He’d avoided verbally blasting most of the other ships in the fleet again for being slow to get into formation, not wanting to give in to what he suspected was bad temper as opposed to professional judgment. But falling back into formation should’ve been a relatively quick and easy maneuver for the assigned escorts. If they’d actually been headed for their positions, they must have been in them by now. This was simply too careless—Careless? Or something else? Geary took another look at the way the ships in his fleet were strung out, then pulled the view back to get the two Syndic corvettes into the focus.
It took him entirely too long to figure out what was going on, but he finally did. “Ancestors save us all!”
Desjani stared at him, clearly wondering if the vague outburst this time referred to her own ship. “Captain Geary?”
Geary just concentrated on his display, trying to get control of his anger and voice before speaking. Finally, he pointed at the movements of the Alliance ships. “Those … fools … aren’t getting into formation because they’re all trying to get in on the kill when we make contact with those corvettes.” Now that he’d realized what was happening, it seemed obvious, the way almost the entire Alliance formation had bent and stretched toward the place where the fleet would intercept the Syndic corvettes. Most of Geary’s fleet had abandoned or ignored their assigned positions, and their assigned duties in the larger scheme of things, just so they could possibly get a lick in when the corvettes were annihilated by a ridiculously overwhelming force.
Desjani looked as if she were hesitant to speak, then finally began talking. “Aggressiveness is the primary—”
“Aggressiveness! That’s what you call this?”
“‘Close with the enemy,’” Desjani stated in a way that again sounded like a quote to Geary. Then she confirmed it. “That was one of the final orders given at Grendel.” Desjani watched him, knowing he’d make the connection.
And Geary remembered, trying once again not to let his emotions show. Because, after all, those events during a battle a century before in the Grendel Star System hadn’t been much more than a month ago for him. His ship had lost communications with the other units in the convoy as they battled the Syndics. But before the loss in communications, one of the last orders he’d given his own ship, which would’ve been heard over the command net, had been “close with the enemy.” “You’re not seriously telling me that … that…”
She nodded, radiating pride now. Pride in herself, in the fleet, and in Geary. “That’s our primary rule of engagement in the Alliance fleet. Be aggressive. Never hesitate, never delay. Close with enemy, just as Black Jack Geary ordered long ago,” Desjani declared, her face glowing.
Geary wanted to grab her and shake her. You idiot! All of you idiots! That’s not a one-size-fits-all solution to every tactical situation! It’s not even smart a lot of the time! “By every ancestor of every sailor in this fleet, Captain Desjani, discipline matters as much as aggressiveness! A few frigates can take down those corvettes. I was going to send a single squadron of them to do it.”
“They know they’re fighting under the eyes of Black Jack Geary, sir! They want to show you how good they are!”
“They’re not! They’re acting like an untrained mob! They’re ignoring my orders!” Geary bit back whatever he might’ve said next. Desjani and the other members of the Dauntless’s crew were staring at him as if he’d just slapped Desjani. “Look, aggressiveness is all well and good in its place, but if it’s not matched to intelligent tactics and coordinated, disciplined actions, it’s a recipe for disaster.”
Desjani’s pride had shaded into stubbornness. “It’s served us well, sir. The Alliance fleet is proud of its fighting spirit.”
Instead of shooting back another harsh reply, Geary took a deep breath. Yeah, it’s “served you well.” No wonder the fleet had lost so many ships. No wonder the fleet had snatched eagerly at the bait the Syndics dangled and ended up on the verge of destruction. And they were doing these things out of a totally warped view of Geary’s own philosophy. I don’t even know whether or not to feel guilty. Is it my fault if the example of Black Jack Geary they’re blindly following isn’t actually true and never was?
It’s going to take time to change this. I can’t just tell them they’re wrong. If they accept that, it’ll crush their spirit. If they don’t accept it, they won’t change, and my own authority will be even shakier than now.
He nodded with deliberate care to Desjani. “Fighting spirit is immensely important, Captain. From what I have seen, the Alliance fleet is right to be proud of its spirit.” She grinned with apparent relief at Geary’s words. Glancing around, Geary saw similar expressions on the faces of the rest of the bridge crew. “But we do need to apply that spirit properly, to make sure we do”—What’s the right phrase?—“maximum damage to the enemy. It’s like aiming a weapon to make sure it hits the target dead on.” Geary indicated his display. “Right now, this fleet isn’t as well aimed as it could be.” And aren’t I the master of understatement. “We’ll work on that.”
But even as Geary spoke the last sentence, he saw that the leading ships in the Alliance fleet were accelerating past .1 light speed, abandoning all pretense of maintaining any sort of formation as they raced each other to reach and help destroy the two Syndic corvettes. Amazingly, the now five-minute-old images from around the Syndic base showed that the corvettes still hadn’t tried to run, but were maintaining a blocking position not far from the Syndic base. Geary was still trying to decide if they were brave or foolish or simply paralyzed with fright when the reason finally became apparent—a courier ship sighted launching from the base and accelerating away. The Syndics were trying to get a report off through one of the jump points around Corvus. I wonder what Syndicate Fleet Fight Instruction article mandates sending a report? Geary wondered bitterly. That idiot in charge of them wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t spelled out as a requirement.
