“No,” Dr. Macadams said. “All communications with the sapient aliens will henceforth come only from my assistants. No one else will attempt to contact them. Multiple points of contact with unqualified individuals would only confuse the sapient aliens and make my own task more difficult.”
So that was why Ambassador Rycerz had emphasized Geary’s ability to speak directly with the Dancers. She’d been telling him that she’d support him against Macadams. Geary shook his head, not bothering to look regretful. “That’s unacceptable. My flagship will retain the means to independently communicate with the Dancers on matters of security and any other issue the Dancers choose to speak with us about. My responsibilities do not permit surrendering that capability.”
Dr. Macadams let his frown slowly flow down his forehead once more. “My instructions to you regarding the translation device were not a request.”
“They weren’t an order, either,” Geary said, wishing that Victoria Rione were here to help pin Macadams’s ears back. “Because you can’t give me orders, Doctor. The sooner we establish a relationship based on mutual respect and understanding, the better we’ll be able to forge a relationship with the Dancers based on mutual respect and understanding.”
Dr. Macadams reached toward a control in his conference room. His virtual presence vanished, along with those of his assistants.
After a moment of silence, General Charban slapped his forehead. “How did that dolt get put in charge of such an important part of the mission to the Dancers?”
“You mean the sapient aliens?” Geary asked. “I’m guessing it was a political payoff to win someone’s support for voting for the mission. Lieutenant Iger, try to find out anything you can on Macadams. No illegal collection against an Alliance citizen. Just public record material.”
“I can do that, Admiral,” Iger said.
“You should register a formal complaint,” Charban told Geary. “Try to get Macadams fired. He’s obviously unsuited for his role.”
“I’ll find out what my options are,” Geary said. “But since Ambassador Rycerz hasn’t been able to fire him, we may be stuck with Macadams. I want our hands to be clean on this, so we will cooperate our best with all reasonable requests from Macadams.”
“I’m looking forward to hearing a reasonable request from Macadams,” Charban said. “It would be a nice change of pace.”
“General?” Lieutenant Jamenson asked. “They didn’t ask for any information about how we’ve communicated with the Dancers.”
“You’re not PhDs,” Charban said. “Neither am I. There’s a class of people who think anyone without a doctorate isn’t worth listening to. We have to hope some of his assistants are more open to hearing about our experience than Macadams is. In any event, your experience will still be valuable for any discussions with the Dancers from this ship.” He stood up. “At least it was a short meeting.”
“Which is good, since I have another meeting coming up,” Geary said.
“I pity you, sir.” Charban stretched. “At least you can be fairly certain the next meeting won’t be as bad as this one was.”
“I’ve learned never to assume things can’t get worse.”
ELEVEN
AN hour later, Geary sat in the same conference room, this time with Tanya Desjani beside him, facing another set of people from the Boundless. He felt cautious optimism over the fact that this group wanted to meet in person.
Their leader, a tired-eyed man whose age wasn’t otherwise obvious, smiled at Geary. “I’m Dr. Kottur. It’s a great pleasure to meet you.”
The others with Kottur all nodded in agreement, smiling, except for one woman at the far end who seemed either bored or unamused. Geary found his eyes drawn to her not for that reason, but because of a nagging sense that she resembled someone he knew. “We’re happy to help make this happen,” he said to Dr. Kottur.
“This is quite an opportunity, Admiral,” Kottur said. “If we can successfully link the hypernet gate at Midway to the Alliance hypernet, it’ll be a huge scientific and technical breakthrough.”
“We’ll have to convince Midway’s leaders to let us try, Dr. Kottur,” Geary said. “They’re bound to be concerned, and they don’t entirely trust the Alliance.”
“But I understand they trust you?”
“I think so,” Geary said.
“Well,” Kottur said, “you’ll be able to tell them that we’ve got some of the best minds in the Alliance with us when it comes to hypernet theory and engineering. Allow me to introduce Dr. Ken Bron, and Dr. Talisen Rajput, and Dr. Jasmine Cresida—”
“Cresida?” Geary looked at the woman he’d noticed earlier, realizing who it was she resembled. “Are you related to Jaylen Cresida?”
Dr. Cresida gave Geary a cold look. “I was. She was my sister.”
Tanya Desjani was also gazing at Dr. Cresida in surprise. “Jaylen’s personal record listed her parents as her only next of kin.”
“We had a falling-out,” Dr. Cresida said, her voice somehow even frostier. “I thought she was risking too much by entering military service, that her talents would be far better put to use working in theory with me. I didn’t want her mind, her potential, thrown away in some senseless battle. Unfortunately, I was right.”
Geary spoke into the silence that followed Jasmine Cresida’s words. “Jaylen played a major role in saving the fleet by analyzing the danger of the hypernet gates. She also figured out the nature of the malware used by the enigmas. Her loss was a terrible blow, but she made invaluable contributions before then.”
Dr. Cresida didn’t look at him as she replied. “So you sent her to her death. What a fine reward.”
Dr. Kottur finally recovered from his shock. “Let’s not—I mean, we have an important purpose. I don’t want any . . . unprofessional behavior.”
