Victorious

EIGHT

“The battleship is moving,” Desjani reported, interrupting Geary’s restless attempts to get some sleep in his stateroom. He wondered if she had left the bridge at all in the last twenty-four hours. “The heavy cruisers are accompanying it.”

He tried to shake fatigue out of his brain. “What’s their vector?”

“It looks like they’re heading for the primary inhabited world.”

What did that mean? Had the Syndic warships mutinied, and were they bringing the members of the Executive Council back to face whatever form of justice a new government would demand? Or were the members of the Syndic Executive Council still firmly in control of those warships and heading back to reassert their own authority?

Desjani had come up with another possibility, though. “Maybe they’re trying to lure us out from behind the star,” she suggested. “Get us moving to intercept them, then dart back to the jump point and escape while the hypernet gate collapses on us.”

He rubbed his eyes, then glared at the display over the table in his stateroom. “We don’t need to move. The strike force can handle that battleship.”

“Not if the flotilla joins it.”

As if in response to Desjani’s words, alerts flashed on the display as the Syndic flotilla’s vectors changed. Geary waited impatiently as the Syndics settled onto a new course and speed, the projected path of the flotilla swinging toward, then merging with the projected path of the battleship. “Did you have to say that?” he asked Desjani.

She smiled humorlessly. “It was easy to predict. Either the Syndic leaders are on their way to the primary world to kick butt and take names, in which case they want the flotilla with them, or the Syndic leaders are under arrest, in which case the flotilla will try to rescue them.”

One other path merged with that of the flotilla and the battleship. “The strike force will get to the battleship just before the flotilla intercepts it.”

“While we’re stuck here.”

“Sorry.”

“You owe me one.”

He smiled with an equal lack of humor. “Noted. I don’t think we should move yet. We need to hold here for several more hours, to ensure that we aren’t being lured out from this position.”

“The fleet won’t like it, sir, hiding behind the star while the Syndics move back toward us.”

“I don’t like it, either. But if the Syndic leaders are trying to lure us out, this time around they won’t waste any time sending the collapse order to the hypernet gate once we’re far enough from the star.” Unfortunately, that logic, and the results if he guessed wrong, could drive him to stay in place indefinitely. “Tanya, if I seem to be hesitating too long on moving this fleet, call me on it.”

“I always do, sir.”

Another hour, while Geary waited with increasing anxiety and an increasingly bad mood. His comm status was set to rest so no messages would get through unless they came from Desjani, Rione, or Duellos. He didn’t feel like getting advice from Badaya or anyone else at the moment.

Though there was CEO Boyens. Would he be able to help? No. By his own admission, Boyens has been exiled on the far border for more than a decade. Even if we could trust him, and we can’t, he still doesn’t know the big players here.

Finally, Geary went back to the bridge and sat glumly in the fleet commander’s seat while the watch-standers, with well-honed survival instincts, all tried to avoid drawing his notice.

“Admiral.” Lieutenant Iger had a happy expression, which disappeared very quickly as he caught the look in Geary’s eyes. “Sir, there’s a great deal of communication going on between the battleship and the primary world.”

“What’s that mean?” Geary demanded. Realizing from Iger’s reaction how harsh his voice had been, Geary worked to get his tone back to normal. “Do we have any idea what they’re talking about?”

“No, sir. But there is a very interesting clue in the transmissions. The messages from the primary world are being given priority in the Syndic net over the communications from the battleship.”

“What about the flotilla? Who are they talking to?”

Lieutenant Iger shook his head. “We’ve seen some transmissions to the flotilla from the primary world but haven’t been able to spot anything from the flotilla in reply. Our ships and collection satellites aren’t in the right positions to tell if the flotilla and the battleship are talking directly to each other.”

“Thank you.” Geary rubbed his eyes, seriously considering asking the fleet medical personnel for the kind of painkiller only dispensed by doctors. “Captain Desjani, my guts are telling me that if nothing else has changed in half an hour, we should head out and aim to intercept that battleship. The battleship will still be about four light-hours distant then. What do you think?”

“I think,” she commented, “that if we try to wait until we feel safe, we’ll miss any opportunity to resolve this situation in our favor. The Syndic battleship won’t see us move for four hours. We’ll see the battleship’s reaction in another four hours. But the primary inhabited world will see us moving much sooner than that. It’s only about ten light-minutes from us now. When they see us heading for that battleship, anyone trying to supplant the Executive Council may well talk to us. They want us on their side, and as disgusting as the idea of allying with any Syndics is to me, we need someone to shut off the threat of that hypernet gate.”

“Then why not go now?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea, Admiral. I concur.” Geary gave her a sour look and thought about double-checking with Tulev. It wouldn’t hurt to have another perspective on this, especially someone as solid as Tulev. But as he reached for his controls, a thought came to him that paused his movement. “Captain Desjani, have you already discussed this with Captain Tulev?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And would Captain Tulev’s advice be the same as yours?”

“Yes, sir.”

He could stay mad or see the humor in the situation. Staying mad hadn’t helped so far, so he might as well try laughing about it. “Thank you, Captain Desjani.” Geary took a look toward the back of the bridge, where Senator Sakai sat watching, his posture relaxed but eyes intent.

“We’re going to try to get the political games going on right now out into the open, Senator.”

Sakai nodded. “You mean the Syndic political games, I assume, Admiral?”

“Right.” It was nice to know Sakai had a sense of humor. Geary checked the maneuvering system, then called the fleet. “All units in the main formation of the Alliance fleet, this is Admiral Geary. Come starboard zero one three degrees, up zero two degrees, and accelerate to point one light speed at time four one.”

Another circuit. “Captain Duellos, the main body of the Alliance fleet will proceed to an intercept with the Syndic battleship coming from the Mandalon jump point.”

At time five one, Desjani ordered the course and speed changes for Dauntless, then yawned. “At least a day, maybe a day and a half until we meet up with that battleship. I think I’ll get some rest.”

“Good idea.” Now that the decision had been made, the tension level on the bridge had dropped dramatically. It was absurd, considering that he had just ordered the Alliance fleet out of its safe harbor, but Geary felt the same release in stress inside him. “Maybe I can sleep now, too.”

