Boundless

by Jack Campbell

  “So all we can do is wait?” Captain Badaya asked. “What will we do if the code monkeys can’t come up with a work-around and get the gate working?”

  “These are top-level scientists and technicians,” Geary pointed out. “They’re not exactly code monkeys.”

  “Too bad,” Captain Duellos said. “It sounds like what we really need are hackers.”

  “I’ve offered them assistance from my Marine hack and cracks,” General Carabali said. “Apparently this problem is at another level from what we usually deal with. Captain Hiyen, you’re good at hypernet theory, aren’t you? Can you assist the scientists?”

  Hiyen shook his head firmly. “They’re operating at a different level than my knowledge, which hasn’t kept up with many developments while I’ve been serving as a combat officer. I’m good compared to the average person, but I’d just be in the way of these people.”

  “So,” Badaya said, “back to the question. How long do we sit here?”

  “I’ll make a decision when the Syndicate flotilla is ten light minutes from us,” Geary said. “That’ll leave enough time for all ships to get up speed and onto the vector we want.”

  “Do we know where all the minefields are now?” Captain Armus asked.

  “We’re pretty confident,” Captain Desjani said. “But we’re going to keep looking. Now that we know exactly what to look for, we should be able to spot the mines before we’re in danger of running into them.” She paused, listening to something coming in on a personal circuit to her. “Three of the Syndic freighters that were sitting in fixed orbits have lit off propulsion. Initial estimates are they’re moving onto vectors toward this gate.”

  “They’re planning something else,” Badaya insisted.

  “I agree,” Geary said. “One way or another, we won’t be here when they arrive to spring their latest surprise.”

  “I heard one of the scientists is Captain Cresida’s sister,” Captain Jane Geary said.

  “That’s right,” Desjani replied.

  Captain Badaya and most of the other officers visibly perked up at that news. “If her sister is half as brilliant as Jaylen,” Badaya said, “she’ll solve whatever tricks the Syndics have played with this gate.”

  “We just have to give the scientists time,” Geary said. “Let them work without interruption.” He had to leave it at that, unsatisfactory though it was. No one liked waiting for the Syndics to do something. No one liked reacting to the Syndics instead of forcing them to react to whatever moves the Alliance fleet made. But that was the best option at the moment, because this wasn’t a problem that could be solved with firepower or tactics. It required the special knowledge and insight that he hoped Dr. Kottur’s team possessed.

  * * *

  BY the time twenty-four hours had passed, patience was wearing thin on all sides. Geary could almost feel the pressure from his ship commanders for updates on the work of the scientists, but the only way to get such updates would be by breaking into their work. “Have they given you any hints of progress?” he asked Ambassador Rycerz.

  “No,” Rycerz said, looking as if she hadn’t slept for some time. “They just keeping inhaling coffee and other stimulants and continue working. Except for Dr. Kottur, who keeps advising me to abandon the mission and get all of our ships home before someone gets hurt. He seems to have been seriously spooked by the minefields we encountered.”

  “Once the Syndic flotilla gets within ten light minutes of us, I’m going to have to break fixed orbit next to the gate. That doesn’t mean we can’t come back to it, but it will make it a lot more difficult.”

  “I understand, Admiral. I’ll call you as soon as— What?” The ambassador looked to one side in surprise. “You’ve got something you want to try?”

  “That’s Dr. Kottur?” Geary asked.

  “No. Dr. Rajput and Dr. Cresida. Is what you want to try dangerous? No? Then proceed. On my authority. I don’t want this held up while Dr. Kottur reviews your work.” Rycerz looked back at Geary, hope appearing in her eyes. “Pray to your ancestors, Admiral.”

  “How long until they know if it works?”

  “Dr. Cresida said it’d take hours.”

  Which wouldn’t leave any room for a retry if whatever it was failed. “All right,” Geary said. “I’ll prepare for the worst and hope for the best. They’re sure it’s not dangerous?”

