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  But she paused just before leaving and looked back at him. “I hope you don’t take adversely anything I said, sir. I did feel obligated to speak honestly and forcefully.”

  “Thank you, Captain Desjani. I hope you will continue to speak with as much honesty and force whenever you feel it is appropriate, and I will listen when you do so. I’ve been told that I am one of the more reasonable sons of bitches in the fleet.”

  “That’s probably true, sir, but don’t let it go to your head.”

  He managed not to laugh until the hatch had closed behind her.

  TWO

  THE fleet conference room on Dauntless wasn’t all that large, and the table and seats it boasted could have held no more than a dozen people at the most. But the virtual conferencing software made the apparent size of the table and the compartment expand to accommodate the numbers of people in any meeting, so that Geary stood at the head of an extremely long table with hundreds of officers seated around it. Aside from him, Captain Desjani, and Co-President Rione, none of the other individuals were actually physically present. As much as he disliked fleet conferences, Geary had to admit the software was an impressive piece of work, and the fact that most of those “present” weren’t actually here had kept anyone from going for anyone else’s throat during arguments in the past.

  Unfortunately, there didn’t seem much chance of open argument this time. As much as he had disliked bandying words with the likes of Numos or Casia or Midea, at least the straightforward hostility of their attitudes had made it clear who needed to be watched. He would have welcomed that now, as a chance to identify the remaining opposition to his command of the fleet. But whoever was driving that effort seemed to have expended most of their human shields yet was remaining frustratingly hidden. If the only threat they posed was to his command, he wouldn’t have expended much worry on them since after the second battle of Lakota his standing with the sailors and most of the officers of the fleet was as firm as hull armor, but his hidden foes had repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to endanger some of the fleet’s warships in their attempts to strike at Geary. The game had shifted from trying to topple him to trying to assassinate him and his firmest supporters, which, in practice, meant trying to destroy the ships they were on.

  Geary called up the star display over the conference table. “My apologies for the delay in communicating my intentions. We’ve stripped Dilawa of everything of use to us. I’ve already ordered the fleet onto a course for the jump point for Heradao.” On the display, the projected path of the Alliance fleet curved in a graceful arc through the empty reaches of Dilawa Star System. “We hope to find that the Alliance prisoners of war are still at Heradao, in which case we’ll liberate them.”

  “We need to liberate more food along with them,” Captain Tulev stated bluntly. “What we have is inadequate.”

  Commander Neeson of Implacable shook his head. “We can’t loot enough unless we occupy a planetary-surface warehouse district, and that’s beyond our Marines’ capability. We also can’t trust any food the Syndics give us under duress, and we can’t test it all thoroughly.”

  “Two thousand prisoners at Heradao according to the old records we have,” Tulev pointed out. “We must liberate them, I agree. Physically, we can hold them. Some of our ships are still slightly understrength from battle casualties even with the survivors we’ve picked up from ships we’ve lost, and the others can take on extra personnel for the time needed to reach Alliance space. But the food situation is growing critical.”

  “You mean like the fuel situation?” Captain Armus of the Colossus grumbled.

  Geary held up a hand to quiet everyone. “We’re short on everything. However the logistics systems project that even if we pick up two thousand liberated Alliance personnel, we’ll be able to make Alliance space without running out of food, though rations will have to be reduced again.”

  “And if we’re delayed?” Tulev asked.

  “We can’t afford any more delays,” Geary replied. “Fuel and food are at critical levels, and the only source we can count on for resupply is back in Alliance home space. We’re going to keep moving and fighting. We’ve had to be very concerned with keeping the Syndics guessing as to our route home, but from this point on we’re heading straight there.” Relieved smiles appeared on many faces as Geary shifted the scale on the star display, but then the smiles faded on most faces.

  Armus put the worry into words. “A direct route increases the chances of running into Syndic blocking forces. How can we fight through those forces if we’re low on fuel?”

