Victorious tlf-6

by Jack Campbell

  He began asking the maneuvering systems for solutions, trying out options as fast as he could request them and see the responses.

  The fleet conference room was filled with the usual images, only Commander Neeson among them revealing tension rather than simple curiosity about Geary’s next battle plan. Desjani appeared as quietly confident as usual, and Rione had schooled her expression into a mask showing nothing of her thoughts.

  Geary stood up, deciding only at that moment how to begin. “We face an unexpected and serious threat.” He paused a moment to let the other officers absorb that before continuing. “It seems certain that the Syndics had a backup plan.” He explained the menace from the hypernet gate while the confident looks on the faces of most of his ship captains were replaced by growing shock and worry.

  “Those fatherless, motherless scum,” Captain Badaya muttered, his face shading red with fury. “We always make the mistake of thinking we know how low they can go, then they find a new level of hell beneath the last one.”

  “They’d actually do that? To one of their own star systems?” Captain Vitali of the Daring asked. “I have no trouble believing that they’d do it to one of ours, but this is their capital system!”

  “The leaders of the Syndicate Worlds already have done it to one of theirs, at Lakota,” Tulev answered. “They knew what might happen and gave orders that the gate there be destroyed anyway. On that occasion they could salve whatever passes for their consciences by pretending that the worst case was only a possibility, but they were certainly willing to accept that worst case. It never occurred to us that they would take an action guaranteed to wipe out one of their own star systems when they had a safe alternative to collapsing a gate.”

  “That’s because we would never destroy one of our own star systems like that,” Neeson said.

  Tulev shrugged, contempt showing. “The Syndic leadership refuses to lose this war, no matter the cost to their own planets or people.”

  “Politicians,” Captain Armus grumbled, using the word like an obscenity.

  “Some politicians,” Geary corrected. “You will note that three of our own politicians are here to share the risks with us.” None of the three appeared to be particularly happy to be sharing those risks, but he didn’t see any need to point that out. “We’ve also met some Syndic leaders who don’t share the same callousness toward their own people, but the very top ranks of the Syndic CEOs seem to be isolated from that. They’ll do anything to win, or rather anything to avoid losing and paying a personal price for their mistakes. But they won’t succeed, and when we eventually make it clear to everyone else in this star system what their plans are, it may well change the situation.”

  “That’s your plan?” Armus asked. “To hope the Syndics finally make their own leaders act civilized?”

  “No. That’s what happens after we execute my plan.” The anxiety in the room cleared in a flash, and Geary could see in almost all of the other officers here the same faith in him as Desjani’s. “The Syndics missed something. The sort of energy discharge that gate would produce would be too huge for ships to hope to ride out. But, there’s one thing in this star system that’s big enough to not be destroyed by the energy wave and big enough for this fleet to hide behind.” He pointed at the representation of the star on the display. “There’s one place in this star system that should offer safety to the fleet if we can reach there.” The view on the display pivoted around the star. “Here, in the lee of the star itself.”

  Silence fell as everyone studied the display. Duellos was the first to speak. “It should work, but it doesn’t guarantee safety. The shock wave will consist of particles colliding with each other, being knocked to the sides, so it will spread back some into the area blocked by the star.”

  “It offers a solid chance,” Badaya corrected, “if we get in the lee close enough to the star itself.”

  “I didn’t say otherwise. We also have little choice, it appears.”

  Captain Armus was shaking his head. “The Syndics are scum, but they’re not stupid. They’ll see us heading there.”

  Armus wasn’t the brightest officer in the fleet, but he was shrewd enough to spot that. Geary nodded. “That’s why we have to conceal our intentions until we’ve got the star between us and that gate. Fortunately, the Syndics’ own behaviors give us a plausible cover for our movements.” He tapped in a command, and projected paths for the fleet arced across the display. “The Syndic flotilla is pretending to be heading for an encounter with us. Given what we’ve figured out of their plans, we expect them to veer off in about six more hours and head straight for the jump point for Mandalon. They’ll expect us to do one of two things, either chase after the Syndic flotilla for at least a while, or try to force it to face us in battle by threatening other Syndic assets in the star system.”

