The Lost Fleet – Dauntless

Geary nodded again, uncomfortable under Rione’s gaze. “I never believed that the Alliance somehow made a decision all at once to start violating the laws of war. I guessed it had been like you said. Starting down the slippery slope and ending up at the bottom without even realizing how you got there. All because of the old argument that we had to do some bad things to win because it was important to win.”

“An old argument and a false one, isn’t it?”

“I think so. If the Alliance starts modeling its actions on those of the Syndicate Worlds, I’m not sure what the point of winning would be.”

“I heard you say that. I agree.” Rione bowed her head toward him. “You reminded us of who we once were, Captain Geary. And you had the courage and fundamental decency to stand by the truly honorable things you believed in, even at the risk of alienating those in this fleet who believe in you and follow you.”

Geary shook his head. “I’m not a courageous man, Madam Co-President. I just acted on instinct.”

“Then I hope that you will continue to do so. When first we met, I told you that I had no use for heroes and expressed my concern that you would lead this fleet to ruin. I freely admit that thus far you have proven me wrong.” Rione inclined her head again and left.

Geary rubbed his forehead, thinking over Rione’s words. She didn’t exactly give me unconditional approval, did she? “Thus far” I haven’t lived up to her worst expectations. But that’s okay. She’ll help keep me honest. I don’t want to end up believing I deserve all those worshipful looks I keep getting from people in this fleet.

He thought about going back to the bridge of the Dauntless, and then thought about having to face all the others there. I think I’ve had enough drama for now. He paged the bridge instead, telling them he’d be catching some sleep and making sure they’d wake him if anything important happened.

Seven hours later a buzzing sound jerked him awake. “Geary here.” He tried to come fully awake, shocked at how long he’d slept and how tired he still felt. Obviously, he hadn’t recovered as much from his long survival sleep as he’d been imagining.

“Captain Geary, this is the bridge. Sorry for waking you, sir. You asked to be notified-”

“Yeah, yeah. What is it?”

“We’ve sighted major elements of the Syndic fleet exiting the jump point. Captain Desjani assesses it to be the main pursuit force.”

SIX

“CAPTAIN Desjani, I’m afraid I have to agree with your estimate.” Geary totaled up the ships that had so far been seen exiting the jump point. A swarm of HuKs led the way, with multiple squadrons of heavy cruisers right behind. Since the Alliance fleet was looking straight back at the jump exit, the leading Syndic ships tended to obscure those behind them, but several squadrons of battle cruisers and battleships had been confirmed bringing up the rear. “There’s a lot of junk blocking the view of the jump exit.”

Desjani grinned. “You ordered mines placed at the exit, sir.”

Oh, yeah. Geary took another look. “How many did we get?”

“They swept the mines with HuKs and light cruisers, sir. The hard way. We estimate they lost or suffered severe damage to about fifteen ships. The debris fields we can see correlate to the destruction of most of those.”

Coming out of jump space and running right into a minefield. They probably never knew what hit them. “Do you think what we can see is everything?”

Desjani gave him a look that implied she thought Geary wanted more enemies to fight, then studied her display. “There could be a follow-on wave. But if this is it, we can take this force.”

Geary noted that Desjani’s voice seemed torn between excitement and worry at the prospect. All of her training called for charging into action, but the last time the Alliance fleet had faced a major Syndic force, it had gotten its butt kicked hard.

“We could,” Geary stated with a confidence he didn’t really feel. After watching his fleet make a mishmash of the engagement with minor Syndic forces, he wasn’t looking forward to a much bigger battle anytime soon. But he knew he had to outwardly express confidence in the fleet. If word got around (and it surely would) that he’d even implied the fleet lacked the ability to win, it could cripple the fleet’s chances before the next shot was even fired. “But we’d have to turn back to engage them. I don’t see any reason to do that.” He tried to make it sound like the pursuing Syndic forces weren’t worth the trouble. “I hadn’t planned on any more battles in this system.”

Apparently, he succeeded to some extent. Desjani and the watch-standers on the Dauntless’s bridge all nodded knowingly.

Geary fiddled with his controls, trying to make the display calculate the chances of the Syndics catching up with the Alliance force. “Have I got this right?” he muttered to Desjani.