“Good.” Shooting at shadows is one thing. When you’re in combat, it’s all too easy to think there’s an enemy target where there’s nothing. But that fool on Arrogant was too stubborn or dumb or both to realize the mistake or stop shooting when I ordered it. I need to get rid of Arrogant’s commanding officer as soon as I can swing it. Just one more thing to worry about.
“Sir?” Geary and Desjani both looked toward the watch-stander who’d spoken. “We have Colonel Carabali on the circuit again.”
Carabali looked as furious as Geary had been moments before. “My apologies, Captain Geary. The unit I was with was forced to take shelter within a shielded bunker, so we were unable to communicate with anyone.”
“Forced to take shelter? Is there still that much Syndic resistance around the base?”
“No, sir.” Carabali seemed to be fighting to keep from snarling. “We did initially pursue some Syndic forces into the bunker. But as we were preparing to leave it, the area we were in started being bombarded by one of our own ships.”
Arrogant. Firing on a location occupied by our own people. That stupid sorry excuse for a ship commander. “Did you lose anyone?”
“By the grace of our ancestors, no, sir.”
“Good.” Although if you had lost someone I could’ve hanged that fool on Arrogant. “Any idea what Arrogant was shooting at?”
“I was hoping you knew, Captain Geary,” she said slowly.
Geary almost smiled at the carefully understated words, but he managed to keep his expression stern, knowing the Marine commander probably wasn’t yet in the mood to see the dark humor of the situation. “No. My apologies for the time required to get Arrogant to cease fire. I will ensure steps are taken to make certain this sort of thing isn’t repeated.”
“Thank you, Captain Geary. Major Jalo tells me you were in communication with him regarding the prisoners.”
“That’s correct.” Geary paused, wondering how to word his next statement. Were you planning on murdering your prisoners, Colonel? “I don’t know what the standard procedure has been regarding prisoners.”
Carabali’s eyes narrowed. “Standard procedure has been that we turn them over to the fleet, sir.” Everything in her tone and posture clearly communicated a further message to Geary. I’m certain you know what the fleet does with them once they’re out of our hands.
The exchange brought Geary’s temper rising again. How dare she be holier than thou about this? It seems the Marines kept from being directly involved in killing prisoners by looking the other way. That’s not exactly the most virtuous of actions. Though at least they kept their own hands clean. I have to give them credit for that much. But all he said was, “That’s changed. You will maintain responsibility for the prisoners and make arrangements to ensure the prisoners are confined in an area with adequate life support and the means to call for rescue once we depart.”
Carabali’s expression shifted. “I understood the base was to be totally destroyed, sir.”
“Sufficient living space, food, water, and life support to keep the prisoners alive until rescued will be kept intact, along with one primary and one backup means of basic communications with the inhabited world in this system.” It was so easy for Geary to reel off the requirements. Everyone had known them once. Every officer had been required to know them. And to follow them. “The prisoners will be kept under guard and treated in accordance with the laws of war until we depart. Are there any questions?”
Carabali was watching Geary as if studying him. “I understand these orders are to me, personally? That they cannot be overridden by any other fleet officer without your concurrence?”
“Yes, Colonel. I have every confidence that you will faithfully execute the spirit as well as the letter of my orders.”
“Thank you, Captain Geary. I understand and will obey.” Carabali rendered a precise salute, then the image blanked out.
Geary leaned back, rubbing his eyes, then looked toward Desjani again. “Thank you, Captain Desjani.”
“I just did my duty, sir.” Desjani was looking away, refusing to meet Geary’s eye.
Geary looked around the bridge, seeing the other officers and sailors also finding anything else to stare at rather than look him in the face. “Captain Desjani—”
“Standard procedure,” she interrupted in a low voice.
Geary stopped and took a deep breath. “How long?”
“I don’t know.”
“Official?”
This time Desjani paused, then shook her head, still not looking his way. “Never official. Never in writing. Just understood.”
