Geary nodded, thinking those descriptions did a good job of summing up what he had learned of Falco’s battles before his capture. “But he wasn’t totally incompetent. I still can’t believe he was willing to charge into a certain Syndic trap with that small a force. For that matter, I can’t believe that so many commanding officers were willing to follow him.”
Duellos grimaced as if he were tasting something unpleasant. “Captain Falco’s powers of persuasion haven’t dimmed much. I finally acquired a copy of the message he had physically distributed among ships with possibly sympathetic captains. Even I found it to be actually moving and inspiring.”
“Too bad none of those captains saw fit to tell me about it,” Geary noted bitterly. “I might have saved some of their fellow officers and ships. But I can’t say I’m surprised to hear it was moving. I had the impression that Captain Falco honestly believes he is the only one who can save the Alliance. He’s not a fake in that respect.”
“Oh, he cares about the Alliance,” Duellos agreed. “Or, rather, he cares about what he thinks the Alliance is. His speeches have such power because they really do come from the heart. But because Falco also believes only he really understands what needs to be done and believes only he can do what needs to be done, he long ago convinced himself that saving the Alliance and advancing his career and power are one and the same thing.” Duellos exhaled heavily. “He’s spent twenty years driving himself in tighter and tighter rings of that mental circle, and he started out already convinced he was the savior of the Alliance.”
Geary spent a while thinking about that before nodding again. “His arguments have such force because he really believes them, but they’re even less grounded in reality now than they were twenty years ago.”
“Much less grounded in reality.” Duellos shrugged, looking unhappy. “On top of that, Captain Falco’s spent a long time in a labor camp, where routine rules. Did you notice how hard a time he has now adjusting when something unexpected happens, even in a conversation? He hasn’t dealt with emergencies, he hasn’t been fighting battles. He’s horribly out of practice at commanding ships. That’s just the mental side of things. Physically, he’s older and has been living under stressful conditions with poor food and poor medical care.”
“It’d been a century since my last command when I took over this fleet,” Geary noted dryly.
Duellos grinned this time. “For us. For you it had been a matter of weeks. And if you’ll forgive me for being blunt, the only thing Captain Falco has in common with you is the rank insignia.”
“That’s nice to hear,” Geary admitted, smiling to show he didn’t take the implied compliment too seriously. “So you think Falco won’t be able to command effectively at all?”
Duellos nodded, grim again.
“What will those ships do then? Make a glorious charge to the death into the teeth of the Syndic fleet?”
Duellos spent a moment gazing at the star display, his face serious. “Unlikely, I think. A glorious charge to the death has to be led by someone. Unless I miss my guess, Falco will be overwhelmed and incapable of doing that. The other senior captains like Numos and Faresa are neither inspiring nor emotionally suited to such an act of brave desperation. So, no leader to lead a charge. Worst case, they lose their heads and scatter, becoming easy meat for the Syndics. Best case, they remember Ilion and charge for the route back there, holding their formation together so they can protect each other. The Syndics wouldn’t be expecting those ships to head for a jump point leading back into Syndic space, so that might leave a chance for them to make it. A small one, but it’s there.”
Geary nodded, his eyes on the same stars. “You sound like you’ve been listening in to my prayers to my ancestors. That’s what I’m praying those ships will do.”
“If they do come to Ilion,” Duellos stated, “there may be Syndics in pursuit. A lot of Syndics.”
“I know. We’ll be ready if that happens. Ready to fight our way out of Ilion if the odds are bad enough, or to kick that Syndic force halfway out of this sector if the odds favor it.”
“You should have told our ship captains that, too,” Duellos advised.
“I will, in a message before we jump.” Geary took a deep breath. “Do you think anyone else will leave?”
“Now? No. Even those who are scared to follow you are more scared of leaving the fleet. That’s what held them from following Captain Falco.”
Geary laughed. “I guess that’s the best endorsement I can hope for.”
