Boundless

by Jack Campbell

  Spending too long in jump space made humans uncomfortable, most people describing it as a growing feeling that their skin didn’t fit right. But the jump from Kalixa to Indras only required a few days, not long enough for the sensation to become really noticeable, let alone serious. What did become more difficult were the worries about what the Syndics might have waiting for them at Indras. The picket ship had alerted the Syndics to when they’d arrive, and the Rift Federation warships had already reached Indras more than a week earlier. What had happened to them?

  As the fleet left jump space, all ships were at full alert, ready for the worst.

  * * *

  THE Syndics were indeed waiting at Indras.

  A Syndic flotilla was orbiting about ten light minutes from the jump point. Close enough to need watching, but not close enough to be an immediate threat. Four battleships, three battle cruisers, four heavy cruisers, and eleven Hunter-Killers. Outmatched by Geary’s force, the flotilla was nonetheless strong enough to testify to the ability of the Syndicate Worlds to still churn out warships.

  “No sign of the Rift Federation force or any recent wreckage that might correlate to those ships,” Lieutenant Yuon said, gazing at his display.

  “How do you suppose they got past that Syndic flotilla?” Desjani wondered.

  “Maybe the Syndics will tell us.” Geary looked at his display, where the projected track from the jump point to the hypernet gate at Indras formed a sweeping curve through space. “Six . . . no, seven merchant freighters traveling from the gate to the jump point we just left.”

  Desjani nodded, her own eyes studying the track, a frown slowly growing. “Those freighters will pass close by us,” she said. “Why are seven freighters heading for the jump point to Kalixa?”

  “What did we learn at Atalia about their current level of trade with the Syndics?”

  “Sporadic,” Desjani said. “Atalia has high demand but little ability to pay. One freighter possibly en route to Atalia would make sense. But seven?”

  “Maybe an invasion force disguised as peaceful trade?” Geary suggested. “Midway told us the Syndics are using modified freighters to carry soldiers.”

  “Maybe.” Desjani looked toward the back of the bridge. “I want a close watch kept on those merchant ships. If there’s anything the least bit odd about them, I want to know it.”

  “Yes, Captain,” the watch standers chorused in reply.

  It was nearly half an hour after their arrival at Indras, the fleet steadied out on its vector for the hypernet gate, before the first message arrived from the local CEO. The fact that it had arrived so quickly meant the CEO must be aboard one of the warships ten light minutes away.

  The CEO was a man, not the woman they’d last seen when at Indras berating them for the attack by the black ships. That wasn’t surprising, given the unsettled state of Syndicate Worlds politics. CEOs were probably rising rapidly as political factions jousted for power and falling just as quickly when they lost.

  It also wasn’t surprising, given past events, that the CEO’s message was sent to Geary on his flagship. Of course they expected him to be in overall command of this force.

  The new CEO looked like a typical Syndic CEO. Perfectly tailored suit, perfectly coifed hair, and perfectly superior attitude. What former CEO and current General Drakon on Midway had referred to disdainfully as a CEO uniform. But this one also looked competent in a dangerous way. If Ambassador Rycerz had an evil fraternal twin, that twin might’ve resembled this CEO.

  “To the Alliance force conducting an unprovoked and unlawful invasion of space controlled by the people of the Syndicate Worlds,” the CEO began. “This is CEO Paulson of the New Enduring Syndicate Directorate. You are required, in accordance with the peace treaty between us, and in the name of the people and in the interests of the peace we all desire, to immediately alter vector so as to jump back for Kalixa Star System and thence out of Syndicate Worlds space.

  “I’m sure you are disappointed to learn that we did not fall for your simplistic trap,” CEO Paulson continued with a smug smile. “Sending ahead of you a weak advance force was an obvious lure. An advance force that tried to incite attack by refusing to respond to communications. You expected us to destroy that force, giving you every excuse needed to carry on your war of unprovoked and unlawful aggression against the peace-loving people of the Syndicate Worlds. As your sensors tell you, there is no wreckage of that advance force here. In keeping with the Syndicate Worlds desire for peace and concern for the lives of all people, those ships were allowed to cross this star system and enter the hypernet. This clearly demonstrates our interests in avoiding any more senseless conflict. However, those warships also refused to pay standard transit fees for the use of our hypernet. You will of course make good on their debt.

  “The people of Indras cannot be responsible for any mishaps that may befall if your warships continue an unauthorized and illegal transit of Syndicate Worlds space. I urge you, in the name of the peace dear to us all, to abandon your aggression and return to the Alliance immediately. For the people, Paulson, out.”

  The Rift Federation’s strategy finally became clear. “That’s why they’re not communicating,” Captain Desjani said, her words distorted slightly by the angry tightness of her jaw. “They know everyone in Syndic space will assume they’re still part of the Alliance fleet, so they can benefit from our protection even when we’re not in the same star system, and at the same time pretend they’re doing this all on their own. All they have to do is not talk to anyone, which would require them to either lie about their status with the Alliance or admit they’re no longer under our umbrella.”

