“Was that what it was?” Geary took a few moments to compose his thoughts. “The odds against us are awful, Tanya. How do I give the crew hope when they must be aware of that?”
“We don’t need hope,” she replied. “None of us hoped to survive the war with the Syndics, and none of us hoped to see the end of that war. We could hope to win each battle, but we’d fight like hell whether we thought we had a chance or not. Hope is for people who expect to see a better future. We stopped believing in that a long time ago and learned how to fight without that belief. Until you came. Haven’t you figured that out?”
He took a few seconds to reply. “I guess not.”
“Just tell everyone we didn’t choose this fight, but we’re going to win it.”
“All right.” Geary gestured to the comm watch-stander to have his voice broadcast everywhere on the ship except in the compartment where the senators were debating with each other and Rione. “This is Admiral Geary. As you may have heard, upon our arrival in Sol Star System, we discovered that one of the minor powers located in nearby star systems had violated the sanctity of Sol by stationing a flotilla of warships here. Those warships have threatened the people of Sol, and they have demanded that we surrender to them.
“The people of Sol have told us that they cannot defend themselves. We are being attacked, and those attacking us are also threatening Sol Star System and Old Earth. We did not seek a fight. We did not choose a fight. But because the aggressor warships here are blocking our route to the hypernet gate, threatening the Dancers, threatening Old Earth itself, and moving to intercept us, we have no choice but to fight. The odds do not favor us, but since we have to fight, we’re going to win.”
He could only hope that the bold shouts and cheers within Dauntless could not be heard by the senators, and if so, that the senators would think they were somehow related to the crossing-the-line celebration of the day before. “I guess that was good,” he told Tanya.
“It would have been better if you just said what I told you to say.”
“What I said was close to that.”
“You are not my editor, Admiral.” She tapped the arm of her chair lightly. “Half an hour to contact. The senators are probably going to notice when we start combat maneuvers.”
“Probably.” He left it at that.
“Another message from the other warships,” the comm watch-stander said.
Mister Medals appeared to be annoyed and a bit baffled, in the manner of someone who was so unused to being crossed that he didn’t quite know how to handle it. “You are quickly running out of time to comply with your instructions. I am not in the habit of repeating my directions. You are to drop your shields now and reduce your velocity now, or I will take any measures required to preserve the security and safety of Sol.”
Geary tapped his reply command. “I am not in the habit of accepting orders from a minor commander of minor forces representing a minor collection of star systems. You are to cease all offensive activity in this star system and you are to immediately change vectors to remove your ships from this star system by whichever means you choose. Sol cannot defend itself, but we can and will defend Sol as well as ourselves. Geary, out.”
Desjani gave him a grin. “I don’t think the senators would approve of that language.”
“No, they wouldn’t.” Could Rione keep them occupied until Dauntless was committed to the fight? The odds against them would get even worse if someone interfered with the plan they had come up with. “I just realized something.”
“Good or bad?”
“Good. With Rione having a vote, that means four votes. Left to themselves, those three senators might have settled on a two-to-one result after a little infighting. But with four votes, Rione can shift every time a majority starts to develop and keep everything stymied at two to two. Senator Navarro must have known she would be able to do that if he gave her his proxy.” Navarro, weary as he is of the ugly politics afflicting the Alliance, was canny enough to figure out how to frustrate any attempted interference with me. But if he anticipated the need for that, did he think I might face this situation? Did he know someone might try to set up this ambush at Sol? Or did Navarro just plan for the worst in case it was needed?
“Ten minutes to entering estimated threat envelope,” Lieutenant Yuon said.
“Are you going to keep your bow pointed at them?” Geary asked. Dauntless had been going backwards at very high speed ever since pivoting around to slow her velocity.
“Until I guess their missiles are launching,” Desjani confirmed. “I want my strongest weaponry and shields facing them.”
The remaining minutes passed with the usual slowness they acquired when waiting for a critical event. When Dauntless entered the missile threat envelope, there would be only a few seconds to react, but Geary sat back with every sign of calm confidence as he waited for Desjani to make her decision.
For her part, Desjani no longer seemed aware of him, her focus locked on the display before her.
“Entering—”
Lieutenant Yuon broke off as Dauntless pitched downward and accelerated at the maximum capability of her main propulsion units, then rolled into a skidding turn tens of thousands of kilometers wide as the thrusters on her port bow fired at full power.
Geary braced himself against momentum forces strong enough to leak past the inertial dampers. A low groan of straining metal and composites rose around him as Dauntless herself protested the stresses on her hull. On his display, red danger symbols marked a volley of missiles bending around in pursuit of Dauntless.
“They fired first,” Desjani said. “Request permission to return fire.”
Not only had the Covenant ships fired first, but they had unleashed a volley of missiles instead of a single warning shot. Any question about whether they sought Dauntless’s destruction had now been answered. “Permission granted. Take all necessary actions to defend Dauntless and the Dancer ships.”
Geary’s comm alert pulsed urgently. The senators had noticed the last maneuver, probably when it pitched them from their seats. “Yes?”
Senator Costa glared at him from a virtual window. “What is happening?”
“We have been fired upon by the warships of the Covenant flotilla, Senator. They opened fire without provocation, using sufficient force to have destroyed Dauntless if we had not maneuvered to evade their attack.” Don’t ask. Don’t ask. Don’t ask.
Geary’s silent plea was answered. Costa didn’t ask what Dauntless was doing now, her image vanishing without another word. She doubtless assumed that the battle cruiser was simply avoiding the attack and getting clear of danger.
On Geary’s display, the Covenant missiles were still closing on Dauntless, whipping through tighter turns than the battle cruiser could manage, the long arcs of their intercept vectors curving toward the place where Dauntless would be if she maintained her current course and speed.
But under Desjani’s command Dauntless bent her path upward and to starboard. The missiles had to react, swinging through wider arcs, burning their propulsion furiously as they sought to compensate for the battle cruiser’s latest maneuver.
“Admiral?” Lieutenant Iger’s image had appeared beside Geary. “Sir, the numbers of missiles in that volley match the number of missile launch points we had previously identified on the Covenant ships.”