“Yes. I wouldn’t mislead my commanders. If I lose their trust … Well, I assume you’re aware of what almost happened to the heavy cruiser Dungeon soon after we arrived in this star system. They need to know they can count on me.”
“Once the Syndic defenders in their home star system are eliminated,” Sakai continued, “Senator Costa, Co-President Rione, and I will take the lead on negotiations.”
Rione flicked one finger in a way that told Geary not to debate the issue at this time. “Certainly, Senator.”
After the images of Costa and Sakai disappeared, Rione laughed. “Did you see Costa?”
“Yeah. What was bothering her?”
“She’s just realized that she may have been underestimating the competition. That’s you. Costa believed that she could outmaneuver any military officer, but now she has her doubts.” Rione laughed again.
“What about the other one?” Geary asked.
“Sakai?” Rione stopped laughing. “He’s thinking and keeping his eyes open. He’s here representing the part of the grand council that distrusts Black Jack the most. Never forget that. You were busy watching the reactions of your officers, I know, so you didn’t see how closely Sakai watched your captain. He knows if worse comes to worst that he’d have to get through her to get to you, and I believe Sakai is only now understanding just how hard a task that would be.”
Desjani stood up, her face professionally rigid. “I should be going.”
But Rione waved one hand. “No need to hurry on my account. I was just departing.” Then her image vanished as well.
“Can we leave her at Kalixa?” Desjani asked.
“No. Has Senator Sakai talked to you?”
“A courtesy call, and occasional drop-ins for leading conversations,” Desjani responded dryly. “You know, politics, the war, your ambitions. That sort of thing.”
“I hope you reassured him,” Geary replied with a smile.
“He didn’t believe me, I’m certain.” She blew out a long breath. “Sir, I know Captain Duellos talked to you—”
“And I know he told you what I said.”
Desjani shook her head at him. “If I actually told Senator Sakai what your ambitions were, he’d think you were crazy.”
“So do you.”
“And now I’m agreeing with a politician. You do work miracles, Admiral.”
He waited until she left, then called Tulev. “I’m sorry for getting you back here so soon, but I wanted to ask you something.”
Tulev, stolid, outwardly unemotional as usual, inclined his head slightly. “Nothing too serious, I hope, Admiral.”
“I don’t know. I understand you served with Captain Kattnig.”
“Kattnig?” Tulev’s puzzlement briefly showed. “A long time ago, when we were both still enlisted sailors.”
“He’s mentioned a couple of times that you two were commissioned together.”
“Yes, that is so,” Tulev agreed. “The fleet was in serious need of new officers after the battles around Hattera. But I have rarely encountered him since then.” Tulev eyed Geary. “Is there some concern about Kattnig?”
“I don’t know.” Geary pounded the table softly with one fist. “He’s got a good record.”
“Captain Kattnig has spoken with me a few times since Adroit joined the fleet. He wished to know more about our return to Alliance space under your command.”
Geary nodded, noting that even Tulev never referred to that return voyage as a “retreat.” No one in the fleet did, and more than once Geary had barely stopped himself from inadvertently using the word “retreat.” But whereas he had to work to avoid employing the term, Geary had slowly come to the conclusion that the rest of the fleet truly didn’t think of the return as a retreat. The Alliance fleet didn’t retreat, it “withdrew,” it “reorganized,” it “repositioned,” it “departed,” or it “altered the axis of attack.” Therefore, the return to Alliance space couldn’t have been a retreat. “Pardon me for saying this bluntly, but Kattnig seems to think that he has something to prove, maybe because he wasn’t with the fleet during the return to Alliance space. He talked about the new battle cruisers proving themselves, but I have a feeling he’s actually most concerned about proving himself, and I don’t know why.”
Tulev thought about that, then nodded in turn. “I believe that is a fair assessment, yes. Many fleet officers and sailors who were not with us feel the same way. But Kattnig’s record is, as you say, a good one. I will speak with him again, just the two of us, and try to reassure him. He, like the other new officers, is learning to deal with your different way of fighting. Perhaps that is a factor. The new tactics can appear to leave less room for individual valor.”
“Those new tactics are a century old, and Kattnig has already proven his valor. I’d appreciate your talking to him and driving home that the officers whose experiences he admires gained those experiences fighting with those tactics.”
“Certainly, Admiral.” Tulev gave him a searching look. “Do you worry about his actions?”
“I’m worried about all of the new officers,” Geary admitted. “I hope they learned from what happened to Dungeon.”
“Even though the damage to Dungeon made it necessary for her to return home, no harsher punishment for disobedience could have been possible,” Tulev agreed.
“They could have died if their commanding officer hadn’t pulled up in time.”
“They would have preferred death to the dishonor of missing the attack on the Syndic home star system. It would have been a lesser penalty in their eyes.”
Geary sighed. “I keep forgetting. To me, death is still something to fear.”
“We fear death, Admiral, but there are other things we fear more.” Tulev nodded to him. “There are other things you fear more as well. I know this. You could not be a good commander otherwise.” Standing again, Tulev saluted, and his image vanished.
The jump for Kalixa felt routine, though the fleet was once again in combat formation and ready to fight. Geary felt the usual discomfort from being in jump space, a strange, formless, gray universe lit by no stars, but also suffered from a restlessness that drove him to frequent walks around Dauntless. The crew was happy and confident, certain that Black Jack could do anything. When Geary got back to his stateroom, he would sit for a while, watching the mysterious lights that flared and faded in jump space.
Finally, they reached Kalixa.
FIVE
The drop out of jump space felt curiously abrupt, as if the jump point itself had somehow been disrupted. Since jump points were created by the mass of the star near them, Geary knew the problem was likely related to the star Kalixa. Then the gray nothingness vanished, and the Alliance fleet arrived in Kalixa.
Nobody spoke for a while, everyone staring at what had been Kalixa Star System. After a few minutes, Geary tore his eyes from his display to check the story there against the Syndic star-system guides the fleet had seized at Sancere.
There didn’t seem to be much in common between the old guide and current reality. Not anymore. The guide displayed a fairly well-off star system, one planet comfortably fit for human habitation, other planets and moons with bustling colonies in buried cities, a system-wide population of more than one hundred million, and hanging nearby the hypernet gate, which had helped funnel wealth to Kalixa.