However, there wasn’t a lot he could do in the way of appeasing or provoking the unseen while waiting for Fleche to reach the gas giant. Even with the light cruiser ramping her velocity up a little past point two light speed, it would still be close to three hours before the warship intercepted the gas giant in its orbit.
But he could move his ships around a bit, positioning the battle cruisers so that they were ahead of and to one side of the gaggle of refugee ships, best positioned if something dangerous did lurk behind that gas giant. And he could plan for when they reached the inhabited world, talking with both Colonel Voston and Colonel Kim about the security that would be needed, and with the three FAC pilots about how they would provide protection for the shuttles bringing down the refugees to the surface.
Night Witch, Catnap, and Nightstalker were all attentive as he talked to them, eager to reach the planet and fulfill their mission. Geary had looked up the statistics on FACs, learning that in an offensive combat situation their odds of survival were extremely small, but none of the pilots showed any signs of being fazed by that. They were, after all, pilots, just as the crews of Geary’s ships were sailors.
When all of those preparations were done, and Fleche was still an hour from reaching the gas giant, Geary talked to the refugee leaders Araya and Naxos again. “What are you planning to do once we drop off you and the others?” he asked.
Araya gave him her scornful look. “Are you still pretending to care?”
“Actually, I do care,” Geary replied. “You’ll have a pretty large mass of people with you, most or all of whom think like you do. There are already a lot of people in the streets on that planet.”
Naxos smiled, his eyes on the deck. “The people on Batara aren’t happy. I, for one, will not be exiled again. I will walk into the Hall of the People and kick out the new CEOs who rule there.”
“You’ll have help,” Araya said. “Lots of it. If we can get the ground forces and the security forces, some of them anyway, to back us, we can do it.” Her face lit with dangerous enthusiasm. “And then those scum will find themselves in the labor camps!”
Geary looked at Naxos and Araya. “Do you both hate the Syndic CEOs who used to rule here?”
Both nodded immediately. “They just cared about themselves,” Naxos grumbled, head still lowered.
“There was a revolt in the Midway Star System, too. After they kicked out the CEOs, they shut down the labor camps. Their leaders said there would never again be labor camps anywhere they controlled.”
“How are we supposed to punish the enemies of the people?” Araya demanded.
“Is that the question you should be asking? How to keep doing things the way the CEOs did? Or should you be wondering why you want to act like the people you hate?”
Naxos raised his head and held it up this time, looking intently at Geary. “I said that. Many times. Why change leaders if we’re going to be the same as the old leaders?”
“I can’t make you do things differently,” Geary said. “But I think you’re right to be asking yourself that question.”
“What guarantee would we have that doing things differently would be the same as doing things better?” Naxos asked.
“None. It’s not enough to be different. And there will be lots of disagreement on what is better and what is worse or the same.” Geary paused, remembering his own recent experiences. “But as long as you’re talking, as long as people can change things they don’t like, as long as you aren’t refusing to listen to other people, then you’ll have a chance of doing things better.”
“Do you listen to other people?” Araya asked in acidic tones.
“All the time,” Geary said. “Other people act as a mirror of sorts, second opinions on whether I’m doing the right thing, whether my preconceptions and assumptions are justified, and whether there are better answers than I’ve come up with so far. In combat, I often have to act quickly, but even then I listen when someone suggests alternatives. I don’t have to agree with them, I don’t have to do what they want, but I listen.”
“I had a few good supervisors,” Naxos said, looking at Araya this time. “They listened when I suggested things.”
She flushed slightly, mouth tight, then nodded. “Yes. As a sub-executive, I tried to listen to the workers, including you. I prided myself on that. Did I stop listening?”
“You’re listening now,” Naxos pointed out.
“Ha! You’re a very insubordinate worker, aren’t you?” She addressed Geary again. “We can do more listening, and convincing and planning, if we are allowed to talk to those on the other ships.”
“I’ll tell Colonel Kim to give you access to comms.”
“You’re going to trust us?” Araya didn’t bother hiding her skepticism.
“If you’re going to create trouble, if you’re going to organize a new dictatorship to replace the current one, I’d rather know now,” Geary said. “And, as I’m sure you already expected, those comms will be monitored. Given the potential for riots on the ships, I have no alternative.”
“Why tell us that?”
“Because, at this point, you’re not my enemies, and I’d like to keep it that way. The Alliance already has enough problems and enough enemies.”
Araya and Naxos stared at Geary for several seconds. “How could we ever be anything but enemies?” Araya finally asked.
“Batara used to be on friendly terms with the Alliance, before the Syndics took it over,” Geary said. “If there are any records left in Batara that the Syndics didn’t destroy or alter to fit their preferred version of history, you can look it up.”
She shook her head. “That’s a very big if. The Syndicate tried to destroy all hard copy, so they could easily alter all of the digital histories every time the official version changed.”
Something suddenly became clear. “I was talking to someone else, a former citizen of the Syndicate Worlds like you, and they used the word ‘history’ as if it was interchangeable with ‘lies.’ I didn’t understand that.”
Araya shrugged. “We call what’s real hard copy. History is lies, and hard copy can be lies, but you can’t change hard copy once it has been printed. No undetectable updates, no invisible revisions, no additions you can’t spot. Hard copy is what it is. My friend here”—she gestured toward Naxos—“thinks that you are hard copy, Admiral. I hope he is right.”
By then enough time had elapsed for Geary to return to the bridge of Inspire and wait. The two light cruisers and four HuKs had not left their orbits near the inhabited world, and aside from a few small craft operating near orbital installations, nothing else human could be seen moving in the star system except the Alliance warships and the refugee ships they were escorting.
Duellos had not left the bridge and now shook his head. “I wondered if you were just being extra cautious, but the lack of activity is suspicious. They knew we were coming, and those ships orbiting near the main planet have seen us and had time to react yet haven’t done anything.”
“I ordered Fleche to be careful.”
Shaking his head again, Duellos spoke in a low voice. “This fleet spent decades considering careful and cowardice to be two sides of the same coin. Aggressive action in any circumstance is almost engraved on their DNA. Fleche is less than two light-minutes from intercepting the planet, about seventeen minutes’ travel time if she maintains her current velocity. I would strongly advise reminding her of your orders.”
This seemed like another good time to not just listen but also accept the advice. Geary touched his comm controls. “Fleche, this is Admiral Geary. Maintain caution while conducting your mission. There is a possibility of a serious threat hiding behind that gas giant. Check out the back side, then return to the formation. Geary, out.”