“Lucky us, lucky you,” Rione noted.
“And are you lucky?” he asked.
“Me?” Rione sighed. “I wonder if my husband is one of those lights. I wonder what my ancestors think of me. I wonder what Lakota holds, and what will happen to the Alliance. Is that luck, to live in such times and face such issues?”
“Not good luck.”
“No. Definitely not.”
At least there was always paperwork to fill the time, to distract him from worries about whatever waited at Lakota, though so very little paperwork actually got printed on paper that he wondered where the name had come from. Geary frowned down at a message from Furious. Routine administrative personnel transfers between ships shouldn’t be sent to him even as an information copy. He’d be buried in paperwork if that started happening.
Then he read the name on the transfer and called Captain Desjani. “I’ve got a transfer order from Furious and—”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be right down to discuss it, sir.”
Geary waited, wondering what was going on now, until Captain Desjani arrived. He waved her to a seat, where she sat at attention as usual. Since the rumors of something between them had started, Geary had stopped asking her to relax. He wondered if the transfer order was somehow related to those rumors. “This is an order to transfer Lieutenant Casell Riva from Furious to the Vambrace.”
Desjani’s expression didn’t change as she nodded. “A heavy cruiser may suit him better, but the needs of the fleet take priority in any event.”
“I see.” No, I don’t. “Were you aware of this?”
“Captain Cresida had informed me that she intended transferring Lieutenant Riva, sir.”
“And you’re fine with that?”
“Sir, I can’t concern myself with the fates of junior officers on other ships.”
Geary tried not to let his surprise show. “Normally that would be true. I shouldn’t be worried about it, either, except that the last I heard, you had hopes that you and Lieutenant Riva would be able to reestablish a personal relationship.” How long had it been since he’d talked to Desjani about that? He wasn’t sure. So much time devoted to his own relationship with Rione and all the emotional fallout from that, plus the rumors of involvement with Desjani. It had obviously been too long since he’d expressed any interest in how Desjani’s own life was going.
Desjani shrugged. “Co-President Rione and I do have some things in common, sir.”
That came as a surprise to Geary.
She must have read his expression, because Desjani spoke carefully. “Ghosts from our pasts, churning up old emotions and leaving personal wreckage in their wake.”
“I don’t understand. I thought you and Lieutenant Riva—”
Desjani shook her head. “Lieutenant Riva developed a strong interest in a fellow officer on Furious, and he chose to act on that interest.”
“But that’s—”
“Yes, sir. Captain Cresida had to come down hard on him for violating good order and discipline. Which is how I heard of it. Lieutenant Riva had not seen fit to inform me of his new interest.”
Lieutenant Casell Riva obviously wasn’t “Casell” to Desjani anymore, not that Geary could blame her. Hell. And I’m the one who suggested to Desjani that she send Riva to a ship like Furious. “I’m sorry.”
She shrugged again as if unconcerned. “It’s his loss, sir.”
“Damn straight.”
“It’s odd, though,” Desjani continued, her eyes looking past Geary. “At times I felt it was as if Lieutenant Riva had been in survival sleep the entire time he was imprisoned. He had stayed the same, his career and his life on hold, locked in the places where they had been when he was captured, just as he was physically locked inside the Syndic labor camp. Everything about him except his age was the same as I remembered.” She paused, thinking. “Once he got over the shock of being rescued, of finding me alive, I think it began to bother him that I had changed. I wasn’t the lieutenant he’d last seen, the lieutenant he’d remembered during his captivity.”
“If he spent that much time thinking about you in camp, I’m surprised he didn’t stay faithful once he got out.”
Desjani grinned without humor. “I didn’t say he was faithful to my memory, sir. There were a lot of women in that camp. Lieutenant Riva availed himself of temporary relationships. He admitted that to me, and I didn’t blame him, though I should have wondered why all of the relationships were temporary.”
“Was he jealous, do you think?” Geary asked. “Of you being a captain, and having your own ship?”
“I began to sense that, too. It frustrated Lieutenant Riva to see so many officers younger than him who outranked him. I told him promotion would likely come rapidly, but he seemed to feel it should be now, that he should somehow fast-forward until he caught up with the world that had moved on without him.” Desjani’s mouth twisted. “The officer he took up with on Furious was an ensign not much more than half his age.”
“That’s usually not a smart way for a man to boost his ego,” Geary observed. “Well, I’m still sorry.”
Desjani really did smile slightly this time. “I think I deserve better than him, sir.”
“There’s no doubt of that at all. Thank you, Tanya. Sorry I bothered you with this.”
“I appreciate your concern, sir.” Desjani’s smile turned rueful. “I should know better than to expect room in my life for a relationship. I already have a full-time commitment with a lady named Dauntless who demands all of my attention.”
“I know that feeling,” Geary agreed. “Being a commanding officer doesn’t leave much room for a life. You’re a good captain, though.”
“Thank you, sir.” Desjani stood and turned to go, then faced him again. “Sir, may I ask a personal question?”
“You’ve earned the right to that,” Geary observed. “We’ve been talking about your personal life. What is it?”
“How are you and Co-President Rione?”
Geary wasn’t sure which expression was appropriate and thought he ended up sort of smiling and lightly frowning simultaneously. “We’re doing all right, I think.”
“I … was surprised, sir. I didn’t expect her to go back to you.”
He nodded this time. “Me, too.”
Desjani hesitated. “Do you care for her, sir?”
“I think so.” Geary laughed shortly. “Hell, I don’t know. I think so.”
“And does she care for you?”
“I’m not sure.” If there was anyone who Geary could be open with about that, it was surely Desjani. “I don’t know. She doesn’t give a lot of clues to what she’s feeling.”
“She did once, sir,” Desjani stated quietly. “I can’t tell you what Co-President Rione is feeling right now, but I don’t think discovering that her husband might be alive would have struck her so hard if she had felt nothing for you. That’s just my opinion, of course.”
It wasn’t something that Geary had considered before. “Thanks for mentioning that. I can’t always … well…”
“Can’t always know if she’s telling the truth?” Desjani asked with a slight smile.
Geary smiled back at her. “Yeah. Rione’s a politician, but then I knew that going in.”
“Some politicians are worse than others, which means some must be better than others. And bad as politicians may be, there are worse professions.”
“Are there? Well, sure, like lawyers.”
“Yes, sir,” Desjani agreed. “Or literary agents. I might have become one.”