Geary collapsed into his seat, weak with reaction. There wasn’t any way to get a message to any of the Alliance ships before the shock wave reached them, but they should be already facing the gate with their shields ready, and the energy at any point in the shock wave would be weakening rapidly as it expanded away from the gate. Cresida’s program hadn’t managed to eliminate the energy discharge completely, but it had kept it to a level low enough that everything remaining in the Sancere Star System should be able to ride it out. “Very good job, Captain Desjani. You and your crew. Dauntless is a great ship.”
“Thank you, sir.” Even now Desjani didn’t seem as rattled as everyone else. Apparently she really had believed that having Geary along would keep the worst from happening.
He heard a deep intake of breath behind and looked to see Co-President Rione there. She was looking down at the deck, her fists clenched, but as if aware of Geary’s gaze, Rione slowly raised and turned her head to face him. Rione’s eyes were haunted. Geary thought he knew why. They had just seen the sort of forces that could be deliberately unleashed using the program Geary had given her for safekeeping. Until now, even Geary hadn’t appreciated how terrible a burden that could be. “I’m sorry.”
She nodded, understanding exactly what he meant. “As am I, Captain Geary. We will speak later.” Rione inhaled slowly, straightening herself and standing erect, regaining her composure by an exercise of pure willpower. Even through his lingering shock from the destruction of the gate Geary found himself impressed by her.
Desjani seemed to have been impressed as well, despite herself. She watched Rione leave, then turned to Geary. “Orders, Captain Geary?”
“Return to the fleet, Captain Desjani.” He studied the fleet display, fighting off a wave of fatigue such as he hadn’t felt since the lingering effects of his long survival sleep had worn off. “All units with the exception of Task Force Furious, this is Captain Geary. After passage of the shock wave assume standard fleet formation Sigma. Task Force Furious, maintain screening position between Syndic Force Alpha and the rest of the fleet. Well done, everyone. Very well done. Sancere is ours.”
The Alliance fleet wouldn’t be flying home on the wings of the Syndic hypernet. Not from Sancere, anyway. But it had survived and was striking a major blow at the Syndics. Not bad for a fleet that had once seemed doomed to destruction.
It took twelve hours to get the fleet back together in a tight formation after the shock wave from the collapsing hypernet gate passed. The subformations Geary had put together had followed his orders to run for it in what he had to admit was a gratifying fashion. Slowing, turning, and rejoining took a while, especially since Geary didn’t want to get too distant from where Daring was now towing Diamond toward the rest of the fleet.
With the thirty ships under Furious still close to two light-hours distant, much too far away to participate in a conference, the number of ship commanders around the virtual conference table seemed to have shrunk dramatically again. In this case, though, the missing ships would definitely be back. Geary nodded in greeting. “Excellent work, everyone. We have two major tasks remaining in Sancere system. The first is to acquire as much of what we need as we can. The fleet logistics system has matched Syndic stockpiles to our needs where possible. I’ve transmitted another message to the Syndics warning them to comply with any demands we make.”
“They probably won’t get it,” Captain Tulev noted. “That energy wave seems to have fried most of the Syndic systems that we’d left untouched.”
Desjani shrugged. “Then they won’t be able to coordinate any actions against us.”
Geary nodded. “The second task is to destroy those targets we left unstruck in the initial bombardment, after we’ve looted them to our heart’s content. Unfortunately, Syndic Force Alpha is lurking around the outer edge of the system. We can’t just scatter the fleet to maximize the speed and efficiency of our looting while those Syndic warships are around, even though they’re too far off to be an immediate threat. I was thinking of breaking the fleet main body into six subformations again. Task Force Furious will remain on station for a while guarding against Syndic Force Alpha, but we’ll rotate them in-system after a while so they can restock and resupply, too.” His suggestion was greeted by a lot of nods and no objections. “Captain Tyrosian, I need to know whether I should have your auxiliaries broken up into four of the formations or if they should be concentrated.”