So you all knew it wasn’t right. Couldn’t be right. Or you’d have written it down.
But as long as you didn’t write it down, you could pretend it really was okay. Just unwritten.
Desjani spoke again, her voice thin. “We heard your reaction, Captain Geary. We saw your reaction. How could we have let this happen? We’ve dishonored our ancestors, haven’t we? We’ve dishonored you.”
Even though Desjani was still avoiding his gaze, Geary found himself looking away from her. They did. They’ve done something horrible. They’re good people, and they’ve been doing something horrible. What do I do? “Captain Desjani … all of you … your past actions are between you and your own ancestors. Ask them for forgiveness, not me. I wish … I wish to remind you all that someday we will be judged for our actions. I will not judge you. I don’t have that right. But I’ll not permit dishonorable actions by forces under my command. I’ll not permit some of the finest officers and enlisted personnel I’ve ever met to sully their own service. And you are fine officers who command fine sailors. Sailors in the Alliance fleet. All of us are, together. There are things we don’t do. From this moment forth, let us all ensure our every action reflects well on us and our ancestors. Let us live to the highest standards, lest we win this war only to find ourselves staring in the mirror at the face of our late enemy.”
A murmur of replies followed. Geary looked around again, and this time everyone met his gaze. It was a start.
For the first time, he wondered if missing the last century had actually been a blessing of sorts.
The conference room once more appeared to be occupied by the apparently endless table with every commanding officer in the fleet seated along it, even though Geary knew only Captain Desjani was actually here in person with him. Right now the images of the other ship commanders were staring at him with expressions that ran the full gamut from faithful to hostile, with plenty of surprise thrown in for good measure. “Kaliban?” the harsh voice of Captain Faresa demanded. She made a dismissive gesture toward the navigational display of local stars that floated above the table. “You actually want us to jump to Kaliban?”
Geary nodded, tamping down his temper. It had gotten to the point where even thinking about Captain Faresa, or Captain Numos for that matter, made him angry. He couldn’t afford that kind of distraction. Besides, it was unprofessional, and he couldn’t demand professionalism from others if he didn’t try his best to practice it himself. “I explained my reasons.”
Captain Numos shook his head in a way that somehow reminded Geary of the bureaucratic Syndic commander. “I cannot agree to such a rash and senseless course of action.”
Captain Tulev broke in, frowning. “It seems to make a great deal of sense to me.”
“That’s hardly surprising,” Numos stated in a disparaging tone.
Tulev flushed but continued to speak in an even voice. “Captain Geary has analyzed the likely enemy reactions to our current situation. I can’t fault his reasoning. The Syndics are not fools. They’ll have a major force waiting for us at Yuon.”
“Then we’ll deal with them.”
“This fleet is still recovering from what happened in the Syndic home system! Our losses can’t be replaced until we reach home. Surely, even you realize we can’t risk getting caught by superior forces again.”
“Timidity in the face of the enemy—�
�� Numos began.
“We aren’t in this situation because of timidity,” Captain Desjani interrupted, ignoring the angry look Numos sent her way. “We’re here because we were more concerned with acting aggressively than with thinking about what we were doing.” She subsided while the other officers stared at her in either disbelief or incomprehension.
Captain Faresa made what was apparently her best attempt to speak in a condescending voice. “Are we to understand that the commanding officer of a ship in the Alliance fleet regards aggressiveness as a negative quality?”
Geary leaned forward. “No. You are to understand that aggressiveness without forethought is a negative quality. That’s my opinion, Captain Faresa.”
Faresa’s eyes narrowed as she opened her mouth to speak, then froze in that position. Geary watched her, not letting his amusement show. You were going to cite fleet traditions, weren’t you, Faresa? Maybe even quote Black Jack Geary. But I’m the one person you can’t use that against.
