“What about when we return to Alliance space? Assuming we make it. Will you walk off this ship on my arm? Will you still spend the nights with me?”
She regarded him silently for a long moment. “You ask a politician what she’ll do in the future? Yes. Do you believe me?”
“I don’t know.”
“Good job. I’ll teach you a bit about politicians yet. You’ll need that when you get home.” She stood up and extended one hand. “Come on. Let’s get something to eat. Publicly. Together. We need to let the fleet see that their hero is happy.”
Geary stood up as well, still feeling tired. “I suppose I can try to pretend to be happy for a few hours.”
“You’ll do fine.” She smiled again, differently this time. “And then we’ll come back here, and you and I will make each other truly happy for a while.”
Even through the excitement that promise generated, Geary wished he could see what she was really thinking at that moment.
“IT hasn’t been easy deciding on our next course of action,” Geary announced to the images of the fleet captains gathered in the conference room. The tension was like that before a battle. Obvious opponents like Captains Casia and Midea and Commander Yin were poised to pounce if Geary suggested anything that could be construed as insufficiently aggressive.
His allies, like Captains Duellos, Tulev, and Cresida, were just as clearly worried that Geary would propose something designed to placate the fleet, which would also put it in serious danger. He’d talked to all of them, one-onone, before this meeting, trying to assure them that he’d thought this out. He hoped he’d convinced them.
Near him, the real presence of Captain Desjani waited, her attention focused on Geary’s opponents as if she were a bodyguard. Farther down the table, where the commanders of the ships from the Callas Republic were gathered, the virtual presence of Co-President Rione sat among them. She’d chosen that over physical attendance to ensure that the ships from her republic felt that Rione was still committed to them. But it left Geary wondering how much Rione might have held back in their discussion, whether she would really back him or stay silent or offer a telling word against Geary’s plan when debate started.
The star display flared to life. “You’re all familiar with our options, I’m sure. T’negu, attractive as it looks, is certainly a trap.”
“We made it easily this far along a straight track for Alliance space,” Captain Casia interrupted.
“And have thereby established a pattern the Syndics can see with both eyes closed,” Duellos responded. “T’negu is tailor-made for extensive minefields.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Geary agreed, then pinned Casia with a glare before he could speak again. “The other stars we can reach all offer various shortcomings, various degrees of threats. After long thought and consultation with others, I’ve concluded our best objective is Lakota.”
Captain Midea made to speak, then choked off the words as what Geary had said got through to her. “Lakota?” she finally asked.
“Yes.” Whether or not he ended up surprising the Syndics, he’d certainly surprised Midea. That was reassuring, since it meant his opponents’ spies in the fleet hadn’t been able to discover his plans earlier. “There will be a Syndic flotilla there to guard the hypernet gate in that system. But the Syndics may regard our arrival there as so unlikely that the flotilla will be too weak to stop us.”
“Can we use the gate ourselves?” someone demanded breathlessly.
“If possible,” Geary replied in an even voice. He couldn’t afford for any illusions to exist about that. “But we know the Syndics are willing to destroy their own hypernet gates to avoid us using them, and the flotilla at Lakota will certainly have orders to do just that. If we’re very lucky, we may catch that flotilla out of position and be able to reach the gate before the Syndics can. That’s a very long shot, though. If the Syndics do start to destroy that gate…” He let the sentence hang, allowing each officer to bring up their own memories of what the collapse of the hypernet gate at Sancere had been like.
“We can still charge the gate, try to stop them,” argued Commander Yin.
“Speaking personally,” the captain of Daring said, “I’d really prefer not to be near a collapsing hypernet gate again.”
“Me, either,” the captain of Diamond added. “If Orion wants to take on the job, I’ll gladly let her do so.”
Commander Yin glowered at both of the other commanding officers but apparently had enough sense to realize that picking a fight with them would only expose her to further ridicule.