“Pairs would be best, Captain Geary,” Tyrosian replied as soon as possible given the five-light-second delay between her ship’s position and the Dauntless. “Titan and Jinn, and Goblin and Witch.”
“Good. You tell me where in Sancere they need to go to pick up what we need. After I have that, we’ll work up a schedule for other ships to swing near them to pick up new weapons and fuel cells.”
“We’re manufacturing as fast as we can,” Tyrosian assured Geary. “The primary need is materials for fabricating new fuel cells, but the Syndics have what we want.”
“Colonel Carabali,” Geary ordered. “Your troops will provide escort for exploitation teams from the auxiliaries and other warships.”
Carabali nodded, looking concerned. “Sir, even limiting the number of subformations to six will still leave my Marines with a lot of responsibilities for their numbers. We have to assume any Alliance personnel who leave their ships or shuttles are subject to attack by regular or irregular Syndic ground forces.”
“Would it help if we armed some of the sailors?”
The Marine colonel hesitated. “Sir, with all due respect, I’m not sure handing weapons to sailors will enhance the security situation.” Carabali relaxed as Geary and the other fleet officers smiled. “No offense intended, but dealing with these situations requires a lot of specialized training and experience.”
“I understand,” Geary assured her. “That’ll slow us up some more, then. We need to make sure we only land on as many sites as we can guarantee security for. I don’t want the Syndics grabbing hostages.”
“We’ve got a lot more hostages than they do,” the captain of the Terrible laughed. “About a billion.”
“True. But even if we exacted vengeance on every one of those Syndics, it wouldn’t necessarily get our own people back alive.” Everyone nodded again. They agreed with that logic, at least. “Any questions?”
A long pause followed while Geary let the officers think about that. He wanted anything else brought out now if possible.
The captain of the Vambrace spoke with visible reluctance. “Captain Geary, I would like you to address a terrible rumor I have already heard being passed around the fleet. Anonymously, of course, since those passing it don’t have the courage to show themselves.” A ripple ran around the table as the other commanders reacted to that. “There are those saying that the hypernet gate here was deliberately destroyed.”
Geary stared, trying to understand the question. “Of course the gate was deliberately destroyed. All of your ships should’ve seen the Syndics open fire on it.”
“No, sir. The rumor is that the gate was still functional, but was destroyed by you.” The captain of the Vambrace grimaced. “You should know people are saying this.”
“Why would I have wanted to destroy the gate if it was still functional?” Geary wondered, too amazed to yet be angry.
“According to the rumor, sir, because you want to retain command and fear it would be taken from you upon our return to Alliance space.”
Torn between incredulous laughter and anger, Geary slapped his palm upon the table. “Unbelievable. Let me assure you, and everyone else, that no one here desires the safe return to Alliance space as quickly as possible more than I do.”
On the heels of his words another officer spoke, his voice harsh with emotion. “Who the hell could believe that?”
Geary, shocked, looked over and saw the commander of the Diamond, then realized that since Diamond was still twenty light-seconds away that the comment wasn’t addressed to Geary’s la
st statement, but rather to the one before.
“That rumor is beneath contempt!” Diamond’s captain continued. “My ship was there, and anyone who wants to look at Diamond’s logs is welcome to it. That gate was collapsing when we reached it.” He looked toward Geary. “I’ll admit something. I’d been among those worried about Captain Geary, about what he was doing and how he was doing it. A lot of you know that. I was worried whether he was aggressive enough. But we charged that gate! We charged it hell-bent for leather, and we took down those Syndics as fast as we could, but they’d done too much damage. Check Diamond’s logs if you don’t believe me. And while you’re at it, look at the readings from inside the gate while it was collapsing. Unbelievable, that’s all I can say. Captain Geary did all that could be done. I’ve stood at the doorway to hell with him, and I will stand there again if need be.”
