The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Steadfast

by Jack Campbell

  “Just to clarify things, I was ordered to act as fleet commander until your return. Ordered by fleet headquarters, in the same set of orders that tasked Captain Jane Geary to take her battleship division and some supporting forces to recover some Alliance prisoners of war from former Syndicate territory. Captain Geary followed her orders, as did I.”

  Badaya smiled again, and Geary finally understood the reason for his delight. “They expected him to run amuck,” he said to Desjani. “He knew that, and he didn’t do it. He’s happy because he screwed up the plans of whoever decided to send Jane off and specified Badaya to be acting fleet commander.”

  “Why is it that people I don’t like keep doing the right things?” Desjani complained.

  “I am now once again subject to your orders, Admiral,” Badaya finished with obvious satisfaction. “The fleet has followed all orders, just as you ordered. Our honor remains unstained. To the honor of our ancestors, Badaya, out.”

  Geary sat silently for a few moments after the message ended, then looked over at Tanya. “What do you think?”

  “I think,” she said, “that Captain Badaya knew exactly what we would be worried about, me especially, and took considerable pleasure in letting me and those senators, who you notice are listed as cc recipients on that message, know that he has done exactly as ordered and has done nothing treasonous, dishonorable, criminal, treacherous, seditious, corrupt, insubordinate, subversive, or stupid.”

  “No loose cannons here,” Geary said. “He wasn’t exactly subtle about the everyone following their orders thing.”

  “Badaya?” she asked. “Badaya’s idea of subtle is a supernova.”

  Geary shook his head as he stared grimly at his display. “He was smart enough to see that someone wanted him to screw up.”

  “Why would anyone want to encourage someone to try to overthrow the government?” Desjani asked. “Or just act against the government? I don’t get it. Who wins if that happens?”

  “Nobody.” But as soon as he had said it, he realized that was wrong. Some people might imagine they would win in the short haul. And the Syndics, who had everything to gain by sowing the same kind of chaos in Alliance space as now afflicted many areas of Syndicate Worlds space, might win in the long haul as well. He couldn’t believe that any senior officer or politician in the Alliance would collude with known Syndic agents, but those working on behalf of the Syndics who had kept that relationship secret probably were whispering the wrong things into the right ears. If nothing else, those agents would be feeding any fears of what Black Jack might do, and urging actions that would only make sense inside bubbles of secrecy and paranoia.

  The war had ended in victory, but the peace might still be lost.

  “Admiral?”

  Geary had forgotten that General Charban was still on the bridge. He turned to see Charban holding out a data pad. “What is it?”

  “A message from the Dancers.”

  “For me?” The screen displayed a string of symbols along the top, and a line of words beneath them. Happy. Home. You. Good. Complete. “They’re congratulating us on getting home?”

  “Yes,” Charban said. “Though we’re still uncertain exactly what the Dancers mean by concepts like happy and good. Sometimes their happy seems to mean something more like appropriate or even finishing a task. Good appears to be tied up with their concept of patterns. If what happened fits the pattern they see, it’s good. But other times good seems to be referring to some other concepts that we’re still trying to work out.”

  “All right.” Geary looked at the message again. “Complete. What does that mean?”

  “Something is done,” Charban replied. “Their task? Our task? A pattern? It’s hard to say.”

  Tanya shook her head. “The Dancers can’t spell it out any more clearly than that?”

  “I think they could,” Charban said. “I’m certain that they could. But they won’t. As I’ve said, they are keeping communications with us at a very basic level for reasons of their own.”

  “Have you asked the Dancers why they’re doing that?” Geary said.

  Charban smiled. “Not being a diplomat by training, I have asked that question. Every time I have done so, the answer has been the same. Good.”

  “Good?”

  “Maybe they’re praising you for asking the question,” Desjani suggested wryly.

  Charban grinned. “It’s possible. I’m inclined to think they are telling us that they are acting the way they are for good reasons. All that we have to do is figure out what those reasons are.”

  It was Geary’s turn to shake his head. “General, I can’t figure out the reasons why some of our fellow humans are doing what they’re doing.”

  “Yes. We keep looking for the mirrors that will show us important things about ourselves, but instead the images we see raise as many questions as they do answers. Sometimes I think the universe and the living stars are laughing at us, and we won’t really understand anything until we get the joke. You know, like that old Catch 42 expression that stands for the meaning of life is that in the end you always get screwed.”

  “Let’s hope that’s not it,” Geary said.

  • • •

  THE next day, a government courier ship reached them and came alongside Dauntless. Geary, resplendent in a full-dress uniform, which Tanya had inspected with a critical eye before grudgingly approving of his appearance, went to the shuttle dock for an official farewell to the three senators.

  Costa looked as confident as always, Sakai was once more revealing little, but for the first time that Geary could recall, Suva had an uncharacteristic sense of uncertainty to her.

  “When will the Dancers proceed to Unity?” Costa asked.

  Envoys Charban and Rione were both present as well, and at the senator’s question Charban turned a pleading eye on Rione.

