The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier: Invincible

by Campbell, Jack

  “Yes. Isn’t that a coincidence.” Geary felt his lips pressing into a single tight line. “There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk about.”

  “So Tanya advised me. Something about the government?”

  “Among other things. Fleet headquarters. Hidden agendas. Plots. Plans. Hidden construction of new warships. And maybe other things, too.” Geary blew out a long breath as he ordered his thoughts. “Let me tell you what I know, what are facts, and what I suspect.”

  “Fair enough.” From somewhere in his own stateroom, Duellos had produced an actual wineglass and now took an appreciative sip. “Fact one?”

  “Fact one. The Alliance government and fleet headquarters tried to makes us leave for this mission too quickly, before we were as fully supplied and ready as I wanted. I understand that sort of nonsense goes on all the time. Hurry up and wait. Do nothing for six months, then get told it all has to be done in a week. That’s normal. This didn’t feel normal.”

  “Everyone noticed,” Duellos commented. “We know all too well the feeling of being rushed into action. It was one thing to do so when the Syndics were knocking at the door, and another to have that same crisis-mode preparation when no crisis was known to exist. But you were in command, so we accepted that something required such urgency.” He took another sip of wine. “Fact two?”

  “Fact two,” Geary said. “At the last minute, and I do mean literally at almost the last minute, fleet headquarters tried to yank the majority of our auxiliary force capability out from under us. Titan, Tanuki, Kupua, and Domovoi. What shape would we now be in if all we had were the four smaller auxiliaries?”

  “Not good,” Duellos said. “How did we dodge that bullet? Did you simply disregard the order?”

  “No. Admiral Timbale pointed out that the order was sent contrary to standard protocols and therefore required clarification. He sent off the request for clarification, and I took off with the four auxiliaries in question.”

  “It is important to do things properly,” Duellos agreed. “Fact three?”

  “Fact three. We were all told, I was personally told several times, that new construction of warships had been halted to save money. But there’s substantial evidence that the government is secretly building a significant number of new warships.”

  Duellos stopped moving, his eyes on his wineglass, a frown slowly developing. “How strong is this evidence?”

  “It’s convincing to people who understand such matters.” He didn’t want to go into detail with Duellos about the evidence uncovered by Lieutenant Jamenson in hundreds of apparently unrelated contracts and reports.

  “How many ships?” Duellos asked, skepticism clear.

  “Twenty battleships, twenty battle cruisers, and an appropriate number of cruisers and destroyers to serve as escorts.”

  The pause this time was much longer before Duellos spoke. “I can see,” he began, “why the government would want to keep that hidden from a war-weary public, but why mislead you on the matter?”

  “That’s a very good question though it may be related to fact four. Our warships are facing major life-span issues with their systems. None of them were designed to operate for more than three years.”

  “That is not a secret to anyone who was present at Honor,” Duellos said. “I knew problems have been developing, but that was a real eye-opener.”

  “For all of us,” Geary admitted. “I knew about the problem, I knew it would be getting worse before it got better, but I wasn’t prepared for that sudden cascade of failures at Honor. We may face something similar at Midway, though Captain Smythe thinks the stress on our systems at Honor blew out everything close to failure, so we’ll now have a period of relative reliability. Still, even with everything our auxiliaries can do, we’re slowly losing ground on readiness.” Should he tell Duellos the next thing?

  “There’s more,” Duellos said with calm assurance.

  “There is.” Geary smiled ruefully. “Everyone tells me that I’m a lousy liar.”

  “You are. You’re horrible at it. It’s one of your more commendable features.”

  “All right, then. Those new ships that are being built? We have reason to suspect that they’re being built to much higher standards than these ships were.”

  “Not implausible,” Duellos said. “In fact, it is what one would expect if our ships were built to be expendable in wartime and these new ships are built to last a long time as part of a peacetime fleet. But . . . it does imply that people in authority know that you would face a serious and growing problem with reliability among your fleet. Is there a fact five?”

  “There is.” Geary waved toward the star display. “We were sent on a mission into unknown regions against a foe of unknown strength, yet specifically ordered to find the extent of the territory occupied by the aliens even though that could have been much more distant than it has proven to be.”

  “Using a fleet that authorities knew would be suffering escalating problems with the reliability of its systems,” Duellos said. “And one from which fleet headquarters tried to yank half of your auxiliaries. This isn’t forming a particularly pleasant picture.”

  “It gets worse. Fact six. On the way to that mission, we were diverted, engaged in a major distraction liberating the POWs at Dunai. Fact seven. Rione was ordered to stay on the same ship with me and Tanya even though those issuing those orders must have known how disruptive that could easily have been.”

  “Another distraction.”

  “Fact eight. The enigmas could easily have isolated us on the far side of Syndic space by collapsing the entire Syndic hypernet. We could still have made it home, but it would have taken a lot longer. We didn’t think of that. Some of the Syndics did, though. That’s why I traded with the authorities at Midway for the Syndic-developed fix that will protect a hypernet from being collapsed by remote command.”

  Duellos’s eyes had narrowed, his expression hardening. “And someone on our side may have thought of it also?”

