None of which made waiting to find out if any ships would rejoin them here any easier. The fleet had been positioned facing the jump point from which any of the missing ships would have to come, hanging in space with its movements slaved to the slow progression of the jump point around its star. The auxiliaries were busy enough building new weapons and parts, and every other ship needed routine upkeep and repair, but Geary had done everything he personally could do to prepare. Too restless to address other tasks, he went through Dauntless seeing the crew, finding his increasing ability to recognize the sailors and officers he encountered to be a source of comfort. Slowly, very slowly, he was beginning to feel like he belonged here.
In one passageway he encountered Captain Desjani, surprised to see that she was demonstrating the sort of cheerfulness that usually only appeared after Desjani had watched a lot of Syndic ships be destroyed. “You seem in a good mood,” he commented.
She smiled back. “I recently had a long conversation with someone on Furious, sir.”
Furious was a ways off, with her once-again reconstituted task force, ready to carry off another special mission. Geary spent a moment wondering why Desjani would have had a long talk with Captain Cresida, given the time delay involved, then realized that hadn’t been who she had talked to. “How is Lieutenant Casell Riva?”
Desjani actually blushed slightly. “Very well, Captain Geary. He’s impressed by Captain Cresida and the new sensors and weaponry we have.”
“I see. I’m glad he’s pleased by the new weapons in the fleet.”
“Actually, he’s happy to be liberated, and seemed pleased to talk to me,” Desjani confessed.
“I suspect he really is pleased, Tanya. He’s fitting in okay, then?”
Her smiled faded a bit. “There’s been some rough moments, he said. That much time in a Syndic labor camp with no hope of release or rescue will take a while to overcome. Sometimes he wakes up in a panic, fearing that his liberation was only a hallucination. But of course he has hope now.” Desjani paused. “Cas—Lieutenant Riva was surprised to see the way you’re directing the fleet. The tactics you’re using. He’s still puzzled and torn by Captain Falco’s departure from the fleet. But he watched everything that happened at Sancere and was astounded, sir.”
Geary felt embarrassed himself. “A lot of things worked right. We were lucky.”
“You make much of your own luck, sir, if you don’t mind my saying so.” She paused again. “He’s still the man I remembered. Perhaps something will come of it.”
“I hope so. War messes up enough lives. It’s nice to think that two of them can have a chance to get back on track.”
Desjani nodded, her eyes distant with memory. “We’ll see. There’s a lot of time to make up and experiences to share. Did you know that among the records we downloaded at Sancere there was a huge database of Alliance prisoners of war? It’s not up to date, the latest information is about three years old, but it has a lot of names of people who for all we knew were dead. If—excuse me, sir—when we get back to Alliance space, a lot of people will be happy to see some of the names on that list.”
Geary gave her a curious look. “How long has it been since the Syndics shared captured personnel lists with the Alliance?”
“Decades at least. I’d have to check. At some point they decided not knowing if lost personnel were alive or dead would harm Alliance morale and stopped providing lists of prisoners. The Alliance did the same in retaliation, of course.”
That wasn’t a pleasant thought. Sending friends, lovers, and family off to battle was bad enough, but not knowing afterward what had happened to them was a form of slow torture. “We’ll have to get that list back, and maybe convince the Syndics to swap up-to-date lists.”
Desjani nodded. “If anyone can do that, you can,” she replied. “I’ve just started to look at the list. There’s so many names and the list is organized in an odd way, so I’m stumbling through it usually getting results I didn’t ask for. But there’s some people whose fates I’d like to check. Some of them were supposedly captured, some supposedly killed in battle. Maybe I can confirm those things now.”
“I guess you and a lot of other people will be doing that,” Geary noted, thinking that a list three years old wouldn’t tell him if some miracle had allowed his grandnephew to escape from Repulse before its destruction in the Syndic home system. That would remain an unknown for him, but best to assume Michael Geary was dead and be very pleasantly surprised if he turned up alive. There really weren’t many grounds for assuming he had survived the death of his ship.
