Duellos answered, his voice as cold as Geary had ever heard it. “The Alliance has been doing what some people claimed to be ‘necessary’ for the last hundred years and is no closer to winning the war.”
“Because of half measures and hesitation!” Kila declared. “Always pulling back from what necessity demanded. The enemy deserves no mercy. None. They deserve death, and only when they realized that we were willing to kill every one of them would they have given in.”
“And if the enemy didn’t give in?”
Kila swept one hand in a dismissive gesture. “Then they’d all be killed, and the war would end that way.”
Tulev spoke, his voice flat. “I have as much right as any to comment on that. I don’t know what the Syndics deserve, but their killing of the Alliance’s people has never served to persuade us to surrender. Even if your proposal weren’t physically beyond the capabilities of even the Alliance, it would be fundamentally flawed in its belief that humans would bow before mass murder of their own.”
“Your spirit died at Elyzia,” Kila replied, causing a rare display of emotion by Tulev as his face reddened. “I don’t fear to speak the truth about such things. But none of you want the truth, none of you want to face your own shortcomings. You could have had a leader who would have done what needed to be done, but you’d rather die by stages, pathetic shadows of what fleet officers used to be.”
Geary shook his head. “Fleet officers never believed in killing their own to satisfy their ambitions.”
Kila’s snarl turned smug. “My ambitions? Do you think I was delusional enough to think a herd of sheep like this would accept me in command? Your pitiful egos couldn’t have accepted that. I had someone who would listen, who’d be accepted by all of you, even though he now lacks the courage to stand beside me.” She turned and looked directly at Captain Caligo, who stared back. “Weren’t you going to tell them? Staying in the background isn’t going to work this time. I have no intention of falling on my sword to protect you while you try to hide your own involvement.”
Caligo shook his head violently. “I don’t know what—”
“We agreed that we were willing to die for the Alliance, remember?” Kila goaded him. “I saw your face just now, saw that you were ready to blend in again, being whatever those around you wanted to see. What do you think they see now?”
Caligo had gone very pale. “You’re lying. There’s no proof for any of this.”
“Do you think I was stupid enough to trust you?” Kila stood at attention, her contemptuous gaze sweeping across every officer there, then reached down and tapped a sequence of commands. “You wanted evidence, Captain Geary? I just transmitted enough to make it clear that Caligo agreed to everything.” Her eyes were fixed on Geary now. “My enemies have always wanted to drag me down out of envy, but if you were really Black Jack, I could have supported you! I could have stood with a real man, but that man died in survival sleep and left you, an empty shell. All you deserve is that dishonorable politician and that simple-minded captain. I only hope one or both of them wake up and stick a knife in you someday. It’s the only thing you’re worthy of.”
Duellos shook his head, looking regretful but unyielding. “You’re so certain of what everyone else deserves, but you’re a poor judge of that. You made your enemies, Sandra, your ambition blinded you, and now you will face the firing squad you deserve.”
“You have no right to judge me.”
Captain Armus answered. “The crew of Lorica has that right, don’t they, Kila? Soon enough you’ll be facing them. If I were you, I’d be preparing to beg forgiveness. None of them survived to see you die, but we will witness that moment for them.”
Kila glared at him, staying at attention. “I won’t give any of you the satisfaction of watching me die. I’ll see you all in hell, which is where you’ve chosen to be led.” She slammed her hand down on her controls back on Inspire, and her image vanished.
“Colonel?” Geary demanded.
Carabali was listening to a report, then frowned. “My Marines can’t override the lock on Captain Kila’s stateroom. They’ve sent for—” Carabali paused, looking to one side and nodding to someone, then faced Geary again. “My Marines report an explosion inside Captain Kila’s stateroom. It appears to have been equivalent to two standard room-clearing charges.”
“What are the chances anyone in the room with that is still alive?”
“Zero.”
The conference room was silent, everyone staring at the spot that Captain Kila’s image had once occupied. The quiet was finally broken by a high-priority message alert. “Was this cleared by the security screens?” Geary asked.
