The images of ship commanders disappeared like a flurry of soap bubbles vanishing under a strong wind. Captain Desjani, still glowering toward the place where Commander Yin had appeared to be seated, stood up and with a mumbled, “Excuse me, sir,” quickly departed the room.
That left one image still seated, now leaning back, boots resting on the table surface. If he hadn’t known it was a projection reflecting the actions of a man on another ship, Geary would have sworn the other officer was actually here with him. “Captain Duellos,” Geary greeted the image of the man. “Thanks for staying.”
Duellos’s virtual presence smiled. “It’s not that much of a hardship.”
“I’m still grateful.” Geary sat down again and sighed. “There were a couple of things I wanted to ask you.”
“Is something wrong? Or perhaps I should ask, is something else wrong?”
Geary made a twisted smile, and he nodded to acknowledge the point. “Nothing that didn’t come up at the meeting, I think.”
“The usual subsurface intrigue and counterproductive debate,” Duellos observed, examining his fingernails.
“Yeah.” Routine not-quite-disrespectful-or-mutinous behavior from some of the fleet’s officers. “I am curious about something.”
The figure of Duellos stood up, walked over to the seat opposite Geary, and sat down. “Policy issues? Personnel?”
“Both. First, what can you tell me about Captain Casia?”
Duellos’s lip curled. “An officer of very modest gifts, so modest that he was even outshone by Captain Numos. Are you wondering why he was so big a pain at the last fleet conference and now this one?”
“Yeah.”
“Because both Numos and Captain Faresa are currently under arrest. That leaves an abuse-of-power vacuum within the Third Battleship Division,” Duellos noted. “As you may have guessed, that division has been a dumping ground for problem commanding officers.”
Geary pondered that. In his time, with so few capital ships available, the idea of devoting a division of battleships to isolating problem officers would have been unthinkable. “How serious a problem is Casia?”
“Hard to say,” Duellos admitted, his image frowning. “Alone, he’s most likely to do damage by messing up badly. But if he serves as a rallying point for those who want to contest your command, he could be a dangerous figurehead for more capable officers who want to keep their true motivations hidden.”
Unfortunately, that assessment matched Geary’s worst fears. “Would you feel comfortable speculating on who those other officers might be?”
Duellos let his discomfort show. “I would prefer not to do so, sir. If I had evidence or direct knowledge, it would be one thing. But I’m very hesitant to accuse others based on speculation.”
“I understand. Frankly, I don’t want to be the sort of commander who tries to spy out subordinates who might be troublemakers.” He’d never imagined being that kind of commander, actually, because a century ago the fleet’s culture wouldn’t have accepted such behavior.
“It’s not exactly unheard of,” Duellos suggested. “As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, you’re going against the common practice for a fleet commander by not conducting espionage against your own subordinate commanders to find out who can be trusted and who cannot.”
For some reason, that brought an ironic smile to Geary’s lips. “A century ago a fleet commander was expected to be qualified to make such judgments without spying on subordinates.”
“A simpler time. Like much else, current practice is excused by the fact that we’re in a war for survival.”
“It makes a great excuse, doesn’t it? But I can’t imagine our ancestors look upon it with favor.” Geary shook his head. “I refuse to conduct a witch hunt among my officers.”
Duellos eyed Geary for a long moment. “And if the price for your honor is the loss of this fleet and the loss of the war for the Alliance?”
“Are you trying to convince me to act against my own officers based on suspicions?” Geary asked. “I’m surprised.”
“And disappointed?” Duellos waved one hand in a dismissive gesture. “I happen to believe that if this fleet makes it home, it will be because we remembered the honor of our ancestors.” His gaze shifted to the star field on one bulkhead. “It seems so obvious, really. Deplorable practices adopted during the last century were repeatedly declared necessary if regrettable in order to win the war. Oddly enough, we’ve yet to win. You’d think somebody would have asked before this why the regrettable but necessary measures haven’t actually produced the promised results. Not until you came along and started us really thinking about it instead of just accepting it.” Duellos sighed. “No, I’m just playing devil’s advocate, Captain Geary. Every commander needs someone like that, don’t they?”
“At least one,” Geary agreed.
“And you have not only me but also Co-President Rione.” Duellos gave Geary a speculative look. “How’s that going? If I may ask.”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“She’s a strong woman, and a hard woman, and as respected as any politician can be among the fleet.”
“I have plenty of experience with the first two descriptions, and I don’t doubt the last.” Geary shrugged. “She’s been distant since Ilion. I don’t know why. She won’t say.”
“The commanders of ships from the Rift Federation and the Callas Republic have confided in me that Co-President Rione has been uncharacteristically disengaged lately,” Duellos observed. “She seems to be more distant with them as well.”
“That’s odd.” I’ve been assuming I did something. But then why would Rione be acting the same way to the ships from her own republic? From all I’ve seen of her, Rione has a lot of personal concern for those ships and their crews. “I’ll see what I can find out. It’s certainly puzzling to see that kind of behavior from someone like Rione.”
Duellos nodded.
“Speaking of puzzles, though, I’ve noticed something that I don’t understand. My latest thorn in my side, Captain Casia, is a battleship commander,” Geary noted.
“Yes,” Duellos agreed, clearly wondering why Geary had brought that up.
“So are, or were, people like Numos, Faresa, and Kerestes. Meanwhile, I’ve got commanders like you, Desjani, Tulev, and Cresida who are excellent officers and all command battle cruisers.” Duellos spread his hands in a self-mocking gesture of humility and nodded. “Why?”
“Why?” Duellos repeated, perplexed now.
“Why are my battleship commanders of lower quality than my battle cruiser commanders?” Geary asked bluntly.
Duellos had the look of a man who’d just been asked why space was dark. “That’s the way the fleet works. The most promising officers go to the battle cruisers. Those who aren’t judged good enough to command battle cruisers go to battleships.”
Geary waited, but Duellos seemed to think the arrangement didn’t require further explanation. “Okay, that’s how things work. But why? In my day, battleships were seen as the highest and most prestigious command. Battle cruisers were important, too, but ranked below battleships.”