  Bright arcs appeared on the display. “We’ll head onto these vectors, swinging past the frozen, inhabited planet fifteen light-minutes out from the star and flattening every military and industrial target on it at close range, then head for the primary inhabited world, not on a straight trajectory but by swinging around the star to intercept the planet in its orbit.”

  Duellos grinned. “A more lengthy approach, which will appear to be a transparent attempt to draw the Syndic warships into battle. Will they believe that Black Jack is being so obvious?”

  “They’re pleased with themselves right now,” Desjani replied. “They think they’ve got us trapped and that we don’t even realize it. Overconfidence is exactly what they’d expect from us, and because the Syndic leaders are positioned on the battleship at the jump point of Mandalon, they will still be close to five light-hours from our fleet when we turn to take shelter in the lee of the star and seven light-hours from that gate itself.”

  Badaya nodded. “Five hours to see us veer onto a new track, then, even if they immediately figure out what we’re doing, seven hours for their destruct order to reach the gate, and five more hours for the shock wave to reach us. Seventeen hours, and we’ll only be about ten light-minutes from the star when we begin our maneuver. They won’t be able to hit us in time.”

  “If they wait,” Armus grumbled. “Why should they wait that long?”

  Rione answered. “Because it is certain that the Syndics want no living witnesses to what happens here. They want that flotilla to be in position to jump before any signal they send to the gate can be received and the initial results seen. Then the Syndic leaders can jump their entire flotilla out, everyone except themselves in ignorance of what has been done. Anyone arriving back in the star system after the shock wave has passed will find nothing and no one able to tell them what happened.”

  Badaya narrowed his eyes at her, then nodded again. “They can say we caused it somehow, just like they’re trying to claim about Kalixa.”

  Commander Landis also agreed with a nod, but he still looked troubled. “What if they do figure out what we’re doing before then, though? What if they decide to sacrifice their own flotilla and blow the gate before we get in the lee of the star?”

  Geary had already forced himself to face that possibility. He tapped another control and a formation appeared. “We’ll form up like this if there is time available once we spot the gate collapsing. The battleships will be as close together as possible, forming as strong a wall as they can, bow on to the gate. The rest of the fleet will array in successive walls behind the battleships. That offers the best chance we have that some of the fleet’s ships will survive.”

  Everyone nodded somberly, including the captains of the battleships. The armor and shields on the massive battleships served offensively, but were often called upon as a last line of defense when the rest of the fleet needed that. As Captain Mosko had said at Lakota, shielding the rest of the fleet was something that battleships did. They had left Mosko at Lakota, along with the three battleships in his division, holding off the enemy. Facing death was something everyone in the fleet was accustomed to, and dying for their c
omrades in battle was as good a way to die as any.

  Not that anyone expected that to matter this time. They had seen what a hypernet gate collapse could do to a star system. The battleships and everything behind them would surely be blown to fragments if something stronger than Kalixa hit them here. But it was still necessary to do something.

  Captain Armus shrugged. “All right, then. If our ancestors smile upon us, we’ll beat this Syndic trick, too.”

  Captain Tulev nodded. “And if they do not, they will know we died facing the enemy.”

  Jane Geary spoke up. “Admiral, what will we do once we reach the lee of the star?”

  “That’s going to depend on what else is happening,” Geary replied. “We won’t just sit there. We’ll drop sensor buoys behind the fleet so we can watch the gate even after every ship is behind the star. Assuming the Syndic leaders haven’t blown the gate and jumped out of the system by then, we’ll take a number of measures to make their lives miserable. From the lee of the star, we can still wipe out the Syndics here if we have to do that. Are there further questions?”