Which brought his thoughts back to the thirty-nine ships that had accompanied Captain Falco at Strabo. How many of those had survived? He wished he already knew the answer, as terrible as that was likely to be. The uncertainty was almost as bad as the nagging, ugly conviction that few if any of them would survive to reach Ilion.
* * * *
“They’re here.”
Geary bolted from his stateroom without bothering to check his own display. He ran down long passageways and up ladders until he reached the bridge, gasping for breath as he dropped into his seat. Only then did he call up the display with a silent prayer for as many survivors as possible.
Amazingly, three battleships were there. Dauntless’s systems quickly identified them as Warrior, Orion, and Majestic. And a single battle cruiser, Invincible, so badly damaged that Geary had to double-check the assessment before he believed it. Of the six heavy cruisers that had accompanied the capital ships, only two remained. None of the four light cruisers were there, and of the nineteen destroyers only seven had survived.
“Those stupid bastards,” Geary muttered. A battleship and two battle cruisers lost, along with a lot of lighter ships. Of the thirty-nine warships that had followed Falco, only thirteen had made it to Ilion.
Captain Desjani’s face was white with anger. “Triumph didn’t make it. I’ll lay you any odds you care to name that Triumph stayed behind to hold off the pursuit while the other big ships got away.”
“That didn’t do Polaris and Vanguard any good,” Geary noted, knowing how much fury his voice was showing. “Look at Invincible. How is she still functioning?”
“I have no idea, sir. But all of those ships are beat up. I don’t know if even Titan can restore those ships to full service no matter how much time she’s given.”
“We’ll find out.” Geary finally punched his communications controls. “Colonel Carabali. Get in touch with your Marine detachments on Warrior, Orion, and Majestic. Captains Kerestes, Numos, and Faresa have been relieved of command effective immediately and are to be placed under arrest. Captain Falco is also to be placed under arrest for the negligent and criminal loss of ships of the Alliance fleet.” Charges of mutiny could wait until later. What really mattered to Geary was knowing that Falco’s stupidity had caused the loss of so many ships. He pushed another control. “Warrior, Orion, and Majestic, this is Captain Geary, acting commander of the Alliance fleet. Your commanding officers are relieved effective immediately. Executive officers are to assume temporary command.” Another push, this time on the fleetwide circuit. “All units that have just arrived in the Ilion system are to accelerate at your best speed, passing through the fleet formation and joining up with the fast fleet auxiliaries and their escorts in the rear. We assume pursuit is coming in after you and want a clear field of fire. Task Force Furious will be executing Operation Barricade in your wake. Please remain clear. All other units in the Alliance fleet, prepare for battle. We’ve got a lot of shipmates to avenge.”
“Operation Barricade?” Rione had arrived on the bridge, breathing heavily from what must have been a run of her own up here. She was gazing at the display, her face bleak as she realized the extent of the losses.
“Operation Barricade is a little idea from Captain Duellos,” Geary explained. “We loaded out the ships under Furious with most of the mines in the fleet. They’re moving across the jump point exit now, planting as dense a
minefield as we can manage in whatever time remains.”
Captain Desjani was grinning in anticipation of the Syndics hitting those mines. “What makes it especially sweet is that we’re able to expend those mines because the matériel we picked up in Sancere will let the auxiliaries manufacture replacements. The Syndics themselves provided us the means to replace the mines we use here.”
On his display, Geary could see the time-late images of Furious and the other ships in the task force accelerating across the jump exit to lay their mines as Rione spoke again. “What happens if a large number of Syndic ships exit the jump point as Furious and her sisters are crossing in front of it?”
“There’s a substantial risk there,” Geary conceded. “Even though having Task Force Furious sitting next to the jump exit ready to go minimized the chance the Syndics can arrive before our ships are done crossing in front of the jump point. That’s why I asked Captain Cresida to volunteer for the task.” At least he was finally remembering to refer to her using her new rank.
Rione gave him a flat look. “Do you honestly believe that Captain Cresida would treat a request to volunteer as any different from an order to take part?”