  “They also stuck us with the bill for their Syndic hypernet use,” Geary said. “Captain Kapelka is a lot more clever than we gave her credit for.”

  “The next time I meet Captain Kapelka I’m going to give her something a lot more painful than credit.”

  “I need to speak with Ambassador Rycerz.” With no immediate dangers looming, he left the bridge, wanting the privacy of his stateroom for a talk with the ambassador.

  Rycerz looked annoyed. “I assume you’re not planning on responding to the Syndicate Worlds CEO?”

  “They’re used to me being in charge of the entire force,” Geary said. “They’ll be surprised to hear from you. But, no, I had no plans to deal directly with the CEO. I’ll leave that to you.”

  “Do you know anything about this New Enduring Syndicate Directorate that CEO claimed to be part of?”

  “I’ve never heard of it,” Geary said. “I assume they’re the latest group to gain control of the central government. For all we know they’ve already lost control and a replacement for CEO Paulson is on the way.”

  “The Rift Federation’s strategy was better thought through than we realized,” Rycerz said. “Will it get them through Midway’s star system?”

  “It might,” Geary said. “If they’re posing no obvious threat and seem to be part of the Alliance fleet, Iceni and Drakon will probably not attack them. But the enigmas won’t care whether those Rift ships are part of the Alliance fleet. They won’t make it to Dancer space.”

  “It doesn’t look like the Syndics are going to try to attack,” Rycerz said, eyeing Geary.

  “No. As long as they don’t, we’ll be fine. We’ll keep a close eye on some freighters whose paths will cross ours, but so far they appear to just be normal freighters.”

  “You’re not worried about them ramming one of our ships?”

  Geary shook his head. “No. Freighters are slow and clumsy. Even our auxiliaries can dodge a charge by a freighter. The Syndics know that. If they try anything with those freighters, it won’t be ramming.”

  Rycerz sat silent for a moment, watching him. “All right,” she finally said. “I’ll talk with CEO Paulson. I’ll probably have to pay whatever transit fee I can negotiate with them, and that for the R
ift Federation warships. I want us to get to that gate without any fighting.”

  “So do I,” Geary said. It was obvious that Rycerz hadn’t given up the battle over who had dominance when it came to defending the fleet, but she wasn’t going to push it. He had to be satisfied with that.

  * * *

  IT felt odd not to be verbally sparring with the local Syndicate CEO, but it was also a relief. Rycerz sent him information copies of the messages she exchanged as the ambassador and the CEO debated how large the transit fees should be and whether the Alliance fleet had any right to be here and why was the Alliance trying to start another war against the peaceful Syndicate Worlds who never attacked anyone except in self-defense. He did have the satisfaction of watching Ambassador Rycerz parry another claim that the Alliance was trying to once again start a war by telling CEO Paulson that “we do have Admiral Geary with us, who was present at the start of the first war. If you like I can have him tell you how that war began based on his personal experiences.”

  The Syndic CEO issued more warnings denying any responsibility for any problems the Alliance fleet encountered if it remained in Syndicate Worlds space. But in terms of active Syndic measures to stop the Alliance fleet, nothing could be detected. And that worried him. Routine scans for minefields had shown none of the anomalies that should be apparent in careful examination of small regions of space.

  Six hours after the fleet had arrived at Indras and steadied on a vector for the hypernet gate, Geary walked with Desjani down one of the passageways of Dauntless. Late in the ship’s day, there wasn’t much other traffic in the passageways, giving them room to walk and think. Their feet could only carry them in circles around the ship, of course, and their thoughts seemed to be confined to circular paths as well.

  “May I speak to you, Captain?” Master Chief Gioninni came hustling down the passageway, moving more quickly than his usual casual pace.

  Desjani stopped and turned to face him, as did Geary. “What is it, Master Chief?” Desjani asked.

  “Captain, I was talking with Senior Chief Tarrani,” Gioninni began. “And she was saying how easy it’d be to target those Syndic freighters heading for the jump point to Kalixa, because they’re all coming down the same track.”

  “That’s right,” Desjani said. “They’re all coming from the same gate and heading for the same jump point.”

  “But wouldn’t there be more variations in their tracks?” Gioninni asked. “The gate and the jump point and everything else in space move, and civilian ships are lousy at accelerating in close coordination. One always goes a little faster and another a little slower, which puts them on different vectors. We learned that doing convoy operations.”

  “True, now that you point it out,” Desjani said, her eyes narrowing. She walked to a nearby display and called up a view of the tracks of the Syndicate freighters. “Yes. The later ships are following vectors that match the path through space of the earlier ships even though those vectors are less efficient for them.”

  “Like they were threading the eyes of cosmic needles we couldn’t see,” Gioninni said. “That’s not natural.”

  “Why are they doing that? We’ve been watching those freighters very closely. There’s no sign they’re anything but freighters. And we’ve scanned for minefields in those areas and seen nothing.”

  “Well, Captain,” Gioninni said, “one thing people learn when they’re trying to fool people, which I’d never do—”

  “Of course not.”

  “Is what’s called misdirection. That is, you make people look at one thing while you’re doing something else. They don’t see what’s happening because they’re looking at what you want them to look at.”