Farther down the table, a commander spoke, his words rushed. “It’s common knowledge that prolonged survival sleep affects people.” He paused as he became the center of attention, then spoke quickly again. “This isn’t the officer whose example has inspired this fleet for a century. Not any more.”
Everyone looked toward Geary, who realized that the commander had brought into the open something his enemies must have been whispering since he took command. To his own surprise, the charge didn’t anger him. Perhaps because Geary disliked the heroic image of Black Jack Geary so much that he didn’t mind having someone else disassociate him from that mythical construct. Geary could also tell from the expressions around the table that most of the officers present disapproved of what had been said. Many still clearly worshipped Black Jack. Others seemed unhappy with the unprofessionalism of the comments made by the commander. He hoped at least a few were actually trusting him because of his actions so far.
So instead of reacting with passion, Geary deliberately leaned back and looked directly at his opponent. A name tag immediately sprang into view, identifying the man and his ship. Commander Vebos of the Arrogant. Of course. “Commander Vebos. I don’t claim to be more than human. I am, however, the officer who led this fleet out of the Syndic home system when it was threatened with imminent destruction. I know how to command a fleet. I know how to give orders. That’s because I learned how to take orders, a necessary skill in any officer. Don’t you agree, Commander?”
Vebos turned pale at the pointed reference to his actions in bombarding the Syndic base. But he bulled ahead anyway. “Other officers could’ve done better. Captain Numos. He’d have us halfway home by now!”
“He’d have us in Syndic work camps by now,” Captain Duellos noted dryly. “Though he was willing enough to try to get away alone in Orion while the Syndics were busy finishing off our damaged ships.”
It was Numos’s turn to flush red with anger. “I will not—”
Geary slammed his hand onto the table, and silence fell. “I do not wish to have my officers publicly malign other officers,” he stated.
Captain Duellos rose and inclined his head toward the place Numos occupied. “My apologies to Captain Geary and to Captain Numos.”
Geary inclined his own head in return. “Thank you, Captain Duellos. It is critical that we remain focused. This fleet is transiting the Corvus System en route to the jump point that leads to Kaliban. We are currently in negotiations with the Syndic authorities on the second planet. They are being told to provide us with supplies and raw materials as we pass through the system, on pain of having the fleet inflict extensive damage to their world.” Geary thought that of those present, only Captain Desjani would guess that Geary had no intention of actually bombarding an inhabited world simply to punish the people on it. “I am certain that the Syndics will be awaiting us with force at Yuon. I will take this fleet to Kaliban. And our ancestors willing, I will take this fleet home.”
A number of commanders still looked unhappy or skeptical, but most of the officers made their at-least-grudging agreement clear. Geary looked along the ranks of ship commanders, trying to identify those who looked to be trouble, then stopped himself. I won’t turn into a Syndic CEO, playing political games and purging officers suspected of “disloyalty.” But by the living stars, Commander Vebos won’t still be commanding the Arrogant when we leave this system. That man isn’t simply disloyal and insubordinate. He’s stupid.
The number of officers around the table dwindled rapidly as they broke the connections that had presented their images at the conference. Once again, the apparent size of the table, and the room itself, shrank along with the reduction in officers whose images had been present. Many of the officers paused, their images suddenly seeming to stand before Geary, and expressed brief words of support. Geary acknowledged them as gracefully as he could, trying to not grimace at how many of them looked at him with the worshipful eyes of those seeing Black Jack Geary in the flesh.
Captain Duellos was the last to leave, giving Geary a big grin. “Maybe you should’ve left Numos and Orion guarding the jump exit,” Duellos suggested.
“Why would I have wanted to do that?” Geary asked.
“You could’ve left him there!”
Geary laughed despite himself. “His crew doesn’t deserve that.”
Duellos smiled again. “No. I expect they suffer enough as it is.”
“Sorry I had to slap you down when you and Numos started to get personal,” Geary said. “I trust you understand why I did that.”