Desjani spoke rapidly into her data unit, then nodded. “It’s clean.”
He opened it, seeing a mass of files and archived e-mails. Selecting a few at random, he read them, seeing hatred and contempt for him, and much else as well. “This is the evidence that Captain Kila sent before killing herself,” he informed the other officers. He popped one of the old e-mails onto the display over the table so everyone could read it.
Tulev was the first to comment. “From Captain Caligo, reaffirming his commitment to follow instructions from Captain Kila in return for her backing as commander of the fleet. Can we be certain of the authenticity of this document and the others provided by Captain Kila?”
Badaya was glaring at Caligo. “They certainly constitute adequate grounds for interrogation. If Captain Caligo is innocent of involvement in the attempts to destroy Alliance warships and the destruction of Lorica, I’m sure he won’t object to the chance to clear himself.”
Caligo swallowed and spoke. “As my fellow officers, you surely adhere to the principles in which the fleet believes.”
“Was that a yes or a no?” Duellos asked.
“Every officer has a right to have his full record considered and his honor not questioned without reason . . .” Caligo’s voice trailed off as even he realized that some powerful reasons existed.
Desjani leaned forward, her expression as stern as Geary had ever seen it. “There is exactly one thing that might grant you an honorable death instead of that of a traitor and a coward. Tell us everything you know and everyone who was involved in this. We’ll get that anyway, even if you have to be read the names of every person in this fleet so we can see your reactions in the interrogation chamber. But it will save time and possibly ships if you talk now.” She looked around the table. “Kila may have tried to activate another worm. Until we know everything, we have to assume the threat isn’t over.”
This time the looks bent toward Caligo were frightened and dangerous. He quailed before them and shook his head. “I don’t know. I swear.”
“Do you know which parts of the fleet net Kila was using to send out the worms? Do you know any identifiers? Who wrote them?”
“Y-yes.”
Colonel Carabali listened to another report. “My Marines have blown the hatch on Captain Kila’s stateroom and entered. They confirm that she’s dead. They’re doing a sweep for physical booby traps and recommend that fleet software experts do a careful search for any triggers in that stateroom that might activate destructive worms.”
“Is there anyone on Inspire we can trust to do that?” Geary asked the officers around the table.
“Send in a team from Valiant,” Cresida suggested. “They’re probably the sharpest software geeks in the fleet.”
Commander Landis, Valiant’s commanding officer, smiled tightly. “My software-security team is good. I’ll have them shuttled over to Inspire. I’d recommend every system on Inspire be scrubbed. That will take a while.”
“Can you get it done before we jump for Atalia?” Geary asked.
“Yes, sir. One way or the other, we’ll have Inspire certified clean before the next jump.”
“Thank you, Commander Landis. Get going on that immediately.” Geary faced Captain Caligo, who was now sitting perfectly still, like a rabbit caught in the open and trying to avoid attracti
ng attention. It seemed pretty clear that he wouldn’t commit a spectacular act of suicide like Kila had. “Captain Caligo, you are hereby relieved of command effective immediately. You’ll be taken into custody and transported to Illustrious. I expect you to provide us with all of the information you’ve promised to deliver, and I expect to start seeing that before you reach Illustrious.”
Caligo didn’t respond, just sat staring at the table.
“Captain Caligo, do you understand?” Geary asked in his harshest voice.
“Yes, sir.” Caligo bent his head and began speaking quietly into a recorder in his stateroom. He was still at it when the Marines assigned to Brilliant arrived and removed him from the meeting software.
Afterward, everyone sat, seemingly stunned. To Geary’s surprise, it was Captain Armus who broke the silence, speaking gruffly. “Captain Geary, I’ve not hesitated to speak up when I disagreed with you. But now I apologize for anything I have said or done that may have encouraged Kila and Caligo to believe their actions were justified.”