The forward elements of the Alliance fleet were still accelerating, past the speed where they could effectively target the enemy ships. That’s it. It’s past time I tried to regain control of this goat rope. Geary mashed the communications control with his thumb. “This is Captain Geary. All units of the Alliance fleet are ordered to return to their places in formation. All units are to reduce speed as necessary to ensure they are not exceeding .1 light.” He hated giving that order going into a battle, where individual ship commanders should’ve had the flexibility to alter speed as they fought, but Geary couldn’t see how else he could slow down all the ships crowding to reach the Syndic corvettes.
Geary bit back another curse. The displayed positions of many of his own ships were increasingly uncertain, and it would take several minutes for the farthest out to receive his last order. “Ships of the Third Frigate Squadron are ordered to engage the Syndic corvettes. Any unit in a position to intercept the Syndic courier vessel is ordered to make every effort to stop it.”
He paused, waiting to see what would happen, knowing there was nothing else he could do at the moment. It’d be a few minutes before he knew whether anyone was listening to him this time.
At least he could tell the battle cruisers were on their way back. They wouldn’t catch up with the trailing elements of the fleet for three hours, but at least they were doing what they were told.
within the next fifteen minutes, it became apparent that a little more than half of the Alliance ships charging toward the Syndic corvettes had somewhat sheepishly begun following Geary’s last order. Unfortunately, as some of the ships slowed and others kept accelerating, any semblance of order within the Alliance fleet vanished. The leading edge of the wedge had become a twisted blob in which many of Geary’s own ship positions were far from certain.
The display picture of the outer fringes of the Alliance fleet flickered in an almost strobelike way as the time-late images updated and jerked from point to point. It looked like close to a score of Alliance ships had come around and were trying to accelerate t
oward an intercept with the Syndic courier vessel. Orion, far out of range of any possible intercept, for some unfathomable reason had pumped out several specters aimed at the courier, even though the distance and relative speeds were too great to expect any chance of a hit.
And the Syndic light cruiser’s position had jumped wildly as Dauntless finally saw it accelerating toward the Alliance fleet. What’s he doing? He’s in no position to help screen that courier. The blob that made up the Alliance fleet had now stretched out in three directions, one thin arm reaching “up” and to the side toward the courier’s path, another larger mass of ships still heading for the Syndic corvettes and their base, which were now less than an hour away from contact, and a spreading cloud of ships at the back where Alliance units were finally dropping back toward their assigned positions. The Syndic light cruiser, having come around the fourth planet, seemed to be accelerating under the force of its huge propulsion system as if aiming to skim along the bottom of the Alliance blob.
Geary stared at the display, trying to understand what the light cruiser was up to. Estimated speed and directional vectors for the Syndic warship kept jumping around as it exceeded .1 light and kept accelerating. It was also apparently altering its course slightly again and again, so that as Alliance ships picked up time-late observations distorted by relativistic effects, the “compensated” position of the cruiser also jerked from spot to spot and its projected course swung wildly through space. Only two things seemed certain. The cruiser was still accelerating and it was still heading toward the Alliance fleet.
Why? If he’s just running away, why run away through the Alliance fleet? But how is he planning to engage us? As close as he is and going that fast, he’ll shoot past our ships with no better idea of where they are than they can tell where he is. Even with his propulsion system, by the time he’d be able to slow down to fighting speed he’d be—.
“Damn!” Geary didn’t even notice the reaction on the bridge of the Dauntless to his explosive curse. I should’ve seen it. I should’ve figured this out a long time ago. A ship built with that much propulsion capability must be intended for a special kind of attack. He gestured at the general area of his display where the representation of the Syndic cruiser was flickering from point to point. “He’s headed for Titan. ““What?” Captain Desjani followed Geary’s movement with an expression of shock. “How could it? He’d never be able to figure out exactly where Titan was at the speed he’s going.”
“It’s what he’s designed for, Captain Desjani! I should’ve known as soon as I saw it!” Geary jabbed his finger at the display again, drawing an arc through the front of the Alliance fleet and ending at Titan. “Major propulsion capability so he can accelerate quickly to speeds high enough that the relativistic effects make targeting him damn near impossible. Once he’s dashed through defending units that can’t target him worth a damn, he’ll spin around and use that same propulsion power to brake hard enough that he can slow down to a speed that allows him to engage whatever soft targets the warships are protecting.”
Desjani actually snarled as she studied the display. “Ancestors forgive me. He’ll be at maximum velocity when he pierces through our lead units. We’ll have very little chance of achieving hits on him unless we can fix his course exactly—”
“We can’t! We can’t exactly project his course because we don’t know exactly where he is now!” Geary paused, then bared his teeth. “But we know exactly where he’s going.”
“Titan?” Desjani’s hands played across her controls. A hugely elongated cone appeared, the broad end centered on where the ship systems estimated the Syndic cruiser was now. “Here. If that cruiser is headed for Titan and has to brake down to a velocity low enough to get high-probability targeting data on Titan as he passes within weapons range, he’ll have to start braking about here, and that’ll mean he’ll intercept Titan’s course here.” Her finger pointed at the place where the cone had shrunk down to a narrow needle.
