Resolute, p.39
Resolute,
p.39
Armus paused, looking uncomfortable, while Geary waited with dread for the rest.
“I . . . took it upon myself,” Captain Armus said, “to tell all ships that Ensign Duellos from her position within the conspiracy had provided the information needed to thwart it. This seemed the best way to protect her and prevent any other vigilante actions within the fleet by loyal personnel outraged by what they were hearing about the conspiracy. I subsequently learned that my words have been widely interpreted to mean that Ensign Duellos had joined the conspiracy under orders so as to assist in its detection and elimination. Ensign Duellos remains under guard but has not been physically threatened. An exhaustive search of Encroach uncovered another stealth suit matching that taken from the attempted assassin aboard Dauntless. No other suits were found and we believe that threat within the fleet has been neutralized.”
Arwen Duellos was all right? Armus’s discomfort had been over reporting his own use of initiative? Geary heard himself laughing while Desjani watched him with concern that shifted to relief.
“Ambassador Rycerz,” Armus continued, “was told by me that there is no threat to her or Boundless, but has demanded a full report explaining what happened. I have informed her that I am working with all due deliberation on such a report.
“I have the honor to report that the conspiracy has been decapitated, if not eliminated, and this portion of the fleet remains ready and willing to carry out all lawful orders. I relinquish command of this force to you, though I will remain in local command until your task force rejoins us.
“To the honor of our ancestors. Armus, out.”
“All is well,” Geary told Desjani. He would have to let the rest of the ships in the task force that had gone to the Taon star system know what had happened here, but one particular person needed to be informed as quickly as possible. Geary entered a command to forward Armus’s report to Captain Duellos on Inspire, adding a brief note at the beginning—She’s all right.
Ambassador Rycerz’s initial reaction wasn’t received by Geary until his task force was less than one light hour from rejoining Boundless. The ambassador appeared to be reserved, clearly withholding judgment on what she had heard thus far. “While very glad to know you have brought all of your ships back safely,” she said, “I am unclear as to whether we’ve acquired a new, friendly relationship with this Lokaa, exactly who Lokaa is, and whether the so-called xenophobe Taon are a threat outside of Taon-controlled space.
“I’ve also been made aware of events within your fleet here while you were gone that may have imperiled this mission,” Rycerz added. “I expect a full report on those events, a report I have already requested and have yet to receive.”
Not himself having any answers to the questions about the Taon, and recognizing the wisdom behind Armus’s decision to slow-walk the report to Rycerz on the conspiracy, Geary decided to wait to discuss those things further with the ambassador until their ships were close enough for a real-time conversation.
Captain Duellos called in, looking much better than he had been. “All’s well that ends, as they say. I’ve heard from some others in the fleet, congratulating me on my daughter’s bravery, and I’ve heard from Arwen. She’s upset to be cast as a hero when she considers herself as sharing in the blame. Arwen is still expecting to be charged for her earlier role in the conspiracy.”
“She won’t be,” Geary said. “If I did that it would undercut Captain Armus by making it appear he was either fooled or deliberately lied about Ensign Duellos’s role in shutting down the conspiracy. Neither of those things are true. What’s important is that she didn’t participate in any actions against the chain of command, and she risked her life to correct her mistake when she realized it. I consider the books balanced.”
Duellos sighed with relief. “I am grateful to hear that.”
“She’s not out of danger,” Geary said. “It’s unlikely that we’ve caught everyone involved in it, and a revenge attack on her remains a real possibility. When we rejoin the fleet, I’ve asked Colonel Rogero and Kommodor Bradamont to speak with your daughter about precautions against assassination attempts.”
There was still the matter of deciding what to do with Captain Pelleas, Captain Burdock, Commander Cui, and the others being held with them under arrest aboard Tsunami. Pelleas in particular had been well regarded in the fleet, so his fate would require careful thought. A firing squad was legally justified, but aside from other factors Pelleas, Burdock, and Cui had all served well during the war. There were times when legality and justice were not the same thing. Lieutenant Commander George was speaking with all of the prisoners who would talk. Whatever came of those talks might help decide what to do with each of the conspirators.
He expected some difficult conversations with Rycerz when the task force rejoined the rest of the fleet and Boundless, but Dauntless was still fifteen light minutes from Boundless when another message came in from the ambassador. She appeared both delighted and surprised, her words spilling out with unusual quickness. “Admiral, there’s been a breakthrough. The Dancers have accepted our offer to establish Boundless here as an embassy ship. And they want to talk about formalizing their relationship with the Alliance. Their message said something about Lokaa’s words. That seems to have made a difference to the Dancers. Do you know what the Dancers meant?”
Rycerz paused to inhale slowly. “There’s something else. The Dancers sent us a star chart. I’m attaching it to this message. It’s . . . a lot to absorb. We’ll speak more on it later. Rycerz, out.”
He called Desjani down to his stateroom before opening the attachment.
Over the table in his stateroom, a three-dimensional star chart covering a very wide swath of this arm of the galaxy appeared.
“That’s the Alliance,” Desjani said, pointing to the stars off to one side on the chart. “And that would be the Syndics, or what used to be all Syndic-controlled space. And that’s where the Rift Federation is, next to the Callas Republic. This whole region must be human-occupied space. Doesn’t look that big on this kind of scale, does it?”
“There’s Sol,” Geary said. “Old Earth’s star.” He looked around the borders of human-occupied space. “That would be the enigmas. And there are the other Kick stars the Dancers told us about.”
“All of this is Dancer space?” Desjani said, running her hand through the stars. “Jack, this chart is priceless,” she added, so overwhelmed that she used his first name in a professional setting. “People back in the Alliance are going to go nuts when they see this.”
“Maybe it’s not all good news,” Geary said, his eyes on other groupings of stars. “This would be Taon space, I guess. But who is it who controls these stars across the Rift from the federation?”
“They’ve got plenty of stars under their control, whoever they are,” Desjani said. “I guess we know now why none of the robotic probes sent across the Rift ever came back. And look here, this grouping. They’re separated from human space by these stars that are farther apart than usual, but they control a lot of territory.” She stepped back, eyeing the chart in its entirety. “You know what? Looking at this, it almost seems like humanity is surrounded. We didn’t know it because of the distribution of stars that kept us from going in certain directions, but there are others everywhere.”
Geary nodded slowly. “There are. The Dancers don’t seem to know much about the regions on the other side of Sol, where planets were settled by those Shield of Sol fools. Humanity may still have room to expand that way. But everywhere else, we’re facing potential trouble.”
“Is this chart just knowledge,” Captain Tanya Desjani said, “or is it a warning?”
Admiral John Geary shook his head. “I guess that’s the next thing we have to find out.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I remain indebted to my agent, Joshua Bilmes, for his ever-inspired suggestions and assistance, and to my editor, Anne Sowards, for her support and editing. Thanks also to Robert Chase, Kelly Dwyer, Carolyn Ives Gilman, Simcha Kuritzky, Michael LaViolette, Bud Sparhawk, Mary Thompson, and Constance A. Warner for their suggestions, comments, and recommendations.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jack Campbell is the pen name of John G. Hemry, a retired naval officer who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis before serving with the surface fleet and in a variety of other assignments. He is the New York Times bestselling author of the Lost Fleet, the Lost Stars, and the Genesis Fleet series, as well as the Stark’s War, Paul Sinclair, and Pillars of Reality series. He lives with his indomitable wife and three children in Maryland.
What’s next on
your reading list?
Discover your next
great read!
Get personalized book picks and up-to-date news about this author.
Sign up now.
_140320203_
Jack Campbell, Resolute