  “Admiral,” Captain Kattnig said quickly, “may I suggest an action that would discomfort the Syndics? They need this fleet destroyed, but if the entire fleet takes shelter behind the star, our ability to directly pressure the Syndic leaders will be lost. If, however, we send a group of fast ships out directly at the jump point for Mandalon, the Syndic leaders will either have to destroy their entire star system knowing that they will not get most of our fleet in the bargain, or they will have to flee the jump point, or fight.”

  A lot of officers nodded approvingly to Kattnig. Geary thought about the proposal, realizing that it might well make sense despite his reluctance to send ships out on what could be a suicide mission.

  “It would have to be battle cruisers,” Desjani said.

  “Yes,” Kattnig agreed. “I volunteer the Fifth Battle Cruiser Division.” Some of the other commanding officers in that division appeared startled, but none of them objected. In this fleet, with its concepts of honor, none of them could object.

  But Duellos spoke up, his tone carefully neutral. “The offer is in the finest traditions of the fleet, but I have been reviewing the capabilities of the Adroit-class battle cruisers. Because of sensor limitations in the design of your ships, you would require other capital ships to accompany you.”

  “Certainly,” Kattnig agreed. “The First Battle Cruiser Division?” he asked, naming Duellos’s own unit. “We would be proud to have them with us.”

  Geary looked down to think and noticed Desjani glaring at the table’s surface. She wanted to volunteer Dauntless. He knew that. But she knew that if the enemy realized the fleet flagship with Admiral Geary aboard was part of the small force, it might well make that a sufficiently worthwhile target.

  He hesitated to send Duellos as well. But Kattnig’s eagerness to be at the enemy, while not exceptional in the fleet, still concerned Geary. If Kattnig needed to be held back, Duellos was senior enough and wise enough to do the job. Tulev could do it as well. But right now Duellos was on the spot, and he was clearly waiting for Geary to weigh in before replying to Kattnig.

  Turn down Duellos and order Tulev’s division to go instead? Or just tell everyone that I want to think about the composition of the force and put off deciding which ships go? No, my hand is being forced by the way this happened. Unless I say now that I want the First Division to go, it will sound like I don’t want the First Division to go, and while fleet regulations might declare that I don’t have any obligation to explain that decision, in practice I would have to justify it somehow. How do I justify that without the crews and officers in the First Division feeling that they had been slighted?

  I’m stuck. Duellos isn’t a bad choice, but I don’t know whether he would have been my choice. Now I have to go with him or create the impression that I don’t trust him or his ships.

  So Geary nodded to Duellos. “Does the First Battle Cruiser Division wish to be part of the force?”

  Duellos read the nod correctly. “Certainly, Admiral. My ships are ready.”

  That was it, then. Kattnig looked very pleased. Duellos projected calm and confidence. Tulev’s feelings couldn’t be read. Badaya seemed happy. Desjani was apparently trying not to beat her fists bloody against the table in frustration.

  Geary managed to keep his own voice even despite being annoyed at having his hand forced. “I need to determine the mission and full composition for the strike force. The battle cruisers will be accompanied by enough fast escorts to ensure they can handle any threat the Syndics might develop. I will let you know of further plans after we reach the lee of the star.”

  The images of most of the other fleet officers vanished. Duellos lingered long enough to give Geary a resigned look. “We both walked into that one.”

  “Yeah, we did. I’ll talk to you about it later, one-on-one.”

  As Duellos’s image disappeared, Badaya, who had also remained, nodded again to Rione, then to Geary. “It’s useful having someone along who understands how the Syndic leaders think.”

  “Yes,” Geary said, and nothing else, knowing that as far as Badaya was concerned, Rione understood the Syndic leaders because she thought the same way.

  “Are the others giving you any trouble?”

  Behind Badaya, Rione raised her eyes upward with a weary expression.

  Choosing his words carefully, Geary also kept his tone even. “The senators are not causing any problems.”

