The members of the grand council stared back at Geary for a moment with a variety of expressions. Then Navarro laughed softly as he called up the document from Geary’s report. “I’m sorry, Captain Geary, but sometimes your phrasing seems … well, antiquated. But in a good way, I hasten to add. Why do you think your superiors need to confirm field appointments and promotions?”
Geary stared back at the senator. “I just assumed things still worked that way.”
“The fleet has a bit more autonomy now,” Navarro commented dryly. “Let me see what you have here. You ask that we confirm certain field promotions, such as that of Commander Cresida to captain. I can’t see any problem there. You recommend that Colonel Carabali be promoted to general in light of her performance while under your command. We shall certainly give that careful consideration.”
Senator Suva interrupted again. “Marines in full combat gear confronted Alliance troops and prevented them from carrying out their orders! To just what, or who, is this Colonel Carabali loyal?”
“The Alliance,” Geary stated firmly.
“That can mean many things these days,” the heavyset woman noted sourly.
“Yes,” Senator Navarro agreed wearily. He paused, rereading the list of Geary’s recommendations. “Numos. Falco. I met Falco once, a long time ago. Kila. She’s out of our hands now. May the living stars judge her as she deserves.” Then Navarro looked at Geary once more. “I keep looking for something, and it’s not here.”
“What’s that, sir?” Geary asked, alarmed that he might have overlooked something important.
“There’s nothing about you, Captain Geary.”
Geary frowned, baffled by the statement. “I don’t understand, sir.”
“You’re not asking for anything for you, Captain. Promotion, awards, nothing.”
“That wouldn’t be appropriate,” Geary objected.
Some of the politicians laughed. Admiral Timbale looked embarrassed.
Navarro smiled briefly, then any trace of humor vanished. “You’ve done astounding things, Captain Geary. Those things, plus the mythic reputation of Black Jack Geary, which our own government has worked so hard to cultivate, make you very, very powerful. What do you want, Captain?”
TWO
The tension inside the room suddenly intensified. Geary chose his words carefully, knowing he had to get meaning and intent across and knowing he couldn’t afford any misinterpretations. “My recommendations are presented in detail in my report, but in brief I request that I be permitted to remain in command of the fleet, sir, and I request that the government and my military superiors favorably consider the plan of action I have submitted.”
“Request. You surely know that you could demand such things.”
“No, sir, I could not,” Geary objected.
“Don’t play games with us, Captain,” Senator Suva declared with a glower. “We both know what you could do with a snap of your fingers.”
“Madam Senator, I acknowledge that I might have the power to make demands, but I cannot do so. I have taken an oath to the Alliance, and I will not break that oath. I am subject to your orders and authority.”
The heavyset woman narrowed her eyes at Geary, her face grim. “You’re giving us your fate, Captain, and leaving the fate of the Alliance up to a group of people whom you have surely seen are less capable than they should be given our responsibilities.”
He hadn’t expected any senators to argue in favor of a coup. Geary managed to hide his reaction, then spoke calmly. “I gave my fate up a long time ago, Madam Senator. I swore to follow lawful orders, and I will do so. Or I will resign my commission if I cannot in good conscience follow those orders.”
Rione finally spoke again, her voice quiet but firm. “He means it. He’s not posing. I had the same suspicions you all do, that Black Jack would turn out to be an eager dictator-to-be, using his military role to supplant political authority.” Her gaze rested briefly on the stout woman and another senator, almost but not quite implying that those two might have had not suspicions but hopes. “However, I got close enough to Captain Geary to ensure that he’s genuine. Put him in an interrogation room, and you’d see no deception at all. Captain Geary is untainted by a century of war, my fellow senators. He still believes in the things our ancestors held dear. He still believes in all of you.”
Some of the senators looked away, as if embarrassed, but Navarro fixed his gaze on her. “We have reports that you got very close indeed to Captain Geary, Madam Co-President. Is your assessment in any way biased by that?”
“A physical relationship,” Rione acknowledged casually. “For a brief time.” The ease dropped, and Rione sat straight, her voice becoming formal again. “Some of the information the fleet acquired in Syndic space indicates my husband was captured alive by the Syndics. He may still live. My loyalties are to the Alliance and to him.”
Another senator was shaking his head. “You slept with another man when your husband might still be alive? There are no words for the dishonor—”
Rione’s face flushed red in a very unusual display of anger, but Geary spoke first. “She didn’t know he might still be alive,” he said. “Not then. Co-President Rione is a woman of honor.”
“Whereas you, Senator Gizelle”—Rione’s low voice cut into the silence following Geary’s words—“wouldn’t know honor if it wrapped both hands around your neck and squeezed until your head popped.”
Navarro stood and slammed his hand down again, cutting off any more argument. “That’s enough. Just answer the question, Senator Rione. Is your judgment impartial?”
“Yes.” Rione shook her head, looking around, apparently already in control of herself again. “Everyone here knows what Captain Geary could be doing right now. What he could have already done. He could be in Unity Star System right now with warships at his back, the entire senate under arrest, and the population of the Alliance would be cheering him. And do you have any idea how long it took him to realize that could happen? The thought didn’t even belong in his universe. It still doesn’t. But there are people who would act allegedly in his name, and we need to keep them from starting something no one might be able to stop. So please avoid any more nonsense like trying to arrest Captain Geary. He’s not going to use his power against the Alliance.”
“I want to believe that,” Navarro replied. “I don’t know if I dare believe it, though.”
“Let me show you something, then.” Rione downloaded a file, activated it, and Geary saw an image of himself on the bridge of Dauntless. He wondered how Rione had managed to access Dauntless’s log and where this recording had been made, then heard what was being said and knew. This showed his words and actions at the point where he finally grasped that personnel of the Alliance fleet were planning to murder prisoners of war as if it were a routine operation.
When the clip ended, Rione gestured to Geary. “That happened at Corvus, soon after he assumed command. Do you think he was acting? He wasn’t. That was our ancestors speaking, fellow senators, through this man.”
“I need to have a talk with mine,” Navarro muttered, his eyes lowered for a moment, then looked at Geary once more. “Summarize your recommended actions, Captain Geary. Since you won’t be bringing the fleet to Unity to shove our sorry butts into jail, where do you want to take it?”