Relentless

THREE

Heradao. As the ships of the Alliance fleet flashed into existence at the jump exit from Dilawa, Geary’s first thought was that only three more jumps would bring the fleet home. His second thought was to wonder how hard it would be to get through Heradao Star System, but he’d have the answer to that soon enough. The fleet’s sensors, sensitive enough to spot small objects across light-hours of distance, scanned their surroundings and rapidly updated the display before Geary.

“They’re here,” Desjani noted calmly, even though her eyes were lighting with enthusiasm at the prospect of combat. “But nowhere close by.”

Geary kept his breathing slow and calm as enemy warships multiplied on his display in a flurry of updates. The main Syndic flotilla, arrayed in their customary box formation, was almost four light-hours away, loitering in an orbit around Heradao’s star. A second and much smaller flotilla orbited a bit farther off, about five light-hours from the Alliance ships. As Desjani said, that wasn’t close. Even if the main Syndic flotilla turned directly toward the Alliance fleet for an intercept, it would still be more than a day before the opposing forces got close enough to fight. “I thought we’d see more in the way of system defenses since we’re getting closer to the border.”

Desjani made a noncommittal gesture. “Yes and no. The warships assigned to defend this star system would have been substantially more in quality and quantity than we’ve been encountering deeper in Syndic space. The smaller flotilla we’re seeing may be made up of those system-defense forces. But I’m not surprised to see nothing significant in the way of new fixed defenses. We’re still two jumps from a Syndic star system right on the border. The border star systems get priority on defenses. I’m sure the Syndics would like to be able to place more defenses in star systems farther from the border, but they face the same constraints on resources and funds that we do.” She popped up a display spanning a huge region of space, centered on the border. “That’s especially true because as you get one jump in from the border, you greatly expand the number of star systems that need to be defended. Go two jumps from the border, and the number of star systems in the zone increases exponentially. It’s simply too huge an area with too many star systems to disperse strong defenses across evenly.”

“We assumed Kalixa would be more heavily defended,” Geary agreed, “since it has a hypernet gate and is a wealthier star system than Heradao.”

“Yes, and when we get to Padronis, we’ll probably find nothing there because there’s nothing there worth defending. Atalia will be a much harder nut to crack.” Desjani made an annoyed sound, then gestured at her display. “I ran out the course to the jump point for Padronis. The Syndics are in orbits which allow them to intercept us if we head for that jump point.”

Geary frowned, his mind locked on the main enemy force. Against the Alliance fleet’s twenty battleships and sixteen battle cruisers, the Syndics had a flotilla containing twenty-three battleships and twenty-one battle cruisers, plus enough heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers to give them an advantage there as well. The second enemy flotilla was much lighter, consisting of an even dozen heavy cruisers and a score of light cruisers and destroyers. The coming encounter wouldn’t be easy, and could be worse than Lakota and Cavalos if he screwed up. “Why are you bothered by that?” he asked Desjani. “We expected them to block us from reaching the next star system home.”

“Because from where they are, they couldn’t stop us from reaching the jump point for Kalixa,” Desjani pointed out. “If our estimates are anywhere near accurate, then after the losses this fleet has inflicted in the last few months, the flotilla here must have almost all of the Syndics’ surviving major warships. Why aren’t they worried about our going to Kalixa? Its system defenses can’t be that good.”

He got it then, his frown matching hers. “Kalixa has a hypernet gate. Maybe they’re planning on blowing it when we arrive.” Geary couldn’t keep from wincing at the idea, imagining another inhabited star system devastated or completely destroyed by a collapsing hypernet gate. It wasn’t unthinkable, though, given the sort of tactics the Syndic leadership had employed in the past.

“Maybe,” Desjani agreed with visible reluctance. “They’re leaving us an open path there, almost as if they want us to go that way. They could follow us to Kalixa with an idea of mopping up whatever survived the hypernet gate collapse. But the Syndics know we survived the collapse of the gate at Lakota without serious damage, so they should realize that they couldn’t be sure that would cripple this fleet. If it didn’t hurt us badly, the flotilla here would be in a stern chase and couldn’t catch us unless we deliberately lingered to wait for them. Why take that chance?”