“Make it quick,” Desjani suggested. “We may hear from someone on the primary world in about half an hour.”

“I can live with that.”

As it turned out, something happened within ten minutes. Geary had barely reached his stateroom when an urgent notification arrived from Dauntless’s communications watch-stander. “Admiral, we have an incoming message from the Syndic battleship.”

The image this time wasn’t of a CEO, but of a Syndic military officer, his expression grim but otherwise unrevealing. “To the Alliance fleet, be advised that this warship and its accompanying heavy cruisers are responding to orders from the new Executive Council of the Syndicate Worlds. We are in the process of transporting the members of the old Executive Council back to Prime, the second planet from our star. Those members do not have access to any communications or transmission equipment. We—” The Syndic visibly had to brace himself to continue. “We request that you avoid interfering with our transit.”

That had to have been a hard message to send, but it must have been transmitted before the rebellious Syndic battleship had seen the Syndic flotilla turn to intercept it. Would there be a follow-up message, with the even-harder-to-make request that the Alliance fleet aid the battleship against the Syndic flotilla?

He was still considering that, and how he could phrase such orders, when the communications watch-stander announced another incoming message, this time from the primary inhabited world.

Geary saw a cluster of Syndic CEOs who appeared to be standing in an open area between low buildings, grass beneath their feet and an appealingly blue sky above their heads. They were wearing the usual flawlessly crafted outfits, but for once the polished, practiced, and insincere smiles weren’t present, the CEOs instead looking openly serious. “To Admiral Geary and the representatives of the Alliance grand council,” one of the CEOs announced, “we are the members of the new Executive Council of the Syndicate Worlds. We have reviewed your proposals and are willing seriously to negotiate their adoption as a basis for ending hostilities. We have ordered all Syndicate Worlds’ mobile and fixed forces within this star system to cease offensive action and ask that you suspend offensive action against any people or units of the Syndicate Worlds who have acknowledged our authority.”

The CEO put more earnestness into his words. “The programming for subverting what you call the safe-fail system has been disabled. The hypernet gate cannot now be used to destroy this star system and your fleet. We understand you have cause to doubt declarations from the Syndicate Worlds’ leaders. Our own location is on the surface of our world. We will remain here as living hostages to our word that your fleet is safe while we await your reply.”

That sounded promising. Getting the fleet moving had indeed provoked a response.

An image of Rione appeared on his screen. “I’ve seen the message. We can’t be certain that they’re really on the surface of the planet. They could be in a simulation chamber buried deep under the surface. But an analysis I had run indicated that even a deeply buried location wouldn’t stand a high chance of survival if a hypernet gate collapsed with an enhanced energy discharge. The Syndics may be treacherous, but their engineers are as good as ours. They’ll know that.”

“You’re saying we can trust them.”

“As much as we can trust any Syndic. There’s no reason to believe these CEOs are any more ethical, or any less self-interested than the ones they have replaced. In this case, physical survival and self-interest coincided nicely for us. They needed to disable that catastrophic-collapse routine to save themselves.” Rione took on a formal attitude. “Admiral Geary, I request permission for the Alliance grand council representatives accompanying this fleet to begin direct negotiations with the Syndicate Worlds’ CEOs of the new Executive Council.”

“Permission granted.”

“If I read between the lines properly, the Syndic flotilla is not acknowledging the authority of the new Executive Council. I anticipate the new Executive Council will request that we defend their planet against their own flotilla. How do you want me to deal with such a request, Admiral?”

His tension headache threatened to come back. “The Alliance fleet will engage any hostile forces in this star system.”

Rione smiled. “Very good. Vague enough yet also firm. That should cover all possibilities. I will gather Sakai and Costa and establish communications with the Syndics.”

“And I’m going to continue the fleet on a path to join up with the strike force and intercept the Syndic battleship as well as the flotilla. If everyone remains on their current vectors, that means you have a bit less than twenty-three hours to resolve things. If you haven’t by then, that flotilla is either going to run, or it’s going to get hammered.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Admiral. You should keep in mind that we no longer need the former Syndic Executive Council members on the battleship. As long as they are alive, they pose a threat to the negotiations.”

“I’ll remember that.” Geary wondered if his voice was as cold as it sounded to him. “I won’t murder them, though.”

“I doubt that you’ll have to do that, Admiral. The members of the former Executive Council seem very likely to be caught in a three-way cross fire. If they somehow survive that, the Syndic officers on that battleship are very likely to execute the members of the former Executive Council on the spot rather than risk their return to power, just as those members once ordered CEO Shalin to murder the Alliance officers led by Admiral Bloch.” Rione’s smile was as icy as Geary’s tone had been. “The living stars sometimes act slowly, but they do tend eventually to provide fates appropriate to the deeds of men and women.”

The Syndic flotilla must have seen by now that the Alliance fleet was on its way, but the Syndics weren’t running, instead still aiming straight for an intercept with the battleship fleeing for the Syndic primary world.

“They want the battleship,” Geary told Duellos in a message the captain wouldn’t see for over an hour. “They have to chase it, so we want that battleship undamaged and heading as fast as it can toward the inner planets. That will force the Syndic flotilla to engage the rest of the Alliance fleet. Try to slow down the flotilla, hit its edges, and in particular watch for the Syndic battle cruisers breaking off to try to run down the battleship before it can get near us. Once we come to grips with the Syndic flotilla, the welfare of that battleship is no longer an issue for us.” Was there something else? “Try to remain out of range of the battleship’s weaponry. We have been told that it will not initiate combat with us, but we can’t trust in that, and even if it does intend to abide by that promise, if you get too close, the battleship might think it’s about to be attacked and open fire anyway. Geary out.”

Desjani was sitting in her command seat again, looking rested, relaxed, and cheerful as the fleet and the enemy flotilla closed on each other at a combined velocity of about point two light speed. “A Syndic HuK came out of the hypernet gate a little while ago. It looks like it’s going to hang around the gate.”