Desjani shot Rione a sour glance while Geary tried not to grimace. There was enough truth to Rione’s accusation to sting. “Madam Co-President, if I refrained from doing or asking anything that might lead to the deaths of some of the people under my command, then I would be paralyzed with indecision, and then all of the people I’m responsible for would surely die or be condemned to Syndic labor camps.”
“As long as you are keeping consequences in mind,” Rione stated.
This time Geary glowered at her, wondering why Rione was being so contrary. Perhaps she was trying to emphasize that she remained the voice of his conscience. “If you’re trying to keep me honest,” he stated in a low voice, “you’ve made your point.”
Focusing back on the display, Geary saw that at least the dispute had distracted him for a few minutes from worrying that Syndic pursuers would erupt into the middle of Task Force Furious. The gate exit was ten light-minutes away. His orders relieving the commanding officers of the three battleships would just be arriving at those ships. The Syndics could have appeared in force several minutes ago, ravaging Task Force Furious, and he wouldn’t have seen it yet.
His display updated, showing where mines were being laid like deadly eggs as of almost ten minutes ago. The field was gratifyingly dense, since Geary had held almost none of his mines back. There would be a price to pay for that later. His ships were certain to expend a lot of grapeshot and specters as well, in addition to taking damage that would need to be repaired and losing equipment that would need to be replaced, and four fleet auxiliaries couldn’t manufacture replacements for all of that at once, no matter how many resources had been plundered from Sancere. It would take a while to make up the expenditure. But at least the auxiliaries could keep working during jump space transits. By the time they reached Baldur a lot of replacement weaponry would be available.
If his fleet reached Baldur, Geary reminded himself. They were a long ways from that star, with very likely a major battle between them and it.
“Invincible’s really lagging,” Desjani remarked.
“I’m surprised she’s still moving,” Geary muttered in reply, taking another look at the amount of damage the battle cruiser had sustained. He studied the display, mentally evaluating the progress of the fleeing Alliance ships, trying to guess when the Syndic pursuers would appear. I can’t be too close to the jump exit when the Syndics arrive, but if I don’t move now, there’s a growing chance we won’t be able to cover Invincible in time.
I had to leave Repulse to her fate. I’m not leaving Invincible. “All units in the Alliance fleet, accelerate to point zero five light speed at time zero four. Maintain position relative to fleet flagship Dauntless.” He turned to Desjani. “Captain, please keep Dauntless on a course centered on the jump point exit.”
“Yes, sir.” Desjani gave the necessary orders, outwardly as calm as usual.
Geary thought a moment longer. “Task Force Furious. Upon completion of Operation Barricade take up position behind and above the exit.” Did he need to do anything else? Warrior, Majestic, and Orion had almost reached the rest of the fleet. Several of the surviving destroyers accompanied them, but the two surviving heavy cruisers and the rest of the destroyers had stayed with Invincible. He would have to remember that they had done that. In the heat of battle Geary couldn’t afford to bother replacing the commanders of the surviving cruisers and destroyers that had gone with Falco. Maybe he didn’t need to do that at all, not if their commanders were displaying the courage and discipline to stick with the badly damaged Invincible when the safety of the rest of the fleet beckoned.
Well behind the Alliance formation the auxiliaries were guarded by a disgruntled group of escorts built around the Second Battleship Division, four powerful ships, which should be enough to fend off or repel any attack aimed at the auxiliaries. No one wanted to miss a battle. But Geary had assured the escorts that in the next battle, and there would surely be a next battle, they would be allowed to occupy the front ranks of the fleet.
Majestic, Warrior, and Orion, moving as if the devil were at their heels, passed through the Alliance formation without a pause. “I would have joined the line of battle,” Desjani grumbled in disgust, clearly unhappy that the three battleships hadn’t turned to help fight their pursuers. She had a point, Geary conceded to himself, despite the damage the three battleships had suffered. Simply replacing their commanding officers isn’t going to turn those three ships into reliable parts of the fleet. Their crews are acting scared and beaten even when the rest of the fleet is here to protect them. I shouldn’t be surprised that ships commanded by the likes of Numos and Faresa don’t have highly motivated crews. Getting those crews retrained and reinspired is going to be a major project.
