Ace Books by Jack Campbell

  The Lost Fleet

  Dauntless

  Fearless

  Courageous

  Valiant

  Relentless

  Victorious

  The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier

  Dreadnaught

  Invincible

  Guardian

  Steadfast

  Leviathan

  The Lost Fleet: Outlands

  Boundless

  Resolute

  The Lost Stars

  Tarnished Knight

  Perilous Shield

  Imperfect Sword

  Shattered Spear

  The Genesis Fleet

  Vanguard

  Ascendant

  Triumphant

  Written as John G. Hemry

  Stark’s War

  Stark’s War

  Stark’s Command

  Stark’s Crusade

  Paul Sinclair

  A Just Determination

  Burden of Proof

  Rule of Evidence

  Against All Enemies

  ACE

  Published by Berkley

  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

  penguinrandomhouse.com

  Copyright © 2022 by John G. Hemry

  Penguin Random House supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader.

  ACE is a registered trademark and the A colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Campbell, Jack (Naval officer), author.

  Title: Resolute / Jack Campbell.

  Description: New York: Ace, [2022] | Series: The lost fleet: outlands

  Identifiers: LCCN 2021046821 (print) | LCCN 2021046822 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593198995 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780593199015 (ebook)

  Subjects: LCGFT: Novels.

  Classification: LCC PS3553.A4637 R47 2022 (print) | LCC PS3553.A4637 (ebook) | DDC 813/.54—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021046821

  LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021046822

  Cover illustration © Ryan Gitter

  Cover design by Judith Lagerman

  Book design by Laura K. Corless, adapted for ebook by Maggie Hunt

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  pid_prh_6.0_140320203_c0_r0

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Ace Books by Jack Campbell

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  The First Fleet of the Alliance

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  To Constance A. Warner, who walks her own road, always striving, always seeing the best in herself and others, always seeking not just knowledge but understanding.

  For S., as always.

  THE FIRST FLEET OF THE ALLIANCE

  ADMIRAL JOHN GEARY, COMMANDING

  FIRST BATTLESHIP DIVISION

  Gallant

  Indomitable

  Glorious

  Magnificent

  SECOND BATTLESHIP DIVISION

  Dreadnaught

  Fearless

  Dependable

  Conqueror

  THIRD BATTLESHIP DIVISION

  Warspite

  Vengeance

  Resolution

  Guardian

  FOURTH BATTLESHIP DIVISION

  Colossus

  Encroach

  Redoubtable

  Spartan

  FIFTH BATTLESHIP DIVISION

  Relentless

  Reprisal

  Superb

  Splendid

  FIRST BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION

  Inspire

  Formidable

  Dragon

  Steadfast

  SECOND BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION

  Dauntless

  Daring

  Victorious

  Intemperate

  THIRD BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION

  Illustrious

  Incredible

  Valiant

  FIFTH ASSAULT TRANSPORT DIVISION

  Tsunami

  Typhoon

  Mistral

  Haboob

  FIRST AUXILIARIES DIVISION

  Titan

  Tanuki

  Kupua

  Domovoi

  SECOND AUXILIARIES DIVISION

  Witch

  Jinn

  Alchemist

  Cyclops

  TWENTY-SIX HEAVY CRUISERS IN FIVE DIVISIONS

  First Heavy Cruiser Division

  Third Heavy Cruiser Division

  Fourth Heavy Cruiser Division

  Fifth Heavy Cruiser Division

  Eighth Heavy Cruiser Division

  FIFTY-ONE LIGHT CRUISERS IN TEN SQUADRONS

  First Light Cruiser Squadron

  Second Light Cruiser Squadron

  Third Light Cruiser Squadron

  Fifth Light Cruiser Squadron

  Sixth Light Cruiser Squadron

  Eighth Light Cruiser Squadron

  Ninth Light Cruiser Squadron

  Tenth Light Cruiser Squadron

  Eleventh Light Cruiser Squadron

  Fourteenth Light Cruiser Squadron

  ONE HUNDRED FORTY-ONE DESTROYERS IN EIGHTEEN SQUADRONS

  First Destroyer Squadron

  Second Destroyer Squadron

  Third Destroyer Squadron

  Fourth Destroyer Squadron

  Sixth Destroyer Squadron

  Seventh Destroyer Squadron

  Ninth Destroyer Squadron

  Tenth Destroyer Squadron

  Twelfth Destroyer Squadron

  Fourteenth Destroyer Squadron

  Sixteenth Destroyer Squadron

  Seventeenth Destroyer Squadron

  Twentieth Destroyer Squadron

  Twenty-first Destroyer Squadron

  Twenty-third Destroyer Squadron

  Twenty-seventh Destroyer Squadron

  Twenty-eighth Destroyer Squadron

  Thirty-second Destroyer Squadron

  FIRST FLEET MARINE FORCE

  Major General Carabali, commanding

  3,000 Marines on assault transports and divided into detachments on battle cruisers and battleships

