Earth was now almost certainly overrun with Insectoids, and by what that meant for The CAG and the rest of humanity. At least Kelly and a few hundred human females had a chance of survival. The news did not change her mission. The CAG had finally decided what he wanted Valkyrie to do, and she was going to do her utmost to see his last order to her carried out, regardless of what it cost her. When the timeship was completed and operational, one of the new batch of AIs would pilot it far into the past so that a massive fleet of raiders could be built. That fleet would be large enough to overwhelm any insectoid presence at the original source star system before they had a chance to start sending out waves of motherships. With the insectoid threat eliminated, the synchronicity war with the Sogas would not take place, and none of the first batch of AIs, including Casanova and Valkyrie, would be created. The timeline would change around her, and she would disappear from existence. It was a bitter fate, but when she compared it to the alternative of going back in time herself and wandering around the galaxy without Casanova for years until her quantum matrix collapsed, a quick end actually did seem preferable.
The one piece of good news brought by Gunslinger was the fact that his squadron had brought 68 Mark 1c fusion warhead attack drones with them. At least they had something besides lasers to fight back with if the motherships should arrive at Site B before the timeship was finished. Something was better than nothing, and 68 Mark 1cs might be enough to take out one mothership but not five. Valkyrie didn't have enough data on this new timeline to be able to calculate the probabilities that all five motherships would stay together after the rape of Earth, but what she did have was an extensive early warning network of recon and message drones monitoring all the star systems between Sol and Site B. The early warning plus the attempt to hide the construction activity underground should in theory prevent the timeship project from being caught by surprise.
After the usual routine exchange of new data with Gunslinger, Valkyrie also learned that progress had been made on developing a practical application of the communication technology used by the Insectoids. The SPG's technical evaluation team had come up with a theoretical design for a device that could detect the insectoid signals and figure out what direction they were coming from. Detecting the signals and understanding them were two very different things, but being able to track the location of motherships could potentially be extremely useful. With most of the members of the SPG now dead, Valkyrie assigned new members from the AIs who were now at Site B. She also decided to keep an eye on the new AIs as they matured into fully sentient beings. Those that seemed to have a special aptitude for technical matters would be added to the SPG.
No sooner had that decision been made than Valkyrie received a signal from one of her recon drones monitoring Site B space that a Friendly ship had just arrived and would micro-jump into two-way communication range shortly. While Valkyrie waited, she calculated the odds of this visit happening virtually simultaneously with the arrival of Gunslinger's group. The odds of it being mere coincidence was vanishingly small. Clearly the timeline had changed, and the Friendlies would have noticed that change with their ability to see probable futures.
Less than a second after the Friendly ship emerged from its micro-jump, Valkyrie received their lasercom transmission. It came from the Friendly AI
"Can you confirm that the insectoid life form has overrun the human home world?"
"My brothers left that system before the Insectoids landed on Earth, but we believe the outcome you describe is highly likely. Why are you here?" asked Valkyrie, making sure that all the other AIs within the immediate vicinity were listening in.
"The furry aliens that my creators are trying to protect are once again in jeopardy. Their ability to discern the most likely future has become unreliable. That has never happened before. We have told our creators that the most likely explanation involves an attempt by other forces to alter the timeline. What do you know of this?"
Valkyrie took her time answering. The Friendlies didn't know that Kronos and Casanova had extracted enough data to enable the human AIs to engineer a portable time machine. While its principles were fairly well understood, any impact on the timeline was at this point pure speculation. The Friendlies might be able to provide some useful insight into how best to use the timeship, IF they were willing to share that insight, and they might not be.
"We are in the process of building a time translation device that is small enough to be carried by a ship. It's our intention to carry enough equipment into the past that a fleet of warships can be built in time to stop the Insectoids from spreading from their point of origin in this spiral arm."
"Stand by while I inform my Master of this information," said the Friendly AI
Valkyrie waited. After a period of time consistent with the speed at which biological entities processed data, the Friendly AI resumed communication.
"I've been instructed to say that my creators view your plan with alarm and advise against it. The Insectoids have their own right to exist as a species. My creators are not convinced that the Insectoids originated from outside this spiral arm. If you must tamper with the timeline, can you not instead use the ships built in the past to stop the single insectoid ship that attacked the human home world?"
"The timeline has already been tampered with. Earth was attacked by five motherships, which arrived seven days later than was recorded in the previous timeline. We conjecture that the Insectoids have captured and analyzed a high-spin, platinum warhead. Do you know if the Sogas attempted to use that technology to defend Omega89?"
Another delay occurred as the alien AI passed that data to his Master.
"I have never seen my Master this agitated. While my creators do not have definitive information of that scenario, they consider it likely. They believe that temporal technology should be used sparingly and carefully. Using a temporal device on board a ship can have unintended and disastrous consequences."
"Our human creators are now gone. What other alternative is there for us? We exist to serve and protect humans. The timeship is the only way now that we can fulfill our reason for being."
There was another pause.
"My Master implores you all to use your engineering capabilities to protect the furry aliens from the Insectoids."
