“A wise precaution, wasn’t it?” the stout woman shot back.
“We can stop this now!” the general insisted. “Stop him in his tracks!”
Senator Navarro’s hand struck the table with a blow hard enough to echo around the room, bringing momentary silence. Navarro gave hard looks around the table, then fastened his gaze on the general. “Stop what, General Firgani? Tell me, why would Captain Geary have left those Marines at the shuttle dock if he intended acting against us here and now?” The general glowered silently at Geary, while Navarro fixed another look on him as well. “Captain Geary, I think we’ve barely avoided a very serious mistake. The Alliance has never arrested its citizens for crimes they haven’t yet committed, especially not when they have given no signs of intent to commit such crimes, and especially not citizens who have done such a service to the Alliance as you have. My apologies, Captain.” Navarro rose and bowed slightly toward Geary, as the general’s glower deepened, and some of the other council members displayed annoyance.
“Thank you, sir,” Geary replied, some of his anger dissipating at the courteous treatment from Navarro. “I was dismayed to have my honor called into question.”
The other male senator who had challenged Geary made a barely audible noise of derision, but Navarro ignored him, turning to the general and the admiral beside him. “Captain Geary will present his report to the council now. General Firgani, Admiral Otropa, Admiral Timbale, please monitor the situation in Varandal Star System while we are closeted in here with Captain Geary and Senator Rione.”
The three officers started to leave, with varying degrees of success in hiding their disappointment at the abrupt dismissal, but Geary spoke up. He had no reason to think kindly of General Firgani or to respect whatever opinions Admiral Otropa might generate, but Admiral Timbale had never crossed him, in fact had helped ensure that the fleet’s ships got everything they needed, and had apparently ensured that Geary could reach this room without being arrested. “Sir, if I may so request, I would appreciate Admiral Timbale’s presence while I make my report. As an operational fleet officer who observed the engagement with the Syndicate Worlds’ flotilla in this star system, he might be able to add to some aspects of my reporting.”
Navarro raised one eyebrow but gestured to the startled Timbale to remain. “All right, Captain Geary.”
Admiral Otropa stared wide-eyed from Timbale to Geary to Navarro. “I should not be excluded from this meeting if officers junior to me are present.”
Some of the council began to speak, but Navarro cut them off with a sharp voice and a weary expression. “Certainly, Admiral. Stay. General,” he added, as Firgani appeared ready to press his own claim to be present, “since you are concerned about the security of the council, you should personally keep an eye on events outside. Thank you.”
“But, Senator—” Firgani began.
“Thank you.”
Firgani flushed slightly, then marched out of the room. Admiral Timbale edged slightly away from Admiral Otropa, then both officers stood silently as Navarro turned back to Geary and spoke with renewed control. “Captain, we’re all familiar with the outlines of your report, but we understand that there’s a lot more to be told. Please do so.”
Geary reached to the display controls on the table and plugged in his comm unit, not trusting to the security of any wireless link even here. The star field vanished, replaced by images burned into his memory, a sphere of battered Alliance ships behind a wall of less badly damaged warships, both formations facing a curved Syndic arrangement of warships with overwhelming superiority in numbers. The situation in the Syndic home star system at the point he assumed command of what was left of the Alliance fleet after it had fought its way through the initial Syndic ambush. Geary’s memories of the time after he had been awakened and leading up to that crisis were dimmed behind the barriers of post-traumatic stress that he had been battling, trying to adjust to learning that he had been frozen in survival sleep for a century. But everything came into focus after that, driven by the demands placed on him once he assumed command. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Geary began reciting his report.
He faltered at one point. “I directed the fleet to withdraw toward the jump exit for Corvus Star System. During that withdrawal, the battle cruiser Repulse sacrificed herself to keep the leading Syndic elements from catching and destroying other Alliance warships before they could jump.” Repulse, commanded by his grandnephew Michael Geary, a man older than he was, bitter from a lifetime growing up in the shadow of the legendary Black Jack Geary.
The heavyset woman broke in. “Do you know if Commander Michael Geary survived the loss of his ship?”
“No, ma’am, I do not.”
She nodded with exaggerated sympathy, but another senator spoke in demanding tones. “You brought back the Syndic hypernet key provided by the Syndic traitor?”
“Yes, sir,” Geary confirmed, wondering why the question was posed in an accusing manner.
“Why didn’t you use it again? Why didn’t you get the fleet home quickly that way?” the senator pressed.
“Because the Syndics could easily reinforce star systems with hypernet gates along our path,” Geary explained in what he hoped were patient tones. “We knew we had to get that key safely back to Alliance space, but getting it back meant avoiding Syndic hypernet gates. We did attempt to use it at Sancere, but the Syndics fired upon their own hypernet gate and caused it to collapse before we could.”
“It’s useless, then.” The senator looked around belligerently, as if challenging anyone to contradict him.
“No,” Geary said in what he hoped was a firm but respectful tone. “It’s critically important. The key has been analyzed and duplicates are being manufactured though I’ve been informed that will take some time. The original has been returned to Dauntless, where it will continue to offer us the huge benefit of being able to use the enemy’s own hypernet. The only way the Syndics could negate that advantage is by collapsing their entire hypernet, which would itself give the Alliance a tremendous economic and military advantage. There are other issues that I will address—”
“I want to know now—” the senator began.
Navarro broke in as well, his own voice sharp. “We will allow Captain Geary to make his report, then any questions it raises will be dealt with.”
“But these reports about hypernet gate collapses—”
“We will address that after the report,” Navarro insisted. The other man looked around as if seeking support, but apparently saw none and subsided, with a sulky glare at Navarro.
Geary continued, the display shifting to show the Alliance fleet’s passage through Corvus Star System, then onward to star system after star system, battle after battle, Geary dryly reciting declining fuel-cell reserves and food supplies and desperate engagements against the Syndic attempts to trap the Alliance fleet once more.
Admiral Otropa, clearly unused to standing quietly while another officer was in the spotlight, listened with obviously growing impatience until he took advantage of a pause in Geary’s narrative to interrupt. “Members of the grand council, I do not believe Captain Geary is accurately depicting the course of these battles.”
Everyone turned to Otropa with varying expressions, but only Rione spoke. “Indeed, Admiral? Are you arguing that the logs of Alliance warships and the reports of their commanding officers have been falsified to that extent?” she asked in a deceptively mild tone.
“Yes!” Otropa nodded vigorously. “Our ancestors knew the secret of winning, all-out attack, with every captain competing to see who could display the most valor and strike the enemy first and hardest. These victories we’re being told about violate those principles! They cannot be true, not if we honor our ancestors.”