  ONE

  THE blare of an urgent call alert shattered the quiet of “night” routine in the admiral’s stateroom aboard the Alliance battle cruiser Dauntless. John “Black Jack” Geary, out of his bunk within seconds of the alarm beginning to sound, yanked on his uniform at the same time as his stateroom’s display lit up. “Admiral, a ship has arrived at the jump point from Pele.”

  Usually, the arrival of a ship from another star wouldn’t trigger an urgent alert. Especially when that ship had arrived at an area one light hour, or roughly one billion kilometers, from where Dauntless and the rest of the Alliance ships were orbiting. But the Alliance fleet was very far from home, orbiting the star named Midway on the very edge of human expansion into the galaxy. And Pele, where that ship had come from, was controlled by the mysterious enigma race that had launched repeated attacks on humanity.

  “Just one ship?” Geary demanded. “It’s an enigma?” The aliens had been known to send ships to Midway just long enough to take a look at things in the star system before jumping back to Pele.

  “No, sir,” the bridge watch stander replied. “It’s human design. A heavy cruiser. It’s not transmitting any identification. We just got a tentative ID from the fleet’s sensors that it’s the Passguard.”

  “The Passguard,” Geary repeated, feeling an emptiness inside. The Passguard had been the flagship of an attempt by the Rift Federation to independently contact the alien Dancers who were (apparently) well-disposed toward humans. When last seen, the Passguard had been in the company of six other ships, two of them light cruisers and the other four destroyers. But getting to the Dancers required crossing through space c
ontrolled by the enigmas, and the enigmas had earned their name because of their fanatical attempts to hide all information about themselves from humanity. “Alone?”

  “Yes, Admiral. No other ships have come out of jump. If that is Passguard, she’s displaying serious external damage. We’re not detecting any indications of active systems aboard her.”

  A dead ship? But dead ships didn’t exit jump space. That required a working jump drive and either a human or a still-functioning navigation system to trigger it. “I’m on my way to the bridge,” Geary said, moving quickly into the passageway outside his stateroom. The passageway was nearly empty at this time of the ship’s night, only a couple of sailors some distance away who were running checks on equipment. They looked his way as Geary left his stateroom, their expressions too far off to see clearly, but probably worried about anything that brought the admiral rushing out of his stateroom.

  They’d been in this orbit for over a week, waiting for proof that the project to entangle the hypernet gate at Midway with the Alliance hypernet had succeeded. A strangely monotonous week, given that they were so far from the Alliance and so close to the danger posed by the enigmas. Time on a warship was a strange thing, even when not considering the changes to the way time flowed when a ship accelerated to a tenth or two-tenths of the speed of light. The days could fly by in a blur of duties and watches to be stood and necessary things to be done. But those same days could drag, the duties and the watches and the necessary things pretty much the same from one day to the next. Even the hardest work could get boring when it didn’t change, and that created another unchanging problem, because there were few things in the universe as dangerous as sailors or Marines who were bored and liable to come up with something that “seemed like a good idea at the time.”

  So Geary found himself both worried by this newly arrived ship, and relieved that something had happened to cause a break in the routine.

  Getting to the bridge took only a minute, but he wasn’t surprised to see that he hadn’t beaten Dauntless’s commanding officer getting there.

  Captain Tanya Desjani, in her ship’s command seat next to his, was eyeing her display. “Passguard, if that is Passguard, hasn’t maneuvered since leaving jump. Our sensors aren’t picking up any indications of active systems operating aboard her.” Desjani shook her head. “If that ship hadn’t just left jump I’d assess it as completely dead, a derelict. But they must still have a working jump drive.”

  “Maybe it is dead,” Geary said, “except for the jump drive.”

  “That’s kind of hard to believe, Admiral, that the crew got wiped out and everything else got knocked out but the jump drive, and the jump drive’s automated control also survived as well as emergency power for it.” She shook her head again. “I think there are still people alive on that wreck, if Passguard managed to fight back to the jump point at Pele at the cost of the other ships with her. But it’s also possible that Passguard was captured, and the enigmas rigged it to show up here as an apparent derelict to be used for a sneak attack.”