“A courier.” The HuK had transmitted its message and would wait at the hypernet gate until a reply was received to carry back. “I wonder what it thinks about all of those mines at the gate, and all of the merchant ships with FACs hanging off them.” Geary peered at his display questioningly. “Speaking of which, I wonder why the merchant ships haven’t moved yet.”

“They’re too slow to get anywhere in time to accomplish anything,” Desjani pointed out. “All of the Syndics, no matter whom they’re backing, know that as well as we do. Once we wipe out the flotilla, we’ll have plenty of time to go back and wipe out the FACs and their merchant mother ships.”

The Syndic battleship heading in their direction was just off the port bows of the Alliance ships, its relative bearing staying steady as the Alliance ships aimed for an intercept as soon as possible. Farther off to port, the Syndic flotilla was closing on the battleship and the Alliance fleet, its bearing drifting steadily starboard. Almost dead ahead, the battle cruisers and escorts of the Alliance strike force were also heading straight for the battleship. But it would be another six hours before the strike force reached the Syndic battleship and soon after began tangling with the Syndic flotilla, and fifteen hours before the Alliance fleet got close enough to the Syndic flotilla for a battle. “Do we want to take out that battleship even if we don’t have to?” Geary murmured to himself.

Desjani heard and gave him an approving look. “Am I rubbing off on you? Yes, let’s do it. It will be one less battleship for the Syndics to use against us in the future.”

“But we don’t want anarchy in Syndic space,” Geary reminded her. “We might end up with that if we destroy every means of defense.”

“That’s still an enemy ship. Our job is to destroy enemy ships.”

“The Syndic flotilla may try to destroy it as well.”

“That will make it easier for us. We help them destroy it, then we destroy them.”

Desjani’s suggestion did have the virtue of simplicity. “We’ll see what happens,” Geary told her. “I admit that I’m tempted, but I won’t blow them away if that battleship avoids firing on our warships.”

She looked dissatisfied, then nodded. “Hitting them when they were abiding by a truce would be a Syndic thing to do, wouldn’t it? Fine. We’ll be civilized and only kill them after they provoke us.”

“You’re an interesting woman, Tanya.” Geary rubbed his eyes. “I think I really will try to get some sleep now.”

Perhaps it was simple exhaustion, or perhaps it was the relief of knowing a decisive engagement would likely take place, but Geary had no trouble sleeping this time. He only got four hours instead of his hoped-for five, though, before a message came in from the strike force.

Duellos appeared relaxed. It was still hard to recall that he was on the bridge of Inspire now, and not Courageous, which had been lost at Heradao. “My intent is to bypass the battleship and its three-cruiser escort. The Syndic flotilla is currently arrayed with the battleships on the outer edges and the battle cruisers in the center, making it a very tough nut for my strike force to crack. CEO Shalin may be dishonorable and contemptible, but he’s playing this smart. I’ll see what I can do to slow him down and hurt him, but we need the fleet’s battleships to really hammer that flotilla. Duellos out.”

Geary gave up on sleep for the next day or so and headed back to the bridge.

Desjani was still there, apparently ignoring Senator Costa in the observer’s seat.

For her part, Costa was concentrating on her display.

“Is this right, Admiral? Our strike force will engage the enemy in less than two hours?”

“Not exactly,” Geary explained as he took his own seat. “In a little less than two hours our strike force will intercept the Syndic battleship heading toward the primary world. We do not intend engaging that battleship unless it attacks us first.”

“There won’t be a battle soon, then.” Costa seemed disappointed.

“I hope not. I need everything those battle cruisers have got for their fight with the flotilla, and battleships are very tough targets even when one has only three escorts with it.”

“I came up here during a break in negotiations in the hope of observing firsthand our brave sailors engaging the enemy,” Costa complained.

He glanced at Desjani, who was trying to look like she wasn’t aware of the conversation. “Senator, the strike force will be almost a light-hour distant from us when it does encounter the enemy. We won’t see what happens until an hour after it happens.”

Costa frowned. “Yes … of course … that goes without saying. Please notify me before the strike force encounters the Syndic flotilla. I assume the strike force will attack the center of the enemy, where their own battle cruisers are located.”

“No, Senator, we will not do that.”

The senator’s frown deepened. “You just said that battleships are tough targets. I understand that battle cruisers are not designed for one-on-one fights with battleships. Why wouldn’t our battle cruisers engage the Syndic battle cruisers?”

He took a long breath before replying. “Because aside from being outnumbered sixteen to nine in battle cruisers, plowing our strike force through the center of the Syndic flotilla would expose our battle cruisers and their escorts to fire from all sides from the battleships on the corners of the Syndic formation, as well as to fire from the overwhelming number of Syndic escorts. The sixty-one heavy cruisers in that flotilla would by themselves be a difficult challenge for the strike force.”

“Why isn’t our strike force stronger then?”

Geary took another look at Desjani, who seemed to be enjoying herself. Rione said that politicians and military officers stopped talking to each other. If this is an example of how the conversations went, I have no trouble understanding that. Every time he gave Costa any details, she asked for more without applying anything learned from the previous answers. Maybe the answer was to avoid any detail the senator could use for further attempts to question his own judgment. “That was my decision as fleet commander, Senator.”

After a long moment spent thinking that over, Costa stood up. “I’d better get back to the negotiations.”

After waiting until she left, Geary turned to Desjani. “You set me up.”

“I merely informed the senator that there were certain questions the fleet commander was best equipped to answer, sir.”

“Thank you, Captain. I’ll be sure to return the favor sometime.”

Desjani gave him a measuring look. “Are you worried? Duellos won’t go up the middle. A year ago, we would have done that. Not now.”

“What about Kattnig? If he sends Adroit through the middle of that Syndic flotilla, how many other ships will follow him?”

“Hopefully, not many. When did you last eat?”

“I … can’t remember.”

She pulled out some ration bars. “You can’t give your body sleep, but it needs food, too.”

Geary took the bars cautiously, remembering some of the horrible-tasting ones he had been forced to eat during the fleet’s return to Alliance space. “Bulgorin?”