  “You haven’t dealt with these scientists much, have you?”

  Which was apparently as good an answer as he’d get because Ambassador Rycerz signed off quickly.

  He hadn’t slept much recently, either. Geary looked at the starscape decorating one wall of his stateroom, trying to decide whether he should notify the fleet that the scientists were trying something that would take hours to determine if it worked and might or might not be dangerous. This seemed more like an ignorance-is-bliss situation, since the little he knew wouldn’t reassure anyone.

  With one hour left before the oncoming Syndic flotilla was ten light minutes distant, Geary went back to the bridge. Captain Desjani was there, of course, monitoring everything.

  He sat down, looking at what was by now an all-too-familiar picture on his display. The fleet orbiting in sync with the hypernet gate, the Syndic flotilla still on an intercept vector and still moving at point one five light speed, five freighters now also accelerating toward the gate. What the freighters would do once they got here remained a puzzle since they’d betrayed no sign of being anything except what they appeared to be. The best guess was that they were packed with explosives or fuel cells and would “accidentally” detonate inside the Alliance formation. But there was no way he’d allow them to get that close, and the blundering freighters couldn’t catch any of the Alliance ships unless the Alliance cooperated.

  “We’ve got some vectors worked up,” Desjani said.

  Geary saw three proposed tracks if the fleet accelerated away from the hypernet gate. He didn’t like any of them. It didn’t take much inner contemplation to realize he didn’t like them because each one represented a failure to enter the Syndic hypernet and get to Midway Star System.

  But he had to pick one. As the time left kept diminishing with remorseless speed, Geary chose a vector that would dive the fleet “below” the gate and then in a wide arc back in the general direction of the jump point to Kalixa. That would require the oncoming Syndic flotilla to remain in a stern chase if it pursued the Alliance fleet, and leave all of the approaching freighters completely out of position to do anything.

  “I know it sucks,” Desjani said. “But we can’t risk sitting here until the Syndics arrive.”

  “I know.” Geary checked the time again. “Ten minutes until we leave.”

  With eight minutes left a call came in from Ambassador Rycerz. “They want another twenty minutes, Admiral.”

  “The scientists?” he asked. “They don’t have another twenty minutes. We have to get moving in eight minutes.”

  “Admiral, I’m not demanding, I’m asking. Can we give them twenty minutes?”

  He looked at Desjani, whose face was tight with concentration as she adjusted data on her maneuvering display, checking options. She paused, rubbing her chin, then shrugged. “It’s possible, Admiral. It’s shaving it real close, though. If the Syndics accelerate on their final approach the auxiliaries will be in trouble.”

  There were times when he hated being the one who had to make such decisions. A lot of times, really. Geary clenched one fist, inhaling slowly. Looking back at Ambassador Rycerz, he nodded. “Twenty minutes. Not one second longer.”

  “I’ll tell them.”

  As the ambassador’s image vanished, Geary called the fleet. “All units, this is Admiral Geary. Stand by to maneuver in twenty minutes. Auxiliaries, we’re going to need everything you’ve got when we start moving. Geary, out.”

  “Lieutenant Castries,” Desjani called.r />
  “Yes, Captain?”

  “If there’s an undetected minefield along our proposed vector I’m going to be very upset with you.”

  “I understand, Captain. I’ll be very upset with me as well.”

  “The admiral will also be very upset,” Desjani said. “We want to avoid that.”

  “I understand, Captain,” Lieutenant Castries said again.

  Geary gave Desjani a look. “Part of you loves this, don’t you? Waiting to see whether all hell will break loose.”

  “I’ve always wanted to see if hell could beat me in a stand-up fight,” she said, smiling. “Or if I could tame it. We’ve got twelve more minutes to kill before we get this fleet moving.”

  Seven minutes were left when Lieutenant Yuon let out a yelp. “Captain! The hypernet key shows the gate active, Midway Star System set as the destination.”

