Steadfast Read online

  Ace Books by Jack Campbell

  The Lost Fleet

  THE LOST FLEET: DAUNTLESS

  THE LOST FLEET: FEARLESS

  THE LOST FLEET: COURAGEOUS

  THE LOST FLEET: VALIANT

  THE LOST FLEET: RELENTLESS

  THE LOST FLEET: VICTORIOUS

  THE LOST FLEET: BEYOND THE FRONTIER: DREADNAUGHT

  THE LOST FLEET: BEYOND THE FRONTIER: INVINCIBLE

  THE LOST FLEET: BEYOND THE FRONTIER: GUARDIAN

  THE LOST FLEET: BEYOND THE FRONTIER: STEADFAST

  The Lost Stars

  THE LOST STARS: TARNISHED KNIGHT

  THE LOST STARS: PERILOUS SHIELD

  Written as John G. Hemry

  Stark’s War

  STARK’S WAR

  STARK’S COMMAND

  STARK’S CRUSADE

  Paul Sinclair

  A JUST DETERMINATION

  BURDEN OF PROOF

  RULE OF EVIDENCE

  AGAINST ALL ENEMIES

  THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) LLC

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014

  USA • Canada • UK • Ireland • Australia • New Zealand • India • South Africa • China

  penguin.com

  A Penguin Random House Company

  This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

  Copyright © 2014 by John G. Hemry.

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  Ace Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group.

  ACE and the “A” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

  eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-14303-6

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Campbell, Jack (Naval officer)

  The Lost Fleet : Beyond the Frontier : Steadfast / Jack Campbell. — First edition.

  pages cm. — (The Lost Fleet ; Book 10)

  ISBN 978-0-425-26052-4 (hardback)

  1. Science fiction. 2. Space warfare—Fiction. 3. Imaginary wars and battles—Fiction. I. Title. II. Title: Steadfast.

  PS3553.A4637L667 2014

  813'.54—dc23

  2013047004

  FIRST EDITION: May 2014

  Cover art by Michael Komarck.

  Cover design by Annette Fiore DeFex.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Version_1

  CONTENTS

  Books by Jack Campbell

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  The First Fleet of the Alliance

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  To my sister Dianne, for whom “steadfast” is an apt description. Thank you.

  For S., as always.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I remain indebted to my agent, Joshua Bilmes, for his ever-inspired suggestions and assistance, and to my editor, Anne Sowards, for her support and editing. Thanks also to Catherine Asaro, Robert Chase, J. G. (Huck) Huckenpohler, Simcha Kuritzky, Michael LaViolette, Aly Parsons, Bud Sparhawk, and Constance A. Warner for their suggestions, comments, and recommendations.

  THE FIRST FLEET OF THE ALLIANCE

  ADMIRAL JOHN GEARY, COMMANDING

  SECOND BATTLESHIP DIVISION

  THIRD BATTLESHIP DIVISION

  Gallant

  Dreadnaught

  Indomitable

  Orion (lost at Sobek)

  Glorious

  Dependable

  Magnificent

  Conqueror

  FOURTH BATTLESHIP DIVISION

  FIFTH BATTLESHIP DIVISION

  Warspite

  Fearless

  Vengeance

  Resolution

  Revenge

  Redoubtable

  Guardian

  SEVENTH BATTLESHIP DIVISION

  EIGHTH BATTLESHIP DIVISION

  Colossus

  Relentless

  Encroach

  Reprisal

  Amazon

  Superb

  Spartan

  Splendid

  FIRST BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION

  SECOND BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION

  Inspire

  Leviathan

  Formidable

  Dragon

  Brilliant (lost at Honor)

  Steadfast

  Implacable

  Valiant

  FOURTH BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION

  FIFTH BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION

  Dauntless (flagship)

  Adroit

  Daring

  Victorious

  Intemperate

  SIXTH BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION

  Illustrious

  Incredible

  Invincible (lost at Pandora)