“They’re pretty good. I’m not sure where they eat bulgorin, but it’s not bad.”

“What’s in it?”

“I have no idea, and no intention of looking. Just eat them. You need to be alert for at least the next twelve hours, so your body needs fuel.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Desjani narrowed her eyes at him. “If you’re not at your best, Admiral, the personnel and warships of this fleet will suffer.”

He couldn’t deny the truth of that, so Geary ate the bars, which did taste pretty good for ration bars. After that he tried to relax as he watched the Alliance and Syndicate Worlds’ formations moving on his display. The Syndic flotilla had ramped up its velocity to point one five light speed, or roughly forty-five thousand kilometers per second, yet with the scale pulled far out, the depictions of the ships barely seemed to be moving against the huge distances of a star system. But zooming in close presented images of warships that appeared totally motionless with nothing for the eye to measure their movement against.

The Syndics were coming in from an angle at the battleship, which had managed to plod up to point one two light as it headed toward the primary world. It should have been able to accelerate to a better velocity than that though. I wonder what modifications the Syndic Executive Council made to that warship over the years to enhance their own comfort, at the cost of important capabilities.

He must have inadvertently asked that out loud. Desjani answered immediately. “That might explain something. Our sensors estimate the mass of that battleship as significantly higher than comparable Syndic battleships, but the armor doesn’t appear to be any more massive. So there’s something very heavy inside it.”

“A citadel?”

“That’s what I’d guess. Something with very thick walls made of the densest material the Syndics could manage without dealing with radioactives. The Syndic leaders wanted someplace where they could fort up in an emergency.”

“Idiots,” Geary grumbled. “Making a battleship even slower so it can’t get away from pursuers, and doing that in the name of protecting themselves.”

The encounter of the strike force with the Syndic battleship was something of an anticlimax, the two formations tearing past each other outside weapons range without pause or action. But only two light-minutes beyond the battleship was the Syndic flotilla.

“Damn.” Geary clenched his fist in frustration. “The Syndics are holding to point one five light speed.”

Desjani made a helpless gesture. “They’re overtaking the battleship at an angle, so their speed relative to it is only point zero eight light speed. Plenty good for targeting.”

“But Duellos is going to have to brake hard, or he’ll cross their path at a combined velocity of point three light speed! What kind of hits could he get at that speed?”

Desjani passed the question to the combat-systems watch-stander, who shook her head. “Compensation for relativistic distortion would be inadequate, Admiral. Hit probabilities would be a maximum of five percent, and most likely lower.”

“He’s braking,” Desjani commented.

On his display, Geary saw the same information. An hour and five minutes ago Duellos had pivoted his ships so the main propulsion units pointed forward, then begun killing velocity as fast as the ships’ structures and inertial dampers could handle it.

“Duellos cut it close,” Desjani added in admiring tones. “He should get down to a decent combined velocity relative to the Syndics just in time to pivot his ships bow forward again for the firing pass.”

Geary had to admit that the familiar Syndic box formation had been shrewdly put together this time. The Syndic CEO had arrayed his ships in a shallow box, with the broad side facing forward. Each corner was anchored by three battleships. In the center, all sixteen battle cruisers formed a cluster in which their massed firepower would compensate for their lighter armor and shields. The sixty-one heavy cruisers were distributed to reinforce the already-formidable battleship groups in the corners as well as the battle cruisers in the center. Spread through the areas between the battleships and the battle cruisers were the swarms of light cruisers and Hunter-Killers. There simply weren’t any weak points that could be hammered by the battle cruisers in the Alliance strike force. “It looks like Duellos angled to hit one of the lower corners.”

Desjani nodded. “You tend to favor hitting upper corners, so he probably chose a lower one to throw off the Syndics.”

“I tend to hit upper corners?” Developing a pattern would be dangerous, since the enemy could exploit knowledge of that to counter his moves.

“Yes. I was going to talk to you about that.”

“Thanks. Next time bring something like that up a little earlier.” The words were light, but inside Geary’s guts were knotted with tension. Whatever Duellos had done had happened an hour ago. He couldn’t do anything to influence the events he was seeing. He knew that. But it didn’t make watching it any easier. Especially when he saw Duellos’s formation start to shred in a way that didn’t seem planned. “What’s that—Adroit. Where is Adroit going?” Kattnig was doing what they had feared, changing course to head directly for the Syndic flotilla instead of following the glancing firing run Duellos had set up.

But within moments, Geary’s outrage changed to disbelief as Adroit’s track became clearer. “What the hell.”

From her baffled tones, Desjani felt the same way. “Adroit is turning away, opening her distance to the Syndic formation.” She turned a shocked expression to Geary. “He’s avoiding action.”

Agonized, Geary watched helplessly as the other four battle cruisers in Adroit’s division made initial moves to follow her track, then wavered onto new vectors as their individual commanding officers tried to compensate for their maneuvers away from an intercept of the Syndics.

In the very little time available to react, some of them overcompensated.

“Damn,” Desjani whispered through clenched teeth, as the Alliance strike force whipped past the Syndic flotilla, Assert and Agile curving on paths that brought them closer to the Syndics than the rest of the Alliance warships.

Assert came apart as she caught a concentrated barrage from the three Syndic battleships forming that corner of the enemy formation. Agile, frantically trying to live up to her name by bending back upward, nonetheless staggered from dozens of hits and tumbled onward, maneuvering and propulsion lost along with many other systems and surely many members of her crew.

The confusion among the battle cruisers following Adroit lessened the Alliance blow against the Syndics. One Syndic battleship shuddered under repeated blows, but despite taking heavy damage to one area, kept going with the formation.

It had all happened in less than the blink of an eye as the formations tore past each other, and now Duellos was bringing his formation around and trying to re-form it while the Syndics raced onward toward the battleship.

“Maybe something went wrong on Adroit,” Desjani said, her voice still reflecting disbelief. “They’re brand-new. Some glitch in the maneuvering controls.”

“Maybe. That was Duellos’s best chance to slow down that flotilla. The battleship with the former Syndic leaders on it is dead meat unless it surrenders and releases them.”