“How many Syndics might be at Lakota?” asked the captain of the Warspite. “We’ve hurt them a lot in the last several battles and torn up the ships under construction at Sancere along with the shipyards there. If the bunch we found waiting for us here at Ixion is any measure, the Syndics are desperate for ships right now.”
Captain Tulev answered, his voice somber, “Recall our own serious losses in the Syndic home system. Every loss we have inflicted on the Syndic fleet since then has only gone to balance out the ships we lost in the ambush there.”
Grim silence fell around the conference table. No one denied the truth of Tulev’s statement.
“But the Syndic warships we destroyed here had totally green crews,” Commander Neeson of the Implacable noted. “They shouldn’t have been sent on an actual combat mission.”
“True,” Captain Duellos agreed. “Captain Geary and I have discussed this, and we believe the Syndics regarded our arrival at Ixion as unlikely and sent their most qualified ships to other star systems.”
“But that means they are short of ships,” Neeson argued.
“Short in the sense that they need to try to establish local superiority over us at more than one location, since they can’t know exactly where we’re going,” Duellos pointed out. “They certainly have increasing difficulty doing that.”
“And with any luck,” Geary added, “that will affect the type of force we encounter at Lakota.”
“Did you discuss this matter with Senator Rione?” Captain Midea asked.
Geary eyed her dispassionately, thinking that Midea looked more like a Syndic CEO every time he noticed her. “The proper title is Co-President Rione of the Callas Republic, Captain Midea, though she is also a member of the Alliance Senate. Yes, I did discuss it with her.”
“Then going to Lakota is her decision?”
Backs stiffened all along the table. Geary had no difficulty measuring the reaction to that suggestion. He also knew that if Rione was going to object to the plan at this conference, she’d just been handed the perfect vehicle for doing that. “As I have stated before, Co-President Rione does not make decisions regarding the movements of this fleet,” he stated firmly.
Rione spoke up, her voice flat. “As a member of the Alliance Senate, I have no command authority in this fleet, Captain Midea. Were you unaware of that?”
Midea’s face reddened. “If Co-President Rione has a great deal of influence over the decisions of the commander of this fleet, it amounts to the same thing.”
Rione smiled thinly. “I’m perfectly willing to swear on the honor of my ancestors that Captain Geary has rarely followed my advice regarding the movements of this fleet.”
“The honor of a politician,” someone muttered.
Some but not all of the commanding officers from the Callas Republic ships scowled. A number of other officers around the table reacted to the insult with small smiles. Most kept their expressions unrevealing.
Geary knew his own feelings were easy enough to read. “Does my honor satisfy anyone who doubts what Co-President Rione said?” he challenged. Rione hadn’t used the opportunity to openly express her doubts in Geary’s decision, leaving him both relieved and grateful.
Only silence answered him, until Captain Mosko spoke awkwardly. “You’d be expected to defend her, Captain Geary. Under the circumstances of your relationship. That’s also the act of an honorable officer.”
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“Co-President Rione does not give orders to Captain Geary, and if she tried to do so, he wouldn’t listen,” Captain Desjani stated in a clear, emotionless voice. “That is my judgment from direct observation of Captain Geary on the bridge of Dauntless. I say this on my honor, and I trust no one believes that Co-President Rione and I have any relationship that would obligate me to defend her.”
“You obviously feel obligated to defend Captain Geary,” Captain Midea replied in a tone that implied that Desjani’s obligation wasn’t based on purely professional grounds.
Desjani turned a hard gaze on her fellow officer. “Captain Midea, I will defend any officer who can defeat our enemies, especially one who can do so as Captain Geary does. He is my fleet commander, and he has honor. My enemies are the Syndics and anyone who assists them.”
The silence this time held an even sharper edge of tension. Captain Casia broke it, though with seeming reluctance to back Midea’s intemperate words. “Discussion and debate among commanding officers are accepted within the fleet. They are not cause for accusations of treason.”
“Did I accuse someone of treason?” Desjani asked.
