Ascendant

by Jack Campbell

  Rob sat at his desk, Lieutenant Commander Shen sat in the other chair, and Captain Mele Darcy leaned against the door. “The plan up to this point was to head back to Glenlyon now,” Rob told the other two. “I’d like your input on another option, going ahead of the Bruce Monroe, jumping to Kosatka to make sure everything is clear there, then jumping back to Jatayu and home to Glenlyon.”

  Shen looked startled. “That’s a long side trip, sir.”

  “How long would it be?” Mele asked.

  “I’m guessing three weeks if we don’t linger at Kosatka. If we spend any time there, it’ll be longer.”

  “That’s awhile,” Mele agreed. “What’s your thinking?” she asked Rob.

  “I’m thinking,” Rob said slowly, “that the surveillance records on Scatha’s facility showed the two destroyers that were here jumped for Kosatka about a week before we arrived. Kosatka might really need some help.”

  “It’ll take us awhile to get to Kosatka,” Shen pointed out. “By the time we arrive, things might already be decided. And the last we heard, Kosatka has two destroyers. They’d face even odds.”

  “Unless,” Mele said, “they’ve already lost some of their ships, or unless other enemy forces jumped to Kosatka from other star systems.”

  “We can’t know that,” Shen said. “We have no way of knowing that or anything else about what’s happening at Kosatka until we actually got there. This would be a leap into the dark.”

  “You think we shouldn’t go to Kosatka,” Rob said.

  “That’s right, sir. We’d be leaving Glenlyon without any warship protection for more than twice as long as anticipated. We don’t know what might be waiting at Kosatka. If those two destroyers return to Jatayu, we could run into them close to the jump point and at best face a running fight back to the jump point for Glenlyon.”

  “Those are all good reasons for not going,” Rob said. “Captain Darcy?”

  Mele grimaced. “Commander Shen is right on all counts. But . . . if Kosatka needs us to defeat an attack by Scatha . . . it would be very much in our interest to go there and help. If we caught those two destroyers while they were tied up fighting Kosatka’s ships, we could ensure they were destroyed.”

  “If,” Vicki Shen repeated.

  “Granted,” Mele said. “Those are just the two possibilities that would benefit us the most. As you said, there are others that wouldn’t be so great.”

  Rob nodded, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “At best, it’d be a risk. I know that. I know all the reasons I shouldn’t even be considering it. I want to go back to Glenlyon. So why do I keep having a feeling we should jump to Kosatka?”

  “Is there something else you know that we haven’t been told?” Mele asked.

  “No,” Rob said. “You two know everything that I know. And your advice is good. I know that.”

  Shen frowned at him. “But you still feel we should go to Kosatka?”

  “Can either of you see anything in this situation that might be leading me to feel that way?”

  “No, sir.”

  Mele Darcy paused before replying, then spoke reluctantly. “It’s usually a good idea to follow up on success. Keep hitting the enemy while they’re off-balance instead of giving them time to recover. Is that what you’re thinking?”

  “Maybe,” Rob said.

  “But,” she added, “you have to balance that against the fact that when it comes to warships, Saber is all Glenlyon has. Can you afford to risk Saber or leave Glenlyon unprotected for that much longer?”

  Shen sighed like someone who had just come to an unhappy conclusion. “Those two Scathan destroyers jumped for Kosatka. The enemy’s eyes are clearly focused there, not on Glenlyon.”

  “You think Glenlyon will be okay if we jump for Kosatka?” Mele Darcy asked her, surprised.

  “I think, from what we know, Scatha and its allies are aiming to knock out Kosatka,” Vicki Shen said. “It makes sense strategically if they want Glenlyon to surrender without a fight. Taking out Kosatka would leave us even more isolated, without any friendly star system within two jumps of Glenlyon. Our situation really would be hopeless then.” She focused on Rob. “Captain, you said you want to go back to Glenlyon?”

  Rob didn’t have to think about the answer. “Yes! I want to be where Ninja and my little girl are so I can be there to protect them.”