She was thinking it through, and her questions sounded uncomfortably close to those Geary was coming up with. “What else could be at Kalixa?”

“I don’t know, but if the Syndics want us to go there…”

“Then we don’t want to go there.” Had the Syndics struck a deal with the aliens? Would they let the Alliance fleet use the hypernet gate at Kalixa with the understanding that the aliens would divert the Alliance warships from their chosen goal to some location deep within Syndic territory? The fleet couldn’t possibly fight its way out of some place far within Syndic-controlled space again. “Whatever the explanation, our questions add up to more reasons for getting past these guys and going to Padronis instead of heading for Kalixa.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Desjani concurred. “Besides, I hate leaving Syndic warships in one piece. Their formation is a little unusual this time around.”

“I’d noticed that.” Even though the Syndic flotilla was formed into an overall box, that box was formed from five distinct subformations, one at each corner and one in the center. “Interesting.”

“I wonder where they learned that,” Desjani said mockingly.

“The question is whether they’re actually going to try maneuvering those five subformations independently, or if they’re just groping toward doing that and will keep the subformations slaved to their places in the box.” If the Syndics did try moving each formation separately, it would probably be a fiasco on their end since such skills were hard-won by training and experience he knew the Syndics couldn’t yet have gained. If they didn’t move them independently, the five subformations were within supporting distance of each other, but barely.

He pulled his focus off the Syndic flotillas so he could evaluate the entire star system. “They’ve got pickets out.” Geary indicated the jump exits for Padronis and Kalixa, where the Alliance fleet’s sensors had identified Syndic Hunter-Killers. It would be several hours before any of those HuKs saw the light waves carrying images of the Alliance fleet, but once they did, some of them would surely jump to carry the news to other Syndic star systems. “No nickel corvettes this close to the border, I guess.”

“I’d never seen one operational before Corvus,” Desjani reminded him. Mention of the first star the fleet had reached during its retreat from the Syndic home star system jerked Geary’s mind back to that time, and his eyes went to the portion of the display showing the Alliance fleet. At Corvus he’d been appalled to see the Alliance fleet falling apart as every ship raced to engage the weak Syndic defenders. But those days were past. The Alliance fleet held its formation now, trusting to Geary’s command to ensure that the Syndic flotilla would be crushed. He wondered how much small gestures like reintroducing saluting to the fleet had helped forge that discipline. Their bravery had never been in question, but now these Alliance warships fought as intelligently as they did courageously. The field of battle where they’d be engaging the enemy this time mostly involved empty space, of course, and, for the rest, Heradao wasn’t too unusual as habitable star systems went. Four planets orbited in the inner system, the closest to the star only about two light-minutes out from it in a fast orbit, as if the small world were trying to outrun the heat and radiation pummeling it. The other three inner-system planets orbited about four light-minutes, seven light-minutes, and nine and a half light-minutes from the star. Given the intensity of the star Heradao, the world at seven-light minutes out had not perfect but endurable conditions for human life, and humans had taken advantage of that even though at that distance from its star the radiation bombardment was probably high enough to cause extra health problems. Cities and towns dotted the surface of that planet, and even though Heradao had been bypassed by the Syndic hypernet, that third world was apparently attractive or wealthy enough to sustain a decent population. Surprisingly for a star system bypassed by the hypernet, the cold fourth world had more human activity than had once been the case according to the old Syndic records the Alliance fleet had seized at Sancere.

“Are there any indications regarding the POW camp on the third planet?”

The operations watch-stander nodded. “Yes, sir. It’s still there, still occupied, and we’re picking up message traffic that indicates it still holds Alliance prisoners.”

“It looks like we will be visiting the third planet after we deal with these Syndic flotillas, then.” The middle ranges of Heradao Star System were empty except for a few asteroids and the Syndic craft. The next planet out was a super gas giant well over three light-hours distant from the star. With all of its moons, the super gas giant resembled its own solar system, and was nearly big enough to have become a brown dwarf star itself. Apparently the giant had sucked up everything else in the outer reaches of the star system. Geary wondered if its larger moons in wide orbits had once been planets themselves before the giant captured them.