  “Fact nine,” Geary said. “Fleet headquarters also tried to yank everyone in this fleet with theoretical knowledge of the hypernet.”

  “Someone did think of it.”

  “It’s hard to assume otherwise, isn’t it?” Geary agreed. “Fact ten. Victoria Rione has not been acting normally.”

  “In all seriousness,” Duellos said, “I would be hard put to know what ‘acting normally’ is for that Rione woman.”

  “Has Tanya been talking to you about her, too?”

  “Constantly. At least I assume ‘that woman’ is Rione.”

  “Did Tanya tell you that Rione finally admitted to having secret orders? From a source or sources that Rione still can’t name?”

  “According to Tanya,” Duellos said judiciously, “‘that woman’ is a greater threat to this fleet and the Alliance than the enigmas, the Kicks, and everything left to the Syndicate Worlds. But I have seen that former senator, former vice president of the Callas Republic, and current Emissary of the Alliance Victoria Rione has done us services in the past, and I do not underrate her intelligence. Why would she accept such orders?”

  “Blackmail.”

  “Concerning you?” Duellos asked.

  “No. That’s no secret, and the relationship that Rione and I briefly had, not knowing her husband was still alive, is something that could only reflect on her honor.”

  “Someone else’s honor then?” Duellos nodded. “I’ve heard a few things about Commander Benan from Tanya as well. There are some secrets there that Tanya would not share with even me.”

  “Unfortunately, that’s true. The point is, someone wanted to force Rione to accompany this fleet and to take certain actions. I don’t know, but firmly believe, that Rione has refrained from doing anything that would have harmed this fleet while technically adhering to the terms of those secret orders.”

  Duellos nodded again, his eyes on his wine. “Are there more facts?”

  “No, just suppositions.”

&nbs
p; “Let me guess.” Duellos’s gaze went to the star display. “Someone wished this fleet, of questionable loyalty to the government, to be lost again. As well as the hero from the past, who had the bad form to show up alive. With the Syndicate Worlds falling apart and a formal peace in place, the Alliance no longer needs either and is building a new fleet already to defend itself. It will crew those ships with men and women who have not been under the personal command of Black Jack and therefore have no personal loyalty to him, and give the command of the new ships to some officer whose loyalty to the government is unquestioned.”

  “Not quite,” Geary said. “Rione has dropped hints that this isn’t some monolithic conspiracy, that in fact different factions are maneuvering to do different things, some of which ended up pushing me and this fleet in this direction.”

  “The practical difference being?”

  “Some of those factions, some of those individuals, may be pursuing agendas in which loyalty to them is more important than loyalty to the government.”

  Duellos stopped moving, nothing showing on his face now, but his eyes focused on some train of thought. “You told me,” he finally said, “that when you have met with the grand council of the Alliance, some of the senators appeared to be openly hostile to you, while others appeared to be working more subtly.”

  “And some appeared to be honest and dedicated,” Geary said. “Senator Navarro, for example. But as Victoria Rione said, Senator Navarro has been worn-out by his former duties as head of the council and attacks by political enemies. I don’t trust Senator Suva at all, and I know she played a role in our orders to go on this mission. I still don’t know what cards Senator Sakai is playing. Those are just three examples.”

  “Factions,” Duellos mused. “You know, the bits about pulling the auxiliaries from the fleet and trying to strip you of anyone with knowledge of how the hypernet works could just be the usual bureaucratic stupidity. The orders could have originated from different sources, both acting as regulations or ‘the needs of the fleet’ demanded in their tunnel-vision eyes. We are, after all, talking about fleet headquarters, an organization not famed for its ability to coordinate even within itself. As the old saying goes, never attribute to malice that which could be explained by stupidity. I wonder who first said that?”

  “That has occurred to me,” Geary admitted. “Under normal circumstances it’s easy enough to think that the military bureaucracy is gunning for you, and these are worse than normal circumstances.”

  “Exactly. You’ve also seen enough of the sort of minds that inhabit the higher ranks at fleet headquarters. Many of them got to those positions by focusing their careers on advancement. People like you who have advanced by actually accomplishing things are a threat to those whose résumés are all about ticket-punching. They would seek to trip you up out of general principles even if no plot existed. Rush you out the door, deny you time to prepare . . . why, you might fail in your assigned mission, and wouldn’t that be awful for those who see themselves as your rivals? Even if you didn’t fail, at the very least your life would be made more difficult, and that would be some reward to those of vast egos and small minds.”

  Duellos thought again. “The new ships. Again, that makes sense. These ships have seen much hard use and, as you mentioned, were not designed for long service lives. It is not hard to see why new ones would not be built to provide an enduring defense for the Alliance. Indeed, you could argue that is the responsible course of action.”

  “You could,” Geary admitted. “Why keep it secret?”

  “If you assume the whole process has no dark undertones? Because, as we discussed earlier, for the average taxpayer in the Alliance, military expenditures have become that-which-shall-not-be-done. But even corruption could be relatively routine. Construction contracts for favored individuals, kickbacks to politicians from suppliers, bribes, all the usual.” Duellos sat quiet, brooding.

  “Do you think that’s all that’s involved?” Geary pressed.