  “I’ll be damned,” Geary said. “They did it.” He hit his comm controls. “All units accelerate along current heading. Prepare to enter hypernet in . . .”

  “Thirty seconds,” Lieutenant Yuon said.

  “Thirty seconds,” Geary repeated.

  In the midst of his relief, he thought about the Syndic flotilla approaching, CEO Paulson ready for whatever his latest plan was, and how they’d feel about nine minutes from now when they saw the Alliance fleet had vanished. “Icing on the cake,” he murmured.

  “Ready to enter hypernet,” Lieutenant Yuon said.

  “Enter hypernet,” Geary ordered.

  His display abruptly went blank, everything in Indras Star System vanishing along with the star system and the universe around it, as Dauntless and the rest of the fleet once again entered the nowhere that existed between one gate and the next.

  Tanya Desjani laughed softly. “I guess Dr. Cresida might be half as smart as Jaylen was,” she said. “Now I have to be nice to her.” She touched her own controls. “All hands, this is Captain Desjani. Well done during recent operations. Go to transit condition two. Everybody get some rest. It might be our last chance at it for a while.”

  Geary stood up. “I think I may try to get some rest as well. Too bad there’s no way to communicate inside the hypernet. I’d like to know how the scientists got the Syndic hypernet unlocked, and whether it was a onetime thing or a permanent fix.”

  “Odds are we wouldn’t understand the answer,” Desjani said. “Maybe when we come back to Alliance space we shouldn’t come through Indras again.”

  “Maybe,” Geary said. “But we know what’s at Indras. Any other place we wouldn’t know what we were running into. And the Syndics are probably also thinking we’ll choose another star system close to Alliance space next time. Going back to Indras might surprise them.”

  “You’re not exactly predictable,” Desjani agreed. “Doing the same thing again probably will throw off the Syndics. How do you think our sort-of friends at Midway will react to us showing up?”

  “Hopefully with open arms,” Geary said. “I hope Bradamont is all right.”

  “I hope she doesn’t insist on us calling her Kommodor.”

  * * *

  HE might know what lay behind at Indras, but arriving at Midway was always tense, wondering if the Syndicate Worlds or the enigmas had managed to defeat the tough but brittle defenders of what they called their “free and independent” star system.

  So he was alert for anything when Dauntless and the rest of the Alliance fleet left the Syndicate Worlds hypernet at Midway, on the far side of Syndic-occupied space and as far as humanity had expanded in this direction before running into space controlled by the enigma race.

  “Looks like everyone is home,” Captain Desjani said as their displays updated.

  A single battleship, a battle cruiser, four heavy cruisers, and a gaggle of light cruisers and Hunter-Killers. A small fleet by comparison with the forces under Geary’s command, but impressive out here in the former hinterlands of the Syndicate Worlds, and doubly impressive since Midway had gained that fleet by hook and by crook. Every one of the warships had been “acquired” by various means from the Syndicate Worlds.

  Midway’s warships were in an orbit that placed them ready to react to anyone arriving at the hypernet gate or through some of the many jump points Midway boasted, and which had earned the star system its name. “It looks like they’ve been in another big fight since we saw them last,” Desjani commented as the fleet’s sensors reported new damage visible on most of Midway’s ships.

  Geary ordered his own fleet into an orbit near the hypernet gate, aware that proceeding deeper into the star system without approval might seriously anger the people here. His fleet could just as easily be an invasion force, after all.

  It felt odd not to be sending out the message accompanying his arrival in the star system. But now that role properly rested with Ambassador Rycerz.

  Still, it wasn’t a surprise when the response several hours later was addressed to him. “Welcome back to Midway Star System, Admiral Geary,” President Iceni said. “I would prefer to deal directly with you when discussing this ‘adjustment’ to our hypernet gate that your emissary is proposing. I also desire an explanation for the Alliance force that came through this star system earlier, and jumped for Pele without responding to any communications. Your flagship is authorized to proceed to orbit about our primary world so we can conduct negotiations without unneeded delays. For the people, Iceni, out.”

