“Aye, aye, sir!” Desjani looked exultant, and so did everyone else Geary could see on the bridge.
“Captain Geary!” He hadn’t seen that Co-President Rione had also arrived on the bridge. Now he turned to look as she spoke, her face appalled. “Are you intending to fight a full-scale battle for control of this system?”
“Yes. That’s exactly what I’m planning. I have thirty-one personnel and a fleet cargo shuttle marooned on one of the asteroids in the system.”
“And with the Syndic ships well over half a day away, you believe a full-scale battle is your only option?”
Geary gave her a brief, humorless smile. “I believe it’s the best option for a variety of reasons.”
“You can’t risk the loss of hundreds or thousands of sailors and who knows how many ships for thirty-one people who could be easily rescued and a cargo shuttle that could be easily abandoned on that asteroid!”
“None of the available options are foolproof, Madam Co-President. We don’t know what the Syndics are doing this very minute. Even a simple rescue, if delayed by other unforeseen events, could place Witch or some other ship in peril. Yes, I’m risking the entire fleet to cover those personnel and that shuttle and the ships working to take them off that asteroid. It’s a matter of responsibility and keeping faith. The Alliance fleet does not leave anyone behind.”
Sudden cheers startled Geary and Rione. Looking around, he saw Dauntless’s bridge team holding fists upward as they roared approval.
He turned toward Captain Desjani, catching her just as she finished muttering something into her communications system. “Pardon me, Captain Geary. I was just transmitting the record of your statement to the fleet.” Even after spending almost a couple of months with her, Geary was still shocked to see the admiration shining in her eyes.
But he knew she’d done something right. As much as he hated to admit it, those words he’d blurted out would steel the fleet through this battle. And no doubt be added to the inspirational sayings of Black Jack Geary. Which, he prayed to every ancestor he had, he’d never have to actually hear repeated by anyone else.
Rione looked like she was praying, too, though Geary suspected they were prayers for what she thought of as sanity to prevail. “Captain Geary, what can I say to convince you that this fleet’s survival is the most important factor to consider?”
“Madam Co-President, I understand your concerns. I must ask you to trust my judgment that this fleet’s survival will depend ultimately on many factors.”
“Captain.” Rione stepped close and spoke very quietly. “You know how critical it is for Dauntless to return safely to Alliance space. The item it carries is of incalculable value.”
“I haven’t forgotten that,” Geary replied in an equally quiet tone.
“Have you forgotten that I have it in my power to pull from your command the ship contingents from the Callas Republic and the Rift Federation?”
“No. I’d strongly urge you not to do that.” Geary tried to look like he imagined someone should look when they knew the risks but could still be confident. “I’d wanted more training time, but the fleet can handle this well. There are good reasons for why I’m doing this. I’d like to have your ships participate.”
“And if I refuse to allow that?”
Geary exhaled heavily. “There’d be nothing I could do about it. You know that.”
She eyed him for a long moment while Geary ached to get back to the developing battle, but he knew he had to resolve this situation first. “Very well, Captain Geary. Your actions thus far have earned you the benefit of the doubt from me. You have your battle and you have the ships of the Callas Republic and the Rift Federation. May the living stars grant that neither of us regrets our decision.”
“Thank you.” Geary took another deep breath and turned back to his display. It would be several hours before the fleets clashed, but he’d already set events in motion that would make that battle inevitable. He needed to use the intervening time to maximize his chances of winning. And planning for what to do if disaster struck and he had to pull another desperate retreat out of his hat.
TEN
Deciding to fight started the adrenaline flowing, though combat was still several hours away even if both sides rushed toward each other at maximum acceleration. Geary ached to immediately order the fleet out of the generic Alpha formation into the actual battle formation he planned on using, but he knew that would be a mistake. His old commanders had drilled that into him. The three things you need to worry about the most during the hours leading up to an engagement are acting too early, acting too early, and acting too early.
And here was Desjani wanting to do just that. “Will we be fighting in this formation?” she asked dubiously.
“No.” Geary caught the look of frustration that flashed across her face and relented. “We won’t move into the battle formation until shortly before contact. I want to leave just enough time, with a small margin of error, for our ships to reach their new stations and then be able to accelerate to battle speed.”
“Why not do it now? You’ve told me you’re concerned about the fleet’s ability to maneuver properly in an actual combat situation. Why wait until we’re almost in contact with the enemy?”
He’d asked the same question a long time ago. “Because we don’t want to give the enemy hours of leisure time to study our formation and figure out our plan of engagement.”
“But we could be in one usable formation and then shift to another, couldn’t we? Then we’d be ready even if the ships didn’t get into the new formation in time. We could shift a lot and keep the enemy guessing as to our intentions.”
Geary laughed softly, drawing a puzzled look from Desjani. “I’m sorry, but I’m just remembering wanting to do the same thing. It took me a while to learn the flaw in that approach.” He waved at the display, where the symbols representing the Alliance and Syndic forces were slowly converging across the huge distances between them. “We decide to fight and then usually have quite a while to prepare. There’s a tremendous temptation during that time to keep messing with things. Keep changing formations, keep making minor adjustments, keep altering plans. And if you do that, you end up wearing out your crews and drawing down your fuel reserves before you even get into contact with the enemy. It’s far better to discipline yourself to wait, to give your ships a chance to rest a bit before battle.”
“I see.” Desjani shifted in her seat. “Yes, I do understand. I want to do something now, but it’d be premature. That’s how we’ve fought, you know. Immediately assume battle formation, almost always something simple, and then charge straight at the enemy.”
“I figured that.” He looked again at the display, where the Syndic force seemed to be following that kind of approach. Two opposing forces just hurling themselves straight at their opponents and beating the hell out of each other. Brute force against brute force. No wonder these people value pride and courage so much. In that kind of battle, the side that keeps fighting the hardest and longest is likely to win. But at a terrible price in casualties and ship losses.