A lot of Syndic activity could be seen around the gas giant, currently orbiting on the other side of Heradao’s star from the Alliance fleet, indicating substantial off-planet mining and manufacturing under way. But diverting to that gas giant to loot its mines for raw materials to fill the bunkers of the auxiliaries would take the fleet too far from the path to the jump point for Padronis.

“Do we have to fight?” Rione suddenly asked. “Can’t we just race past the Syndic defenders? You’ve told me that velocities above point two light speed cause so much relativistic distortion that Alliance and Syndic targeting systems can’t compensate well enough to reliably hit other ships. If this fleet heads for the jump point for Padronis at a high enough velocity, the Syndics won’t be able to do damage to us.”

“Or us to them,” Desjani muttered too low for Rione to hear.

Geary thought about it, then shook his head. “It’d be too easy.” Before an incredulous Rione could say anything else, he pointed at the display. “The Syndics know how badly we need to reach that jump point. They know we could try blowing past them, and they’ve had time to prepare for that.”

“What could they have done?” Rione asked, then frowned. “Mines?”

“Yeah. Mines. Look at that small flotilla there between the main Syndic group and the jump point for Padronis. They’re in a perfect position to track our trajectory past the main flotilla and plant mines along our path. If we were going fast enough that the Syndic targeting systems couldn’t hit us, we’d also be going so fast that our own systems wouldn’t have any chance of spotting those mines, or any others already laid along our probable tracks between the jump exit where we arrived and the jump point for Padronis. They could drop the mines right in front of us along our track in as dense a pattern as they could manage.”

Desjani was frowning now. “They shouldn’t have that many mines left, but they could have transferred everything from the other warships onto that small flotilla.”

“If we did strike a minefield, there’s no telling which ships might get hit,” Geary added, “and the higher impact velocity would increase the force of the mines.”

Rione stared past him for a moment, her brow furrowed in annoyance. He didn’t have to say openly that Dauntless could be the victim of such a mine strike, and Dauntless had to get home. “What’s your plan then?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“You knew we were likely to encounter the Syndics here. You must have planned something.”

Geary felt a familiar headache starting, while, unseen by Rione, Desjani rolled her eyes. “Madam Co-President, I knew I’d probably find the Syndics here, but I didn’t know in what strength or how they’d be positioned. Unless we found them waiting at the jump exit and had to fight right off the bat, I knew I’d have to develop a plan once I saw the situation.”

“How long will that take?” Rione pressed.

“Madam Co-President, has anyone ever told you that sometimes you can be extremely demanding?”

She smiled with mock sweetness. “Thank you for the compliment. But we were talking about your plan, not me.”

“I’ll let you know. We’ve got time to think, and I won’t waste that.” Geary stood up and nodded to Desjani. “We’ll stay on course for the jump point for Padronis. I’m going to walk around and think a bit. If you get any ideas, or the Syndics react to our presence, give me a hail.”

“Yes, sir.”

He gave Desjani a suspicious look, but this once “yes, sir” appeared to mean nothing but that. Geary walked the passageways of Dauntless, returning salutes and greetings from the crew almost absentmindedly as he thought. The basic problem was that the Syndics had been learning and adapting to his tactics. He couldn’t count on any more brainless charges straight for the center of the Alliance formation that would allow the Alliance fleet to bring to bear all of its firepower just where Geary wanted it.

There were ways around that, ways to confuse and out-maneuver the Syndics, but all of those ways required more use of fuel cells. A fleet wasn’t supposed to find itself in a situation where fuel-cell reserves were so low. But like many other things that weren’t supposed to happen, he had to deal with that reality. His steps took him through many passageways, across the width of the ship more than once, past living areas and hell-lance batteries, and no inspiration struck. Neither did Desjani call with some concept that might work. He thought that in some ways she still had too much confidence in him, too much certainty that the great Black Jack Geary would manage with the help of the living stars to pull yet another rabbit out of his hat just when that rabbit was desperately needed.

Finally, Geary paused, took his bearings, and headed for the one place where he might receive wisdom beyond that of anyone in the fleet.