  FIFTH ASSAULT TRANSPORT DIVISION

  Tsunami

  Typhoon

  Mistral

  Haboob

  FIRST AUXILIARIES DIVISION

  SECOND AUXILIARIES DIVISION

  Titan

  Witch

  Tanuki

  Jinn

  Kupua

  Alchemist

  Domovoi

  Cyclops

  THIRTY-ONE HEAVY CRUISERS IN SIX DIVISIONS

  First Heavy Cruiser Division

  Third Heavy Cruiser Division

  Fourth Heavy Cruiser Division

  Fifth Heavy Cruiser Division

  Eighth Heavy Cruiser Division

  Tenth Heavy Cruiser Division

  Emerald and Hoplon lost at Honor

  FIFTY-FIVE LIGHT CRUISERS IN TEN SQUADRONS

  First Light Cruiser Squadron

  Second Light Cruiser Squadron

  Third Light Cruiser Squadron
r />   Fifth Light Cruiser Squadron

  Sixth Light Cruiser Squadron

  Eighth Light Cruiser Squadron

  Ninth Light Cruiser Squadron

  Tenth Light Cruiser Squadron

  Eleventh Light Cruiser Squadron

  Fourteenth Light Cruiser Squadron

  Balestra lost at Honor

  ONE HUNDRED SIXTY DESTROYERS IN EIGHTEEN SQUADRONS

  First Destroyer Squadron

  Second Destroyer Squadron

  Third Destroyer Squadron

  Fourth Destroyer Squadron

  Sixth Destroyer Squadron

  Seventh Destroyer Squadron

  Ninth Destroyer Squadron

  Tenth Destroyer Squadron

  Twelfth Destroyer Squadron

  Fourteenth Destroyer Squadron

  Sixteenth Destroyer Squadron

  Seventeenth Destroyer Squadron

  Twentieth Destroyer Squadron

  Twenty-first Destroyer Squadron

  Twenty-third Destroyer Squadron

  Twenty-seventh Destroyer Squadron

  Twenty-eighth Destroyer Squadron

  Thirty-second Destroyer Squadron

  Zaghnal lost at Pandora

  Plumbatae, Bolo, Bangalore, and Morningstar lost at Honor

  Musket lost at Midway

  FIRST FLEET MARINE FORCE

  Major General Carabali, commanding

  3,000 Marines on assault transports and divided into detachments on battle cruisers and battleships

  ONE

  ADMIRAL John “Black Jack” Geary, accustomed to gazing down upon worlds from hundreds of kilometers high and looking into the vastness of space in which a man could fall forever, felt slightly dizzy as he leaned over the crumbling remains of a stone wall to peer down the other side, where the land dropped away for about ten meters in a steep slope littered with rocks. Beyond, a land green with vegetation rolled to the north into the low hills that marked this small portion of Old Earth. He remembered land like this, in parts of his home world of Glenlyon, a planet he had not seen for a century.

  Geary squinted against a wind that brought scents of growing things and animals and the enterprises of people. Not like that inside a spacecraft, which despite the best air scrubbers known to science, always held a faint taint of crowded humanity, caffeinated beverages, and heated circuitry.

  “Not much left, is there?” Captain Tanya Desjani commented, looking at what had once been the wall’s foundation.

  “It’s thousands of years old,” Historic Properties Steward Gary Main replied. He seemed as much a part of the landscape as the wall itself, perhaps because members of his family had served as Stewards of the wall for generations. “The wonder is that there’s anything left at all, especially after the ice century of the last millennium. The Gulf Stream helps keep this island of ours warm, so it got very cold up here when the stream lost a lot of push. The rest of the world got warm, and we got cold, but then England has always been a bit contrary when it comes to the rest of the planet. Since then, everywhere else on Earth has been cooling down, and we’ve been warming up.”

  Geary smiled crookedly. “I have to admit it feels strange to be on a planet that has known humanity for so long that people can speak of the last millennium.”

  “That’s all quite recent, compared to this wall, Admiral,” Main replied.

  “Hadrian’s Wall,” Desjani mused. “I guess if you want to be remembered for thousands of years, it helps to build a big wall and name it after yourself. I remember the Admiral and I talking about that Empire of Rome, and I thought it must have been pretty small. Just part of one planet and all. But, standing here, I realize it must have felt awfully big to people who had to walk it.”

  Main nodded, running one hand above the fitted stones remaining in the wall. “When this was intact, it was about six meters high. Forts every Roman mile, and numerous turrets between them. It was an impressive fortification.”

  “Our Marines could have jumped over it in their combat armor,” Tanya said, “but if all you had was human muscle, it would be tough, especially if someone was shooting at you while you tried to climb it. How did it fall?”

  “It didn’t. Rome fell. As the empire contracted, the legions were called home and the wall abandoned.”