  “I think it is for some. If we are dealing with many different factions, many different individuals, then we are dealing with different motivations. Some may have approved the contracts and the secrecy out of nothing more than recognition that this was necessary for the defense of the Alliance and had to be done in a politically viable way. Others may have been motivated by greed. And others . . .” Duellos glanced at Geary. “Who gets command of these new ships? That will tell us much. Some officers, such as the late and mostly unlamented Admiral Bloch, were known to have political ambitions.”

  “He wanted to stage a coup!”

  “Yes.” Duellos shrugged. “We simply don’t know enough. But when someone is named to command that new fleet, the identity of that officer will tell us a great deal, as will how they justify—” He stopped speaking abruptly, his mouth tightening.

  “Justify what?” Geary asked.

  Duellos fixed his eyes on Geary. “Justify not giving you that command. You are the best fleet combat commander the Alliance possesses by far. Your popular acclaim, your standing among the populace, is far higher than those of any other officer. How do they justify not giving you those ships?”

  “You seem to have thought of an answer.”

  “I have. If Admiral Geary is not there, Admiral Geary cannot be given the command.”

  Geary sat back, raising hands clenched in frustration. “‘Not there’ can have a lot of possible reasons behind it.”

  “It can. But those who differ in their reasons for wanting Admiral Geary to not be there can agree on wanting him not to be there.” Duellos nodded with satisfaction. “That is how I read this situation. Not a colossal conspiracy working surely to one end, but various parties with various agendas, many of which converged to send this fleet on this mission in this manner. It’s not you against the government.”

  “Thank you,” Geary said. “I’ve been wanting to come to that conclusion myself, but because I wanted it I distrusted my thinking. But you came to the same results I have. There are people out there trying to create trouble for me, and other people trying to pursue personal agendas of power or money, and some who are actually working toward the common good but might be tricked into supporting actions that further other goals. Now, how can I help you with your concerns?”

  “There’s no help for my angst,” Duellos said. “I no longer belong where I once called home. I’ll have to adjust.”

  “You’ll always have a home in any force I command,” Geary said.

  “You have my thanks.” Duellos stood and saluted solemnly. “Though not, perhaps, the thanks of my wife. I will return to duty now, Admiral.”

  After Duellos had left, Geary sat looking at the star display. Not me against the government. But what if the government changes? What if some of the people Rione has warned me against move to take control, using some pretext or even claiming my backing to keep the people of the Alliance quiet?

  But then it won’t be the government. Not really. Certainly not a government of the people of the Alliance.

  How many people would see that and understand my actions if that happens?

  He had been reading a bit more about that ancient place called Rome, on Old Earth, and what had happened when military leaders declared themselves rulers of that land, always justifying it with claims of incompetence or corruption or weakness on the part of the government. Sometimes those claims had been true. But, true or false, each time the legions marched, the government became less about the Senate and people of Rome and more about the leaders whose power rested on the sharpness of their swords.

  He could not let that happen to the Alliance.

  FIFTEEN

  IT’S just another star occupied by the enigmas, Geary told himself as the last minutes went by before they left jump to arrive at Hua. We’ve gotten though any number of those, even when the enigmas knew we were coming. We’ll get through this one.

  “At least the enigmas should be totally surprised at seeing us show up at Hua,” De
sjani commented in unconscious echo of Geary’s thoughts. “They’re probably still congratulating themselves over our imagined annihilation in Kick territory. You know there’s going to be a hypernet gate here, right?”

  “Yeah, I know that.” It was a border star system for the enigmas, and as far as they could tell, the enigmas used the gates themselves as defensive weapons instead of crafting the same sort of mechanisms into supermines as the spider-wolves did.

  His mind fuzzed as Dauntless left jump, the Alliance warships twisting in the preplanned evasion straight off to one side. But as Geary’s mind cleared, he noticed the lack of immediate danger warnings from the sensor systems and saw his display remain comfortingly clear of any sign of minefields or enigma warships near the jump point.

  “There it is,” Desjani said. A hypernet gate, hanging menacingly three light-hours off to the side opposite where the fleet had turned. “Good choice on the direction we turned, Admiral.”

  “Thanks.” Where were the jump points?

  Then he realized that he didn’t have to wait for the fleet’s sensors to identify those locales in space. Just ahead of the fleet, the six spider-wolf ships were leaping forward, accelerating toward a point off to starboard. He gave the necessary orders to his fleet to move in the wake of their alien allies, increasing velocity as well to match their increase in speed. “Let’s follow the spider-wolves.”

  “Did you ever expect to say that?” Desjani was eyeing her display. “Fixed defenses scattered around . . . space docks here and there . . . that looks like a big orbiting military base . . . warships here, here, and here.”

  “Definitely enigma warships,” Geary agreed. There were only five of them, all showing the squat, turtlelike shapes that the enigmas used for warships, though in size they varied from human destroyers to something larger than a heavy cruiser but much smaller than a battleship.

  “Except for that damned hypernet gate,” Desjani concluded, “it’s not nearly as many defenses as I would have expected for a star system facing an opponent like the spider-wolves. General Charban may have been right.”