Once we’ve finished the battle I’m sure is coming.
As if they had heard Desjani, the destroyers accompanying the three wounded battleships turned and headed for the squadrons they had abandoned back at Strabo, trying to take their places in the fleet formation. Geary took a look at the damage they were reporting to the fleet net and shook his head. “Claymore and Cinquedea, this is Captain Geary. Your willingness to continue the fight is noted with pride and pleasure, but you’ve sustained too much damage. Join up with the auxiliaries so you can assist their escorts and they can start fixing you.” He paused, thinking there was something else that needed to be said. “If any Syndics get near the auxiliaries, I know I can count on you to defend them gallantly.” That sounded awkward, but it should satisfy the pride of the destroyer crews. They deserved that much courtesy for volunteering to keep fighting. Fighting spirit did indeed have its place.
The jump point exit remained more than eight light-minutes away. No signs of Syndic pursuers had appeared yet. Task Force Furious had finished its work and was headed for its ordered position. Desjani was eyeing the distance to the jump point exit with concern. “Should we slow, sir? If we’re too close when the Syndics come through…”
Geary shook his head. “Not yet. We don’t have Invincible covered yet.”
“Yes, sir.” Desjani grinned.
If he ever lost Desjani’s approval, Geary reflected, he would know for sure that he had messed up as badly as any human possibly could. “We’ll hold our speed until we’re within a light-minute of Invincible, and if the Syndics haven’t shown up at that point we’ll—”
“Enemy forces at the jump exit,” a watch-stander cried as alarms wailed.
Geary blinked in amazement at the images on his display as the Syndic vanguard flashed into normal space. Not a swarm of light units, but twelve battle cruisers, arranged in three vertical diamond formations. It made sense, he realized, if the Syndic commander thought he would be facing four battered capital ships with very few screening units surviving. Why send light units through to be destroyed by a po
tential desperate ambush when losses could be minimized by sending through a force capable of overwhelming the four damaged Alliance capital ships if they had chosen to make a stand at the exit?
Unfortunately for the Syndic commander and the twelve battle cruisers, this side of the jump exit actually held the rest of Geary’s fleet and a dense minefield.
The Syndic battle cruisers sailed majestically away from the exit at .1 light speed for a few seconds, doubtless seeing the waiting Alliance force and having those few moments to realize the tables had been turned on the pursuers. Geary watched the images of the Syndic battle cruisers begin to turn, pivoting to alter course downward. He had a second to wonder why fleeing ships almost always sought to “dive” down instead of “climb” up, as if they were aircraft or even people running on the surface of a world, even though the two directions were purely arbitrary and required exactly the same effort in space.
In this case, as the Syndic battle cruisers pivoted their bows downward, it meant they ran into the minefield not bow on, but broadside on, offering even bigger targets for the waiting Alliance mines. If their escorts had been leading the way, the deaths of smaller units on the mines would have warned the battle cruisers, but instead the first warning the capital ships received was when they hit the mines themselves. Explosions rippled down their lengths, collapsing shields so that other mines could strike the hulls. The battle cruisers reeled as the mines blew holes in them and sent fragments flying into space. One of the battle cruisers blew up as its power core overloaded, then two more in quick succession, the three ships turning into fields of shrapnel blossoming out from the scenes of their deaths. Of the nine remaining battle cruisers, eight were drifting away out of control, rocked by occasional new explosions as an outlying mine battered them or as damage set off internal explosions.
The last Syndic battle cruiser, in even worse shape than Invincible, staggered on past the minefield with most of its propulsion blown and combat systems out of action but still managing to hold a course. Geary checked the geometry of the battlefield. “Warspite is just within maximum specter range of that battle cruiser. Is it worth trying to get hits?”