“Which it will,” Desjani said bitterly.

“No. Rione didn’t think so, and neither do I. As long as the battleship fights, her officers stand a chance of survival. If the Syndic leaders they mutinied against regain power, every officer on that ship will die or wish they had.”

The flotilla was closing the remaining distance rapidly, angling slightly so that the single battleship and the three heavy cruisers with it would pass between two corners and the concentration of battle cruisers in the center of the formation. Abruptly, the heavy cruisers with the lone battleship angled away, veering off in different directions as the battleship swung left in an attempt to counter the flotilla’s maneuvers.

“They left that too late,” Desjani commented, as the flotilla overtook the fleeing warships. Two of the escaping heavy cruisers vanished into clouds of wreckage as their former comrades poured fire into them. The third jerked from dozens of impacts, then broke apart, the pieces rolling away.

Even given the firepower it was facing, the Syndic battleship didn’t go easily. It lurched onward as its shields collapsed, and its armor was penetrated repeatedly, firing back with enough effect to knock out one of the battle cruisers and two heavy cruisers.

The Syndic flotilla braked as it went past the battleship, slowing enough to match velocities with the crippled warship. Escape pods began spurting from the battleship, spreading out as they fled the wreck.

The Alliance strike force had re-formed and was approaching again when the Syndic flotilla merged with the battleship once more. “Ancestors preserve us,” Desjani said in a shocked whisper. “They’re shooting up their own escape pods.”

“What the hell is CEO Shalin up to?” Geary asked. “Some of those pods might have members of the former Executive Council on them.”

He hadn’t noticed Rione coming onto the bridge, but she spoke now. “CEO Shalin is eliminating the competition. He intends taking over since he commands the last significant Syndic mobile military force. I wondered if he would realize the opportunity that provided, and it seems he finally did.”

“Then he’ll try to take out the new Executive Council as well.”

“If he can get through us, yes.”

“He won’t. Why the hell are his ships following orders to fire on escape pods carrying Syndic personnel?”

Desjani gave a grim laugh. “Some of them aren’t. Look at his formation.”

The neat box, already in slight disarray because of the rapid braking maneuver, was stretching out of shape as some individual warships veered away from their stations. Geary wished again that his fleet was closer to the action instead of being hours of travel time distant. “We could tear the hell out of them while they’re disorganized like that.”

“They just have to figure out whose side they’re on,” Desjani said. “How many sides do the Syndics have now, anyway? Three?”

“Two,” Rione replied. “Since Shalin has surely killed all of the members of the original Executive Council, that ‘side’ no longer exists, and the choice is now between him and the new Executive Council.”

“If I can get close enough to him,” Geary said, “I’m going to do my best to bring the number of Syndic sides down to one.”

“And I will return to the negotiations, to see how the elimination of the former Executive Council affects the attitudes of the new Executive Council.”

As Rione left, a window popped into existence beside Geary, showing Lieutenant Iger with a delighted expression. “Admiral, sir, we’ve got it.”

“Got what?”

“The flotilla flagship, sir. It’s usually impossible to sort out the flagship because it’s hidden in the local net traffic, but the Syndic flotilla communications are flailing about in some sort of internal dispute, and we were able to spot the flagship. It’s this battle cruiser, sir.” One of the Syndic warships on Geary’s display glowed a little brighter.

“Outstanding.” Geary felt his teeth draw back in a feral smile. “Let’s make sure we keep track of that ship.” He checked distances and times again. The running battle between the Syndic flotilla and the now-wrecked battleship had kept closing the distance to the Alliance fleet, and the surviving Syndics were still heading down the same vector as they focused on whose orders to follow. With the Alliance fleet coming on as well, the travel time to encounter the Syndics was down to just over four hours.

Duellos was a lot closer, but the strike force was in a stern chase after the Syndics, who were still barreling through space at just over point one light speed. It would be close to an hour before Duellos could manage another firing run on the flotilla.

But should he do it even then? Geary took another look at the disorganization spreading through the Syndic flotilla’s formation. Even if the Syndic warships totally lost their order, though, they would still be too tough for Duellos to break. But an attack by Duellos could have the opposite result. “Captain Duellos, this is Admiral Geary. Reduce your closing rate on the Syndic flotilla. The Syndics are engaging in internal debates, and if you hit them, it may resolve those debates quickly in favor of dealing with a common enemy. I want you to slow down enough to be ready to hit them from one side at the same time as the rest of the fleet approaches on the other side. I emphasize that this order does not indicate any lack of confidence in you or your ships. Monitor the Syndic flotilla closely, and if you see what you believe to be an important opportunity, you are authorized to use your discretion in taking action before the rest of the fleet reaches engagement range. Geary out.”

Updates were coming in from Duellos’s ships, most of which had sustained only minor damage, and from Agile, detailing the much more extensive damage she had taken. Geary bit back a curse as he read the data, then called Tanuki. “Captain Smyth, I want one of your auxiliaries ready to head for Agile as soon as we eliminate the threat from the Syndic flotilla. I need Agile able to maneuver again as soon as possible.”

Smyth’s reply appeared several seconds later. “I understand you want Agile to be sprightly once again. I’ll send Witch, sir, but I’m not liking what Agile is sending about her structural damage. It may be more than any of my auxiliaries can handle.”

“Understood.” Geary settled down in his seat, glowering at his display. “The people who approve stupid designs for warships should be required to ride those warships into battle.”

Desjani twisted her mouth. “Agile got shot up that badly because of what a fleet officer did.”

“We don’t know yet why Adroit changed course.”

“Aren’t we receiving status updates from Adroit?”

“Yes, we are.”

“Have any of those updates reported problems with the maneuvering systems?” Desjani pressed.

“No. The course change was the result of a helm order being entered. I just don’t know why that change was made.”

“Does it matter?” She paused before speaking slowly. “I read about Beowulf, about Kattnig’s other recent actions, and I thought, why is an officer who has fought such hard and bloody battles acting like a brand-new ensign who is talking big because he’s secretly unsure of how he’ll do in a real fight?”

“I know. It doesn’t sound like the same officer.”