  Pray to our ancestors for a miracle occurred to Geary as an answer, but hoping for divine intervention wasn’t a sound basis for tactical planning. “By fighting as smart as we can to minimize fuel-cell usage. If necessary, we’ll try to blow past the blocking forces and leave them in our wake.” That intelligent and reasonable idea drew grimaces around the table. It was too contrary to the primitive concepts of honor and courage that had controlled the fleet’s actions for at least a generation and led to horrendous losses as well. But Geary had gained enough experience with those attitudes to know how to satisfy them. “We can always come back and destroy those Syndic ships once we’ve re-fueled, or leave them for the Alliance warships that have been defending our home space in our absence and deserve an opportunity to get in their own blows.”

  The grimaces lightened, and some smiles reappeared as Geary continued.

  “There’s a strong possibility that whatever the Syndics have left to try to stop us will be waiting at Heradao, because it’s a straight shot back home for us. If a Syndic flotilla is at Heradao, we will fight them there because our fuel stocks will be as good as they’re going to be until we get home.”

  He glanced at Captain Desjani, who betrayed no sign that Geary was practically quoting her own advice. I can’t afford to feed rumors of favoritism toward Desjani now, but once this is over, I’ll make sure that she and people like her get the credit they deserve. Outwardly, Geary just indicated a bright white star. “After Heradao we’ll go on to Padronis, and from there to Atalia.”

  A sigh seemed to run around the table as Captain Badaya of Illustrious spoke the thoughts probably on everyone’s mind. “And Atalia is within jump range of Varandal.”

  “Right,” Geary agreed. “Alliance home space, and the biggest concentration of fleet support facilities in the region. Once we reach Varandal, we can get all of the supplies we need.”

  “Boldness is certainly called for,” Captain Caligo of the battle cruiser Brilliant agreed. “The Alliance needs us and every Alliance prisoner of war we can liberate from within Syndic territory.”

  That unobjectionable statement drew nods of agreement as Geary took a moment to look at Caligo. He’d been mostly silent at these meetings until recently, but had begun speaking up. Not that Caligo had yet said anything exceptional, just things that found concurrence with almost everyone.

  “Our intelligence personnel believe the Syndic mine inventories must still be very low after all of the mines they laid in the star systems around Lakota to try trapping us,” Geary continued. “We’ll still do a preprogrammed evasive maneuver upon arrival at Heradao and be ready for combat coming out of the jump exit. Are there any questions?”

  “What about Kalixa?” Captain Kila asked. “It’s on the way home, too, and it has a Syndic hypernet gate.” Her tone seemed to be intended to be mild but was still sharp. Diplomacy definitely wasn’t Kila’s strong suit, but then he already knew that.

  “We’re not going to Kalixa,” Geary replied. “The risks posed by a Syndic hypernet gate are too great.”

  Kila pretended puzzlement. “Are risks a problem for this fleet? We’re not afraid of what the Syndics can do, Captain Geary, but this would be a good opportunity to inflict more damage on them by eliminating another star system of theirs.”

  Commander Neeson sounded incredulous. “Excuse me, Captain Kila, but you were at Lakota with us, weren’t you? Our own fleet cou
ld have been destroyed.”

  “It wasn’t,” Kila pointed out. “Avoiding actions out of exaggerated fears of the enemy response isn’t what’s expected of any commander in this fleet, let alone a battle cruiser commander.”

  Neeson’s face flushed with sudden anger. “Are you accusing me of cowardice?”

  “Quiet,” Geary ordered. “Everyone. Captain Kila, your statement was out of line.”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t mean offense, merely to point out—”

  “That’s enough.” He could see the flare of defiance in Kila’s eyes as he cut her off. “Commander Neeson has demonstrated his courage many times. I will not tolerate attempts to question the abilities or the bravery of anyone in this fleet without good cause.”