“Thank you, Captain Armus. I haven’t always been happy with your dissents, but I recognize the need for them and appreciate your willingness to speak your mind. I do not hold you at fault in any way for the actions of Kila and Caligo.” Geary looked around the table, easily able to see how badly rattled his commanding officers had been by what had taken place. “A terrible thing has happened. Two of our officers have broken faith with the rest of us. There may be more, but we have the leads we need to unravel the rest of the plot if need be. My confidence in everyone still here is unshaken. I have said before and I will say again now that no one has ever been privileged to have a finer group of officers serving under him, and no one has ever been so honored as to command such a fleet as I have. I thank you for your service and your loyalty and your sacrifice. I will do all I can to live up to the honor that has been given me to serve as your commander.”
He wasn’t sure how they’d react, but one by one, then in a rush, every officer stood to attention and wordlessly saluted him.
Geary returned the salutes, feeling overwhelmed. “Thank you. The investigation will continue, but let’s put this ugliness behind us and prepare for battle at Atalia.”
They cheered then, after which the virtual presences vanished slower than usual as images crowded forward to bid individual farewells to Geary. Finally, he was alone in the room except for the real presence of Desjani and the remaining image of Rione.
Desjani saluted as well, an unmistakable look of pride on her face as she gazed at Geary.
“What?” he asked.
“I’ll explain it to you someday,” she replied with a smile. “By your leave, sir.”
“Certainly, Captain Desjani.”
After she’d left, Rione’s image sat silent, her face in her hands.
“Are you all right?” Geary asked.
“I underestimated you,” she replied in a low voice.
“I don’t understand.”
Rione lowered her hands and looked at him. “You’re even more dangerous than I thought. They’re yours. You must have seen that. And even I found myself wondering what I would do if you announced you would become the leader of the Alliance.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You know exactly what you’d do.”
“I suppose.” Rione stood up. “You need to talk to Badaya. Soon. Otherwise, the momentum to make you a dictator may become unstoppable.”
“I’ll talk to him before we leave Padronis.”
“Good. There are very few people in human history who have rejected the kind of power you could have, John Geary.”
“I’ve rejected it,” he insisted, “because I’m not qualified to wield it.”
“And that belief of yours, ironically, is what would enable us to trust you with that power.” She leaned closer. “Hold to your oath, Captain Geary. Only your example and forbearance can save the Alliance.” Then her image vanished as well.
On his way back to his stateroom, Geary realized that he had two more decisions to make and not much time to make them. Reaching his stateroom, he immediately called the bridge. “Captain Desjani, please get ahold of Captain Duellos and have him call me as soon as possible.”
Sitting down, Geary tried to absorb all that had happened. It was hard to believe that dangerous opposition to him within the fleet had finally been brought to an end.
His hatch alert chimed and Geary gave the hatch an irritated look. Can’t I have five minutes to deal with this? But he didn’t know how important this visitor might be. “Please enter.”
Co-President Rione stepped inside his stateroom, then made a questioning gesture around her. Understanding what that meant, Geary activated the stateroom’s highest-security seals. “What is it?”
“I want you to know that my agents within the fleet have detected no signs of any other opposition. They’ve been watching as the news about Kila spreads. There are no signs of other worms, no signs of anyone expressing any support for her or Caligo, no missteps that might indicate hidden sympathies for them.”
“That’s good to know.” Could he finally dispense with such things and no longer worry about someone having to monitor his own officers for indications they might pose a danger to the fleet? “I’ll feel a lot better, though, as soon as Valiant’s geeks finish sweeping Inspire’s gear.”
“Of course.”
An insistent buzzing told Geary that someone was trying to contact him using command priority. “Excuse me, Madam Co-President, but I probably need to take this.” He accepted the message, and Captain Desjani appeared on the comm panel.
“That’s perfectly all right,” Rione replied. “I’ve told you what I needed to say, and I didn’t mean to intrude on your rendezvous with your special friend.”
Geary was still searching for the right, unheated reply when Rione left.