Geary nodded, feeling a momentary surge of exultation. That was why the Syndics hadn’t built more ships like that light cruiser. Once you figured out what their target was, escort ships behind the main body could intercept it short of the target. But Geary’s elation quickly faded as he studied the area around the course Desjani had drawn in. There’s nothing in place to stop that cruiser. Titan’s escorts are still too far off from chasing after those worthless corvettes, the reserve squadrons are scattered all over the place, and Titan’s fallen even farther back because the fleet has been accelerating away from her.
And the commander of that Syndic light cruiser had been smart enough to see what was going on and to see that Titan was the Achilles heel of the Alliance fleet. Smarter than me, Geary admitted. That’s a very good sailor out there. Too bad I have to do my best to kill him or her.
The first thing to do was to make sure that the light cruiser had something else to worry about. “All ships in Cruiser Squadrons Eight and Eleven are to pursue the Syndic light cruiser.” That was far more ships than should be needed, but Geary couldn’t tell how many of the ships in those squadrons were actually close enough to the Syndic cruiser to worry it. None of them could possibly catch the cruiser before it reached Titan, but if Geary could slow it down, perhaps they could play a role. “All other ships engage the light cruiser if it comes within effective weapons range.”
He took a moment to check on the corvettes. Their screening of the courier launch over, the Syndic corvettes had turned to run. Geary shook his head. They’re too slow, and they waited too long. There were Alliance ships less than a half hour behind them, and the corvettes couldn’t accelerate worth a damn. “Captain Desjani, please inform those two corvettes that if they do not surrender immediately, they will surely be destroyed.”
“Yes, Captain Geary.” Desjani kept her thoughts to herself this time.
Up and to the side, the Syndic courier ship had depended on speed and relativistic uncertainty to get past the onrushing Alliance ships, but an Alliance destroyer had taken advantage of the luck of its position relative to the courier and rolled in from below in a perfect intercept. Geary had only a moment to realize he hadn’t offered the courier a chance to surrender before the destroyer opened fire, its hell-lances dancing along the path the courier was following. The courier ran into the barrage, which punched right through the thin defenses of the Syndic ship. The courier’s engines blew, and the entire ship vanished as the explosion shattered it into small pieces. Pity. Good intercept, though. Who was that destroyer? Rapier, one of the Sword Class ships. I’ll need to remember her.
“One of the corvettes has broadcast surrender,” Dauntless’s communications watch announced, unable to keep a trace of dismay from her voice.
“Tell”—Geary checked the display hastily.—“Audacious to overtake and board the corvette and ensure it’s stripped of anything we can use.” He paused, thinking about how poorly orders had been followed so far, then hit his own controls. “All units in the Alliance fleet, this is Captain Geary. I have personally accepted surrender of the Syndic corvette PC-14558.” Desjani stared at him, eyes wide. Geary avoided her gaze, looking stubbornly at his own display. He’d just told everyone that the surrendered corvette was effectively under his personal protection now. It was an extreme measure, but he had an ugly feeling that otherwise even a surrendered ship wouldn’t be safe from attack by some of his overenthusiastic commanders.
He switched his gaze back to the battle cruisers far astern, wishing they could somehow teleport next to Titan, then searched for the Syndic cruiser.
And found it racing past the leading Alliance ships.
Geary watched with a sense of helplessness as the Alliance ships closest to the Syndic cruiser scrambled to intercept it, and saw all of them fail as the cruiser’s velocity, now up past .2 light, so effectively confused Alliance targeting systems that they kept misjudging their predictions. A few specters came close, trying to follow right up the cruiser’s path. But all of them were c
aught in a stern chase with low relative speed. They died in flares of light as they were taken out by the Syndic cruiser’s defenses, which had only to fire backward, knowing any pursuer would be coming from directly astern.
Everyone was looking at him now. They weren’t saying anything, but Geary knew what they were thinking. What do we do, Black Jack? How do you get us out of this mess? Because he knew they’d be certain he could. Idiots. If they kept getting into terrible tactical situations, how long would it be before Geary couldn’t figure out any way out?
Damn and damn again. That Syndic commander spotted the weakest point in the fleet. If we lose Titan our chances of getting home go way down. But he doesn’t have to kill Titan. He just has to slow her down some more, leaving us to either wait around for the main Syndic fleet he no doubt guesses is coming after us, or abandon a ship this fleet needs.
No, Titan’s just one of the weakest points in this fleet. The other weak point is the lack of discipline that led Titan’s escorts to abandon their responsibilities. I can’t do anything to lessen our need for Titan, but I can sure as hell try to fix the discipline in this fleet.
If I get the chance.
Geary’s eyes ranged across the display, ignoring the combat system’s uncertain guesses at the Syndic cruiser’s exact position and vector, letting his instincts judge the chances of any Alliance warships getting to the Syndic cruiser before it could reach Titan. He barely registered the rapid death under an avalanche of Alliance hell-lance fire of the second Syndic corvette, the one that had tried to flee rather than surrender, as Geary realized there was in fact one ship still far enough back to interpose herself in time.
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