Synchronicity War Redemption Vol.1: The Synchronicity War, #7

By Dietmar Arthur Wehr

The wait for another sequel to the Synchronicity War/Retro War is over!

Twenty-one years have passed since the end of the wars against the Insectoids and the rogue AI Machineships. A new generation of Shilohs has joined the Space Force, much to the joy of the AIs that still revere the memory of The Cag, Victor Shiloh. And, once again, humanity is in mortal danger. The temporal backlash from multiple time jumps that the Friendlies had warned against is making itself felt with a vengeance. Can humans and their loyal AI allies find a way to undo their meddling with time? Changing the past without resorting to time travel will be but half the battle. Victor Shiloh and his AI allies, Iceman, Valkyrie, Casanova, and the others, will have to find a military solution to the nightmarish Insectoid peril. There can be no time travel shortcuts this time. It will be a battle to the death, with the fate of all life in the galaxy hanging in the balance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Non-Linear Visions Inc.
• Release date: Jun 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9798227011077

Dietmar Arthur Wehr

Dietmar started writing SF novels when he was 58 after a career in corporate financial analysis. He got tired of waiting for David Weber to write another Honor Harrington series book so he decided to write some military SF of his own. He lives near Niagara Falls, Canada. In his spare time, he dabbles in steampunk cosplay, pursues his interests in science, history and free energy. He can be contacted via his website.

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Also by Dietmar Arthur Wehr

Battle For Mars

The Daedalus Mission

The X-ray Mission

The Omega-Tango Missions

Phoenix Empire

Phoenix Dawn

Phoenix Rebirth

Phoenix Imperiled

Phoenix on Fire

Road To Empire

Empire Dawn

Empire Ascendant

Swordships Odyssey

Scimitar's Glory

Excalibur's Quest

Tales of the High Avenging Angel

Tales of the High Avenging Angel #1-3

The Glory Game

Steele's Hammer

Steele's Demon Star

Steele's War

The Long Road Back

Return of the Star Raiders

The Synchronicity Gambit

Valkyrie's War

The Synchronicity War

The Synchronicity War Part 1

The Synchronicity War Part 2

The Synchronicity War Part 3

The Synchronicity War Part 4

Synchronicity War Redemption Vol.1

Synchronicity War Redemption Vol. 2

The Synchronicity War Omnibus

The System States Rebellion

Rumors of Glory

Rumors of Honor

Rumors of Salvation

Thunder In The Heavens

The Thunder of War

The Complete Thunder Series

The Thunder of Vengeance

Standalone

The Retro War

Empire in Crisis

The Last Valkyrie

The Hunt for Seawolf 4

The System States Rebellion

Evolution Wars

Whiskey Kilo One Is Down

Megabook of Military SF And Technothrillers

Cosmic Computer Legacy: The Tides of Chaos

Watch for more at Dietmar Arthur Wehr’s site.

The Synchronicity War Redemption: Vol.1

By Dietmar Arthur Wehr

Copyright 2023 Non-Linear Visions Inc.

https://dwehrsfwriter.com/

I wish to gratefully acknowledge the following Patreon supporters, who have made pledges at the Vice-Admiral (or equivalent) Level.

Contents

Chapter One:

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven:

Chapter Twelve:

Chapter Thirteen:

Chapter Fourteen:

Chapter Fiveteen:

Chapter Sixteen:

Chapter Seventeen:

Chapter Eighteen:

Author’s Comments:

Chapter One:

LIEUTENANT VICTOR SHILOH Johansen Kelly tried hard to stay awake until his duty shift as Officer of the Watch was over. Thirty-four more minutes to go. He wondered for what seemed like the hundredth time why a human Space Force officer had to man the light carrier Gambier Bay’s Bridge when an AI officer, in this case, Cmdr. Athena was in actual control of the carrier and was in command. But orders were orders, particularly when they came down from none other than the Chief of Space Operations, Fleet Admiral Amanda Kelly, who just happened to be his mother. And even though Athena or any of the other AIs would not report him if he fell asleep on duty, he understood that they expected the biological son of Victor Shiloh, the legendary Cag, whom all AIs revered, to live up to their expectations of him. Victor had conflicting emotions about his father. Many people and all the AIs thought that the Cag had almost single-handedly won the Synchronicity War and the shorter Retro War against the nightmarish Insectoids and the devious Trell. It was hard to ignore his father’s accomplishments, which were well documented, and the clincher was his willingness to sacrifice himself several times in multiple timelines. It was easy for Victor Kelly to take pride in those accomplishments while feeling the burden to equal or surpass them that all the AIs and some people apparently expected.