  On the heels of that message came a call from Ambassador Rycerz. “Why did President Iceni call me your emissary when I clearly identified myself as the senior Alliance official?”

  “Because she believes I am running everything,” Geary said. “It doesn’t matter what I say. They think that’s all part of the game where I pretend not to be in control.”

  “You must tell them again,” Rycerz insisted. “And tell them Boundless also has to go to their primary world.”

  “I’ll be happy to,” Geary said. “But based on experience they won’t believe me when I say I’m not in charge.”

  He made sure his uniform looked good, and sat straight to send his response. “Thank you for your greeting, President Iceni. As you have heard, the senior Alliance official with this force is Ambassador Rycerz. She and her staff are aboard the Boundless, the large former passenger ship in the center of our formation. Boundless carries no offensive weapons. With your permission, we would like both Dauntless and Boundless to proceed to orbit about your primary world. To the honor of our ancestors, Geary, out.”

  He was prepared for a wait of several hours for the reply and was surprised when another message arrived soon after. But the new message wasn’t from Iceni. “This is Kommodor Bradamont for Admiral Geary. Sir, I have received permission to speak with you directly and bring you up to date. Both President Iceni and General Drakon are eager to speak with you. We recently repulsed an enigma attempt to establish a base at Iwa. That star system should have been out of reach of the enigma jump drives, but they’ve obviously managed to extend their range. That was apparently what the Dancers meant when warning us to watch different stars. Naturally, Midway feels its defense of human space should be supported in material ways by those who benefit from it. We can offer you in exchange some more information on the enigmas. Colonel Rogero captured some of their weapons during an action on the surface of a planet orbiting Iwa.

  “You also need to be aware that stars within reach of Iwa are now controlled by a woman named Granaile Imallye. She’s ruthless and smart, and for the moment is working in concert with Midway’s association of star systems to defend against both the enigmas and further Syndicate attacks. Her primary star system is Moorea.”

  Bradamont paused. “President Iceni and General Drakon have married. Their government is stable and continuing to implement reforms. It is my personal and professional recommendation that all possible support be given to them.

  “Admiral, I .
. . I didn’t want to leave the Alliance fleet. I hope you’ve heard under what circumstances I had to make that decision. But the people here deserve everything I can give them.

  “To the honor of our ancestors, Bradamont, out.”

  He called in Desjani to view the message. “What do you think?”

  Desjani shrugged. “She’s sincere. If she was being coerced to say those things she would’ve sent some signal.”

  “If the enigmas can reach Iwa, there are other human-controlled stars that may be within their reach.”

  “Yeah. That sucks. How does our ambassador feel about you being sent this message instead of her?”

  “I haven’t told her yet,” Geary admitted.

  “It’s a military-to-military contact, so it’s not out of line, is it?” Desjani studied the image of Bradamont for a moment. “It’s strange seeing her in a different uniform than Alliance fleet. It’s not bad looking. Of course, Honore Bradamont is the sort of officer who’d manage to make a sack look sharp if she was wearing it.”

  “I’ll forward this to Ambassador Rycerz and discuss it with her,” Geary said. “This expansion of the enigma threat will probably complicate our negotiations here.”

  “They’re going to want to talk to you,” Desjani said. “You’ve got to convince the ambassador to let you be in the room, too, or they’ll walk.”

  “I know. I know.” He suddenly saw the humor in that. “I’m supposed to be all-powerful, but I can’t even guarantee my presence during the negotiations.”

  Desjani grinned. “I’ve never known an admiral who didn’t benefit from realizing the limits of his real power.”

  He forwarded the message. There were questions he’d been worried about for some time. Would Midway agree to the proposed experiment with their hypernet gate? And what would Midway demand in return for any agreement? Soon enough he’d finally get some answers.