“I can do my job,” Cresida said. “I don’t have to pretend to like who I’m working with.”
Captain Desjani gave her a thin smile. “Likewise.”
Geary exchanged a hapless look with Dr. Kottur. Together, he and Kottur got the meeting back on track. The science and engineering team’s questions mostly revolved around Dauntless’s sensor records of the hypernet gate at Midway, and the best means of convincing the leaders of Midway to buy in to the proposal. For his part, Geary wanted to know as much as possible about any risks or uncertainties associated with the project, since he’d have to sell the idea to those at Midway. Through it all, Dr. Cresida sat in icy isolation, only occasionally responding briefly to one of her comrades.
The meeting ended with mutual promises of cooperation and high expectations, which made it a nice contrast to the fiasco of the meeting with Dr. Macadams’s team. The others left the conference room with Captain Desjani as she escorted them back to the shuttle dock, Dr. Jasmine Cresida walking as if every step she took on the deckplates was distasteful.
Geary watched them go, then stood alone, thinking about Jaylen Cresida. Wondering if he could’ve given slightly different orders during the fight with the Syndics at Varandal, whether anything he could have done would have made a difference. The same thoughts he had about every battle, about every officer and sailor who’d died under his command. Senator Costa had tried to trip him up at Unity, tried to back him into a corner by asking if he’d like having his decisions and actions second-guessed. What Costa hadn’t understood, and perhaps couldn’t understand, was that Geary himself was his own harshest critic when it came to wondering if he could have done things differently, done them better, saved at least a few lives among those who’d been lost.
“You should congratulate me,” Desjani said as she walked back into the conference room.
“Well done,” Geary said. “What am I congratulating you for?”
“I let that so-called sister of Jaylen’s walk up the ramp onto the shuttle without giving in to the temptation to wind up and kick her bu
tt so hard she would’ve flown to her seat.”
Trust Tanya to give him a reason to smile even at such a time. “That wouldn’t have offered a very good example for your crew.”
“They would’ve applauded,” Desjani said. “Sailors can tell when someone thinks they’re a low order of life.” She sat down, one hand over her face to avoid looking at the spot where Jasmine Cresida had sat. “At least we don’t have to waste any time wondering why Jaylen never mentioned her sister.”
He sat down again as well. “With any luck we won’t have to interact with her again.”
“If she had any idea how much the fleet’s losses haunt you she wouldn’t have been so high and mighty about it.”
“Maybe her experience is with commanders like Falco,” Geary said. Why was he defending Jasmine Cresida? “Tanya, I know exactly how you feel. But I don’t need the added work of nursing a grudge against Jaylen’s sister. I’m going to do my best not to think of it.”
“I don’t like seeing you thought of that way.” She frowned and inhaled deeply. “You’re not Falco. He wouldn’t have cared what Jaylen’s sister thought of him. But she’ll never know that. Smart people can be really stupid. Unfortunately, I do think we’re going to end up dealing with her again. From what the others said, Dr. Cresida is their primary theory person.”
“At least Dr. Kottur is easy to work with,” Geary said.
“He’s sort of the antimatter version of Macadams, isn’t he?” She frowned. “Kottur is too nice, really. What’s he after?”
“Maybe,” Geary said, “he wants to do his best to make sure the hypernet gate project is successful.”
“Maybe,” Desjani conceded with another frown.
Geary checked his comm pad after an alert sounded. “We’ve received the arrival message from the Rift Federation ships.”
“Time flies when you’re having fun.”
“Yeah.” He called up the message, feeling a frown of his own forming as he read it.
The message provided required information and nothing more. “This is Captain Kapelka of the Rift Federation Navy. We are transiting through the star system en route to the jump point for Atalia. Kapelka, out.”
“What’s the matter?” Desjani’s jaw tightened as she listened to the message. “The bare minimum that they had to tell us, no formal greeting, and an unceremonious sign-off. I’ve had more courteous messages from Syndics. You’ve already told her to alter track to come to Ambaru, right?”
“Yes. They should’ve received my message about twenty minutes ago. How’s their track?”
Desjani checked the nearest display. “Our information is hours time late, of course, but there’s no sign yet that they changed their vectors. They’re still tracking right for the jump point to Atalia. If they did change vector when they got your message, we won’t see it for another . . . three hours.” She looked at him. “They’re not going to change vector.”
“I know.”
“What are we going to do?”
“There’s nothing we can do,” Geary said. “I can’t make threats that I wouldn’t be able to act on. If those ships are determined to jump for Atalia ahead of us, the only way to stop them would be with force, and I can’t do that.”
“Because of the ambassador being here?” Desjani asked.
“No. I’d have reached the same decision regardless,” he said. “I can’t order the Alliance fleet to fire on Rift Federation warships. Not without causing an immense amount of damage to the Alliance.”
She considered his words before finally nodding with visible reluctance. “And those Rift Federation ships know that, so they’re going to push on.”
He rubbed his eyes, wishing he were as powerful as popular imagination thought he was. Maybe then he’d be able to fix this. “I appealed to Captain Kapelka’s conscience. It doesn’t take a military genius to know she can’t get to Dancer space with a force that size. They’ll be destroyed along the way. If they’ll agree to accompany our force without any formal deal being made, she can save her ships and their crews.”