“Maybe he’s not the same officer,” Desjani continued in a very low voice. “Maybe he’s seen too much blood, lost too many ships. Maybe Beowulf was one brutal fight too many, and he couldn’t stand it anymore. It happens.”

Geary stared at her. “I thought the fleet medical teams could spot that.”

“Not always. It’s just like an interrogation cell, which just tells you what someone believes is true. If someone convinces themselves that they’re fine, that’s how it shows up.”

She shook her head. “Maybe Kattnig didn’t really know, maybe he just suspected that he’d lost his nerve. But we lost at least one ship because of what he did. Maybe two.”

“We still don’t—” He looked away.

“Captain Duellos has temporary tactical command over Adroit, but he does not have the authority to relieve Kattnig of command and order him placed in protective confinement. You do. You need to do that now.”

Geary swung his head to glare at Desjani. “It would take an hour for that order to reach them. Why are you so eager to hammer Kattnig? The man has an outstanding record. The fleet medical staff cleared him.”

“He had an outstanding record. If he was pushed too far, it was his responsibility to recognize that fact, before it cost lives.”

“If he’s relieved now, it will be the same in most people’s eyes as if I’d declared him guilty of cowardice before the enemy! Why do you want to judge so quickly and destroy a man who has given so much to the Alliance?” His tone grew heated.

Desjani’s eyes flared, and she leaned close, inside his privacy field, her face reddening, whispering fiercely. “He’s already destroyed, Admiral Geary. You know what this fleet is like. You know how we think. Do you still not understand something so basic? Kattnig is publicly disgraced. He avoided battle. Officers and sailors died because of his actions. But he is not a pompous, oblivious fool like Numos. Kattnig knows what he did. He knows how everyone will look at him. He knows the fate that awaits him. What will an honorable man who faces such a fate do, a man already pushed past his limit?”

Her meaning finally hit him. “He needs to be relieved and arrested to protect him from himself.”

“Yes, Admiral Geary. And you had better never again even imply that I would ever seek the destruction of a good officer!” She leaned back abruptly, out of the privacy field, staring angrily at her display.

Geary tried to relax himself, then called Adroit. “Captain Kattnig is hereby relieved of duty and ordered placed in protective confinement. Adroit’s executive officer is to assume temporary command pending further notice.” Ending the transmission, he gritted his teeth. “I’m sorry, Captain Desjani. I shouldn’t have said that. It was unprofessional of me to accuse you of such a thing and unjustified by everything I know about you.”

Desjani just nodded, her eyes still fixed straight ahead.

“One of these days, I’ll learn to listen to you the first time you tell me something I need to know.”

Her face relaxed a bit. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Do you think the order will get to Adroit in time?”

“No. I hope I’m wrong.”

“I don’t think you are.” They sat silently for a while then, watching the formations of warships slowly converge on their displays.

They were closing on both the Syndic flotilla and the Alliance strike force at a combined velocity of close to point two five light speed. As a result it only took a long hour and a half before they saw Duellos slowing his strike force in response to Geary’s orders. As the strike force settled onto its new vector, Desjani nodded approvingly. “If nothing changes, the strike force will hit the flotilla at almost the same instant we do.”

The Syndics hadn’t fallen apart, but neither had they tightened up their formation again. They hung on their current vector, heading steadily toward the primary inhabited world and a much earlier rendezvous with the Alliance fleet. “What’s he planning?” Desjani wondered. “Blowing past us like he did the strike force and continuing on to wipe out the new Executive Council?”

“The new Executive Council won’t be that easy to find and hit since they have an entire planet to hide on.” Geary rested his chin on one hand, thinking. “Rione suggested that CEO Shalin personally wants me dead and defeated.”

“That’s not exactly an impressive insight, sir.”

He decided against addressing that comment directly. “The point is, maybe he’s planning on trying to beat me.”

Desjani considered that, then nodded. “It’s possible. The last time he faced this fleet commanded by you, we lost … a battle cruiser.”

“We lost Repulse,” Geary clarified in a steady voice.

“Yes, sir. But Shalin may think he beat us then because we did take very serious losses in the ambush, we did have to reposition to Corvus to regroup, and he hasn’t faced you since that time. He may be under the delusion that he’s a better commander.” She nodded again, half to herself. “Defeat the Alliance fleet, then get rid of the new Executive Council, and he could claim leadership of the Syndicate Worlds. It’s crazy, but it might seem doable to him. That would explain why Shalin hasn’t had the flotilla run again while it debates following him. He wants to slug it out with us.”

It fit very well. Geary remembered Captain Falco lecturing him on how fighting spirit could easily overcome mere numerical inferiority. Falco hadn’t been alone in the Alliance fleet in believing that, and the Syndics had shown plenty of signs in earlier battles with this fleet of having the same mind-set. “Maybe it’s not even an option for him anymore. He has to keep pushing ahead because if he pauses or hesitates or retreats, his ability to hold that flotilla together will vanish.”

Desjani gave an evil laugh. “If he stops running fast enough, the wolves he is leading will instead start chasing him and pull him down.”

“Which means he’s desperate, too, and he’s been smart enough to stay alive up until now.” He started plotting out in his mind what Shalin might do, and how to counter it, but was interrupted a short time later by a transmission from Adroit.

He recognized the officer staring at him from the bridge of Adroit. She was Kattnig’s executive officer, second in command on the battle cruiser. During Geary’s tour of Adroit back at Varandal, she had been quietly competent.

Now she appeared stern in the manner of someone maintaining control. “This is Commander Yavina Lakova, acting commanding officer of Adroit. Regret to report … Captain Kattnig is dead. He … he had a regulation sidearm. It … discharged. Initial assessment is that he was examining the weapon in his stateroom and it … accidentally … discharged. Death probably instantaneous. This occurred half an hour prior to our receipt of your orders concerning Captain Kattnig, so I was unable to carry out those orders. Adroit is otherwise ready for combat. I will remain in acting command until otherwise notified. Lakova out.”

The screen blanked. Geary closed his eyes and took a long, slow breath. “You were right,” he told Desjani.