  “We have asked,” Rione said. “The Dancers have not given any clear reply until half an hour ago, when they communicated that they will not be going to Unity.”

  “Why not?” Senator Suva demanded. “Unity is the capital star system of the Alliance. They need to see it. The rest of the Senate and the full Grand Council should meet with them.”

  “We have told them that,” Rione replied. “Their answer today was Varandal good now.”

  “It seems to me,” Costa said, “that we need some new people communicating with the Dancers.” Even though she could not hide her amusement at Suva’s unhappiness, Costa clearly was not pleased with Rione’s news.

  Charban smiled apologetically. “The Dancers have to want to communicate with them. They prefer to speak with certain humans.”

  “We have only your word for that!”

  “The academic experts who accompanied the fleet into Dancer territory said the same thing in their reports,” Geary said.

  “Not all of the experts agreed with what was in those reports.”

  “Senator,” Rione said, “you are welcome to have anyone speak directly to the Dancers and ask any questions they desire. Envoy Charban and I will assist in any way that we can. But I can safely predict that the answers you get will be the same as we have received.”

  Sakai glanced from Rione, to Charban, to Geary. “Do you have any better guesses as to why the Dancers came to human space? Was it primarily to return the remains to Old Earth? Or was there more involved?”

  “I believe,” Charban said slowly, his eyes gazing into the distance as he formed the words with care, “that there was a great deal more involved. Things that matter a great deal to the Dancers. I am not confident that all of those things would be recognizable to humans, but I have no doubt the Dancers came here to accomplish something they thought important to us and to them.”

  Suva studied Charban closely. “You have words from them that talk about such things?”

  “No, Senator. No direct stateme
nts. Just a growing feeling from my many attempts to communicate with them and understand them.”

  “I wish whatever you had was more definitive than that,” she replied, her voice flat.

  “Believe me, Senator,” Charban replied with the same polite deference, “I wish I had something more definitive as well. We know what we have seen them do. That is the only certainty.”

  Costa looked around with a warning gaze. “Speaking of what the Dancers have done, I am officially notifying everyone here that all activity within Sol Star System has been classified by order of the Grand Council. No one is to speak to the media about it, no videos or other records are to be released, and no one not present at Sol is to be informed of anything that happened there without the prior approval of the Grand Council. You are not even to discuss those matters among yourselves because of the possibility of being overheard by someone not cleared for the information.”

  “You can’t do that!” Charban said with unaccustomed heat, his earlier respectful demeanor vanished.

  “Yes, we can,” Costa said, nailing him with a glare. “And we have. Do you understand, Admiral?”

  “I understand,” Geary said, trying not to let his voice tremble with anger. “But I would like to know what possible reason there would be for such an action.”

  “It is vital to the security of the Alliance,” Senator Suva said, “that the activity in Sol Star System be fully analyzed and evaluated by those responsible for the safety and security of us all before raw data is set loose to be misinterpreted and misunderstood.” It was hard to tell how much she actually believed what she was saying.

  Costa smiled. “Someone who sent Marines down to the surface of Europa and recovered them should not question the wisdom of keeping certain matters under wraps.”

  “I supported conducting that operation openly and I do not believe it should be kept secret,” Geary said, wondering why Rione had not warned him of this beforehand. He stole a glance her way and saw Rione displaying an unusually open amount of surprise.

  “I have a voting proxy from Senator Navarro—” Rione began.

  “Which ceased to be in effect once we arrived back at Varandal,” Suva informed Rione.

  Sakai looked straight ahead, his expression as hard and unrevealing as stone.

  “Do you understand the Grand Council’s orders?” Costa demanded of Rione.

  “I understand every word,” Rione assured her in a toneless voice.

  “Then we are done here.” Costa headed for the shuttle, followed by Suva and Sakai.

  As the shuttle ramp began closing, Geary nodded toward the craft. “I take it you were as surprised as we were?” he asked Rione.

  She nodded but held up a cautionary hand. “We’re not supposed to talk about it.”

  “Costa and Suva clearly supported that decision, but Sakai didn’t seem happy.”

  She smiled enigmatically. “Sakai didn’t express any emotion at all. But I suspect that you are right. Without my proxy vote, it would have been two against one when Costa and Suva unexpectedly cooperated.”

  “What can we do to stop this nonsense?” Charban demanded.

  “Legally?” Rione asked in reply. “Nothing. Admiral, please excuse me. I have some personal business to attend to.”

  “Personal business? I admit I was surprised that you didn’t go with them,” Geary said.

  “There have been lots of surprises, haven’t there? I should be able to learn all there is to know about the status of my husband without leaving this fine ship, and I want to stay in communication with the Dancers.”

  She was leaving something out. He knew she was. But Geary didn’t call her on it.

  “Admiral—” Charban began once more.

  “I will see what I can do,” Geary said.

  Charban, still upset, left the shuttle dock in Rione’s wake.

  Desjani waited until the shuttle had departed, then gave Geary a sidelong look. “That woman wasn’t angry.”

  “Rione? No. She pretended to be surprised, but if she had really been blindsided by the news she wouldn’t have shown it. Rione knew the senators were going to drop that bomb just before they left. Sakai must have warned her.”

