“I need money here, too,” Geary said. “My people are scrambling to find the funds needed to keep repairing my damaged ships, and even to keep day-to-day operations going.”
“That’s ridiculous. Your fleet headquarters has said nothing about that but has requested extra funds to expand their own offices and operations. They claim that as force levels shrink, the staff must grow to deal with the additional challenges,” she added wryly.
Geary inhaled deeply, considering his next words carefully. “That’s an interesting perspective on priorities,” he finally said.
Unruh smiled. “Isn’t it? Senator Sakai suggested that if artificial intelligences would make effective replacements for field commanders, they would probably do even better as replacements for headquarters commanders. For some reason, that proposal was not enthusiastically received at fleet headquarters.”
“I can’t imagine why not.”
“It is a mystery,” Senator Unruh said. “I promise you there will be a supplemental appropriation introduced specifically for your fleet when I get back.”
Geary regarded her closely. “Can I trust you, Senator?”
She smiled again though only slightly this time. “I hope so.”
“Do you have all the answers?”
“Me?” Unruh laughed. “That would be nice. I’m looking for the answers. I’m asking questions. I’m trying to figure out where we go from here.”
“Then I think I can trust you,” Geary said. “Most of my problems seem to originate with people who are certain they know all the answers. Will you need an escort back to Unity?”
“As you saw outside of this room, I have some special forces accompanying me on what is officially a training mission,” Unruh said. “My ship is old but can outrun anything in space, I’m told. It was designed specifically to help senators and other high officials get away fast when necessary. Part of the Unity Alternate program, apparently, though I imagine that more than one senator thought it could come in handy in other circumstances. You weren’t offering to escort me back with your fleet, were you?”
Geary shook his head. “It would be very bad imagery, I think, for Black Jack to show up at Unity with a fleet.”
“Very bad imagery,” Senator Unruh agreed. “We want to forestall a covert coup, not make it look like an overt coup is taking place. Besides, all of those warships would make my return far too high-profile for what is supposed to be a very low-profile mission. One last thing. We believe that the dark ships are focused on you.”
“I’ve noticed that,” Geary said. “The dark ships’ tactics at Bhavan confirmed it. They want to destroy the First Fleet, but they also want me dead.”
Unruh shook her head, looking off to one side. “I have reason to believe that you were programmed into a contingency target set that might have activated without proper authorization, but I suspect there are private reasons as well for your personally being a priority objective.”
“Admiral Bloch?” Geary asked.
“He got command of the Defender Fleet,” she said, “as I understand you were already told. Bloch still has, or still had, some powerful political backers. But I have been unable to confirm his current status.”
“Do you think Bloch has effective control of the dark ships? I’ve seen them doing things that I didn’t think Bloch would order.”
“I think he has influenced them to some extent. But I am certain he’s not in control now if he ever really was.” The senator gazed directly at Geary. “There is more than one way to neutralize a threat, Admiral. Some people wanted Admiral Bloch in a certain position because they hoped to benefit from that. But others of us intended all along that Bloch would be neutralized by giving him what he thought he wanted. He might still be alive, but if so, he is likely more miserable than when the Syndics had him. That’s ironic, isn’t it? He has all of space available to the warship he is aboard, but his compartments on that warship might form a very small prison from which there may be no escape.”
Geary looked back at her, appalled. “What if you’re right about that? Does even Bloch deserve such a fate?”
Senator Unruh stood up, sighing. “He got what he wanted, Admiral. If it isn’t what he thought it would be, that’s his own fault. And a useful lesson to anyone else who thinks pursuit of power is the path to happiness.”
“Where does the pursuit of power lead?” Geary asked as they waited for the hatch to open.
She gave him an amused look. “You care what I think? All right, then. Trying to accomplish something that requires someone to pursue power leads toward that something. But the pursuit of power as an end in itself doesn’t lead anywhere. It’s like someone walking on the surface of a Mobius strip. They go up and down and over and around, but they never reach a destination. They just keep walking, and wondering why they never get anywhere no matter how far and fast they walk.”
“Thank you, Senator.”
“For what? Letting you know just how badly we’ve screwed up and how much we’re counting on you to fix things?”
Geary shook his head. “No. For giving me proof that my faith in the government is not entirely misplaced.”
She stepped out to join the special forces soldiers, who began forming an escort around the senator. But Unruh turned to look back at Geary, her expression somber. “You do me too much honor, Admiral. I will do what I can to live up to your faith.”
Admiral Timbale waited until Senator Unruh and her escort had disappeared around a corner before turning a questioning look on Geary. “How did the meeting go?”
“What meeting?” Geary asked.
“Right.” Timbale walked alongside Geary in the opposite direction from that Senator Unruh and her escort had gone. “Is there anything I should know?”
Geary pondered what he could say. “We’re not alone.”
“Exactly who is we?”
“The good guys.” Geary smiled crookedly at Timbale. “Right?”
“I sure hope so.” Timbale walked a few more steps. “Do you still have those two agents aboard Dauntless?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I still want them shot, remember?” Admiral Timbale glanced around, then checked a security device on his wrist to ensure they could not be overheard. “I have been apprised of subtle indications that someone is nosing around, trying to figure out what we might have learned from those agents.”
“We’ll make sure security around their cells remains tight,” Geary said. “Anything else?”
“I received classified orders to locate former Alliance senator Victoria Rione. There are people who want to talk to her.”
“Which people?” Geary asked.
“I can’t tell. That’s left fairly vague in the orders,” Timbale explained. “For that matter, just who originated the orders was left fairly vague. Which is why I haven’t been overly worried about trying to locate Rione.”
“It sounds like some other people are worried,” Geary said.
“I certainly would be if I were one of those responsible for what happened to her husband.” Timbale rubbed his nose. “By the way, my security people, the ones I trust, said they had found some odd anomalies in our security routines, some additional covert applications that could have allowed someone like Victoria Rione to pass through Ambaru as recently as a day or two ago without any alerts being sounded.”