“What’s left of the Syndicate Worlds is falling apart?”
This time, Rione’s gesture was indecisive. “Perhaps. Or perhaps the feudal power arrangement will stabilize the collapse. It’s too early to tell. That’s all I know.”
“Have you heard anything about Captain Jane Geary and her ships?”
“No. That was apparently a pure fleet issue. Whoever sent her off didn’t get their marching orders from any Senate source I can identify so far.”
“Thank you.” Geary hesitated, searching for the right words. “Good luck.” It struck him suddenly that Rione might not be back, that if she found her husband and all was as well as could be, she had other places to be and other things to do than accompany this fleet any longer.
As he tried to think of the right way to say good-bye this time, Rione nodded wordlessly to him, then spun about and walked briskly away down the passageway.
He went in, pulled off the dress uniform top, and sat down heavily in the one really comfortable chair his stateroom boasted. The display above the low table before the chair was set for Varandal, so for a few moments he slumped down, watching the many ships and human installations orbiting the star, bright spots on the display as they swung in what seemed slow, lazy circles among the planets and other natural objects in the star system.
Geary frowned as he realized that six of those bright spots were accelerating together at an extremely impressive rate, heading away from Dauntless and toward…
His comm panel buzzed urgently.
“The Dancers have taken off like bats out of hell,” Desjani reported.
“What?”
“The Dancers have—”
“I heard you! Where are they going?”
“Their vector is a beeline for the jump point for Bhavan.”
“Bhavan?” One of the star systems adjacent to Varandal, Bhavan led deeper into Alliance space. “Why are they going to Bhavan?”
“Do you honestly expect me to be able to answer that question?” Desjani asked.
“No. Hold on.” Geary hit acknowledge again as his comm alert sounded once more. A second virtual window appeared, this one showing General Charban. “Do you know that the Dancers are heading for Bhavan?”
Charban raised both eyebrows. “They are? That explains the message they just sent us. We future return. Durnan.”
“What?” Geary said again. “What does that mean?”
“Since you tell me they are heading for a jump point out of this star system, it means they are leaving Varandal to go to Durnan Star System and will return. That is my best guess, anyway.”
Geary slumped back again, massaging his forehead as another headache loomed. “Tell the Dancers we’ll escort them—”
“Sir,” Desjani interrupted, “we can’t catch them before they reach that jump point. Not at the rate they are going.”
“We have to send an escort,” Geary began stubbornly.
“Not if they won’t wait for one,” she replied.
“I will ask,” Charban added in tones that implied he did not expect any useful result from the asking.
“General,” Geary said with what he thought was immense patience, “if the Dancers go zooming through Alliance space on their own, refusing an escort, I will be held responsible. Everyone will be asking me why the Dancers left, where they are going, and what they are doing.”
Charban nodded, unimpressed. “And then you will ask me to answer those same questions. I will tell you I don’t know, and you will pass on that answer, because it’s the only one we’ve got.”
“General, dammit—”
“If you have a way to make them tell us what they’re doing, Admiral, please employ it! Because I don’t.”
Geary paused, breathing slowly and getting himself under control. “I’m sorry, General. I know that you’re doing your best, and that you have a better grasp of the Dancers than anyone else. See if you can get anything else out of them before the Dancers jump for Bhavan. Does Bhavan take them toward Durnan?”
“Yes, sir,” Desjani confirmed. “They’ll have to make a couple more jumps from Bhavan, though.”
What if someone panicked and opened fire on the Dancers as they transited through those other star systems? What if whoever was in charge of defenses at Durnan took action? “How can we get General Charban to Durnan in time to ensure he can talk to the people there before they overreact to the Dancers arriving? Is there any way to do that, or are the Dancers taking the most direct route?”
Charban, a ground forces soldier confronted with a fleet question, merely shook his head.
Tanya was gazing off to one side intently. “I’m running some options… there’s a way, Admiral. We can send the general on a ship through the hypernet gate here to Tehack. From there they can jump to Durnan, and should be able to get there at about the same time the Dancers do as they make three jumps.”
“ID a ship for me,” Geary ordered. “Heavy cruiser, close by, in good fighting shape and with close to one hundred percent fuel. Pick a light cruiser if none of the heavies fit the criteria.”
“I’ll get my people on it,” Desjani said.
“General, get ready for a fast transfer and several weeks on a cruiser.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Charban said. “There may be some trouble regarding security. I have been informed that our comm equipment and software is not to be moved—”
“I hereby direct you to take all of the comm gear and software you need to talk to the Dancers. It’s not going to do us any good sitting on Dauntless while the Dancers are at Durnan.”
Geary paused, imagining hysterical news accounts of an “alien invasion force” swooping through the Alliance. “I’ll notify our Grand Council representatives of what is happening and what we’re doing.”
“They won’t be happy,” Charban predicted. “But you might offer them this comfort. If the records of our visit to Old Earth had been kept secret, had not been mysteriously leaked to the media, then panic and fear might have resulted when the Dancers appeared alone in those star systems. But by the time the Dancers reach those places, the news will have preceded them. Our people will have seen what the Dancers did. Perhaps they will watch the Dancers pass by and wish the Dancers the blessings of the living stars.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice,” Desjani said. She tried to keep her voice dry and sarcastic, but some real emotion leaked through.
“I’ll bring that up,” Geary promised. “Tanya—”
“Diamond,” Desjani interrupted. “Heavy cruiser Diamond. She fits the bill. I’ll notify her to break orbit and join up with us while you let the senators know what’s going on.”
“Good.”
“But put a full uniform on before you call them. Sir.”
“Uh… right.” He had forgotten that he had pulled off the top of his dress uniform. The senators were going to be unhappy enough without making them think he was deliberately disrespecting them.
“The representatives from the Grand Council were pretty mad about the whole thing, but even they had to acknowledge that we had no way of forcing the Dancers to stop.”
The day after the wild scramble to deal with the departure of the Dancers, Geary’s stateroom was crowded with several officers who were all physically present. Given the things that might be discussed, Geary hadn’t wanted to use any form of conferencing software, no matter how allegedly secure it was.