Desjani’s image was glaring from the comm screen. “Sir, I swear that I am this far from hurting that woman,” she hissed, holding her thumb and forefinger less than a centimeter apart.
“That would be a violation of Alliance law and fleet regulations,” Geary replied wearily.
“Only if they prove I did it knowingly. I could beat the hell out of her in some really dark place and say I didn’t know who she was.”
At the moment, the idea did sound tempting. Geary tried to shake it out of his head. “No. We need her.”
“Do I get to beat her up when we don’t need her anymore?” Desjani asked. “Please?”
More temptation. “I can’t promise you that. Even though at times like this I’d like to. What’s up?”
“Captain Duellos is ready to speak with you. You had a security hold on incoming transmissions, so he couldn’t get through,” Desjani added in accusing tones.
“Sorry. I’ll lift the hold. Thanks.”
“My pleasure, sir,” she responded pointedly. before her image vanished.
Geary sighed and waited for Duellos to appear. A moment later the other captain did, his virtual image seeming to stand in the stateroom with Geary. “You wanted to speak with me, Captain Geary?” Duellos asked.
“Yes, but first please take a seat.” Duellos nodded gratefully and sat down in a seat on Furious, the image in Geary’s stateroom mimicking the gesture on one of Geary’s seats.
“I need to know how well you’re doing. You seemed fine during the confrontation with Kila, but are you really in good shape inside?”
Duellos cocked an eyebrow at him. “I’m doing as well as can be expected for a captain without a ship.”
“Do you want another ship?” Geary asked bluntly. “I’ve got a couple of battle cruisers that suddenly need captains.”
“Brilliant and Inspire?” Duellos drew in a long breath. “Which one?”
“Which one can you handle? I don’t think Brilliant has any special problems aside from the shock the crew must be feeling.”
Duellos bared his teeth in a humorless grin. “But you need me on Inspire.”
&n
bsp; “That’s true.” Geary sat down opposite Duellos. “I need the best I’ve got on Inspire, and that’s you. I have no idea how badly Kila messed up that ship, but it might be a real snake pit. The former commanding officer is dead, the former executive officer, systems-security officer, and communications officer are all under arrest, and the remaining officers are all going to have to be investigated.”
“A real opportunity to excel,” Duellos murmured with more than a trace of sarcasm. “Many of my officers got off Courageous, so if I was authorized to bring some of them along . . .”
“Granted. Take as many of Courageous’s old crew as you want. Inspire took some serious personnel losses while Kila was making glorious charges against the enemy and needs the replacements.”
Duellos thought for a few moments while Geary waited, then finally nodded. “Inspire’s crew will be needing a lot of rebuilding. I’ll do my best.”
“Thank you. I couldn’t ask for more, or a better officer for the job. Inspire herself needs a lot of rebuilding, too. She’s pretty badly shot up.”
“Having to focus the crew on repairing the ship may help repair their own morale.” Duellos quirked a small smile. “At times like this, seeing something tangible accomplished can make a big difference. I assume you want me on Inspire an hour ago?”
“Yes,” Geary agreed, “but take the time you need to choose which personnel from Courageous you’re taking with you. Like I said, you can have all of them if you want. I’ll position Inspire near the auxiliaries so they can provide repair support and services easily.”
“Another ship and right back near the auxiliaries? I may get a reputation as a bad-luck captain out of this.” Duellos smiled slightly again. “Thank you for not asking me to take Orion.”
“I don’t know what the hell I’m going to do with Orion.”
“Put Numos back in command,” Duellos suggested. “He’ll cause Orion to be destroyed in the next engagement for certain.”
“If her crew doesn’t start performing, I may do just that.” Geary looked upward as if addressing the living stars. “I’m joking.” Lowering his gaze to Duellos again, he indicated the fleet status display. “The First Battle Cruiser Division is down to one ship, Formidable, and the Seventh only has Brilliant and Inspire. I was thinking of folding them into a single division, a reconstituted First Division containing all three ships.”
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