Duellos stood and saluted. “I’ll see you in Sancere, Captain Geary.”
Geary came to attention and returned the salute. “Count on it.”
To Geary’s surprise, the instant Duellos vanished, Commander Cresida’s image reappeared. She looked haggard as she saluted him. “We have something that may work.”
“Really? We can limit the energy release from a gate failure?”
“In theory. If the assumptions made are accurate.” Cresida made a helpless gesture. “We won’t know if it really works until it’s actually tried.”
“And if it doesn’t work, then we may not get a chance to try something else,” Geary noted sourly. “Great job, though.”
“Sir.” Cresida hesitated. “There’s something else.”
Geary cradled a data disc in one hand as the fleet went into jump, leaving the bloated shape of Cydoni’s sun behind. The jump to Sancere would take over two weeks, a length of uninterrupted time in jump space that no one in the fleet but Geary had ever experienced. Nodding to Captain Desjani, he stood, knowing he probably looked distracted. “I’ll be in my stateroom.”
The walk to his stateroom seemed unusually short with his thoughts focused elsewhere. Reaching it with what seemed surprising quickness, Geary sat down, then gave a hard rap to his internal communications controls. “Madam Co-President, I need to speak with you.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be convenient.” Victoria Rione’s voice sounded not only colder than space itself but also tired.
“I’m afraid I must insist.”
There was a pause before her answer came. “What is this about?”
“Something critically important.”
“Am I supposed to trust your assessment of that?”
Geary fought down an angry retort. “I don’t care whether you trust it or not. I need you here to discuss something. If you actually care about the safety of the Alliance, you’ll come and talk to me.”
“And if I don’t?”
Geary stared at the bulkhead opposite him. He could threaten force, but that wouldn’t predispose Rione to listen. It also might not work. Not with Co-President Rione. “Please, Madam Co-President. I swear on my ancestors’ honor that this is something you must know.”
The pause this time was longer. “Very well, Captain Geary. I still believe in the honor of your ancestors. I’ll be there soon.”
Geary slumped back, rubbing his eyes. To think I once looked forward to Rione’s visits. But this is too important. I can’t avoid it.
His hatch alert chimed, and Rione entered, her face impassive and her eyes glittering like ice. “Yes, Captain Geary?”
He nodded to the seat opposite him. “Please sit down.”
“I’m comfortable standing.”
“Just sit down!” His bark startled Geary as well as Rione. “Forgive me. The matter I need to discuss with you is an issue of critical concern.” The formal words helped keep his voice level.
She eyed him narrowly but slowly sat down, her back stiff. “What is it, Captain Geary?”
Geary found it hard to look at her, his gaze wandering away to rest on the starscape, imagining supernova-scale explosions ravaging it. “We’ve been planning on what might happen in Sancere, which has a hypernet gate, as you know. I assumed the Syndics would try to destroy that gate. I’ve since been informed that destruction of hypernet gates could liberate huge quantities of energy. Or perhaps none at all. It’s all theoretical.
“Her
voice sounded as cold as ever. “Huge quantities of energy? Construction of the hypernet system was approved long before I joined the Alliance senate, so I don’t know many of the technical details. What does huge mean?”
“Supernova scale.” That finally provoked a change in Rione, her eyes widening in shock. Geary took a deep breath. “One of the ship captains, Commander Cresida, came up with a theory about the hypernet gates. If Cresida’s theory is right, how the gate tethers are destroyed, the exact timing and sequence in which they lose their grip on the particle matrix, will calibrate the level of energy release. The fleet’s network ran the math with some difficulty and came up with a weapons employment algorithm that might let us scale down any release of energy to minimal levels.”
Rione’s voice was still cold, but puzzled now, too. “Why does this have you upset, Captain Geary? I admit this news that hypernet gates were such a potential danger is surprising, but if you’ve learned how to control the danger, it seems like a good thing.”