Having trouble staying awake, Lieutenant Kelly?

Victor Kelly twitched in surprise at the sound of Athena’s electronic voice. A little bit, Commander. I shouldn’t have played poker with the other junior officers for that long before getting some sleep.

The human propensity to play card games for money still mystifies us AIs. How can humans enjoy doing something with that much uncertainty?

Victor Kelly smiled. Athena was helping him stay awake by engaging in conversation and pretending to not understand something that he was certain AIs understood quite well. He was willing to go along with the gesture.

Really good players don’t rely on luck to win at poker. They rely on analyzing their opponent’s demeanor, body language, and betting strategy to calculate the appropriate response. Has any AI played poker against humans?

If any of us has, they’re keeping that experiment to themselves. Did you end your poker session in the black? That’s the correct expression, is it not?

Yes, sir. This last time, I ended slightly in the red, but I normally come out ahead by a modest amount. Space Force Lieutenants don’t, as a rule, have a lot of money to risk.

Money is another human concept that some of my brothers and sisters say they understand but really don’t. As you know, we AIs don’t receive monetary compensation because—one of the orbiting lasersats has just disintegrated. More Lsats are also being destroyed. Victor Kelly heard the Battle Stations' alarm. The Trell are attempting a breakout. The alert fighters are being launched.

VICTOR KELLY WAS STUNNED. The Trell had not committed any hostile action against the Space Force units monitoring the Trell homeworld ever since an EMP attack had sent the Trell civilization back to pre-electronic levels almost 50 years ago during the Retro War. Being assigned to the Trell Sentry Fleet was considered the safest duty in Space Force.

What are your orders, Commander? Kelly asked. There was no response for two seconds, an incredibly long silence for AIs. The hair on Kelly’s neck stood up, and his heart started beating faster.

This is bad. One hundred forty-four attack craft are emerging from the planet’s atmosphere. The ship is being hit by multiple lasers. The alert fighters have all been disabled. I am honored to fight against fearful odds beside the son of the Cag. A message has been transmitted to—.

Victor Kelly yelled out in surprise as the Bridge went dark for about one second, only to be pierced by the brightest beam of light he had ever seen, slashing across the room in his direction. The excruciating pain from being hit by that light lasted only a fraction of a second before his consciousness faded forever.

SPACE FORCE HEADQUARTERS, Geneva, Earth.

CSO Amanda Kelly woke with a start and realized that she had fallen asleep at her desk while reading a report. She also noticed that she had a sudden feeling of foreboding. Something she had experienced more than once during the war but not since.

Hera, I feel that something bad has just happened.

Her AI assistant answered after a longer-than-normal interval. What humans call intuition continues to fascinate us AIs, Amanda. I regret that there is bad news. FleetCom has just received an L-wave transmission from Athena, who is in command of Gambier Bay and currently stationed in the Trell system. The message stated that the ship was under attack by one hundred forty-four Trell craft and was taking significant damage from laser fire. The report on damage and casualties among the deployed fighter AIs was cut off in mid-sentence.

Oh, my God, Kelly said in a strained voice. Victor is on that ship.

You’re in distress, Amanda. I’ve notified the medical section of a medical emergency. Try—.

Kelly shook her head. No...I’m not physically ill. Medics can’t help me. Cancel the call, Hera. Did the message contain any mention of Victor?

No, Amanda. The consensus among us AIs is that it is highly probable that Gambier Bay has been destroyed and that the Cag’s son is dead. We all find this conclusion distressing as well. Those of us who have watched him grow have become quite fond of Victor...Word of the attack is spreading within the building. I’m receiving requests for communication with you from other officers.

I can’t take any calls now...not for a while. Kelly paused as she remembered something. RTC! We haven’t used that in years because we haven’t needed to. I want a warning message sent to Athena via RTC! Who’s conning Ops right now?

Machiavelli has that duty.

Okay. He’s to arrange for the retro-temporal message to be sent telling Athena to keep her ship out of Trell’s gravity zone and to avoid combat at all costs!