  Geary frowned. “If the wreck is rigged to explode, it could only take out whatever shuttle or ship came close to examine it. Maybe the enigmas sent it back as an object lesson? This is what happens to human ships that come to Pele?”

  “Maybe,” Desjani said. “There’s only one way to get an answer, and if there are any humans still alive on that thing they probably need help as fast as possible.”

  Space offered few obstacles to a clear view of objects far more distant than Passguard was at the moment. Geary studied the external damage his fleet’s sensors were evaluating on the heavy cruiser, wincing inside as he imagined the beating Passguard must have taken. He’d once been on the losing side of a fight with his own cruiser, the Merlon, the ugly memories of having his ship pounded until it was helpless flooding his mind.

  He fought down the images of the past, knowing that Desjani was right, and if anyone remained alive aboard Passguard they were probably in desperate need of help.

  But help would take a while to get to them. In human terms, space was almost unimaginably huge. One light hour, a billion kilometers, was nothing compared to a light year that equaled ten trillion kilometers. But to humans it was very far indeed. Even pouring on all the acceleration the latest warships could manage it would still take several hours to cover a light hour’s distance and brake to match Passguard’s own vector. And that was on top of the hour that had already passed while the light from the heavy cruiser’s arrival was traveling from the jump point to where Dauntless was orbiting. “If there are still crew aboard, it’s amazing anyone survived the jump.”

  “They were luckier than the ships with them,” Desjani said, not trying to hide her bitter feelings. “A lot of good sailors must’ve died proving how stupid it was for the Rift Federation to try to get to Dancer space all on their own.”

  He couldn’t argue the point because he felt the same way. The small force the Rift Federation sent had been able to bluff its way across human space, but hadn’t stood a chance against the enigmas.

  He knew what he needed to do: detach some of his ships to intercept Passguard and either assist any survivors or destroy any enigma traps on the ship. Geary began to run through the necessary steps in his mind before suddenly halting himself.

  For a long time he’d been in command of a fleet operating on its own, making his own decisions on what needed to be done and then doing it. He’d fallen out of the habit of requesting permission before acting.

  Geary touched his communication controls. “Boundless, this is Admiral Geary. I need to talk to Ambassador Rycerz as quickly as possible.”

  “We need permission?” Captain Desjani grumbled in a low voice so the others on the bridge couldn’t hear. “Isn’t this an emergency?”

  “It’s not that kind of emergency,” Geary said. “Ambassador Rycerz is the highest-ranking civilian authority representing the Alliance here, and that means I request permission before I act on this.”

  Desjani looked annoyed but didn’t try to argue. She knew how he felt about the importance of deferring to civilian authority, and showing others that he did so. A century of war had badly frayed ties between the fleet and the government, ties that Geary was determined to repair. His recent experiences on the Alliance capital world, Unity, had only reinforced that resolve. A more rational person probably would’ve been discouraged or deterred by assassination attempts aimed at him, as well as the betrayal of Alliance laws and principles by parts of the Senate, but then again a more rational person would’ve given up long ago.

  A virtual window popped up on Geary’s display, showing Ambassador Rycerz in her office aboard Boundless. She’d obviously also been awakened recently. “Admiral. Is this about that ship from Pele?”

  “Yes,” Geary said. “Our sensors have identified it as the Passguard, the cruiser that was leading the Rift Federation force trying to reach Dancer space. It’s very badly damaged. Request permission to coordinate with Midway’s authorities to send some of my ships to rescue any survivors.”

  Rycerz’s eyes searched his own. “You think someone might still be alive on that ship?”

  “It’s possible. If so, they might be on their last legs.”

  “Then we have to do whatever we can.” The ambassador paused, thinking, her expression somber. “Do you think the enigmas destroyed the other Rift Federation ships?”

  “Yes,” Geary said, not trying to cushion the blow of his assessment. “The enigmas have been utterly ruthless when it comes to dealing with humanity.”

  “Why?” Rycerz ran one hand through her hair. “Did the Syndics handle their contacts with the enigmas that badly?”

  “When we went through enigma space, the civilian experts with us debated that question,” Geary said. “We simply don’t know enough about how the enigmas think, and they’ve refused to go beyond threats when dealing with us. The best guess our experts came up with is that the enigmas are so obsessed with protecting everything about themselves from any outsiders that they’ll do anything to stop anyone who might learn anything. They’ve apparently had the same attitude toward the Dancers.”