Geary looked down at the silvery disc in his palm. “It has me upset, Madam Co-President, because of the corollary. To work out a way to scale down the energy release, we also had to work out a way to scale it up.” He held up the data disc, finally looking at her. “We would have the means to employ hypernet gates as by far the most destructive weapons in the history of mankind. We could in theory destroy not only entire individual star systems, but entire regions of space.”
Victoria Rione was staring back at him, her face reflecting horror. “How could the living stars allow such a thing? Humanity believed when we left ancient Earth that we’d removed the threat of racial extinction from disaster, that scattering among the stars would bring us safety from that. But weapons such as these—” Her eyes fixed on the disc. “What is that?”
“The algorithm for scaling up an explosion. The fleet network had to work up both, as I told you.” He tossed it to her, and she caught it automatically. “I’d rather you have possession of this than anyone else. I ensured the work in the fleet system was wiped and overwritten. That’s the only existing copy.”
She was staring at the disc as if it were a deadly snake. “Why?”
He chose to interpret the question as being about her. “Because, Madam Co-President, that’s too dangerous to be entrusted to anyone else. Including me.”
Rione glared at Geary. “Why entrust it to anyone? Why keep even one copy?”
“Because if we can think this up, then someone else can, too.”
This time Rione paled. “You think … but if the Syndics had this…”
“The Alliance probably would have already felt the results,” Geary finished for her. “I agree. I don’t think the Syndics have really thought it through. I don’t think even Commander Cresida has, that the gates are potentially horrific weapons. But I think someone else does know that.”
“I don’t understand,” Rione demanded, her ice turned to heat now. “If you don’t think the Syndics have realized this, are you claiming the Alliance has?”
“No. Not the Syndics and no one from the Alliance.” Geary spoke bluntly, knowing his words were brutal but feeling he had to make his case. “I’ve seen how the officers in this fleet think after a century of war and trading atrocities with the Syndics. If the Alliance knew the gates were weapons, it would have already starting blowing them, obliterating Syndic star systems wholesale. Right, Madam Co-President?”
Rione sat silent for a moment, then nodded. “I think there’s a strong possibility you’re right,” she admitted, her voice quiet now. “Then who is it you believe knows this? There aren’t any worlds that aren’t part of the Syndicate Worlds or at least nominally part of the Alliance. There isn’t anyone else.”
“No one we know of,” Geary corrected, his eyes back on the starscape. “No one human.”
“You’re serious?” Rione was shaking her head. “What evidence do you have?”
“Where’d the hypernet come from?”
She seemed startled by the question, her hostility momentarily forgotten now. “The breakthroughs were sudden. I know that much.”
“And we still don’t understand the theory behind it,” Geary added. “That’s what Commander Cresida said and the fleet database confirmed. When did the Syndics get the hypernet technology?”
“About the same time as the Alliance.”
“Remarkable coincidence, isn’t it?” He paused. “I heard the Alliance believes the Syndics stole the tech. That’s certainly plausible.”
Rione nodded, her eyes hooded. “Yes, but I happen to know from reports I’ve seen that the Syndics believe we stole the technology from them.” She closed her eyes, thinking. “You are actually suggesting that some nonhuman intelligence provided that technology to us? To both sides? But why? The hypernet has greatly benefited us. The ability to travel so swiftly from one star to any other star on the net has been a tremendous boost to human civilizations.”
Geary sank down lower into his seat, rubbing his eyes. “Have you ever heard of something called a Trojan horse? Something that seems like an attractive gift but is actually a dangerous weapon?”
Rione stared at him, her face white again. “You think someone, something, gave us those gates, knowing we’d build them, and knowing they could be used as weapons against us.”
“Yeah.” Geary waved at the display. “There’s hypernet gates in every important star system in every human culture and grouping. Imagine what happens if every one of those systems has a supernova explode in it. Hell, just a nova. Even a mininova.”
“But … why?”