Down here, as deep within Dauntless as any compartment could be, as well protected as any part of the ship, were the small rooms where comfort and guidance could be sought. Geary didn’t know for certain why he’d come here now. It never hurt for the crew to see their fleet commander displaying proper piety, but anything that might smack of public displays of worship had always bothered him. It could also backfire if the fleet concluded that he was not so much pious as desperate for advice. Especially since there was some truth to that.

Geary closed the door and sat in one of the tiny, private rooms on the traditional wooden bench, his eyes fixed on the flickering flame of the candle he had lit to help warm the spirits of his ancestors. “As far as I know,” he finally said out loud, “none of you were legendary military commanders. I’m still not sure how I got stuck with the title. The odds are against us here, the fleet’s fuel supplies are so low that I can’t afford fancy tricks to sucker the Syndics, and the enemy has clearly been studying what I’ve been doing in battles and are trying to counter that. I fear that the best outcome here would be a bloody engagement in which this fleet would be victorious but decimated. The worst outcome…”

He shrugged. “I need something new. Something unexpected. The only thing I can think of that the logistics situation would allow is surprising the enemy with an attack in the style this fleet had grown accustomed to, straight into the teeth of the Syndic flotilla. But even if that worked, the cost could be huge. My battle cruisers can’t take that kind of engagement on top of the damage they’re already carrying, and I don’t have enough battleships to form a shield for the battle cruisers.”

Geary sat for a while, watching the candle grow shorter. “Too bad I can’t just throw the battleships at the Syndics, but even they need support against that much Syndic firepower. The battle cruisers would have to be right beside them even though it doesn’t make sense for them to charge into that kind of hornet’s nest. But I’ve already seen that my battle-cruiser captains will still do that even against orders because they think their honor requires it. I need the battle cruisers to avoid direct charges at the enemy, I need to hit the Syndics with my battleships, and I need to keep the Syndics guessing. But how do I do all of that, especially without complicating the battle beyond my ability to control it? I lost the bubble at Cavalos, let myself get overwhelmed by the complexity of the battle and couldn’t make any decisions for far too long. If that happens here, the results could be a lot worse. I need some different approach.”

A different approach. How to build it? What were his advantages? Not numbers, not firepower, not munitions, not fuel. No friendly bases within reach. Ship for ship, the Syndic warships were roughly comparable to their Alliance counterparts, although Syndic Hunter-Killers were significantly smaller and less capable than Alliance destroyers. But then the Syndics tended to have superior numbers of HuKs on hand because they were smaller and cheaper. The Alliance warships had a lot better onboard capability for damage control and repair, but even that required time for repairs to be made before the Syndics hit a badly damaged Alliance ship again.

It took a minute to come up with an advantage for the Alliance fleet. The quality of my sailors is superb. They’re more experienced than has been the norm in the last several decades since crews tended to die before they acquired too much skill. But I’ve kept mine alive. Most of them.

And they’ll fight like hell, and they’ll fight to the death. Some of my subordinates are also good leaders. All of the ship commanders will listen to me now. I can count on their carrying out my orders. Within limits. He paused, trying to come up with something else, then remembered the Syndic guard flotilla destroying the hypernet gate at Lakota when the Alliance fleet was light-hours distant. And the Syndics are scared of me. Admit it. It’s an advantage for us. They expect me to do something unexpected, to do things that no one else can do.

How to use that? What unexpected things are still left to try with the force limitations I have to deal with? Too bad I can’t figure out a smart way to fight the kind of battle this fleet was used to fighting before I took command, charging straight into the enemy. After watching me command engagements at stars from Kaliban to Cavalos, the Syndics would never expect… Can I do that?

He watched the candle flame dance, ideas swirling through his mind. There might be a way. It wouldn’t be cost-free in terms of fuel cells, but it wouldn’t cost nearly as much as any alternatives, if the ships and the maneuvering systems can handle it, and if I can construct the necessary orders before we reach the Syndics.

And if Desjani doesn’t kill me when she finds out what my plan would mean for Dauntless. Thank you, ancestors. I heard you.

Rising, Geary bowed toward the candle, snuffed it out, and hurried toward his stateroom. He had a lot of simulator work to do.

