“Ten minutes until dark ship intercept,” Lieutenant Castries said.
“All units’ shields are at maximum,” Lieutenant Yuon reported.
“We can see the gate collapsing,” Lieutenant Castries added.
It had happened nearly seven hours ago, but it felt like something taking place right now.
Geary saw one of the bright dots go out. “Here it comes.”
More dots vanished.
One of them had been the government facility.
The view from the surveillance sats vanished, and Geary looked toward his main display.
The shock wave hit Alpha, then, seconds later, Beta, the flaming atmosphere of the stars blossoming outward on all sides like a ball of fire hit on one side by a mighty gust of wind.
Hundreds of dark ships were closing in on Geary’s fleet. Five formations of the most dangerous warships ever built by humanity. Precise, cold, terribly lethal.
The shock wave was moving so fast and was so powerful that he did not actually see the impact. One moment, the dark ships were racing to attack. The next, they had been swept from space and only a vast glare could be seen. The glare faded, then vanished, leaving only empty space.
Geary heard sounds aboard Dauntless; the mumbling of prayers, a few half-muffled cries of jubilation, something that sounded like a sob.
Desjani had her head bowed, her lips moving silently.
He looked toward where the government facility had orbited for decades. Thank you, Victoria. May the light of living stars welcome you and your husband.
They took a few days to make their way back out to the fringes of what had been Unity Alternate Star System, conserving fuel this time and limiting the stress on damaged ships. The emptiness of the star system, swept clear of all but the largest planets by the shock wave, felt unnatural. Sailors had to be reprimanded for violating uniform regulations by wearing good-luck charms and necklaces designed to ward off evil, but every day some other members of the crew wore similar objects despite the risk of being chewed out and having their protective objects confiscated by Master Chief Gioninni, Senior Chief Tarrani, and the other senior enlisted. “They’re spooked, Captain,” Gioninni explained to Desjani. She and Geary had encountered the master chief in one of Dauntless’s passageways.
“They’ll have to live with it a little while longer,” Geary told him. “Some of the data from the government facility were automated astronomical observations that included where and when unstable jump points have appeared in this star system. We’ve used that data to help predict when the next jump point will appear. It should happen near this part of the star system, and sometime anywhere from now to within the next few weeks. That will let us jump for Drezwin.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Gioninni said. “The crew is also a bit worried about using an unstable jump point.”
“Just remind them that it doesn’t matter how unstable the jump point here is as long as the one at Drezwin is stable! Which it is.” Desjani paused and eyed Gioninni. “By the way, Master Chief, it’s pretty surprising how many of those luck charms and evil-aversion necklaces are aboard this ship.”
Gioninni scratched his head, adopting a puzzled look. “Things have been a bit rough the last few years, Captain. The crew must have collected quite a few.”
“I found myself wondering,” Desjani continued, “if perhaps the charms and necklaces being confiscated are being resold to other crew members by someone.”
“That would be highly improper!” Gioninni declared, scandalized. “I will look into that, Captain!”
“See that you do, Master Chief,” Desjani said.
As she and Geary walked away from Gioninni, Desjani smiled. “That little resale operation should stop within a few minutes,” she murmured to Geary. “As soon as Gioninni can tell his coconspirators to shut it down.”
“Life goes on.” They stopped before the compartment where comms with the Dancers were maintained as Lieutenant Iger exited.
Iger, startled, hastily saluted. “Admiral, Captain.”
“Is there anything wrong?” Geary asked, looking toward the compartment.
“No, sir. I’m just going to check on things in the intelligence spaces while Shamrock—Excuse me, while Lieutenant Jamenson holds the fort in there.”
“And how are you and Lieutenant Shamrock getting along?” Geary asked.
Iger smiled broadly. “Planning a honeymoon, sir. We didn’t think that would be a possibility. But it looks like this is a long-term thing after all.”
“You seem happy about that,” Desjani commented. “When planning on where to honeymoon, I’d advise avoiding close binary star systems.”
General Charban exited the compartment as well, giving Lieutenant Iger the opportunity to head for the intelligence compartments. Charban looked weary again but in a satisfied way, not a frustrated way. “I may yet become a songwriter,” he announced. “No one but the Dancers will want to listen to my songs, but that’s a fair-sized audience. They intend jumping home from here, Admiral.”
Geary shook his head. “There are a hell of a lot of things in this universe that humanity has left to learn. I honestly can’t remember, General. Did I ever offer formal condolences to the Dancers for the ships they lost assisting us in the fight against the dark ships?”
“You did,” Charban confirmed. “And the Dancers have offered formal condolences for our losses. They have also asked about what Victoria Rione did, wanting to know more about her reasons and motivations.”
“What have you told them?” Geary asked.
Charban pursed his mouth before answering. “Admiral, I told them that Victoria Rione was what humans call a Fury.”
“A Fury?”
“Mythical creatures,” Charban explained. “They avenge wrongdoing. They are absolutely merciless, never to be deflected from their purpose. Victoria Rione was a Fury, wasn’t she?”
“Yes,” Geary agreed. “I think she was.”
“I’ve been thinking about the whole Black Jack thing,” Charban continued. “A century ago, the Alliance needed not just a hero, but a military hero. Someone to inspire support for the war, someone to inspire everyone who fought.”
“Black Jack fulfilled that need,” Desjani said.
“I agree. But doesn’t a democracy also need other kinds of heroes? Doesn’t it need political leaders who are heroic?”
“Heroic?” Desjani questioned. “Political leaders?”
“I would think those were needed,” Geary said. “But from what I’ve seen, the people of the Alliance don’t have a very high opinion of politicians these days.”
“No, they don’t,” Charban agreed. “The idea of a heroic politician has become so ridiculous that no one probably even thinks of it. Our politics has been about tearing down other politicians, about mocking any claims to heroism. Politicians claim as acts of courage actions that are only aimed at advancing their own ambitions or pet causes.”
“That’s been noticed,” Desjani said dryly.
“But I do think we need heroes among our political leaders. Real heroes, whose claims to that status might perhaps be embellished but who at their core deserve to be celebrated for doing more than anyone expected. Doing something that would not benefit them personally.”
Charban looked at Geary. “Victoria Rione has given us such a figure. A heroic politician. A dead, heroic politician, and as the Black Jack example illustrated for nearly a century, the best heroes are always the dead ones because their subsequent actions can never disappoint. Would she be angry, Admiral, if she were held up as such a figure?”