“I did, sir. Though I must confess I don’t regret making the remark and reminding my fellow ship commanders of the course of action Numos tried to endorse back in the Syndic home system.” Duellos paused. “I want you to know that you have my unconditional support.”
“Thank you.”
“Not Black Jack Geary. You.”
Geary raised one eyebrow. “You’ve figured out I’m not that person?”
“I’m glad you’re not,” Duellos confessed. “The man always scared me.”
“That makes two of us.”
“Captain Desjani is a very good officer. You can trust her.”
“I already know that.” Geary made a face. “Speaking of trust, do you have any officers you’d recommend for command of Arrogant?”
“I can give you some names. A word of advice, Captain Geary?”
Geary nodded. “I never refuse to listen to advice from good officers.”
Duellos made a small bow. “Thank you. Don’t replace that idiot Vebos with an officer certain to be loyal to you. It will raise concerns of a loyalty purge.”
Geary bit his lip, trying not to show his surprise that Duellos had echoed his own earlier thought. “Surely that hasn’t actually happened in the Alliance fleet.”
For the first time, Duellos looked grim. “Captain Geary, I know that you have already learned of some of the things that have happened in the Alliance fleet.”
“Damn,” Geary whispered, then shook his head. Loyalty purges in the Alliance fleet. Unbelievable. When? Where? I don’t really want to know. “Thank you, Captain. I’ll remember your advice. It’s very good to have officers like you and Desjani whom I can trust implicitly.”
“We can always trust in our ancestors as well,” Duellos offered. “I do not regard myself as an overly religious man, nor have I subscribed to the belief that the dead Black Jack Geary would somehow return when he was most needed. But it is nonetheless heartening even to me that you came to us when you did.”
Geary snorted. “I suppose I shouldn’t complain about being found since I’d have been dead for real before much longer. But I’m not sure even my ancestors can help me much with this situation.”
Duellos made a sweeping gesture and grinned. “Then perhaps mine can assist with avoiding the enemy fleet and looting bystanders. By dint of experience, that is. My ancestors include a few pirates.”
“Do they? I guess there are some skeletons in everyone’s family
closet. A few of my ancestors were lawyers.”
“Ah! My condolences.”
“We’ve learned to live with it.”
Duellos stepped back and saluted. “You reminded us all of how our actions have dishonored our ancestors, you know. But you did it as well as such a thing could be done. You spoke of ‘us’ and ‘we,’ placing yourself alongside us. And placing us alongside you. There are many who will not forget that.”
Geary returned the salute, thanking whichever ancestor had inspired him to use those words. Because I sure didn’t think that out beforehand. “Thank you.”
“It is only the truth, sir.” Duellos lowered his hand, and his image vanished.
Geary sat down heavily in his stateroom, staring glumly at the display he’d activated. It showed the situation in Corvus System, with a few ships from the Alliance fleet finishing up their work at the Syndic base on the frozen world while the rest of the fleet proceeded through the system in a halfway decent formation. Fourteen hours since we entered this system. How much longer until serious Syndic pursuit shows up?
I can’t believe how tired I am. Do I dare sleep? Will the fleet fly apart again if I’m not watching it?
The hatch chime sounded. Geary heaved himself up into a more formal position. “Come in.”
“Captain Geary.” Co-President Rione spoke formally, her expression as controlled as usual. “May we speak?”
“Certainly.”
Geary waved her to a seat, but instead Rione walked over to stare at the starscape that dominated one bulkhead. “First of all, Captain, I hope my interventions on the bridge did not adversely affect your work.”
“Not at all. You had some good input. I appreciated the advice.”
A momentary smile twisted Rione’s lips, then vanished. “More so than Captain Desjani, I would assume.”
“She’s the Captain of Dauntless,” Geary pointed out in a carefully neutral voice. “The bridge is her throne room, if you will. The place where her authority finds a center. Any ship Captain would be a little touchy about someone else appearing to exercise authority on the bridge.”
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