“Damn. Damn. Damn. After all his honorable service …”

“They didn’t get my order in time to relieve him of command. Doesn’t that mean it officially never took effect?”

“It might,” Desjani agreed.

“It’s my responsibility to judge the fitness to serve of officers under my command. I failed.”

She turned a severe look on him. “Don’t blame yourself. He passed muster with the fleet medical staff, and none of his fellow officers figured it out in time, either.”

“It’s still my responsibility.”

“Then do what you still can. There’ll be an official investigation into the cause of death. You get to approve or disapprove the findings.”

Geary stared at nothing as he pondered her words. “Adroit’s executive officer described Kattnig’s death as an accident. Will the fleet bureaucracy accept that?”

“They won’t have any choice but to accept it if the fleet admiral endorses that conclusion. It’s also up to the fleet admiral whether or not there is any investigation into Adroit’s actions in combat prior to the accident.”

“I don’t see any purpose in such an investigation now. He deserves that much from us.”

“Yes, he does.” Desjani spoke sternly again. “You can handle all of that later. We’re heading into combat. Get your mind back there.”

“Right. Thanks, Tanya.”

She was facing her display again, but he heard her muttering. “You actually did listen to me the first time.”

The Syndic formation slowly began tightening again. “Our estimate from the comm traffic patterns is that the Syndic CEO in charge of the flotilla initially had about a third of the ships backing him,” Lieutenant Iger reported, “but that one-third was pretty hard-core while the other two-thirds were mostly wavering. He seems to have won over everybody now, at least to the extent that no one is challenging his authority.”

Only four light-minutes separated the Alliance fleet from the Syndic flotilla. “They’re going to regret that,” Geary commented. “Thank you, Lieutenant. All ships in the Alliance fleet main body, this is Admiral Geary. Assume stations in modified Formation Fox Five at time two one.”

“You’re reusing that?” Desjani asked. “Won’t the Syndic survivors from Kaliban have provided reports on that battle?”

“They would have,” Geary agreed. “I’m not going to do the same thing. But the Syndics here may think I plan on doing the same thing.”

At time two one the main body of the fleet began splitting, forming into three flattened ovals. The largest oval, centered on Dauntless and facing the enemy, held the other three battle cruisers in her division along with twelve battleships and twenty heavy cruisers. That was Fox Five One. The oval forming above the main formation held the remaining seven battle cruisers and would be Fox Five Two, while the oval forming beneath the main body contained the remaining thirteen battleships and all of the heavy cruisers in Fox Five Three. The light cruisers and destroyers were divided among Fox Five One and Fox Five Two, while the five auxiliaries were forming another subformation, which was Fox Five Four, just behind the main body. The oval of the main body faced its flat side to the enemy, while the oval formations not far above and below the main body were at right angles to it, the entire grouping almost resembling a three-sided box open on two sides and the top facing the Syndic flotilla. “No escorts for the auxiliaries?” Desjani asked.

“The entire fleet is escorting them,” Geary replied. “This time around I’m confident that the Syndics won’t veer off and try to hit the auxiliaries first.” He focused back on the strike force, which since the ill-fated pass against the Syndic flotilla was down to the four full-size battle cruisers of Duellos’s division and the three remaining Adroit-class warships, Adroit, Auspice, and Ascendant. The strike force still represented a significant amount of firepower, but it would have to be employed carefully against the mass of the Syndic flotilla.

As the Alliance fleet settled into its new arrangement, the Syndics were barely two light-minutes distant, about ten minutes from engagement range at current closing rates. The Syndic box formation was back as it had been except for the loss of the one battle cruiser during the fight with the Syndic battleship. Once again, the Syndic battle cruisers were massed in the center, with the battleships in clusters at each corner of the box. He’s coming straight on. He expects me to whittle at the edges of his formation, just as I’ve usually done and as I did using these formations at Kaliban. There’s a countermove if I use that tactic, a countermove that would also set him up to punch straight through the middle of the formation in an attack centered on Dauntless. The fleet flagship, holding the guy who stole Shalin’s hoped-for glory.

And you still think you’re smarter than me, Shalin, smarter than anybody, and you hate my guts. Arrogance and hate. Bad combination. It’s going to cost you.

“All right. Let’s get slowed down to targeting speed. All units in formations Fox Five One, Fox Five Two, Fox Five Three, and Fox Five Four reduce speed to point zero four light speed at time three zero. All units in Fox Five Two, pivot formation down zero nine five degrees at time three nine and accelerate to point zero six light speed. All units in Fox Five Three, pivot formation up zero seven five degrees at time three seven and accelerate to point zero six light speed. All units in Fox Five Four, alter heading up zero nine zero degrees at time four zero.” He paused to take a breath. “Captain Duellos, accelerate to contact with the enemy on your current heading. Engage targets of opportunity.”

Desjani gave her display a startled look. “You’re not aiming for the edges of his formation to wear him down.”

“No. He expects that. Upper or lower edges, he thinks that’s what I’ll do.” Geary grinned at Desjani. “I do have a pattern.”

She slowly smiled as she thought through the maneuvers. “He’s planning to do what you did at the first battle at Lakota, right?”

“Probably. Concentrate and punch through the middle of this formation, where Dauntless and I am.”Dauntless had pivoted around and was shuddering now as her propulsion units strove to reduce her velocity. Geary felt the strain, heard the ship’s structure complain, and knew that if the inertial dampers failed, the ship would come apart, and every human in it would be smashed to jelly. All around Dauntless, the rest of the Alliance fleet’s warships were braking as well.

The Syndic commander would expect that, too. Geary had often changed velocity right before contact, and this time he had to slow down, couldn’t accelerate without effectively eliminating any chance of scoring hits on the enemy.

Dauntless was pivoting again, bringing her bow around to face the enemy with only a few minutes left to contact, the subformations above and below the main formation pivoting to almost parallel with the main formation as the battle cruiser subformation above dove down just behind the main body, and just in front of the main body, the battleship subformation below climbed up in front of the rest.

Behind them all, the auxiliaries were climbing straight “up” and away from the path of the Syndics. “All units, weapons free as soon as the enemy enters your weapons engagement envelopes.”

