Touching a control, Rione indicated a number that appeared. “I have just sent the collapse command to the gate, at exactly that time. You can calculate when it will reach the gate and when the resulting shock wave from the gate’s collapse will reach every portion of this star system. I remember what you did at Prime when facing such a threat, taking your fleet into the shadow of the star to protect it from the shock wave. You can do the same here. But the dark ships will not know the gate is collapsing until they see the collapse begin. They will not know the safe-collapse device has been subverted until the shock wave hits them.”
Even though this message had been sent hours ago, she seemed to be staring straight into his eyes. “I’ve learned a lot about space battles since meeting you, Admiral. I have learned enough to know that this is a battle you could only win at tremendous cost. You might even lose, with catastrophic results for the Alliance. So I have done the only thing that will make certain the dark ships are destroyed. It will hopefully also save your fleet. I confess to having developed a fondness for the men and women under your command.
“Do not waste your time trying to get me off this facility. I can read a maneuvering display well enough to know there is no chance of that in the time that you have left.
“I am not alone here. As you can see, my husband, Paol Benan, is here with me. He is fully sedated.” She swallowed before being able to speak again. “According to the records I found here, his treatment to reverse the damage caused by the mental block was delayed repeatedly for ‘security reviews,’ delayed until the damage to his mind was declared irreversible. Paol is now a danger to everyone, including himself, including me. He must remain fully sedated, a living death. They took my husband, Admiral. They denied him an honorable death. And the worst part is, I don’t believe they even cared what they were doing.”
Rione paused again, breathing deeply. “Finish the job, Admiral. Get your ships home. Get Mistral home. The information in the files, and what the people we found here can testify to, will bring to account those who through narrow-sightedness, greed, ignorance, fear, or their own desire for power nearly destroyed the Alliance. Others acted out of wishful thinking or willful ignorance, and while they may not deserve the same fate as others, they do need to answer for their decisions. Some have clean hands, as clean as any hands involved in this can be, and those records will ensure they are exonerated despite the attempts of the guilty to shift blame to them. It is past time the people of the Alliance stopped blaming the government for their ills and looked in the mirror to realize that the government is them.
“Save the Alliance, Admiral. As I told you the first time we met, that is what I am willing to die for. Now, that is my last request. You owe me that.”
Rione paused longer this time, struggling to speak. “Thank you for the services you have done me. Thank you for tolerating my presence, and listening to my advice, and for doing the best you could, and for still believing in the things the rest of us forgot were important. I will not pretend to be facing the certain end with calm resolution. I never claimed to be that sort of person. I am frightened. Once this call is ended, I will take a sedative, lie down with my husband, and when the blow strikes, neither of us will feel it, but we will go through that last door together, where I hope our ancestors will welcome me and forgive me for the things I have felt I must do.”
A flash of her old fire appeared in Rione’s eyes. “Perhaps I will finally earn a little respect from the men and women like those in your fleet who we politicians have for too long sent to their deaths with too little thought or foresight. After all, the people admire dead politicians almost as much as they detest living ones.
“Good-bye, Admiral Geary. Save the Alliance. May you and Captain Desjani survive to live long and happy lives.
“To the honor of our ancestors. Victoria Rione. Out.”
Geary drew in a shaky breath as her image vanished, then his mind shot into action. “Tanya, I’m on my way to the bridge. Start working the maneuvers and see if we can make it to the shadow of one of the stars with the time we have.”
He raced to the bridge and dropped into his command seat. Desjani was working furiously on her maneuvering display, her face rigid with anger. “We can just make it,” she snarled. “Taking into account the limits on propulsion from our most heavily damaged ships, we have a decent chance of getting behind Beta just before the shock wave hits. Damn her! She knew that now I will have to honor her memory!”
Geary quickly checked over Desjani’s work. “We head back in-system, on a vector apparently aimed at returning to the government facility—”
“Then as the dark ships close to intercept, we shift vector to aim for the shadow of Star Beta. But it is going to be close. Depending on how long the gate takes to collapse, we might get caught in the shock wave. We have no time to spare. But if we get there too fast, we’ll be sitting ducks for the dark ships.”
He hit his comm controls. “All units in First Fleet, this is Admiral Geary, immediate execute attached maneuvers. Any unit that believes propulsion damage may limit its ability to carry out these maneuvers contact me at once.”
Dauntless began pivoting, her main propulsion lighting off to push her onto a new vector heading back the way the fleet had come. The battle cruiser’s propulsion didn’t light off at full, instead matching the best effort that some of the most badly damaged ships could manage. “Can we transfer crews—” Geary began.
“It would take too long,” Desjani said. “We would have to limit acceleration even more for the shuttles to transfer crews off the most badly damaged ships so we could leave those ships behind. We’re better off trying to get everyone into the shadow of the star. Damn that woman!”
Geary sat back, trying to sort through his emotions. “She saved us. Maybe.”
“Why did I have to be saved by her?” Desjani shook her head angrily, blinking back tears. “She is braver than I thought. You could see how scared she is. But she went ahead with it.”
“Was she right about it being impossible to get to her?”
“Yes. Any ship we sent would be pulling alongside the government facility when the shock wave got there. Any attempt would be futile and suicidal.”
“Captain?” They looked back to see Lieutenant Castries staring at them. “What has happened?”
Geary sighed, realizing that he must tell everyone about the sudden shift in their fortunes. He tapped his comm controls. “All units in First Fleet, this is Admiral Geary. We have an unexpected chance at victory and survival. Former co-president of the Callas Republic, former Senator of the Alliance, former Emissary Victoria Rione stayed behind on the government facility and was able to break into the hypernet gate controls and order the gate to collapse with the force of point eight nova. We are proceeding at the best rate we can manage to shelter in the shadow of Star Beta so that we will avoid the shock wave that should destroy the dark ships in their entirety, but we will have to also avoid being caught and delayed by the dark ships along the way.” He had to take a breath himself before continuing. “Victoria Rione has no chance of survival. She cannot be rescued from the facility before the shock wave hits. She has sacrificed herself to ensure the destruction of the dark ships and the safety of the Alliance. If we live, it will be because of her. Honor her memory. Geary, out.”
He could hear, could feel, the hush that spread through Dauntless after his announcement.