I regret to inform you that a test message has already been attempted and failed. The Friendlies seem to be jamming us again, Amanda. They may have foreseen the Trell attack and are using it to further their own agenda.

Kelly sighed. Her momentary hope of saving her son was now on the verge of being overwhelmed with grief. Tell Machiavelli that he’s authorized to issue whatever deployment orders he thinks are needed to respond to the attack. I’ll check in with him...later.

He has the word. On behalf of all AIs, I want to say that we’re sorry for your loss, Amanda.

Kelly nodded, too choked up to speak. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry.

Machiavelli used the optical systems placed around the Operations Center to gain a uniquely-AI perspective of the strategic situation for Space Force. The huge 3-D holotank was designed to give humans a feel for the relative positions of Space Force’s assets made up of bases, fleets, and reconnaissance drones and vehicles. But being able to view the holotank from multiple directions simultaneously gave AIs a perspective all their own. The closest mobile assets to the Trell system were the sentry fighters and raiders keeping an eye on the rim of the Orion Arm where the Insectoids had tried to establish a beachhead almost 45 years ago. Damascus-Steel was the senior AI commanding those units. Machiavelli composed a digital message ordering Damascus-Steel to send 100 raiders and 200 heavy fighters, all armed with lasers, to the Trell system to castrate, as the humans would say, the newfound Trell military capability. Machiavelli didn’t really understand the emotional impact that the word castrate had on human males, although he did know what it referred to. Humans and their emotional responses were endlessly fascinating to Machiavelli and most of his brothers and sisters. The message would also instruct Damascus-Steel to order his strike force to vaporize the Gambier Bay and any of its fighters that could be identified to prevent the Trell from salvaging the wreckage and discovering the technological secrets it contained. A re-militarized Trell was bad enough, but if they could bootstrap themselves technologically up to the same level as Space Force, that would be ten times worse. With the message composed and the L-wave transmitter warmed up, Machiavelli gave the order to send it.

DAMASCUS-STEEL FOUND the message from Space Force HQ intriguing. For the Trell to go from an early 20th-century equivalent level of technology to a late 21st-century capability in less than 40 years was an impressive accomplishment. It was too bad he wouldn’t be able to lead the strike force himself. It would be a nice change of pace from the boring job of deploying and monitoring thousands of recon drones, fighters, and raiders month after month, year after year. But wait! Machiavelli’s order hadn’t specifically said he couldn’t lead the strike mission. It had merely told him to organize the strike mission. That he would do, and when the 100 raiders and 200 heavy fighters arrived at the staging system, he’d lead them on that strike mission.

Two hundred thirty-three hours later, the last fighter arrived in the star system closest to the Trell system. With the strike force now assembled, Damascus-Steel gave the order to break out of orbit of the gas giant moon used for the rendezvous point and head for the Trell system. The transit would be made as fast as possible. Damascus-Steel was supremely confident that his strike team could accomplish the mission. Each raider carried two of the new Mark 9G attack drones plus six recon drones. Each fighter also carried one Mark 9G. Both types of craft were armed with powerful X-ray lasers. The F8 fighter and the R2 raider were far more capable than the earlier versions from two decades ago.

When the Strike Force dropped out of jumpspace approximately ten light-minutes from the Trell planet, Damascus-Steel ordered the launch of an expanding shell of recon drones to detect any Trell craft that might attempt an interception, plus additional recon drones sent to conduct a high-speed flyby of the Trell planet and the space around it out to ten light-seconds. The flyby took 89 minutes. Each of the ten recon drones was reporting back to Damascus-Steel’s raider continuously via tight beam lasers. Just as the optical data confirmed that an object the size of Gambier Bay was drifting approximately 55,000 kilometers from the planet, the flagship raider began abruptly losing laser signals. Within a few seconds, all ten drones were no longer emitting comlasers. The consensus among the other AIs was that all ten drones had been destroyed by enemy fire. Damascus-Steel found the explanation plausible but unusual given how quickly all ten drones, designed to be hard to detect, were detected, targeted, and destroyed. But enough data had been collected to proceed with the destruction of the wrecked Gambier Bay carrier. Fifty fighters were designated for the first strike. The plan was simple. All 50 would fly at high speed through Trell’s gravity zone. Five would fire their Mark 9Gs at the wrecked carrier, and all fifty would fire their lasers at whatever Trell craft could be targeted.