The Syndic formation was altering at the last moments before contact, too, shrinking down to much smaller dimensions, concentrating the ships into a tight block aimed at the center of the main Alliance formation. “If we’d aimed at the edges of his formation,” Desjani observed, “we would have found ourselves too far out to score hits as his formation shrank. Good call, Admiral. Weapons,” she called that watch-stander, “target the enemy flagship.”

“One minute to contact,” the maneuvering watch-stander announced.

Missiles leaped from warships, filling the space between the flotilla and the Alliance fleet, followed within moments by barrages of grapeshot and hell-lance fire, then on the Alliance side, the battleships and battle cruisers fired their null-field weapons.

Instead of avoiding the glancing blows from the Alliance subformations and hitting the single thin layer of the main formation, the Syndic flotilla found itself running headlong into three layers of Alliance warships, the first and last layers moving rapidly at almost right angles to the Syndic movement and hard to target, but hurling out their weapons along the vector the Syndic flotilla was coming down.

Space flared bright as weapons clashed, and ships exploded, the Syndics ramming through the first Alliance subformation, which held more battleships than the entire Syndic flotilla, then hitting the main body with almost as many battleships and some battle cruisers, before staggering through the third subformation, with its battle cruisers and numerous escorts tearing at the weakened Syndic warships.

Coming close behind the Syndics, Duellos led the strike force through the Alliance formations in a heart-stopping maneuver that took only fractions of a second, then slammed fire into the rear of the Syndic flotilla.

It had taken less than a second for the two forces to clash, and now as they separated again, Geary felt Dauntless still shaking from the impacts of enemy hits. He tried not to focus on the damage to Dauntless, concentrating instead on the assessments pouring in from the fleet sensors as they evaluated the results of the clash.

“Have a nice trip to hell,” Desjani snarled at her display as she directed damage-control efforts.

He knew what she meant. All fifteen of the remaining Syndic battle cruisers were gone, including the flagship, torn apart or exploded into fragments by the successive layers of Alliance battleships and battle cruisers. CEO Shalin wouldn’t be ruling the Syndicate Worlds.

Of the twelve Syndic battleships, six were still lurching forward with heavy damage, but those were being overhauled and knocked out one by one by Duellos’s strike force. The rest of the enemy battleships were already out of commission and spitting out swarms of escape pods.

Out of nearly two hundred Hunter-Killers, less than a dozen were left, the small warships annihilated by the amount of firepower concentrated on the space they had traversed. Ten light cruisers had survived, five of them still able to run at full speed, and nearly twenty heavy cruisers were still operational, having been small enough to avoid fire aimed at the battleships and battle cruisers and large enough to survive the weapons that had almost wiped out the smaller warships.

Duellos called in, looking quite pleased with events. “We might need some help on a couple of these battleships, but otherwise things went quite well. You might be interested in knowing that as my formation approached yours, and you exchanged fire with the Syndics, our sensors reported the heaviest recorded density of weapons usage and tried to warn us off.”Inspire was opening the distance once more, but still less than a light-minute away, so something resembling a conversation was possible. “That’s another one of those things I don’t think I want to do again. I’m going to get the fleet turned around, so if you need any assistance, just call.”

He gave the necessary orders, pulling the four subformations back toward each other as they turned through wide swaths of space, then forced himself to face the hard part. Witch headed off toward an intercept with the crippled Agile, accompanied by the battleship Guardian, which should be all the escort needed now that the Syndic flotilla had ceased to exist.

On Geary’s display, red symbols and text told the tale of the price the Alliance had paid during the brutal exchange of fire with the Syndics.

The battleships and escorts in the Fox Five Three subformation had been the first in line and taken the brunt of the Syndic fire. It only now registered on Geary that Dreadnaught had been one of those battleships. He had sent his grandniece into danger without even realizing it, caught up in the planning and execution of the battle. Dreadnaught had been battered but hadn’t sustained critical damage. Orion, still a bad-luck ship, had taken the most damage and would need a lot of repair work. Aside from them, the four battleships Fearless, Resolution, Redoubtable, and War-spite seemed to have been in the wrong places at the wrong time and received the most damage from the Syndic fire.

In the main body, the Syndics had tried to hit the four battle cruisers, assuming one held Geary. Even though the enemy blows had already been seriously blunted, the four battle cruisers had suffered. Daring took the most hits, but Dauntless was far from unscathed. “How many dead?” he asked Desjani.

She sighed. “Ten confirmed. Three more might not make it. We can get all the damage repaired within a week and be at full readiness again.”

Multiply those losses by how many ships in the fleet, and the price once again seemed far too high.

Amazingly, in the third layer the Syndics had penetrated, the most damage by far had been sustained by the new Invincible. I’ve heard of threat magnets, but it’s like the Invincible literally attracted enemy fire.

Like the battleships in Fox Five Three, the escorts had caught hell, which was why he hadn’t put any destroyers or light cruisers in that formation. Four heavy cruisers, Menpo, Hoplite, Bukhtar, and Squamata, were either gone or clearly too badly damaged to repair. Another eleven had been badly shot up. In the other subformations, twenty destroyers had been knocked out or torn apart, along with six light cruisers. That was in addition to the battle cruiser Assert, lost earlier.

“It could have been a lot worse,” Desjani observed.

“You usually say that.”

“Because it’s usually true. We’ve crushed the Syndics here, in their home star system, and for the time being they have nothing left except those heavy cruisers and other surviving escorts running for their lives.”

Geary looked around, seeing the watch-standers exchanging grins, knowing that all through the fleet, personnel would be remembering the losses in the ambush before Geary assumed command and celebrating the turnabout in their fortunes as well as the vengeance on the Syndic CEO responsible. He tried to shake off the melancholy he felt over the men and women who had died to bring about the victories here and in other star systems, tried to lift his mood to match that of the rest of the people on Dauntless’s bridge.

He hadn’t quite succeeded when that mood was abruptly shattered by the stunned voice of the operations watch-stander. “The hypernet gate is collapsing.”