  Captain Cresida, who had clearly been waiting for an opening, jumped in. “Commander Neeson is also right. The energy discharge when the hypernet gate at Lakota collapsed was on the low end of the theoretical range. I’ll remind Captain Kila that the high end runs up to a nova-scale burst of energy. No ship in the same star system could possibly survive that even if located as far as possible from the gate when it collapsed.”

  “In theory,” Kila replied sarcastically. “We didn’t see anything like that at either Sancere or Lakota, so perhaps the theory is wrong, and the gates may be safely used by us as weapons to eliminate Syndic star systems and finally make them pay in full for what they’ve done in this war!”

  “That statement,” Cresida returned with growing heat, “reflects a total misunderstanding of what is known about the hypernet gates and the data we collected at both Sancere and Lakota!”

  “That’s enough.” Geary broke in again. “Captain Cresida is right. We don’t need to debate the science here. Captain Kila, I recommend you familiarize yourself with what is known before you make suggestions for courses of action.” Kila reddened at the barely veiled rebuke.

  Daring’s captain nodded. “As for being able to ride out taking down a hypernet gate, we all saw what happened to the Syndic warships that took down their own gate at Lakota.”

  “Our ships—” Kila began.

  “At Sancere my ship was right up there while it was collapsing, and Inspire was a long ways distant! I know exactly what it’s like to be near a collapsing hypernet gate, and I don’t want any part of that again no matter what you say. Only luck and the living stars saved us at Sancere and Lakota.”

  “Luck, courage, and brains,” Geary added. “As long as this fleet continues to use the last two, we can save the first for emergencies. And as for using the hypernet gates to destroy enemy star systems, I’ve already stated that I will not order such an action. Neither the living stars nor our ancestors could possibly approve of such an atrocity and on such a scale.”

  “It appears,” Captain Duellos observed, “that there’s no reason to go to Kalixa then.”

  Kila shot him an ugly look as Captain Caligo chimed in once more. “We’re one fleet. We all believe in the same things. Arguments like this only serve the goals of the enemy by driving us apart.”

  That brought many more nods of approval. Geary couldn’t find fault with Caligo’s words, either, and for some reason they even shut up Kila, who finally subsided.

  “Are there any other questions?” Geary asked dryly.

  There weren’t, and the meeting ended in a flurry of images vanishing and the room apparently shrinking back to normal dimensions again.

  Captain Duellos lingered for a moment. “I have to confess I was starting to wonder why we hadn’t headed out of Dilawa before now.”

  “I needed to have my head pounded with a brick,” Geary admitted.

  “Ah, I see. How fortunate that you had Captain Desjani handy for that task.”

  Desjani gave Duellos an annoyed look. “Don’t you have better things to be doing right now, Roberto?”

  Duellos nodded, then smiled. “Call me if you ever need another brick, Tanya.”

  “I’ll do that. He’s got a hard head. I bet you’ve saved up quite a supply of bricks so they’ll be handy for arguments with Kila.”

  “She’s not worth our time,” Duellos said dismissively. “I only speak with her when duty requires it.”

  Geary grimaced in response. “I’m just glad she shut up before I had to outright order her to do that.”

  “Even Kila couldn’t object to what Caligo said.”

  “Yes, she could’ve,” Desjani insisted. “Even the blandest statement can be twisted. I was surprised she accepted it so quietly.”

  Duellos pursed his lips in thought. “That’s a point, but you’re implying that Kila and Caligo have some sort of agreement. They don’t socialize, I don’t know of anyone who’s even seen them together except in meetings like this one, and they’re not exactly soul mates.”

  “I won’t argue that,” Desjani conceded.

  “How well do you know Captain Kila?” Geary asked.

  Desjani shrugged. “I’ve had little contact with her, but that’s been by choice based on what I’ve heard from friends. And I’ve heard plenty.”

  “What did your friends say?”

  Another shrug. “They say that Kila’s bitch-switch is locked into the ‘on’ position and comes with a power-boost setting that activates at the slightest provocation.”