IT took a while. He had to keep trying different approaches, and the maneuvers were far too complicated for any human to have worked out unaided by the fleet combat systems. When he viewed the resulting maneuvering commands, the dizzying mix of vector and speed changes didn’t produce any coherent picture at all. But when he ran the commands for the final product through the simulator, the results looked right even though his professional experience and training cringed at the idea of so many ships weaving through each other at high speed immediately prior to contact with the enemy. Still, everything was within the performance capabilities of his ships, even the lumbering fleet auxiliaries and the damaged warships because he’d minimized their required changes in courses and speeds. He could imagine how his old instructors would have reacted to his plan. The concept is far too simple and the execution far too complicated. His protests that it was the best option left to him would have produced stern lectures to avoid getting into situations where the best option was something like this. Which advice was all very well in theory or peacetime practice, but the real universe, a century of war, and the long retreat from the Syndic home star system had left him this harsh practical reality to deal with. He checked the time and the location of the Syndics, for once grateful for the long delays caused by the huge distances in space. Desjani had called to tell him that once the Syndics had seen the arrival of the Alliance fleet four hours after it exited the jump point, the enemy flotilla had turned onto a vector that would intercept the Alliance warships if they continued toward the jump point for Padronis. A light-hour behind them, the smaller enemy flotilla had eventually turned onto a similar course. Both Syndic formations had held their velocity to point zero eight light speed, the same velocity at which the Alliance fleet was moving, the forces closing on each other the entire time in which Geary thought and ran simulations. At a combined closing rate of point one six light speed, the Alliance fleet and the Syndic flotilla would require about twenty more hours to come into contact.

The downside of the Syndic decision to hold their velocity to point zero eight light was that they were obviously trying to improve their chances of getting good hits in when the fleets clashed. They were willing to wait a little while to ensure maximizing damage on the Alliance fleet. Geary sat down, calling up the commands for the battle and reviewing them again anxiously before calling Dauntless’s bridge. “Please tell Captain Desjani that her presence is requested in my stateroom.”

He waited, watching the enemy, wondering how these Syndics would maneuver to contact and during the battle, until his hatch alert chimed and he allowed Desjani to enter. Her eyes went immediately to the display above the table. “What’s the plan?” Desjani asked. From the look of her, she’d reined in her curiosity as long as she could.

“It’s… complicated.” True enough. Especially once Desjani saw where Dauntless would be when the fleets clashed.

“I can check it.”

“I’d appreciate it if you did.” He grimaced, not happy with knowing how she’d react. “I’m trying something new.” Geary fell silent, gazing at the display.

“All right, sir,” Desjani finally said. “That’s not a problem. But if you want my input, I need to see the maneuvering plan.”

Just as he’d once been told, when Desjani locked on a target she didn’t let go. Besides, he did want her input. Best to get it over with now. “Okay. I just caution you again that this is a new approach.”

She was obviously puzzled. Geary looked down, sighed, then punched the commands to play out the intended maneuvers during the initial encounter with the Syndics. Desjani watched, her eyes widening with disbelief as the Alliance fleet’s formation dissolved into an apparently chaotic swarm as it approached contact with the enemy. As the warships of the Alliance fleet re-formed at the last moment, she watched intently, then her expression froze. “You’re—” She didn’t seem to breathe for a moment before speaking in a tone so flat it sounded almost lifeless. “Sir, I must respectfully inquire as to whether I or my ship have lost your confidence.”

“No. Not at all.”

“Sir, this plan—”

“Will allow the battleships to do what they do best.”

Desjani’s face reddened. “Battle cruisers do not go into combat behind other ships! We lead the way!”

“Not this time.” He could see how tightly her hands were clenching into fists. “Captain Desjani, I need to hit the Syndics in a way they don’t expect without getting my own fleet wiped out in the process. I am not putting the battle cruisers in a secondary position in this engagement. Run the next set of commands.”

She didn’t look at him as she did so, then took in a long breath. “As you say, this is an unusual plan.”

“That’s the idea.”

“I understand why you don’t wish to communicate this to the other battle cruisers in advance. They’ll be extremely unhappy. As am I. But I will follow my orders, Captain Geary.” Desjani seemed slightly mollified but still sullen, and didn’t look at him.

“Thank you, Captain Desjani. I would not wish to be on any ship but Dauntless in any circumstances.”