Geary spoke in the awkward quiet that followed. “Open discussion and debate are accepted, though not once a course of action has been decided upon. I know there are some officers in this fleet who say things in private that they decline to repeat openly. I’ve said before and will repeat that I encourage suggestions and constructive comments, but I also repeat that as the commander of this fleet, I have the duty and responsibility to make the decisions and issue the orders.”
Captain Badaya nodded. “That’s what we’ve learned to expect of you,” he stated with a scornful glance toward Casia. “If we can’t use the hypernet gate at Lakota, what will be the next objective?”
Grateful for a chance to get back to discussing operational matters rather than real or imagined relationships, Geary gestured toward the display. “We’d have a couple of good options. Which way we go will depend partly on whatever we find in Lakota and how much combat results from that.” He looked down the virtual length of the table toward Captain Tyrosian and the other auxiliaries’ commanders. “Thanks to the outstanding efforts of our auxiliaries, we’ve been able to get fuel cell and expendable munitions stocks back up to decent levels, even though we’re short of one hundred percent across the board. But doing that has used up a majority of the raw materials we’ve acquired to date. We’ll need to find more to restock the bunkers in the auxiliaries. The urgency of that restocking will depend on how many fuel cells we have to burn at Lakota and how many weapons we have to expend.”
“We seem to spend a great deal of time either guarding the auxiliaries or getting them restocked,” Intrepid’s commanding officer grumbled.
“If we didn’t,” Captain Duellos pointed out in a cheerful voice, “you’d be in a Syndic labor camp by now, since it’s hard to fight without fuel or weapons.”
The commander of Bracer nodded. “My ship took a lot of damage at Daiquon. The engineers have been working themselves to exhaustion helping us on the repairs. My crew and I are happy to continue escorting them while we’re being brought back to fully operational status.”
A number of officers looked toward Commander Yin and the acting commanding officers of Majestic and Warrior. All three battleships were having extensive damage repaired, and none of their commanding officers had spoken up for the auxiliaries. “We’re grateful, too,” Commander Suram of Warrior stated quickly. “We may be operational in time for Lakota.”
Revenge’s captain smiled. “The Fourth Division hasn’t been the same without you.” The smile faded. “We still owe the Syndics for Triumph. We’ll be glad to have Warrior helping us pay them back some more.”
Damage. Geary frowned down at the table, trying to recall the details of his most badly damaged ships. Titan had repaired the mine damage it had suffered, and Warrior was coming along well, but both Orion and Majestic were still barely capable, and a number of lighter units were working hard to get back in shape. If he only had two months free of Syndic pursuit in a resource-rich star system…with a dockyard available…a big dockyard…I might as well wish for an unguarded Syndic hypernet gate. That’s about as likely to happen. “We will continue paying back the Syndics,” he added out loud. “The fleet will be adjusting its course for the jump point to Lakota. We’ll enter the jump point a little slower than we did here and this time execute an immediate preplanned turn to port right out of the jump exit at Lakota to avoid any Syndic minefields. We’ll be prepared again to fight coming out of jump, but I don’t expect to encounter a very close blocking force at Lakota like we did here.”
“Once the Syndics authorities here in Ixion report on how easily we wiped out the defenders of the jump point from Daiquon, I don’t think the Syndic high command will be repeating that tactic,” Tulev observed.
“They’ll only repeat it if we’re lucky,” Geary replied, drawing some more smiles. “Are there any questions? Good. I’ll see you all again in Lakota.”
This time as the figures of the ship captains vanished rapidly, they left four figures in the conference room beside Geary. Captain Desjani, of course, but also Captains Badaya, Duellos, and Tyrosian.
Tyrosian gave surprised glances to Badaya and Duellos, then spoke rapidly. “I just wanted to thank you, Captain Geary, for appreciating the role we play. I’ve worked for a number of commanders who just see the difficulties auxiliaries create. It’s good to work for someone who knows we’re necessary.”
“I’m very grateful to have Witch, Titan, Jinn, and Goblin in the fleet,” Geary assured her. “They’re invaluable, and the efforts of their crews have been extraordinary. Please pass that on to those ships.”