  “But?”

  “But every time I look toward Glenlyon I get a sense of the jump point to Kosatka pulling at me.”

  Vicki Shen startled him again by nodding. “Sometimes we know things. Maybe we don’t understand them, but we know them. Somehow. If you’ve got something pulling at you that strongly, maybe you should listen to it.”

  “I didn’t expect to hear that from you,” Rob said.

  “I didn’t expect to say it. But I’ve learned to listen to my gut. And we do know that the enemy is currently hitting Kosatka.” She paused, inhaling deeply before nodding to herself. “My advice has changed. Let’s go to Kosatka.”

  Mele Darcy stared at her, then at Rob, then back at Shen. “I’m supposed to be the voice of reason?”

  “Give it your best shot,” Rob told her.

  “Fine. The government is likely to freak if you take Saber to Kosatka. They’ll have no way of knowing what happened here. And you know they wouldn’t approve of your going to Kosatka. You might lose your command, Captain Geary.”

  For some reason he found that funny. “The last time I lost my command it was because I’d won.”

  “You and me both,” Mele agreed. “And you didn’t leave me hanging that time, so I won’t leave you hanging now. I’ll make it unanimous. Let’s go.”

  Rob shook his head at them. “You two were supposed to talk me out of the idea of going to Kosatka.”

  “Sorry about that.”

  He looked at Shen. “How do you think the crew would take it?”

  She gave him a crooked half smile. “Blowing up that facility wasn’t exactly a second victory, but the crew is feeling it that way. Two wins. They’re going to be worried about what’s waiting at Kosatka, but they’re not going to expect defeat.”

  Mele Darcy nodded. “You’ve got a bunch of happy space squids. They always had mad skills when it came to their jobs. Now they’ve got confidence, too.”

  “Overconfidence can also be a problem,” Rob said. He realized that he actually had been hoping the other two would convince him to forget about Kosatka and head back to Glenlyon immediately. That left the decision once more in his lap.

  What would Ninja tell him to do?

  She’d tell him to make up his mind and do what he already knew he should.

  “All right,” Rob said. “We’re going to Kosatka. Our best chance to take out those two Scathan warships is if we’re fighting alongside Kosatka’s forces instead of facing the enemy alone.”

  He made the announcement from the bridge, reassured by the grim enthusiasm with which the crew reacted. After setting Saber on course for the jump point for Kosatka, Rob walked through the ship, talking to the officers and crew.

  The wariness and caution he had felt in his interactions with most of the officers and crew were no longer apparent, and the aura of doom that had haunted the ship had dissipated. Apparently he’d done mostly the right things since taking over command.

  But he knew others might not react as positively to his move. As soon as he got back to his cabin, Rob called the Bruce Monroe and asked to speak with “Mary Alice Norton.”

  Leigh Camagan heard him out before shaking her head. “You’re going to catch hell when you get back. The council is going to be furious that you left Glenlyon undefended for more than twice as long as expected. Be prepared for the worst.”

  “I know. But I’m certain we can’t just sit and wait for whatever Scatha and its friends are planning next,” Rob said. “
Everyone’s been playing that game, sitting back and leaving the initiative to the people who want to cause trouble for others. Unless we start hitting them when they don’t expect it, they’ll keep taking down star systems one by one.”

  Leigh Camagan shrugged. “I won’t argue that. And I admit that I’m grateful that Saber will be going through ahead of this freighter. With two of Scatha’s warships already at Kosatka we might have run into serious trouble there. But I won’t be at Glenlyon when you get back, Rob. That may be a rougher fight for you than whatever waits at Kosatka.”

  “I’m not in this to build a career,” Rob said. “There’s a job that needs doing, and I’m doing it.”

  “Rob, do you want to establish a precedent of officers disregarding their orders from the government? Even for what they think are the best of reasons?”