She didn’t respond, and he wondered if he should say more, but he’d said what he believed. “Do you think the plan is sound?”

He could see her trying to control her emotional reactions, trying to focus on the plan as an abstract. “If our ships can actually carry out these maneuvers in the time and distance allotted, then it will certainly surprise the Syndics… as much as it does some of our own ships.”

“The maneuvering systems say our ships can do it.”

“In theory.” She gave Geary a hard look. “This will have to be done totally on automatic controls. No ship-handler in the fleet could possibly execute this without disastrous results.”

“I understand.”

“Sir, please, Dauntless can be farther forward.”

“She will be when we split the formation. Tanya, it’s one lousy firing run. How many battles have we fought on this ship together? How many times has Dauntless led the way, held the center of the formation while the Syndics aimed right at us?”

Desjani kept her head bowed, glaring at the deck. “I don’t suppose I should have expected you to understand.”

“Dammit, Tanya, in a perfect world I’d bend the heavens to make you happy, but I have responsibilities to this fleet and to the Alliance. This would be one hell of a lot easier if I was on any other ship talking to any other captain, but I can’t let my personal feelings dictate this decision.” Desjani stiffened, and he gritted his teeth. His last statement could refer to professional respect and friendship, but could also be seen as a careless allusion to something neither he nor she could admit to, talk about, or base any actions on. Geary refocused his argument onto impersonal reality. “Dauntless has to make it home, because Dauntless carries the Syndic hypernet key, and that can’t be duplicated until we reach Alliance space. I cannot put Dauntless in a position that would virtually guarantee her destruction. Nor do I have to, since no one could possibly claim that Dauntless and her commander have been anything but honorable and in the forefront of every fight.”

She stayed quiet for a while, then glanced sidelong at him. “You’d bend the heavens?”

Startled, Geary nodded. “If I could.”

“I may hold you to that.” Desjani straightened and saluted. “Dauntless will do her duty, as will her captain. It’s a good plan, sir. It’ll surprise the enemy, and more importantly, it should hurt them.”

“Thanks.” He returned the salute, sighing with relief as Desjani left. Though he did feel a twinge of worry as he wondered just what “hold you to that” might mean.

“I assume you now have a plan?” Rione asked.

Geary, once more seated in the fleet command position on Dauntless’s bridge, turned to nod at her.

“It’s a surprise.”

“Wonderful, but apparently it’s intended as a surprise to your own ships as well as those of the enemy?”

“To some extent.”

“Since we’re less than an hour from contact, I suppose we’ll all find out what you intend before much longer.” Desjani was maintaining a poker face, but it appeared even that gave something away to Rione.

“Those of us who aren’t already in your confidence that is.” Rione settled back, looking outwardly unconcerned.

Desjani waited a few minutes, then leaned close to Geary to speak inside his privacy bubble. “I need to apologize to you.”

“No, you don’t. I expected your reaction to be a lot worse, if you want to know the truth.”

“That’s not what I mean.” She glanced toward Rione. “I wondered if you’d held Dauntless back at her urging, to keep the Syndic key safe. I should have realized you wouldn’t do that. I’m sorry for thinking it.”

“That’s all right. Now keep your head in the game, Tanya. This is going to be a tough one. I need you at your best.”

“You always get my best, sir.” She grinned and settled back into her captain’s seat. Half an hour to contact. Twelve hours ago Geary had deliberately set up the Alliance formation as virtually a mirror image of the Syndics’, with four subformations flanking a central subformation. He’d have to move soon, but not too soon. The Syndics had held their own course and speed, swinging in toward a head-on encounter with the Alliance fleet’s own central formation even though they surely expected Geary to make some last-minute changes to his fleet’s vectors.

“Do you want to address the fleet?” Desjani asked in a way that implied he did whether he realized it or not.

“Good idea.” He paused for a moment to order his thoughts, then hit the fleetwide circuit. “All ships in the Alliance fleet, this Syndic flotilla stands between us and home. What we lack in supplies we make up for in experience and spirit.” He wasn’t following in the footsteps of Captain Falco’s sort, who thought “fighting spirit” magically multiplied the capabilities of a fighting force. But it did matter, it did make a difference, as long as you didn’t assume it provided mystical protection against enemy firepower. Experience, on the other hand, could make a tremendous difference. “These Syndics won’t stop us here because this day we will add another victory to the annals of the Alliance fleet.”