  Geary managed to convert his laugh into a cough. “That sounds like good justification for avoiding her.”

  “As well as an accurate description,” Duellos observed.

  “How did she make rank with a personality like that?”

  Desjani gave Geary a skeptical look. “Are you serious? Her personality only comes into play with people junior in rank to her, or with peers who are rivals for promotion. As far as her superiors are concerned, she’s always as fine as a micron filter.”

  “Oh.” It had been a dumb question. He’d encountered a few people like that in his career a century ago, and somehow wars usually managed to avoid causing the loss of such individuals.

  “So you can see,” Duellos continued, “that Kila isn’t the sort to buddy up to a bland sort of officer who can do nothing for her ambitions. Caligo is the sort of officer that Kila snacks on for fun.”

  “That doesn’t mean they couldn’t end up in bed together,” Desjani pointed out.

  “Ouch.” Duellos made a pained face. “I know you meant it metaphorically, but now I have that image in my head. Oh, please, make it go away. By your leave, Captain Geary, I have to go take a shower.”

  After watching Duellos’s image vanish, Geary shook his head at Desjani. “I’m glad you two are on my side.” He held up a hand as Rione started to leave. “Can you wait a moment, Madam Co-President?”

  Rione stopped, her eyes going from Desjani to Geary. “I thought you two might want to be alone.”

  Desjani’s eyes narrowed, and the corners of her upper lip curled to bare her teeth. “Perhaps Co-President Rione would care to repeat that to me in private?”

  “I was hoping”—Geary broke in before Rione could offer Desjani her choice of weapons—“that you could let me know if you’ve found out anything?”

  This time Rione let her gaze linger on Desjani, plainly indicating a question about her presence, but Geary just waited. He needed another set of eyes on this, another mind double-checking his own. Eventually, Rione shook her head. “What I’ve learned can be summed up in one word—nothing.”

  “Not a thing?” Geary rubbed his forehead, trying to hide his disappointment. “I know how good your spies in this fleet are, Madam Co-President. I’d hoped—”

  “Since they’re working on your behalf, you should call them agents, Captain Geary.” Rione gestured angrily. “Whoever has been behind the most recent challenges to your command and the attempts to sabotage some of the ships of this fleet has hidden their involvement exceptionally well. They’ve left no trails to follow. Even the interrogations you authorized of that oaf Captain Numos after the last attempts to insert worms into the operating systems of your warships produced nothing becau
se Numos doesn’t have a clue who was actually goading him on. Faresa might have had some idea, but she died at Lakota. The same is true of Falco, assuming he could have managed to separate fantasy from reality long enough to provide anything useful. Captain Casia and Commander Yin can’t talk because they’re dead as a result of a convenient accident. If you’ve been underestimating your remaining enemies in this fleet in any way, stop doing so now. Whoever they are, they’re very capable and very dangerous.”

  “So are we,” Desjani said.

  Rione looked amused. “Bravado may be useful against the Syndics, but it isn’t what you need against this enemy.”

  “We know that.” Geary intervened before Desjani could fire another volley. “What about Kila? She’s grown steadily more open in her dissents.”

  Now Rione’s amusement faded to annoyance. “As your fellow officers reported and my agents confirmed, Kila is too widely disliked to have a hope of being accepted as commander of this fleet. But she’s also too arrogant, and—unlike Numos—too capable, to allow herself to be used by others. Apparently this is just her normal personality asserting itself now that she’s realized you won’t fall for the usual ways she tries to suck up to her superiors. She never tried to seduce you, did she?”

  “What?”

  “There’s indications it might have been one of her tactics for advancement, though that could also just be gossip fed by the general dislike for Kila among her peers. You’re saying she never tried that with you?”

  “No!” He could see Desjani out of the corners of his eyes, and she was looking daggers at Rione. “We haven’t even physically been on the same ship!”