Silence fell at the end of that statement. Geary took a long, slow breath, realizing there was something else he needed to say. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve told you before that I admired the courage of the personnel in this fleet. I freely admit that I’ve had difficulty grasping some of the changes in the Alliance fleet from my time to now, the changes wrought by a century of time, a century of war. But I tell you now that I had not fully realized one thing before this day.”
He paused, finding the right words. “The fleet I knew was smaller, professional, more highly trained. But we had not been tested in battle. Not like you have. And when Dauntless, Daring, and Diamond stood at that gate, standing their ground without a moment’s hesitation even though they were facing something so terrible I had never imagined the like, that’s when I truly realized just how courageous you all are. Every officer and sailor of this fleet has the right to stand among the finest the Alliance has ever seen. You could not possibly bring more honor to your ancestors than you have by your dedication to duty, your perseverance in the face of a seemingly endless war, your willingness to bear any burden in the defense of your homes. I am honored beyond all measure by having been granted the right to command you. I will bring this fleet home, if for no other reason than that such people as you deserve that your exploits be known to your homes, and you deserve to return safely to them. I will bring you home. I swear it.”
He stopped talking, worried that he had let too much emotion into the impromptu speech as the words tumbled out, worried that he had sounded foolish or patronizing. But everyone was watching him silently, their own faces solemn. Finally the commanding officer of Vambrace spoke again. “Thank you, sir. The honor is ours.” No one contradicted him. Not out loud, anyway.
Geary sat down after the meeting had ended and the virtual presences of the other officers had vanished, only Captain Desjani remaining. She smiled, saluted, and left, letting her expression and the gesture speak for her.
He had often wondered why fate had put him in this position, why he had lost all he had known and been thrust into a command far beyond his old responsibilities. The idea that he would ever be grateful for any part of that had never occurred to him. But, remembering the steady presences of Dauntless, Daring, and Diamond at the gate, Geary breathed a prayer of thanks for having such ships and sailors at his side.
The ship’s night had begun, with Geary sitting in his stateroom staring at nothing, his mind filled with memories of the hell mouth within the hypernet gate, when his hatch alert sounded. Expecting Captain Desjani, he was startled when Victoria Rione entered, her face betraying some deep emotion. I probably ought to be mad at her for making my life even more difficult since Sutrah, but compared to what Falco did, it’s nothing. Rione isn’t going to cause the loss of a lot of ships. So Geary stood and spoke politely. “Madam Co-President. I admit to being surprised by this visit. You haven’t been by here for some time.”
“Not unless you insisted, you mean?” Rione stated calmly.
“Yes. I hope you’re not planning to hand me the sort of problem I handed you at our last meeting here.”
“No.” She paused, apparently steeling herself to do something. “Captain Geary, I wish to apologize.”
That was a surprise. “Apologize?”
“Yes.” She indicated the star display floating above the table. “Since our argument at Sutrah I’ve done as I said I would. I ran simulations. I took this fleet along every possible path from Sutrah using the jump points we had planned on employing.” Rione hesitated, her jaw muscles tightening. “They all ended the same. Minor losses in system after system adding up while options kept being limited more and more by Syndic defensive moves, until the fleet ended up pinned between superior forces.”
Geary couldn’t help saying it. “So I was right.”
“You were right,” Rione agreed in a sharp voice. “I admit it.”
“What I told you that I’d worked out in my head was accurate enough to predict exactly what the simulations predicted.”
She nodded tightly, her expression hard. “You spoke the truth. I admit that as well. I apologize for questioning your motives.”
He shook his head, letting frustration show. “My motives? Hell, Madam Co-President, you all but called me a traitor to this fleet and the Alliance. You actually did use the word betray, didn’t you?”
“I did, and I admit I was wrong.” Rione’s eyes were flashing with resentment now. “Will you not accept my apology?”
“Yes. I will. Thank you.” Geary struggled not to lash out at her again, knowing he was actually angry at Falco and people like him. “The last several weeks have been difficult ones.”