He ended the transmission, feeling uncomfortable at using such high-sounding words, then saw Desjani looking at him approvingly. “You always give good speeches before an engagement, sir. Short, direct, and powerful.”

I do? “Thank you, Captain Desjani. I meant every word of it.” He wondered if the last part sounded defensive.

She seemed startled by it, though. “Of course you do. We all know that. You’ve proven it. In any event, we’ve all had plenty of experience with hearing long speeches. It always seemed to me while listening to them that anyone who really believed what they were saying could get it said in a lot fewer words.”

“You may have a point there.”

Rione unexpectedly chimed in, her tone dry. “She does have a point.”

Not looking back, Desjani frowned, then, with a glance at Geary, gestured everyone on the bridge to silence.

He barely noticed, concentrating on the movements of the opposing forces sweeping closer to each other. The maneuvering systems were counting down a recommended time to initiate the maneuver, but Geary was matching that against his own experience, his own gut feelings for the right moment, factoring in the time required to send the command to begin carrying out the package of commands he’d already forwarded to all of the other ships in the fleet.

Still no change from the Syndics. They’d done that at Cavalos, too. Whether or not the CEO in charge of their flotilla knew that it had given Geary problems at Cavalos, he or she was following the same tactic here, holding off on a course change until the last possible moment to frustrate whatever plan Geary had developed.

One minute to recommended time to initiate maneuver. He frowned at the countdown, feeling a nagging instinct that it was a little too tight. He had to time this right, not perfect-world right but real-world right, all while not knowing how the Syndic CEO would react. But he’d fought the Syndics enough now that he had good grounds for guessing, so Geary waited, letting his instincts speak as his eyes watched the Alliance fleet and the main Syndic flotilla rushing together. Waiting. Waiting. At ten seconds before the recommended time to pass the command his thumb twitched without conscious thought, activating the comm circuit. “Formation Indigo Two, Formation Indigo Three, execute maneuvering orders package one effective immediately.” He paused, then called out again. “Formation Indigo One, execute maneuvering orders package one effective immediately.” Wait. Seconds ticked by as Dauntless’s bow pitched upward. “Formation Indigo Four, Formation Indigo Five, execute maneuvering orders package one effective immediately.”

On his display, Geary could see the smaller subformations above and below the Alliance fleet’s main body losing their shapes and collapsing toward the main body as that formation rose to meet them, its warships also leaving their positions as they altered course. The Syndic CEO would see all that beginning to happen, a few minutes delayed since the fleets were still that far apart, and either believe that the Alliance fleet was aiming for a firing pass above the Syndic box or trying to vault past the top of the Syndic flotilla. That CEO would have to decide whether to alter course slightly upward as well, and know that there were only minutes to decide.

The one thing he wouldn’t expect was for the Alliance fleet to steady out and aim straight for a head-on intercept against the center of the Syndic flotilla. That was the sort of damn-the-missiles, straight-up-the-middle charge that had become common on both sides as the training and skills needed to carry out more complex maneuvers were lost in increasingly bloody battles. Commanders who knew only one way to fight had followed that way, depending on “fighting spirit” to overcome bad odds and enemy firepower. Courage and honor were the watchwords, making possible horrible slogging matches in which one side or the other eventually prevailed at awful costs in ships and personnel. Geary had never done that. He’d brought with him from a century before the expertise to fight intricate battles across vast reaches of space, coordinating the movements of different formations despite time lags of seconds, minutes, and even hours in communications and information. Despite its initial resistance, the fleet had followed his lead. Most of the fleet, anyway. The closest he’d come to ordering an attack into the teeth of the enemy had taken place at the first battle of Lakota, and it had been only after a series of maneuvers had fooled the Syndics into spreading their formation so wide that their middle was weak and unsupported by flanking units.

No, the Syndics knew that Geary didn’t attack up the middle in the opening of an engagement. They knew that of all the options available, he wouldn’t do that.

So that’s what he was doing.