  “Misdirection.” Desjani inhaled sharply. “They want our attention focused on those freighters.”

  “I think so, Captain,” Gioninni said. “Which means there’s something else they don’t want us looking at too closely. Probably something else in those parts of space where those freighters are being careful to go through the same way. Something we might spot if we really carefully look not at the freighters, but at the space they’re transiting.”

  Desjani looked at Geary, who was nodding as he realized that Gioninni was right. Trust a scam artist to figure out what the Syndics were trying to do. “The freighters caused us to scan those regions first,” he said, “and discount that threat because we didn’t see mines. What if the Syndics have made new mines that are harder to spot?”

  “Thank you, Master Chief,” Desjani said. “I was going to ask you about a vacuum still in one of the voids, but as long as that still is destroyed in the very near future we won’t have to talk about it.”

  “A still?” Master Chief Gioninni reacted with outraged surprise that seemed oddly genuine.

  “It’s not yours?”

  “No, Captain!” Gioninni paused before remembering to add, “Of course not! I guarantee you that still will be gone within the hour.”

  “Good,” Desjani said. “Here’s the void number,” she added, calling it up on her display. As Gioninni hustled away, she looked at Geary. “I wondered if that still was the Master Chief’s work. He knows what boundaries not to cross and he doesn’t want any rivals operating on his ship. So he’ll shut that still down and find out who was behind it. It’s probably one of the new sailors who thinks they’re smarter than the old hands, and is about to learn the hard way not to underestimate old-timers.”

  “He’s right about the freighters, isn’t he?” Geary said. “There’s something we’re not supposed to be noticing. We’d better start looking harder.”

  “Focusing again along the tracks of those freighters, and not on the freighters themselves?”

  “Right.”

  He didn’t have to depend solely on the sensors aboard Dauntless for the study of space. Every sensor on every ship in the fleet could be and usually was linked seamlessly, integrating their observations and allowing multiple perspectives on the same things or places. The normal rule was that it was very hard to hide anything in space. To human ingenuity that was not an immutable fact, but rather a challenge.

  It was nearly four hours later, both Geary and Desjani on the bridge again, when they finally got some answers.

  “Anomalies,” Lieutenant Castries announced as Geary watched warning markers appearing on his display.

  “Minefields,” Desjani said. “They are there. Why didn’t we spot the anomalies earlier?”

  “The readings are more subtle,” Castries said. “Chief Yusef thought the anomalies might be so weak they were being filtered out as system noise. We tweaked the sensor algorithms and found them once we got close enough. Fleet sensors are rescanning all regions of space using the new detection criteria. These must be next-generation Syndic mines with improved stealth.”

  “And what better place to test them than at Indras where the Alliance fleet would be coming through,” Desjani said. “How the hell did the Rift Federation ships avoid them?”

  The answer to that seemed obvious to Geary. “The Syndics didn’t want to tip us off by having those Rift ships, an apparent advance force, hit the mines. They must have deactivated the mines while the Rift Federation formation went through the minefields.”

  “I’ll bet those mines are active now,” Desjani said.

  “Me, too. And the Syndics have been warning us not to travel to the gate so they can try to claim it’s all our fault.” He jerked in surprise and worry as another cluster of anomalies appeared on his display, much closer ahead on the vector the fleet was traveling. Way too close ahead. His hand hit the comm controls. “All units, this is Admiral Geary. Immediate execute, all units turn up three zero degrees, turn port zero four zero degrees. I say again, immediate execute, turn up three zero degrees, turn port zero four zero degrees. Execute. Geary, out.”

  The maneuver, ordered without warning, was slightly ragged as ship
s immediately began the vector changes, maneuvering thrusters tilting them “up” as measured against the plane of the star system and to “port” away from the star, then their main propulsion cutting in to bend their paths into new arcs leading away from the burst of anomalies. The more maneuverable ships such as destroyers and battle cruisers curved swiftly onto the new vector, while the less agile ships such as battleships and the auxiliaries lumbered through wider arcs.

  The entire massive cylinder of the Alliance formation distorted a bit, like a 3-D jigsaw puzzle suddenly developing gaps, as every ship swung onto the new vector at different rates of turn.

  He’d called the maneuver by instinct, knowing it would be enough to get his ships clear of the field of anomalies that were very likely mines. Geary watched the movement of his ships, seeing that he’d called it right. Every ship should avoid—

  “Captain!” Lieutenant Castries called.

  Geary had already seen the new anomalies appearing, a wide field of them.

  And thanks to his evasive maneuver to dodge the initial mines, the Alliance fleet was heading straight into that new minefield.

  FOURTEEN

  “THEY assumed we’d evade when the lead ships hit mines!” Desjani said.

  Which meant he still had a little room to play with. His fleet had begun turning before it was fully into the trap the Syndics had created. But it was very little room indeed.

  “All units, this is Admiral Geary. Immediate execute, all units turn up nine zero degrees, turn port zero six zero degrees. I say again, immediate execute, turn up nine zero degrees, turn port zero six zero degrees! Execute. Geary, out.”