Captain Desjani shook her head as she looked away from him. “Conscience is a weak opponent against pride,” she said. “I saw enough of her when they were attached to this fleet to know that Kapelka won’t want to admit the Rift Federation needs the Alliance’s help to do the job.”
“Captain Hiyen thought the same thing. He’s also appealing to Kapelka.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get your hopes up, Admiral.”
* * *
WITH hours to wait to see what the Rift Federation ships would do, and feeling sick at the idea that pride was carrying them to needless destruction, Geary tried to distract himself by dealing with another problem.
He called Ambassador Rycerz from his stateroom, seeing her virtual presence appear before him just as his virtual image would be facing her aboard Boundless.
“Ambassador, I’ve held preliminary meetings with both groups of specialists traveling on Boundless.”
Rycerz sighed, looking resigned to an unpleasant conversation. “And you want to talk about Macadams.”
“No, I’d honestly prefer never to have to talk about or deal with him again,” Geary said.
“You and me both.” Rycerz sat back, running one hand through her hair. “He’s a political appointee. I could go over all the debates and arguments over who should head the academic side of the mission, but what it all came down to was just about every candidate was seen by some of the senators as either too sympathetic to the Dancers or too hostile. Macadams, on the other hand, is hostile to every form of life in the universe, so he couldn’t be accused of being particularly biased against the Dancers one way or the other. That and he knew the right people, and could pull the right strings. Buying support for this mission from enough senators involved some . . . unfortunate selling and trading.”
“How can we afford to let politics as usual screw this up?” Geary swept one arm out in an angry, frustrated gesture. “Something this important and we’re letting it be controlled by someone totally unsuited for the job?”
“Let me be clear about something,” Rycerz said, her usual calm being replaced by a hard set to her mouth and eyes. “If I believed that Macadams could sabotage this mission, I would’ve resigned rather than lead it. But Macadams is the sort who sabotages himself. I already have alternate contacts among his staff who are upset by their inability to work freely even among themselves.”
Geary shook his head. “Assuming you can manage away an awful leader by bypassing them doesn’t always work out if you leave them with the same responsibilities.”
“Granted. Admiral, I have to play nice with regards to Macadams until we reach Midway and get the hypernet gate part of the job done. Once we leave there, heading for Dancer space, Macadams won’t have any means of communicating with his backers except through me or you approving any messages he wants to send on your ships.” Rycerz smiled in a way that set off alarms in Geary’s instincts. This was not a woman who’d simply accept conditions forced on her. “At that point, Dr. Macadams is going to find his responsibilities redefined in ways that effectively sideline him so the other specialists can actually try to do their jobs.”
“What if Macadams refuses to accept that?” Geary said.
“Don’t you have jails on your fleet ships? What do they call them?”
“Brigs?” Geary stared at the ambassador. “You’ll want me to arrest Macadams and throw him in the brig?”
“Tell me you don’t already like the idea.” Ambassador Rycerz grinned. “That’s only if we have to, of course.”
“Of course.”
“Ummm . . .” The ambassador paused. “That bread and water thing. Is that still an option? If we jail him?”
“Yes,” Geary said. “Brig time with only bread and water is still a legal punishment in the fleet.”
“T
hat’s good to know.”
After the call ended, Geary spent a while gazing at the nearest bulkhead, wondering if Ambassador Rycerz would really want Macadams thrown into the brig.
He already did like the idea, though. Especially the bread and water part.
* * *
CAPTAIN Kapelka’s eventual reply to his message didn’t start off in a promising way. Kapelka had recorded the message while standing rigidly in her stateroom as if conversing with an officer personally unknown to her. Her voice was as unyielding as her posture. “The warships of the Rift Federation under my command do not choose to alter vector to suit the desires of an Alliance officer. You may be unaware that the Rift Federation has formally notified the Alliance that the military assistance agreements between our two governments no longer have force.”
That was news, though not entirely unexpected. As Captain Hiyen had warned, the Rift Federation was intent on trying to break the ties that war had forged with the Alliance.
“Your suggestion,” Captain Kapelka continued, “that we delay our mission to allow Alliance forces to proceed along with us is impossible to agree to.” She made it sound as if it were the Alliance forces seeking protection from the few Rift Federation ships. “My orders are to reach my objectives without delay. We are not servants of the Alliance. Nor are we in need of your protection. Kapelka, out.”
Pride seemed too small a word to describe the attitude of the Rift Federation’s commander, Geary thought as he called Captain Hiyen.
Hiyen looked stubborn and angry. “I was sent a copy of Captain Kapelka’s reply to you, Admiral, probably because I’d sent my own message to her urging Kapelka to agree to your proposed course of action. I deeply regret that my suggestions led to you being treated in such an insulting manner.”
“It sounds like you got the same treatment,” Geary said. “Do you have any suggestions?”
“I wish I could offer some advice, Admiral, but clearly this is seen as a matter of even greater importance to the Rift Federation than I thought. They will march to their deaths rather than admit the task is too large and their resources too small.”
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