“Maybe they’re scared of us. Maybe they just want to keep us from bothering them. Maybe it’s insurance if we ever threaten them. Or maybe that’s how they fight, by hiding in shadows and luring an opponent into a trap.” Geary shook his head. “This war started for reasons no one really understands, and it’s kept going long past the point of making sense. There’s nothing unique about that in human history, unfortunately, but this war has certainly kept the human race fully occupied with internal conflict for the last century. Neither the Syndics, as far as we know, nor any part of the Alliance have done any expansion into new star systems for most of that century. I checked.”
Victoria Rione was gazing into the distance, her eyes narrowed. “Your ideas are still just speculation, though. Is there any proof?”
“No proof. Some strange stuff at Kaliban, where the Marines found the Syndic security vault had been opened using nonstandard tools and where no one could explain why the Syndics had done some of the things they had when they abandoned the system. But that’s not proof of anything except the existence of something unusual.”
She switched her gaze to the starscape. “How would anyone trigger all of the hypernet gates to explode at the right level of energy? Is it possible to send a signal of some sort through the hypernet? We don’t know of any way to use them for that.”
“But then we don’t know a hell of a lot about how they work,” Geary noted. “As long as neither us or the Syndics win the war, I think we’re safe. If I’m right about what I admit is pure speculation.”
“Awful speculation, Captain Geary.”
He nodded, looking back at her. “I’d be grateful if you’d think about it, too. I’d be incredibly grateful if you could tell me I was wrong. But regardless, please keep that disc safe. Hide it somewhere and don’t tell me.”
“Surely even you wouldn’t be tempted to use it.”
“Even me?” Geary found himself laughing harshly. “Even me? Is there still something you think I wouldn’t do, Madam Co-President? Should I be grateful?”
“As grateful as I am for being handed the instrument for the extinction of the human race!” Rione snapped back at him.
Geary bit his lip, then nodded. “I’m sorry. But there’s no one else I’d trust not to use that.”
“You claimed to want to avoid killing civilians and devastating planets.” Rione seemed to be pleading with him. “Are you saying th
at wasn’t true, either?”
His temper flared. “Either? Listen, Madam Co-President, you’ve yet to prove me false in anything! Until you do, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t speak as if I were already without honor.”
Her face tightened, but Rione nodded. “Very well, Captain Geary. I will refrain from calling you dishonorable until I prove otherwise.” Her voice left no doubt that she expected that to happen at any time.
“Thank you,” Geary replied coldly. “Now, as to your question, no, I hope I’d never want to use that. But I imagined being with our backs to the wall, the Syndics about to triumph, and I wondered. If everything seemed lost, would I give in to temptation to take that last chance despite the risk that an energy discharge aimed at destroying the Syndics would destroy a lot more? And I couldn’t say with absolute certainty that I wouldn’t. So I don’t want the opportunity.”
“Instead you want me to be so tempted!”
“I trust you more than I do myself, Madam Co-President. My focus is on saving this fleet. You’ve got a larger perspective.” Geary stared at nothing for a moment. “In case it hasn’t occurred to you, I also just gave you the ultimate weapon against Black Jack Geary. You’d have the ability to stop him if it came to that.”
He knew she was watching him. “So you now admit that Black Jack is a danger to the Alliance.”
“I already admitted he’s a danger to this fleet. I can’t afford to ever let myself think I’m what too many people in the Alliance believe Black Jack Geary to be. But I’m sure you’ll help keep me honest.”
“I’ve been trying to do that since you assumed command of this fleet, though I believe myself a failure in that respect right now.” She held up the data disc. “How do I know this is really the only copy? How do I know you don’t have another?”
“Why would I lie about that?” Geary demanded. “What possible advantage would I gain from that?”
“I don’t know. Yet.” Rione curled her fingers around the disc, hiding it from sight again. “You fooled me once, Captain Geary. I thought I knew you. I won’t be fooled again.”
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