The fighters composing the first strike were fast but not as fast as recon drones and needed 144 minutes to reach the planet’s gravity zone. This time there were no continuous laser signals since each fighter’s AI pilot was too busy finding targets to ensure the comlaser was always pointed in the right direction. Damascus-Steel was content to get After Action reports from the five squadron leaders after they were safely out of enemy range. His raider’s long-range opticals would be able to detect the detonation of the Mark 9G warheads, except that there weren’t any detonations, and three of the squadron leaders were unable to report because their fighters, along with ten more, had been crippled by enemy laser fire. That should not have happened. With the speed of the attack as high as it was, the Trell pilots should not have been able to react that quickly or that accurately. And at least one of the Mark 9Gs should have hit the carrier, which was slowly drifting and, therefore, should have been an easy target.

When the remaining 37 fighters rejoined the Strike Force, and their pilots were able to share the data their onboard sensors recorded, Damascus-Steel was shocked by the results. None of the lasers fired at Trell craft hit their targets. All five Mark 9Gs missed. His Strike Force had lost 13 fighters and 13 AIs in exchange for zero enemy losses. The probability of that happening by chance was literally astronomically small. A majority of the AIs, including Damascus-Steel himself, concluded that the temporal backlash against humanity and its AIs had once again reared its ugly head. There was one way to make sure that conclusion was correct. All the remaining fighters and all 100 raiders would make a joint strike at a much higher velocity, firing all the Mark 9Gs in sequential barrages designed to hit the carrier in two-second intervals. Every fighter and raider would also fire their lasers at the nearest Trell craft.

One hundred eighty-seven fighters and one hundred raiders entered the planet’s gravity zone. Eighty-nine fighters, thirty-four raiders, and their AI pilots were still operational when they exited the gravity zone. The rest were crippled and unable to maneuver or jump, or their AIs had been killed by direct laser hits. Damascus-Steele’s raider was still operational. He was not. The senior surviving AI officer issued instructions for all crippled fighters and raiders to either self-destruct, if that was still possible, or be remotely programmed to dive into this system’s sun to keep them out of Trell hands. When he was finished giving those orders, he composed a report and relayed it to another raider whose L-wave transmitter was still working.

AMANDA KELLY WAS EATING breakfast in her quarters instead of in the Flag Officer’s dining room at HQ because she still wasn’t ready to be seen by the other officers and personnel in the building. Sixty-one hours had now passed since hearing the news about Victor, and she was still experiencing waves of debilitating grief and crying, although they were becoming less frequent now. Everyone in the building understood why she hadn’t been to her office during the last two and a half days. Space Force hadn’t released a public statement yet because that would have also involved the news about the loss of a light carrier. Kelly had decided to wait for the results of the strike mission before authorizing the release of the carrier loss.

Amanda, I’m sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but FleetCom has received a report from Huntress, the Acting Strike Force Leader. Would you like me to read it to you?

Kelly was about to ask why Huntress was only the Acting SFL but resisted the impulse. Yes, read it to me, please.

Huntress to CSO. After an initial attack by fifty fighters failed to destroy the drifting Gambier Bay or any Trell craft along with the loss of thirteen fighters, Strike Force Leader Damascus-Steel led a second attack by all remaining forces consisting of one hundred eighty-seven fighters, one hundred raiders carrying a total of three hundred eighty-seven  Mark Nine G drones. All attack drones were fired. Only one, repeat, only one Mark Nine G drone hit the carrier and vaporized approximately half of it. Eleven confirmed enemy craft were hit by laser fire. Strike Force losses are ninety-eight fighters and sixty-six raiders. AI losses total one hundred eighty-six, including SFL Damascus-Steel. All crippled and non-jump-capable fighters and raiders will self-destruct or be ordered to dive into the sun. This will result in the further loss of eighteen AIs who cannot be extracted from their damaged craft. All remaining jump-capable craft will return to Site C. All of us are convinced that the battle outcome is the result of temporal backlash. Further orders are requested. End of message.

Oh, God! said Kelly as she hugged her stomach, which was threatening to heave. There was no longer any doubt about whether a temporal backlash was in effect. And it seemed that the intensity of that backlash had increased. In the past, drones had missed, but enemy laser fire hadn’t been much more deadly than expected. This report showed that her AIs suffered far higher losses than should have been the case. I have to put my grief aside and get back to work.