  “Good. As long as they remain aware of who’s in charge.” Badaya smiled, saluted, and vanished.

  Rione gave Geary a questioning look. “What are you going to do if he ever finds out that you’re not really giving orders to the government?”

  “Damned if I know.”

  With Badaya gone, Desjani stood up. “I’m sorry,” Geary told her. “I know you wanted to volunteer Dauntless for that strike force.”

  Desjani shrugged. “Being the flagship usually has advantages. I’d be foolish not to realize that in this case, sending Dauntless along with that strike force would be offering the Syndics far too attractive a target.”

  She wasn’t doing too good a job of acting resigned to the situation. “I’m afraid so.”

  “You need to watch Kattnig,” Desjani added.

  Geary eyed her. “What about him worries you?”

  “The same thing that worries you. I could see it in you. He’s too eager. He’s not an overaggressive idiot like Captain Midea, but he’s too eager.”

  “Yes.” Geary shook his head. “Duellos should keep him in check.”

  “Tulev would have been better, but you couldn’t publicly shoot down Duellos. Appearances matter. And speaking of appearances, Admiral, if we see the gate collapsing, and the fleet is ordered into that defensive formation, where will Dauntless be?”

  He looked away for a moment. “Tanya, if it comes to that—”

  “If it comes to that, the odds of survival for any ship in this fleet are so small as to be effectively zero. I respectfully request that if Dauntless and her crew are to die, we die with honor, in the place the flagship should occupy within the fleet.” Her voice was calm, firm, and steady.

  There didn’t seem to be any good arguments against that. “Where do you consider that place to be? In the front rank, with the battleships?”

  “No, sir. That would create a weak spot within the wall of battleships. But Dauntless should be directly behind those battleships.”

  Geary closed his eyes, not wanting to look at her as he pronounced what could be Desjani’s death sentence. His own, too, but in a sense he had been living on borrowed time ever since being awakened from survival sleep. “Very well, Captain. Dauntless will be in her rightful place should the fleet face that situation.”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  He opened his eyes to see her saluting him, her own eyes on his, Desjani’s expression grateful. “I owe Dauntless, and you, at least that much,” Geary added as
he returned the salute. “But I hope it won’t come to that. If it does …”“Nil Desperandum,” she reminded him with a half smile, then Desjani left with a quick but relaxed stride.

  Rione watched Desjani leave, then shook her head. “Do any of us deserve to have people like that fighting for us?” she asked.

  “I thought you didn’t like her.”

  “I don’t. She can be almost as big a bitch as I am. But I thank the living stars that she’s commanding this ship and not someone like Badaya.”

  Geary sat down again, his eyes on Rione. The virtual images of Senators Costa and Sakai had vanished earlier, neither of them realizing in time that Rione might hang around to speak privately with Geary. “Badaya is a competent enough officer. If we can rebuild his faith in the Alliance government, he’ll be a credit to the fleet.”

  Rione smiled, but in a sad way. “I think that as long as nothing disastrous happens, Captain Badaya will convince himself that you are really still in charge but pulling the strings in secrecy. He won’t be the only one believing that.”

  He didn’t want to go there, didn’t want to deal with the aftermath of the war when he hadn’t yet managed to end it. “Madam Co-President, have you thought of anything we can say or do that will convince the Syndics that we are ignorant of any peril from that hypernet gate? We need to keep them fooled until we’re close enough to being in the lee of the star.”

  Rione twisted her mouth as she thought. “I think we need to continue on as we have, expressing confidence by our actions and our words. You should resend the demand for negotiations, using a bit more arrogance this time and displaying an appropriate level of contempt for that CEO in charge of the flotilla. Perhaps a few taunts about how much smaller it is than the last Syndic force we faced here would be proper.”

  “Perhaps one of our governmental representatives could give our demands and taunts a suitable amount of arrogance and contempt,” Geary suggested.