By the end of the first day it was clear enough that Syndic Flotilla Delta, the massive strike force that had arrived through the hypernet gate, was indeed coming after the Alliance fleet full-bore. “Point one five light,” Desjani remarked. “Edging up toward point two light.”
Normally there would be a bright side to even that bad news. At that velocity, relativistic distortion easily created minor errors in how a ship’s sensors viewed the outside universe. Across the huge distances that Syndic Flotilla Delta was covering, even a tiny error could produce a big difference. Unfortunately in this case, Flotilla Bravo hanging just astern of the Alliance fleet and matching its velocity of point one light could provide accurate information to Flotilla Delta.
“They’ll definitely get to us before we reach the jump point for Ixion,” Desjani continued. “It’s a long haul, but they’re coming on hard, and that Flotilla Bravo is letting them know when we try to fool them at long distance.”
“They’ll intercept us only a couple of hours before the jump point,” Geary noted. He didn’t add what they both knew, that those could be a very long couple of hours.
“And that’s if we and everyone else continues on our current tracks. When we engage the Syndics coming out of the Ixion jump point, it will throw all of these projections off.” Desjani leaned back, closing her eyes for a moment. “Sir, it may not be wise to engage Flotilla Delta, even though it doesn’t look like we’ll have an option.”
That was a change, Desjani counseling caution. “You think so?” Geary asked, wondering what her reasoning was.
“We’re not in the best position for a fight with a force that big,” Desjani explained. “I’m sure you’ve seen that already, but it took me longer. If we could eliminate Flotilla Bravo as a threat before Flotilla Delta intercepts us, it will make a big difference, but unless that flotilla from Ixion comes in just right, I don’t see that happening.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
“I knew it.” Desjani nodded firmly and opened her eyes again, gazing at him. “We need to fight these Syndics on our terms. You’ve said that many times. Seeing Paladin die a day ago … well, suddenly it seemed I was seeing fleets and fleets of Alliance warships doing the same thing for decade after decade, throwing away themselves and their crews. I mean, it’s honorable and it’s brave, but it hasn’t been accomplishing much, has it?”
“No.” Geary twisted his mouth. “Sometimes the braver course of action is to avoid a fight.”
“Because others will accuse you of being scared?” Desjani’s face hardened. “Yes. But then I’ve been accused of other things lately. We’re going to jump for Ixion as soon as we can, right, sir?”
“Yeah. If I can get there without fighting Flotilla Delta, I’m going to do it.”
“Good.” Having shocked Geary by endorsing discretion in battle, Desjani now grinned. “We’ll kill more of them if we fight them when and where we want to.”
As bottom lines went, it had the virtues of simplicity and truth. “Right.”
“How about Seruta?” Rione asked, her eyes on the star display in Geary’s stateroom. “If we dodge that way—”
Geary shook his head, and she stopped speaking. “The biggest problem with that is that the jump point for Seruta is closer to Syndic Flotilla Delta. They’d intercept us earlier, and we’d have a longer fight to get through to the jump point.” He gazed at the star. “Lesser but still significant problems are that we don’t know what the Syndics have at Seruta, and the captured star system guides we have say Seruta is a very old and very poor system. No planets at all, just thin clouds of asteroids orbiting a dying red star, and not much in the way of good metals in the asteroids. All the Syndics ever had there was an emergency station that was shut down a long time back. We might find some nasty Syndic surprises at Seruta, and we know we wouldn’t find any of the resources we need there.”
Rione slumped back, frowning. “We just keep heading for the jump point for Ixion? Even knowing that the Syndics will catch us before we reach it?”
“I’ll try some maneuvers to keep them from closing with us.”
“Try?” She shook her head. “A very, very weak hope, John Geary. How did we end up stuck like this?”
“Exceptionally bad luck, for one thing. If Flotilla Delta hadn’t shown up, we could have finished eliminating Flotilla Bravo as a threat, then left for Branwyn.” Geary stared into the depths of the star display. “And bad judgment. My bad judgment. I made the decision to come to Lakota, and it was a very bad decision.”
“Was it? Because you didn’t know you’d encounter exceptionally bad luck?” Rione moved over and sat down beside him, leaning against his shoulder. “This isn’t something you can blame yourself for. And I should know, being an expert on blaming oneself as I am.”
“It doesn’t feel right to not have you chewing me out for messing up by being too aggressive,” Geary remarked.
“I’ve told you that I don’t want to be too predictable.” She sat up and made an exasperated sound. “Maybe we’re not supposed to get home. Maybe what we’ve learned is too dangerous.”
“I won’t accept that.”
“Good.” She stood up. “I need to make peace with someone, if I can. I might not have too many more days to try.”
Desjani? “Who?”
“My ancestors. I’ll see you in a while.”
“Do you mind if I walk with you?”
Rione frowned at him again. “You’re not my husband. You don’t belong in the room with me.”
“I know. I wouldn’t go that far. I want to talk to my ancestors, too.”
Rione’s face cleared. “Perhaps they’ll have some good advice.”
“If they don’t, I’ve always got you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Advice I have in plenty. Good advice is another thing, it seems.”
“You told me that I’d be stupid and insane to bring this fleet to Lakota,” Geary pointed out. “You seem to have been right about that.”
For some reason that seemed to amuse her slightly. “I think I said you were stupid and Falco was insane. Fine. Walk with me. Let the crew see their hero and his lover being pious and proper. Then, assuming I haven’t been blasted into ashes by my shamed ancestors, we can come back here and compare notes on whatever inspirations or warnings we felt.”
Geary stood up, laughing slightly. “That’s one hell of thing to base military planning on, isn’t? Signs and portents. Like we’re ancients peering up at the stars and wondering what they are.”
Rione paused on her way to the hatch and gave Geary a serious look. “The ancients thought the stars were gods, John Geary. So do we, though in a very different way. But we’re not so different from the ancients, who lived but the blink of an eye ago in the sight of this universe and spent their lives trying to understand why they were here and what they were supposed to do with the gifts of their lives. I try never to forget that.”
He nodded, wondering once again at the woman inside Victoria Rione.
Halfway to the Ixion jump point, Syndic Flotilla Bravo still hung behind them like an ancient sword poised to fall on their necks, and Syndic Flotilla Delta, cutting a curving path through Lakota Star System, would cross the track of the Alliance fleet at a point just two hours shy of the jump point. Syndic Flotilla Alpha still cruised serenely back and forth near the hypernet gate, standing sentry against a desperate and increasingly impossible lunge for the gate by the Alliance fleet. No sign of the smaller Syndic flotilla expected to be coming from Ixion.
Lacking omens or inspirations from his ancestors, Geary sat and watched the slow track of the formations across Lakota Star System. Every example he’d been able to find of a force in the position of the Alliance fleet ended the same way, and it wasn’t a good way as far as the Alliance fleet was concerned.