It took her a moment to get the joke. She could not help a snort of laughter at the wordplay. “Tell your Captain Bradamont that I will do my best to bring you home, Colonel. For the people. Iceni, out.”
Aboard Pele, Marphissa looked around the battle cruiser’s bridge, which felt ridiculously large after all the time she had spent on a heavy cruiser. Next to her seat was that of Kapitan Kontos, who still appeared so young that Marphissa felt an irrational urge to mother him even though she wasn’t that much older. But Kontos was already a veteran of some very demanding battles, and had proven himself not only daring enough for command of a battle cruiser but also the sort of leader whose crew would strive to do anything for him.
Kontos noticed her look and grinned. “This should be an adventure, Kommodor.”
“That’s one way of looking at it,” Marphissa agreed. She tapped a control to talk to Kapitan Diaz aboard Manticore. “We’re about to begin our transit to Iwa. Take care of this star system until we get back, Kapitan.”
Diaz nodded back, his expression serious. “We will die defending this star system, Kommodor.”
She shook her head at him. “I don’t want you to die defending this star. I want you to kill anyone who attacks it. Are you clear on that?”
Diaz’s sober face split into a grin. “Yes, Kommodor. They are to die, not us. I understand and will comply.”
“See that you do. The defense of Midway Star System will be in your hands once this flotilla jumps for Iwa, but we’ll be out of position to stop attacks coming in from some vectors well before that. Listen to Captain Bradamont, but also listen to your gut. You’ve got good instincts.”
“Thank you, Kommodor. Give Granaile Imallye my respects when you kick her butt back to Moorea.”
“I’ll do that.” Marphissa ended the call and tried to relax, feeling suddenly small and far too inexperienced for this command. That sensation only lasted a moment, though. She had fought and beaten the Syndicate. She had fought and beaten Imallye. She had outwitted the enigmas and snatched stranded ground forces soldiers from right under their noses. If they had noses. And she had the confidence of not only Captain Honore Bradamont, one of Black Jack’s own battle cruiser commanders, but also that of President Iceni. I will not be overconfident, but I think I have every right to feel qualified for this command!
She touched the flotilla command circuit control. “All units in the Midway Offensive Flotilla, at time two zero come port three five degrees, down zero four degrees, and accelerate to point one five light speed. Marphissa, out.”
The small multitude of warships swung around under the push of their thrusters, lining up on the same vector, then accelerated together toward the jump point for Iwa Star System. Every ship maintained its position relative to the battleship Midway, which formed the physical guide of the flotilla as well as its figurative heart.
The cruisers and Hunter-Killers of the Midway Guard Flotilla split away from the others, one group heading to an orbit guarding against attacks from the hypernet gate or the jump point from Pele Star System, and the other group moving to take up position to guard against Syndicate attacks from most of the other jump points that Midway boasted. In terms of commerce, those many jump points were a major blessing. In terms of defense, they were a major headache. But Kapitan Diaz would be able to handle whatever came up, Marphissa was certain. And if he needed any advice, Captain Bradamont would be there with him.
But, still, she worried. The Syndicate had surprised them more than once already, and the Syndicate wanted Midway back very badly. If the CEOs running the remnants of the Syndicate had heard that most of Midway’s warships were heading to Iwa, they might make another attempt at reconquering the star system.
Though any reconquest would also require getting past General Drakon and his ground forces. That thought reassured Marphissa quite a bit.
Two and a half days later, Captain Bradamont saw the Midway Offensive Flotilla vanish as it had entered jump space about three hours before. In the seat next to her sat Kapitan Diaz. On most of the warships in Midway’s fleet, she would still be eyed with suspicion and even hatred by many in the crew, but not on Manticore. Bradamont had become theirs, by that odd process of comradeship that forged bonds where none ought to exist. She knew it, too, acting calm and cheerful around the specialists instead of tense as she usually was on other ships.
But Bradamont was all business at the moment. “Assume that they’re going to come,” she warned Diaz.
“The Syndicate or the enigmas?”
“The Syndicate,” she said. “From what we’ve seen of the enigmas, they focus on one objective at a time. Right now, that would be Iwa. Once they have that installation working they’ll be able to bring in warships. I warned Kommodor Marphissa to expect enigma ships to conduct reconnaissance of Iwa so they’ll know if humans try to retake the star system. Hopefully, she’ll have finished with Imallye before any more enigmas show up. So what we have to worry about is Syndicate Worlds attacks coming in either through the hypernet gate or one of the jump points from stars they still control. I would advise telling Kapitan Stein to patrol closer to the hypernet gate so she can intercept whatever comes out of it faster.”
“And if the enigmas do show up?” Diaz asked, then answered his own question. “I can’t defend every possible entry into this star system with the warships I have. I have to prioritize. That’s what you mean? So if Kapitan Stein takes Gryphon and her other ships nearer the hypernet gate, where should I prioritize do you think?”
“In my experience fighting the Syndics—Damn, sorry, I mean the Syndicate Worlds,” Bradamont corrected herself, angry that she kept slipping up by using the insult when talking to the people it had once been aimed at, “they tended to keep using the same lines of attack.”
“That’s so,” Diaz agreed, showing no sign of offense at Bradamont’s gaffe. “It wasn’t official doctrine, but in practice we would often be ordered to repeat attacks using the same approach and tactics. Syndicate CEOs think that if they make you do the same thing over and over, sooner or later the results will be different.”
“Then would the next Syndicate assault come through the jump point from Lono?”
“Very likely,” Diaz said. “Not just because of pursuing the same approach, but because the Syndicate can route forces to Lono through Milu Star System. That’s a pretty easy hop from the hypernet gate at Rota Star System. I could have figured all of that out by myself, couldn’t I?”
“You could have,” Bradamont agreed. “All I did was walk you through the steps to get there so you’ll know how to work it out by yourself next time.”
That’s what she was supposed to be doing, preparing these people to stand on their own once the orders Admiral Geary had given her were changed and she was ordered to return to Alliance space. Bradamont had no doubt that would happen sooner or later, and little doubt that when she got back to the Alliance whoever had threatened to blackmail her would once again threaten her. She had never been a spy for the Syndicate Worlds, never wavered in her loyalty to the Alliance, but the Alliance’s own intelligence services had ordered her to play at that in hopes of using her relationship with Rogero to get secrets from the Syndicate. And the relationship with Donal Rogero had always been true, even if neither of them had ever expected any opportunity to pursue it.
She had given her adult life to serving the Alliance, and had fought hard on its behalf. Once, there had only been two real options, either the Alliance or the Syndicate Worlds, and Bradamont would never have turned to the enemy. But now there was Midway, which had been the enemy but was now working very hard to become something much more like the Alliance. Midway, which had good leaders, citizens happy with those leaders, men and women willing to fight for their freedom, and Donal Rogero. The taint of the Syndicate Worlds would take a long time to fade, but these people were trying. They were already partners of the Alliance in every way that mattered.