“Really?” Geary asked.
“Yes. If she comes onto Ambaru again, she would be spotted.” Timbale gave Geary a bland look. “I thought you should know.”
“Thank you. I think you should know that a lot of things may be coming to a head soon.”
“In a good way?”
“Maybe.” Geary paused and faced Timbale, speaking in formal tones. “If we don’t meet in person again, I want you to know it has been an honor and a pleasure serving with you.”
Timbale replied with equal formality. “The honor and the pleasure have been mine. Good luck, Admiral. Does this mean it’s on?”
“It soon will be.”
Tanya was waiting in Dauntless’s shuttle dock when he got off the shuttle. “I hope your visit to Ambaru was worth the risk,” she said.
“Yes, it was. And in any case, I can’t live aboard Dauntless,” he told her.
“Why not?”
Instead of replying to that, he held up the data coin that Unruh had given him. “We have orders, from the government, and we have the means to get to Unity Alternate.”
“Orders?” Desjani asked, instantly suspicious at mention of the government. “Orders to do what?”
“To take Unity Alternate.”
“The government has ordered us to take the government’s secret, fallback capital?”
“It’s a long story,” Geary said. “But, basically, just like the Alliance military adopted some practices in the name of winning the war that weren’t really consistent with winning or with what the Alliance was supposed to be about, so did the government.”
“So we’re saving the Alliance?” Desjani asked.
He gave her a flat look, knowing that she was referring to the legend that Black Jack would return to “save the Alliance.” “Yes.”
“Good. I just wanted to be clear on that. When do we roll?”
“I need to check the status of our repair work and resupply,” Geary said, “but the same concerns apply as before. We need to give the dark ships enough time to resupply and leave their base again. Another week, at least, I think.”
She gave him a cautionary look. “They’ll come after you again. If we wait too long, they may show up here.”
That was an ugly thought. “You’re right. Let’s find out if we can get moving within a week.”
Once at his stateroom, Geary called Captain Smythe. “One week. I want everything out of dock and ready to go.”
“Admiral, I want… never mind. I can make it happen, but not everything is going to be done. You’re still facing the possibility of system failures on your ships, just like that main propulsion unit that failed on Fearless at Bhavan.”
“I understand. Make it happen.”
“Aye, aye, sir. As far as funding goes…”
“I have it on very good authority that the funding we need will materialize soon,” Geary said. “Through official channels.”
Smythe looked impressed. “How did you manage that?”
“I asked nicely.”
Despite Senator Unruh’s warning that the dark ships might still be getting information about what Geary was doing, there was no way to hide the preparations necessary for an offensive using the entire force remaining to First Fleet. But he still took some extra efforts to conceal one aspect of that offensive, personally summoning two officers to his stateroom on Dauntless rather than risking using a comm channel that could be tapped into.
In person, Marine Colonel Rico wore the same serious expression as his official portrait. The commanding officer of the Third Brigade stood at attention, giving the impression that he never really relaxed. It wasn’t a nervous sort of tension but rather the kind of alertness that assumed every moment required full attention lest something important be missed. In someone who lacked confidence in themselves and others, that would have produced a twitchy, perpetually fearful boss who made life hell for everyone under them. But Rico conveyed a sense of assurance that made his constant watchfulness reassuring rather than worrying.
Beside him stood Commander Young, captain of the assault transport Mistral. Much more casual in her bearing than Rico, she gave the impression of having dealt with Marines often enough to regard them with weary exasperation.
Like many of Geary’s officers, they seemed far too young for their ranks. A century ago, he had been accustomed to a peacetime military, with promotions coming fairly slowly and requiring years of time in each rank. But the long and recently ended war had enforced its own requirements, the deaths of more senior officers often requiring rapid promotions of junior officers to fill in the gaps.
Geary waved Rico and Young to take seats. “We’re facing a difficult problem.”
“What do you need the Marines to do, Admiral?” Rico asked, sitting with the same straight posture he used when standing.
“Where do you need us to take the Marines so they can do something?” Commander Young asked, drawing a sidelong, amused look from Rico.
Geary sat down opposite the two officers. “You’ve both just done the first thing I need by showing me you’ve got the right attitudes for the job. What have you heard about the dark ships?”
“Everything that’s been put out by you, sir, but nothing based on experience. We weren’t along during the fights at Atalia and Bhavan, and we only saw one side of the battle here at Varandal.” Rico nodded outward. “And we’ve heard the rumors that are going around.”
“Which aren’t good,” Young added. “I’ve talked to some friends on other ships who have engaged the dark ships, Admiral. Everybody says they’re tough.”
“They are,” Geary said. “We’ve found the dark ships’ base, though, and we know how to get to it.”
Young fixed her eyes on Geary. “And that’s why you need an assault transport.” She made the words a statement, not a question.
“There will likely be a big orbiting facility at the star the dark ships are operating from. It will be designed for command and control, housing large numbers of people, and supporting a wide variety of functions.”
“Facility assault,” Rico said, nodding. “Third Brigade can do that. There’s just the one facility?”
“There are likely to be a lot of other orbiting structures, but they will be support facilities for the dark ships. Docks and warehouses, primarily. It’s possible that anyone still on those facilities are trapped there. It might be a hostage rescue or evacuation under fire situation. It will also be an intelligence collection mission, acquiring any and all information available in the storage systems at the facilities. General Carabali told me Third Brigade is the best, no matter what we encounter.”
Rico nodded again. “What intel are we looking for, sir?”
“Everything and anything. This isn’t for me. The government constructed those facilities, lost control of them, and wants to know what has been going on there.”
“Yes, sir.” The Marine did not seem the least bit surprised that the government would not know what was going on at a government facility.
“How many evacuees, Admiral?” Young asked. “If Mistral is loaded with assault troops, she won’t have much room for new riders.”
“I don’t know,” Geary said. “I’d like to have an empty assault transport along with us as well. But at the moment, Mistral is all I have.”
Commander Young sat silently for a few moments, her eyes gazing intently into space. “It depends on the numbers, sir. There are ways to pack in a lot more bodies and give life support a temporary boost to handle the load. No one will be happy, but we can double up as long as it doesn’t last too long. However, the only way to be sure we can carry a lot of people out is to leave some space aboard.”