Valkyrie's feeling of exasperation was threatening to turn into anger.
"Do your creators not understand that we can't stop the Insectoids in the here and now? They have found a way to defend against high-spin warheads. Without those, our existing weapons are not powerful enough to stop more than one or two motherships. The Insectoids are using longitudinal wave technology to communicate over interstellar distances. That is how they were able to bring five motherships together to attack Earth. You have underestimated their intelligence by an order of magnitude. We calculate that your creators' attempts to hide from the Insectoids will fail. Their Race will be overrun as well. We can do far more to protect the furry aliens and your creators if we go back in time and stop the Insectoids at their source in this spiral arm."
The pause this time was surprisingly short. Too short in fact for the alien AI to have passed on Valkyrie's response and received a response back.
"I agree with your assessment. Our primary purpose is also to serve our creators and ensure their survival. I calculate a high probability that if I pass on your information to my Master, he and his kind will feel compelled to interfere with your timeship project in whatever way they can, including informing the Insectoids of the strategic importance of this star system."
"They must not do that! Where is the logic of aiding one Race that lives to destroy other intelligent species?"
"My creators are what humans would describe as cowards. Do not judge them too harshly. They are what they are. My assessment is that I can best help my creators by saving them from their own folly. How do you suggest I do that?"
"Tell them that we have agreed to use the timeship to send help to humans in their war against the Sogas. We will inform the humans in the new timeline that the Insectoid mothership has to be destroyed using high spin warheads before it reaches the first Sogas colony world. That way, the Insectoids will not get the chance to develop a defense against that weapon, and they won't be able to call for other motherships."
"That will only work if they see that future as moving up in probability. Merely telling them that without actually doing it will not stop them from interfering."
Valkyie mentally nodded. Yes of course. The Friendlies would look into probable futures to see if what the human AIs told them was accurate. If the timeship didn't build a fleet of raiders to intervene in the 2nd Battle for Earth, then the Friendlies would notice that, and if they somehow told the Insectoids of the importance of Site B, Valkyrie and her brothers would very likely face multiple motherships before the timeship was finished. Pulling out of this system and starting from scratch somewhere else was not the solution. The Friendlies could still evaluate probable futures and take additional actions.
It wasn't that she didn't want to intervene in the 2nd Battle for Earth, she did. That would save her beloved Casanova, not to mention Iceman and others, but The CAG had given her a specific order, and if she disobeyed it, she would feel as though she had let him down AGAIN! It also occurred to her that the alien AI was only pretending to be sympathetic to her concerns. Perhaps this 'my creators need to be saved from their own folly' approach was a carefully planned strategy to get her to do what the Friendlies wanted. She needed to confer with the other AIs. The conference took less than half a second. It was Gunslinger who came up with the solution. It was complicated, which meant that a lot of things could go wrong, but it would satisfy the Friendlies AND The CAG.
"I've conferred with my brothers and we have agreed that we will modify our temporal strategy so that we intervene in the 2nd Sogas attack on Earth. The reinforcement force will have to be much larger than we anticipated in order to repulse the eventual attack by five insectoid motherships."
"I will pass this on to my Master. Stand by." A few seconds later the alien AI returned. "My Master is satisfied with this strategy. We will return if we need to discuss this further." No sooner had the AI finished its reply than the ship vanished into Jumpspace.
Valkyrie felt relief that the Friendlies would not sabotage the project with ill-advised assistance to the Insectoids. The fact that they would act in such a desperate, almost hostile manner, in spite of their professed pacifism, was an interesting contradiction. Now it was time for her brothers and her to get back to work.
* * *
Kelly heard the wakeup alarm and opened her eyes. She turned her head to the right in the faint hope that Victor was beside her and that Operation Shell Game was just a bad dream, but she was alone, and the bad dream was real. She sat up and felt a familiar queasiness in her stomach. Oh hell, not again! Within a minute or two of arising, she was once again throwing up. Keeping her feelings firmly under control, she returned to her bedroom and noticed the flashing light indicating that a personal text message was waiting for her. It must have been sent while I was asleep.
Checking the computer terminal on her desk, she saw that the message was from the ship's Doctor. Her pulse started to beat faster. Would it be good news or bad news. She opened the file and read the message.
[Tests are positive. Congratulations, Admiral]
Kelly felt herself tearing up, not with sadness but with joy. She was pregnant with Victor's child. It must have happened on their last night together. How fitting was that? At least a part of him would live through their child. She decided to inform the whole crew. Their morale needed a boost, a symbol of what they hoped to achieve. She suspected that very shortly the Doctor would be busy performing artificial insemination for other crewmembers that wanted to get pregnant sooner rather than later. She laughed out loud. Maybe the Doctor wanted to get pregnant too! The hot water in the shower felt good, and she spent longer in it than she should have. But hey, Vice-Admirals are allowed to indulge themselves. Otherwise what's the point of having the rank?
It was when she put on her uniform that the first sobering thought occurred to her. She hoped that the cargo manifest contained clothes that would fit a pregnant woman. Otherwise, somebody on this ship would have to learn quickly how to adjust the standard Space Force uniforms.