  Geary looked down the length of the wall, white stone against green vegetation, thinking of the massive demobilizations that had taken place inside the Alliance since the war with the Syndicate Worlds had ended. The legions were called home, and the wall abandoned. It sounded so painless, but it meant that defenses once regarded as vital were suddenly surplus, men and women who had once carried out duties considered critical were no longer needed, and things once thought essential were now judged too expensive. “The borders and their horizons shrank,” he murmured, thinking of not just the ancient empire that had built this wall but of the current state of the many star systems in the Alliance.

  Tanya gave him the look that meant she knew exactly what he was thinking. “They say this wall was garrisoned for centuries. Think of all the soldiers who stood sentry on it. Some of them might have been among our ancestors.”

  “Many people think Arthur might have been a king during those times,” Steward Main said. “That maybe his knights held the wall for a while after the Romans left.”

  “Arthur?” Geary asked.

  “A legendary king who ruled and died long ago. Supposedly,” Main confided, “Arthur didn’t die but remains sleeping, awaiting a time when his people need him. Of course, he’s never shown up.”

  “Maybe your need hasn’t been great enough,” Desjani said. “Sometimes, sleeping heroes from the past do appear just when they’re needed.”

  Geary barely managed not to glare at her. But his sudden shift in mood was apparent enough to cause silence to fall for a few moments.

  Main cleared his throat. “If I may ask a question of you, what do you think our other guests think of all this?”

  “The Dancers?” Geary asked. An alien landing shuttle hovered nearby, mere centimeters above the ground. “They’re amazing engineers. They examined the remains pretty carefully. They’re probably impressed.”

  “It’s hard to tell, Admiral, since they’re in their space armor.”

  “You probably couldn’t tell even if you could see their faces,” Desjani told him. “They don’t display emotions the way we do.”

  “Oh, right,” Main replied with remarkable understatement. “Because they, uh . . .”

  “Look to us like what would happen if a giant spider mated with a wolf,” Tanya finished for him. “We’ve speculated that we look as hideous to them as they do to us.”

  “Don’t judge them on their looks,” Geary added.

  “I wouldn’t, sir! Everyone’s heard how they brought that fellow’s remains back. How did he get out as far as their territory in space?”

  “A failed early experiment with using jump space for interstellar travel,” Geary said. “We don’t know how, but he finally popped out at one of the stars occupied by the Dancers.”

  “His ship and his body popped out,” Desjani corrected, a rough edge in her voice. “He must have died long before then. Died in jump space.”

  “That’s bad?” Main asked.

  “About as bad as it gets.” She took a deep breath, then forced a smile. “But the Dancers treated his remains with honor and brought them home when they finally could.”

  “That’s what I heard,” Main said. “Those Dancers did better by him than many a human I’ve encountered would have, I’ll tell you.” He glanced at the sun, then checked the time. “We should move on when you’re ready, Admiral, Captain.”

 
“Give us a few minutes, will you?” Desjani asked. “I need to talk to the Admiral about something.”

  “Of course. I’ll be right over there.”

  Tanya turned her back on the curious crowds hovering a few hundred meters away, citizens of Old Earth who were fascinated not only by the newly discovered alien Dancers but also by the humans from distant stars colonized by those who had left this world long ago. She turned her wrist to show Geary that she had activated her personal security field so their words could not be heard by others or their lip movements or expressions seen clearly. “We need to talk about something,” she repeated to him.

  Geary suppressed a sigh. When Tanya Desjani said that, it meant the something she wanted to talk about was something he wouldn’t want to discuss. But he stood close to the wall, right next to her, though he didn’t lean on the ancient structure. That just felt wrong, like using a book from the far past as a footrest. “Something about walls?”

  “Something about here.” She turned her gaze from the landscape and caught his eyes. “Tomorrow, we leave Old Earth, return to Dauntless, and head for home. You need to know what people will be thinking.”

  “I can guess,” Geary said.

  “No, you can’t. You spent a hundred years frozen in survival sleep. You’ve been among us for a while, but you still don’t understand us as well as you should. But I know the people of the Alliance right now because I’m one of them.” Tanya’s eyes had darkened, taken on a hardness and a fierceness he remembered from their first meeting. “I was born during a war that had started long before I arrived, and I grew up expecting that war to continue long after I was gone. I was named for an aunt who died in the war, saw my brother die in it, and fully expected that any child of mine might die in it. We could not win, we would not lose, and the deaths would go on and on. Everyone in the Alliance, everyone but you, grew up the same. And while we were growing up, we were taught that Captain Black Jack Geary had saved the Alliance when he died blunting one of the first surprise attacks by the Syndicate Worlds that started that war.”