“Thank the—! I mean, thank you, sir!”
“She’s going to tell the entire star system,” Rione murmured.
“I’m sure an official announcement will be made soon anyway,” Geary replied with a shrug.
“That’s not all they’ll be announcing, Captain Geary.” She leaned back, eyes closed, apparently relaxing.
The comforting hull of Dauntless eventually loomed close, then all around as the shuttle docked with an extra twist and spin as if the craft itself were exuberant. Geary led the way off again, smiling as he saw Desjani waiting at the bottom of the ramp. She nodded to him, smiling back briefly, then Rione came into sight, and Desjani’s mouth twisted slightly as Geary saluted the sideboys drawn up to render honors to the returning commander of the fleet.
“Here you are,” Rione announced, when they reached the end of the ramp. “John Geary, returned safe and sound, not a scratch on him.”
Desjani kept her eyes on Geary. “You’re to remain in command of the fleet? For how long?”
“Until my mission is done,” he replied.
She knew what that meant, and Desjani’s eyes lit up. “Welcome back aboard, sir. When do we leave?”
Geary saw Rione heading off in another direction as he and Desjani walked toward his stateroom. “At least another week for repair work, resupply, and reinforcements.”
“Those will all be welcome.” Desjani flicked a glance in the direction Rione had gone. “Did she have to come back here? Isn’t there some planet or asteroid or penal colony that urgently needs her presence?”
“She’s probably going with us again, Tanya.” Geary tried not to smile as Desjani winced. “There’ll be some other senators, too. I don’t know who yet.”
“I think I’d rather have Syndics aboard. Don’t they trust you?”
“Yes, they do.” He hesitated, finding himself unable to tell Desjani about the promotion yet. “The grand council approved both proposals. We’re going after the Syndics, then, if circumstances permit, we’re going to have a talk with some aliens.”
“Excellent.” She turned a triumphant look on him. “I never doubted you. I knew you’d succeed.”
“We haven’t succeeded in either assignment so far.”
“I won’t let you down. Neither will the fleet, and you’ve never let us down.” She smiled again as they reached his stateroom. “I expect you’ll want to rest a bit. When you’re ready, I’d be grateful for a fuller briefing.”
“Sure.” He held out his free hand as Desjani started to go. “There’s one more thing. Something I have to show you.”
Desjani frowned but followed him inside the stateroom.
Once the hatch sealed, he finally opened his hand and held it out to her.
She looked down, then a smile slowly grew, and Desjani looked up. “Congratulations, Fleet Admiral Geary.”
An instant later her smile vanished. “Is it effective already?”
“The new rank? Yes.”
Desjani glowered at him in sudden anger. “You didn’t inform us before you arrived! My ship didn’t render proper honors to a fleet admiral! How could you make my ship look bad?”
“I guess I wasn’t—”
“No, you weren’t.” Desjani pulled out her comm pad. “Bridge, formally notify the rest of the fleet that Captain Geary has returned to Dauntless and has been promoted to Admiral of the Fleet.”
Geary could hear the bridge watch-stander’s startled response. “Admiral of the Fleet?”
“Did I stutter, Lieutenant?”
“No, Captain! I’ll notify the fleet immediately!”
Desjani transferred her frown back to Geary. “Why haven’t you put on your insignia?”
“I—”
“A fleet admiral can’t be out of uniform.” She reached to remove Geary’s captain insignia, then plucked the gold supernovas from his palm and began attaching them to his uniform. “You cannot be so casual, Fleet Admiral Geary.”
“Tanya—”
“Wait.” She finished putting on the insignia, stepped back and studied his appearance carefully, then nodded with satisfaction. Straightening to attention, Desjani saluted with strict formality. “May I be the first to render my congratulations, Fleet Admiral.”
Geary returned the salute. “Tanya—”
“You deserve it. If anyone has ever deserved this promotion, it’s you.”
“I didn’t ask for it.”
“Do you think I didn’t know that? I’m incredibly happy for you.”
“Tanya, after the war ends—”
Her professional veneer cracked for a moment. “I understand what this means.”
“It’s not—”
“You had to accept the rank for the good of the Alliance. Any personal concerns that might exist can’t—”
“Tanya!” He gave her an angry look, determined to finally finish a sentence. “It’s temporary! I told them I’d only accept the rank if it was temporary! When the war ends, I revert to the rank of captain!” She stared at him, wordless for several moments. “Tanya?”
“Why?” Desjani finally asked.
“You know why.”
“No, I don’t.” She seemed dazed. “Fleet Admiral, to cast that aside—”
“I had the best possible reason,” Geary insisted. “Someday I hope to honorably relinquish command of this fleet, but as an admiral I could never have a personal relationship with a captain, regardless of whether or not she was under my command.”
“I would never—”
“I made a promise.”
“A promise drawn from you under duress?” Desjani almost shouted. “And you think I’d hold you to that?”
He felt his own temper rising again. “What makes you think I need to be held to it?”
“I didn’t mean to offend your honor—”
“This has nothing to do with my honor!”
“Then you’re an idiot!”
He stared at Desjani, who seemed shocked that those words had come from her own mouth. “What are you saying?”
“I don’t know.” She swallowed, shaking her head. “I do know that for you to give up something so important—”
“I know what’s important, Tanya.”
She stepped back. “Maybe it’s a sign. Maybe we’re being told this is wrong. We know it’s wrong. Against regulations, against honor—”
“We’ve done and said nothing against either regulations or honor.”
Desjani’s eyes bored into his. “We have in our hearts.” Her jaw tightened. “No one is that important. No one could demand such a sacrifice from another and be comfortable with it.” She straightened to attention once more. “By your leave, sir. The crew will want to stage a formal ceremony for your promotion. I hope that will be acceptable.”
He nodded, feeling immensely tired. “Yes, Captain Desjani. Thank you.”
She left, and he sank into the nearest seat, his dress uniform rumpling.
Compared to trying to deal with Alliance politicians, crushing the Syndics should be a piece of cake, and compared to trying to understand Captain Tanya Desjani, figuring out what the aliens wanted should be easy.
THREE
Admiral Timbale’s image saluted awkwardly. To Geary’s surprise, even such a senior officer seemed to take pleasure in the gesture of respect Geary had reintroduced into the fleet. “We can’t provide you with as many fast fleet auxiliaries as we’d like for a mission this deep into enemy territory. Bloch started out with ten, which was almost all we had then. You inherited four, and how you managed to get three of them back here in one piece I’ll never know. You’ll retain Titan, Witch, and Jinn. Tanuki and Alchemist have been ordered to Varandal and should be here soon. You’ll have them both.”