  He shook his head. “No. I don’t want that. And I’m not doing that. President Chisholm told me to do whatever seemed best while I was at Jatayu. Those were her words. Those are my orders.”

  “You know that she didn’t mean going on to Kosatka.”

  “She gave me discretion to act,” Rob said. “I know this is risky, and I’m willing to accept the consequences if it turns out to be a mistake.”

  “Rob,” Leigh said with a sigh, “what about the others who will also bear the consequences if this is a mistake?”

  He paused, anger at the question warring with the realization that it was a fair thing to ask. “Those others include my family. Don’t think I don’t realize that. If my daughter is going to grow up free, I think I need to take this chance. And afterward I’ll face the council. If they don’t like what I’ve done, they can go ahead and replace me. I’ll know that I’ve done what I can to protect Glenlyon.”

  After thinking for a moment, Leigh Camagan nodded. “Rob, tell me this. What if the president’s orders to you had been to return to Glenlyon as soon as you dealt with whatever was at Jatayu?”

  He didn’t have to hesitate, having already asked himself the same question and remembering Danielle Martel’s warning that everything he did would serve as an example to everyone who came after. “I’d be heading back to Glenlyon.”

  “Thank you. I needed to hear that. So will the council. Never forget that one of our greatest fears is that we’ll become too much like our enemies because of what we’d do to win. The history of Old Earth is full of bad examples. We want Glenlyon to be an example of how to win while holding to our principles.”

  “I understand,” Rob said. “That’s one reason I want to go to Kosatka. If they need our help, we need to help. Because we don’t leave friends hanging.”

  “That’ll be a good precedent to set,” Leigh Camagan said. “Good luck. And don’t linger at Kosatka any longer than you have to.”

  It wasn’t until the call had ended that Rob realized Camagan’s last words were something like an order. And that as a member of the government’s defense council she could have ordered Rob to immediately return to Glenlyon. Whether she had the authority to unilaterally issue such orders wasn’t clear, but she could have tried to prevent him from going to Kosatka. And she hadn’t.

  He had to make sure she didn’t regret that.

  Rob called Vicki Shen into his cabin again and replayed the entire message. “I wanted you to see that,” Rob said, “because of the possibility that the council will relieve me of command when we return to Glenlyon.”

  She frowned. “I understand that the council might not be happy. It also has the right to make that decision.”

  “Yes. I wanted you to know that I wouldn’t contest the council’s right to relieve me,” Rob said. “That would set a very bad precedent. If they do relieve me, you’ll be the senior officer left aboard, and you’ll probably get offered command.”

  “I hope you don’t think I’m maneuvering for that!”

  “Not at all. I want you to know I’m going into this with my eyes open and that I think you can do a good job if it comes to that. Don’t let things revert to how they were. Don’t reinstall the checklists for anything that doesn’t absolutely require a checklist. Otherwise, follow your instincts and lead the crew.”

  She paused, looking away as if searching for words. “Were you thinking of this when you made me XO?”

  “Yes.”

  “Thank you. I honestly never thought of that.”

  Rob nodded to her. “That’s one of the things that I thought qualified you. When I was a junior officer in Alfar’s fleet I met far too many people who only cared about getting promotions and getting the right tickets punched. You did your job as if that was what counted. And I think it is what counts.”

  Shen raised an eyebrow at him. “What about Darcy?”

  “You mean if you get my job? I guess you’d be the one in charge of her.”

  “Tell me that wouldn’t be as bad as everyone says.”

  He laughed. “It wouldn’t. She knows her job, and she does it. Mele Darcy just doesn’t suffer fools very well. She’s not bad.”

  Shen shrugged. “For a Marine.”

  “You can’t ask for a better ally at your back. If it comes to that.”

  “Thank you for taking me into your confidence, sir,” Shen said, her tone formal as she got up from her chair. “You do realize that you’ve given me a weapon to use against you?”

  “Yeah,” Rob said. “But if I can’t trust my XO, I’m toast anyway.”