“I know.” Rione shook her head. “It must have been very difficult to face Captain Falco’s betrayal.”
“It would’ve been easier if I’d had you to talk to.” Startled that he had actually said that, Geary looked to Rione, seeing her face composed again, carefully not betraying her feelings. “I’ve missed your counsel.”
“My counsel. I’m glad you find my counsel welcome.” Her voice was flat. “But you obviously don’t need it. Your judgment was superior to mine on where this fleet should go.”
Now what was she mad about? “Madam Co-President…” Geary struggled to find the right words. “I do need it. I don’t have many people to confide in. I don’t have many people I trust the way I trust you.”
Her expression was hard to read, but her eyes searched Geary’s face. “I can’t be the only person in this fleet you can trust.”
“No. It’s not just that. It’s…” Geary looked away, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. “I like having you around.”
Silence stretched for a few moments. He finally looked back at Rione, to see her still watching him. “Do you think I’m your friend, Captain Geary?”
He hadn’t gone there. Hadn’t been willing to consider it. “My last friend died a very long time ago.”
“Then accept new friends, Captain Geary!” Her renewed anger startled him.
“You don’t … Madam Co-President, if I…” Geary felt the words sticking in his throat, surprised to realize how hard it was to actually speak of his fears, of how it had felt to wake up from survival sleep and learn every friend, every acquaintance, everyone he had known, was long dead.
“Is this the man daring enough to take the Alliance fleet to Sancere?” Rione asked in a mocking voice. “The hero of the fleet? The man who stood facing the mouth of hell? And he cannot bring himself to risk accepting a friend for fear of the possibility of loss?”
“You have no idea what this is like,” Geary stated angrily. “When they revived me, every single person I’d known was dead. All of them.”
“Are you the first to ever lose someone they cared about? Or everything they cared about? Let yourself live again, Captain Geary!”
“You don’t know—”
Her face turned furious for a moment. “A man I loved more than life itself died, Captain Geary, one more victim of this endless, ugly war! It happened more than a decade ago, but I can still see him clearly if I close my eyes. I had to decide whether to let myself
die inside or try to live again. I knew what he would’ve wanted. I won’t deny it was hard, but I have lived.”
Geary just stared at her for a moment. “I’m sorry. Very sorry.”
The fury faded, replaced by weariness. “Damn you, John Geary, no one else has ever been able to make me lose control. Not since he died.”
“Why do you care?” he asked, feeling bewildered now. “Why do you care what I think? Why do you care what happens to me?”
She took a moment to answer. “I do care. You’re a remarkable man, Captain Geary. Even at your most infuriating.”
“You hate me!”
“I have never hated you!” Rione shot back at him. Then she grimaced. “That’s not quite true. When I thought you’d betrayed the fleet, believed that you’d lied to me and used me, I did hate what I assumed you were doing.”
“You accused me of betraying you personally, as well as the fleet.”
Rione nodded. “I told you that I thought you’d deliberately manipulated me. It wasn’t just my pride that was hurt by that. I’d let myself believe in you. I’d let myself … grow to care for you.”
Geary shook his head, feeling baffled again. “Do you actually like me, Madam Co-President?”
Rione looked upward as if beseeching aid. “You are so wise in the movements of fleets and such a dolt in reading the feelings of others. I’ve liked you for some time, Captain Geary. I wouldn’t have been so angered by what I thought was your betrayal if I hadn’t become fond of you, despite my instincts that warn me away from someone like you. My instincts that tell me you are not to be trusted, that you cannot be sincere.”
Geary wondered if his puzzlement showed. “You don’t trust me but you like me?”
“Yes. I will never trust Black Jack Geary,” Rione explained. For some reason she was smiling wryly at him. “But I’ve come to like John Geary. When he isn’t driving me insane. Who are you?”
“John Geary, I hope, Madam Co-President.”
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