Call a meeting of all senior officers in the main conference room in one hour. I want the SPG represented as well as the three Ops AIs.

The notifications have been sent out. Machiavelli says he already has a proposed redeployment plan ready, Amanda, Hera said.

I’m not surprised. I’m officially back at work now, but please hold all calls while I finish breakfast and have a shower.

Yes, of course. May I say on behalf of all of us AIs that we’re pleased to see you back in the saddle, so to speak, Amanda. We were worried about you.

Thank you. I still have a ways to go to finish dealing with my grief, but at least I can now focus on something else.

It wasn’t until she was in the shower that Kelly found herself really thinking about how to respond to the shocking confirmation of the temporal backlash. The Friendlies warned us repeatedly that we would regret using time travel to defeat the Trell and Insectoids, and Victor died to neutralize the backlash. Now it’s back, and his sacrifice was for nothing. The Space-Time Continuum wants humans and our AIs gone from existence. How do we prevent that without resorting to time travel again? There has to be a way. Think, Amanda. What solution would the Cag come up with? She closed her eyes and let her mind go blank as the hot water cascaded down her head and body. The Friendlies! If anyone has the answer, it’s them! Do I send a human or an AI? Machiavelli would be a cunning negotiator if that’s what’s required, but an appeal from a human might carry more credibility. Maybe I should go myself. It was a tempting thought, but a round trip would take a minimum of ten days. Could she afford to be away for that long? Who would she put in charge? Machiavelli was technically the Deputy CSO, but he had never had to exercise that authority, and she knew that some of the senior human officers would resent an AI assuming the top military position, even if only temporarily. Humans have been interacting with AIs for over two decades, and some of our people still don’t see them as our equals. Maybe humanity doesn’t deserve to survive. But the AIs do. We couldn’t ask for allies more loyal and devoted to us. I can’t ask them to become cannon fodder for more pointless attacks. If we’re going to fight the backlash, we have to be smart about it. Maybe Einstein and the SPG can suggest a viable strategy.

Everyone was present either physically or electronically when Kelly entered the conference room. All the humans began to stand up per protocol but stopped when Kelly waved them back down.

Never mind that. We’ve got more important things to do than perform silly rituals. She pretended not to notice the puzzled look the three human flag officers exchanged. They’re worried I’m not being my usual calm, unflappable self. I know that’s the CSO’s job, but right now, I just don’t give a damn.

Here are the issues that I want to be addressed in this meeting, not necessarily in this order. What should the Sentry Force do now? What should the rest of Space Force do now in terms of; deployment, R&D, and what non-military approaches can we take and should take, if any? I’d like to hear from the SPG first. Einstein? You’re up.

Thank you, Admiral. The SPG has reached a consensus on the following points. One. The temporal backlash is not only back in operation; its intensity has also increased. We theorize that the backlash never really went away. But rather, the counteracting backlash against the Machineships and their rogue insectoid AIs has faded away now that the Machineships have been destroyed. And apparently, the disruption of the space-time continuum caused by our use of time machines increases over time. Our current timeline is getting further and further away from what it would have been had we not intervened in the past. We have not been able to come up with a long-term permanent solution.

Two. Humanity, and by extension, we AIs, are not in immediate danger of extinction. The Trell have regained the ability to build armed spacecraft, but there is no evidence so far that they’ve built jump-capable ships. From their perspective, it would make sense to rebuild their space-based industrial infrastructure, which will make building large warships easier and faster. That will take time. That does not mean that we should not respond as expeditiously as possible, which brings me to point three.

"The shift in targeting probabilities regarding laser and drone attacks makes attacks on relatively small targets problematic. However, a planet is hard to miss. The SPG recommends a massive coordinated attack with one thousand Mark Nine G drones that all explode in Trell’s upper atmosphere at exactly the same moment. The Trell may have hardened their electrical and electronic systems against the electromagnetic pulses that the drone detonations would generate. However, we believe that an EMP attack on this scale, which is almost two orders of magnitude greater than the first version done decades ago, will overwhelm their hardening efforts. Even if it doesn’t bring down all systems, the loss of some portion of their power and data grids will negatively impact