  Shen paused before opening the door. “Sir? There’s one thing that’s confused us. I mean, those of us from Earth Fleet. We were taught to prize experience. You don’t have that much experience as an officer or a commanding officer. But . . . you seem to be doing things right.”

  He smiled slightly at the question, knowing his expression reflected not humor but both regret and melancholy. “I didn’t have a very long period in command of Squall, I guess, but that included some very intense experiences. Squall was a small ship. Just a cutter, with a crew of amateurs. There was a lot packed into a short period of time. And then I had three years to think about it, remember everything I did wrong, and try to figure out how to do it better if I ever had to.”

  “I see. You got your experience in sort of a burst mode, a lot compressed into a short signal. Then you had a long time to analyze the meaning of it.”

  Rob nodded to her. “That’s a good way of summing it up. Does that make sense to an Earth-Fleet-trained officer?”

  “It does.” Shen gave Rob a salute as she left.

  A couple of hours later Saber raced past the Bruce Monroe on her way to the jump point.

  * * *

  • • •

  “Get out while you can.”

  Lochan Nakamura stared at the image of Carmen Ochoa. She was calling from the planet below, from what he could see of her surroundings just outside the building where she worked as part of Kosatka’s budding intelligence service. “You think it’s that bad, Carmen?”

  “Shark is out of commission for a while. The work on Piranha is being rushed so she can get under way, but she’ll face two-to-one odds.” Carmen paused, her expression worried. “Those two destroyers who jumped in aren’t heading for this planet, Lochan. They’re heading for the jump point from Kappa. That looks a whole lot like they’re planning to meet somebody there.”

  “An invasion force?” Lochan blinked in disbelief, trying to get his head around the idea and failing. “An actual attack? They’ve been wearing us down by feeding the so-called rebels. Why would they openly invade? And who is this attacking us? I thought those destroyers looked like they were from Scatha.”

  Carmen answered the last question first. “As far as we can tell they match warships bought by Scatha. But if an invasion force is on the way through Kappa, it’s likely to be coming from Apulu, maybe reinforced by troops from Turan.”

  “So it’s all going to be in the open.” Lochan slammed his palm ag
ainst the surface of the desk. “Why?”

  “Maybe they’re worried that you’re doing too good a job,” Carmen said. “Maybe their sources in other star systems are saying that people are beginning to think they need to stand by Kosatka before it’s too late.”

  “So they’ll make it too late, right now,” Lochan said. “And do it in a way that makes it clear the same thing can happen to anyone else who puts up a fight. Carmen, you and I both decided to make Kosatka our home. How can I run away when it’s going to need everyone who can fight?”

  She gazed back at him with a sort of fond sadness that made Lochan remember his once-upon-a-time dreams in a failed marriage to another woman back on Franklin. He’d wanted that sort of look from a woman, and thanks to the universe’s sense of irony, he’d finally found it in one who was “only” a close friend. “Lochan, you’re not a fighter. What you can do is talk and convince people. Get out of Kosatka. Go where you can find help for us. We’ll hold out until you get back.”

  “I don’t want to leave you here,” Lochan said.

  “Domi is going to be in the thick of any fighting. I can’t leave him.”

  “Then marry the guy before it’s too late!”

  She shook her head, looking down. “Being married to a Red would ruin Domi’s career and probably his life.”

  “Oh, hell, Carmen! Why don’t you stop thinking about what you think is best for him and start thinking about what he thinks is best for him? Which is you if that wasn’t clear.”

  Carmen looked him in the eye, clearly aggravated. “When did this conversation become about me? Lochan, I know the freighter docked up there is going to pull out as soon as it can get clearance from the government, and that will be pretty soon. Get aboard. Get help.”

  “I also need clearance from the government! I’m an official, remember?”

  “Then get it!” she almost shouted. “What other hope do we have?”

  “Glenlyon—”

  “If they have any sense, Glenlyon’s forces are huddled close to their primary world waiting for the hammer to fall on it! We need whatever you can get us, Lochan!”