Tyrosian nodded, saluted hastily, then vanished.
Captain Badaya frowned toward Captain Desjani. “You shouldn’t have to put up with nonsense like that from someone like Midea. Three years ago she almost got court-martialed for inappropriate behavior with her executive officer, and now she’s publicly implying misconduct on your part.”
Desjani made a face. “The words of someone like her don’t bother me.”
“The fleet would be better off if Midea were relieved of command,” Badaya continued. “Unless she has a firm hand on her, Midea has always tended to impulsive actions without thinking them through. There wouldn’t be much objection to be her being relieved, Captain Geary. She doesn’t have a good reputation. But then neither does Captain Casia.”
“Nor did Captain Numos,” Duellos pointed out. “Yet many listened to him.”
“That’s so,” Badaya admitted. “But the numbers of such officers are not increasing. I’m not the fleet commander, I don’t presume to tell him what to do, but I just want him to know that he need not tolerate Midea’s nonsense. And I did wish to express my regret to Captain Desjani, though I suppose there’s worse fates than to be thought of as Captain Geary’s choice.”
Desjani flushed, clearly not pleased at the last comment, though Badaya didn’t seem to notice. “Thank you, Captain Badaya,” she stated without warmth.
Badaya smiled, saluted crisply, and then his image left as well.
Captain Desjani shook her head, then exhaled heavily. “I suppose I shouldn’t be left alone with you, sir,” she told Geary in an exasperated and angry voice, “so I’ll depart before Captain Duellos does.”
Duellos stepped forward. “Tanya, those who know you pay no attention to the rumors.”
She nodded. “My thanks. But I still care what those who don’t know me think.” Saluting as well, Desjani walked quickly out of the room.
Geary gazed after her, his jaw tight. “She doesn’t deserve that.”
“No,” Duellos agreed, “though, contrary to the opinion of Captain Badaya, getting rid of Captain Midea wouldn’t improve things. I think it more likely that such an action would merely spread rumors that you’d tried to silence her for speaking up.”
“You’re probably righ
t. That thing that Badaya said about her needing to be kept on a tight rein, does that match your impression?”
Duellos nodded. “Ironic, isn’t it? Captain Numos, who impresses few people as a capable officer, managed to control Midea so well that her recklessness wasn’t even apparent when he was in command of that battleship division.”
“That is ironic. I never thought I’d have grounds for thinking Numos had any leadership skills.” Geary exhaled heavily, looking back toward where Captain Desjani had sat. “How can I put a lid on those rumors? All I can think is that the best thing I can do for Desjani is to keep treating her like a fellow officer and nothing more.”
“I think so, though I don’t believe it helped things when Badaya somewhat clumsily blessed the idea of her as your companion. Even though he didn’t say it, having a politician at your side isn’t nearly as desirable in the eyes of many.”
“Who I have at my side is nobody’s business but mine! As long as I’m behaving honorably and not violating regulations, that is,” Geary added.
“I don’t deny that. But you’re not just any fleet commander, and politicians, even ones as upright as Co-President Rione is said to be, are not trusted. Those who think like Badaya doubtless see your leaving her in favor of Desjani as the best possible outcome, two fleet officers ruling the Alliance.” Duellos paused before speaking again. “Would you do it?”
“What?” Geary stared at Duellos. “How can you even ask if I’d do that? I already said I wouldn’t treat Desjani that way.”
Duellos bent one corner of his mouth in a derisive smile. “Sorry. I accepted your statement about Captain Desjani. I was referring to the offer that Captain Badaya made to you recently.”
“Oh.” Geary’s outrage subsided, and he shook his head. “No. I didn’t and won’t accept that offer, and I told him that. How many people know about it?”
“Probably every commanding officer in the fleet.” Duellos gazed straight into Geary’s eyes. “I’m glad you’re so firm on the matter. I have my faults and my share of frustration with our political leaders, but I take my oath to the Alliance seriously. I couldn’t support you in that. I’d have to oppose you.”