  “I can read her attitudes enough to know what she’s going to do, Admiral. There will be records in the ship’s comm system if she does . . . anything. Those records could cause major problems.”

  “I think I can guarantee there won’t be any records,” Geary said. “Not from this ship.”

  “Not from—?” Desjani glanced toward the outside of the hull. “The courier ship?”

  “I’d bet on it. If Sakai tipped her off, she had time to set something up. Either an automated routine she slipped past the safety nets on the courier ship’s comm system, or one of Rione’s agents aboard the courier ship who’ll do the same thing.”

  Tanya laughed. “So, if there’s any leak, it will come from the ship the senators are on? Explaining that ought to keep them busy for a while. How in the hell do those idiots expect me to keep my crew from talking about anything that happened in Sol Star System?”

  “Damned if I know,” Geary said. “Dr. Nasr was right. Classification has nothing to do with reality anymore. Some things have to be kept secret, but this? Billions of people in Sol Star System know what we did there, and have records of what we did there. None of this is secret or can be kept secret. But I imagine the government will continue to officially deny everything even after—I mean, even if—that information leaks. Somehow leaks, that is. By means I don’t know about.”

  • • •

  THE next day, Geary was standing in sick bay, waiting for Dr. Nasr to release the quarantine on Lieutenants Yuon and Castries, when Desjani joined him. “You’ve got a call from Admiral Timbale, sir.”

  Geary walked to the comm panel on the nearest wall and called up the message. Admiral Timbale, the fleet officer in charge of all the facilities at Varandal, had a long-suffering expression. “Admiral, I have been instructed by representatives of the Grand Council to pass on to you orders that two civilian-leased courier ships en route the hypernet gate, and two more en route jump points for other star systems, be intercepted and stopped by any means necessary. The courier ships are believed to be carrying information classified by the Alliance government. I was told to emphasize to you that these orders must be carried out. Timbale, out.”

  Geary frowned at Desjani. “Why didn’t you call me from the bridge as soon as this came in?”

  “Because I was just about to come down here, and”—she gestured in the general direction of Varandal’s hypernet gate—“it’s impossible to stop those courier ships with any Alliance warship. All of them are too close to the gate or the jump points they are heading for, and none of our warships are close enough. The only jump point being patrolled is the one to Atalia. If we had been told to stop those courier ships four hours ago it would have been possible, but not now.”

  “All right.” He didn’t question Desjani’s assessment. Government orders might not take into account reality, but physics had never shown any tendencies to change the rules of the universe just because someone in a position of human authority was demanding it. “Do we know why we were ordered to stop those courier ships? Why the government thinks they are carrying classified information?”

  Desjani’s look of feigned distress was almost laughable. “We’re starting to get news feeds which are full of details about events in Sol Star System while we were there. Apparently, the local news sources waited until we couldn’t stop the courier ships before they started broadcasting the reports.”

  “Is there any indication of the source of the reports?” Geary asked.

  “Not that we were told.”

  He didn’t need any special displays or information to analyze the situation or attach to the message, so Geary tapped in the commands to transmit his reply
from here in sick bay. “Admiral Timbale, this is Admiral Geary. Unfortunately, there is no possibility of intercepting any of the courier ships before they depart due to the positions and vectors of those couriers and all available warships. Please advise the representatives of the Grand Council that we regret the physical impossibility of carrying out their order and stand ready to assist in any other way they request. Geary, out.”

  Dr. Nasr, painstakingly reviewing every piece of available data on the two lieutenants, had not even noticed the nearby conversation and message transmissions. Now, finished, he stood up and nodded tiredly as he spoke for the record. “I can find no indications of infection. Based on the information provided by Sol Star System authorities, any infection must have manifested one week prior to this. I therefore recommend that the two lieutenants be allowed to leave quarantine.”

  Geary spoke with equal solemnity. “I concur in your recommendation and order that Lieutenants Castries and Yuon be removed from quarantine.”

  Nasr touched the controls to speak to the two lieutenants. “In two minutes, the seal on the hatch confining you will open. You are to remove all clothing before leaving the compartment. Do not attempt to take any objects with you when you leave. You will be met by two personnel in isolation suits who will ensure you undergo full physical decontamination, after which you will be allowed your freedom of the ship once more. Do you understand?”

  “I understand,” Lieutenant Yuon said.

  “Remove all clothing?” Lieutenant Castries asked. “I have to be naked in here with him?”

  “Only for a short time,” Dr. Nasr assured her.

  “Ancestors help me. I really am in hell.”

  “I hear suffering is good for the soul,” Yuon snapped at her.

  “If that were true, I’d be a saint by now!”

  “Lieutenant Castries!” Dr. Nasr broke in. “Do you understand?”

  She visibly calmed herself before answering. “Yes, sir. I understand.”

  “Commence stripping. The hatch will open in one minute, thirty seconds.”

  Geary looked at Desjani. “Is there any medal we can give Lieutenants Castries and Yuon for enduring all of this?”