The Alliance fleet’s main body and the two upper subformations kept dissolving and merging together, every ship breaking from its position relative to Dauntless and swinging onto a wide variety of course and speed vectors as Dauntless herself kept her bow swinging past up, over, and down slightly. The battle cruiser’s main propulsion units slammed into action briefly, slowing her and allowing other Alliance warships to take up position on the side closest to the oncoming enemy. Beneath them, the other two Alliance subformations had also dissolved, their ships rising to meet the main body and moving toward their own new positions.

“Can we really get this done before contact?” Desjani inquired tonelessly.

“I hope so.”

“Why do you think the Syndic flotilla will rise to meet what seemed to be your path?” Rione asked. Geary kept most of his attention on the movements of ships as he answered. “It’s a natural human instinct. If someone tries to rise over us, we try to rise to match or overreach them.” Even humans raised entirely in space showed the same bias even though the designation of up and down in star systems was purely arbitrary, up being above the plane of the star system and down being below it. “If the Syndic CEO follows their instincts in the very short time they’ve got to react, we’ll have them.”

With the rest of the fleet’s ships braking, the massive hulls of the Alliance battleships were passing through them and forming up into a slightly curved wall leading the fleet, around them clustering a swarm of Alliance destroyers and heavy cruisers.

All around Dauntless, other battle cruisers were sliding into place, their commanding officers only now realizing that they were positioned well behind the battleships. Geary had no trouble imagining the outrage that would be blossoming on those battle cruisers, but they wouldn’t have time to do anything about it before contact with the enemy.

Just behind the battle cruisers, the four auxiliaries were surrounded by the shapes of the four most badly damaged Alliance battle cruisers, other battered Alliance warships, and every heavy cruiser.

“Estimated time to contact twenty seconds. We have incoming transmissions for Captain Geary from Daring, Victorious, Implacable, Illustrious, Inspire, Intrepid—”

He’d obviously underestimated the outrage of his battle-cruiser captains and how quickly they’d move to vent that outrage. Desjani was being obvious about not saying, I told you so, as Geary hit his command override on the communications controls, his eyes on the Syndic formation, which had tipped upward slightly, just as he’d expected. The Syndic commander had hoped to bring a lot of firepower to bear on the Alliance fleet as it tried to rush past above the Syndic formation on one of the slashing firing passes Geary had often used, the heaviest Syndic firepower concentrated at the top of the formation. But the latest Alliance maneuvers had brought the concentrated Alliance fleet on a vector aimed straight at the center of the Syndics instead.

And the Syndics had no time to react.

“All units, we are less than twenty seconds from contact with the enemy. All battleships are to concentrate their fire on enemy capital ships. We need their shields down. Battle cruisers are to strike the death blows on those capital ships. If all capital ships within range have been eliminated, engage targets of opportunity as they enter weapon envelopes but conserve specter missiles.” Geary’s eyes flicked toward the time readout. He had to give the next maneuvering order before the fleet passed through the enemy flotilla even though it wouldn’t be executed until afterward. “All units, execute maneuvering package two at time one four.”

“Estimated time to contact ten seconds. Five seconds.”

The Syndics were ahead, then behind, the moment of contact incredibly brief, automated targeting systems aiming and firing as the warships tore past each other at a combined speed of almost sixty thousand kilometers per second. Dauntless’s hull shuddered as enemy hits registered on her shields. Geary tried to remain focused on the big picture as watch-standers called out reports. The Syndics had volleyed missiles and grapeshot at the expected position of the Alliance fleet, the great majority of those shots passing overhead as the Alliance warships went beneath them. By contrast the Alliance grapeshot couldn’t miss, slamming straight into the comparatively weak center of the Syndic flotilla. At short range and with the Alliance formation so compact, the dense barrage of steel ball bearings it had fired annihilated the light cruisers and HuKs in its path, blossoming flashes of light marking the deaths of the escorts. More lights flared as Alliance grapeshot slammed into the shields of the Syndic heavy cruisers, battleships, and battle cruisers in the center of the flotilla. As the opposing warships shot past each other, hell lances tore into targets and from the Alliance battle cruisers and battleships null fields blossomed to engulf parts of the Syndic combatants.

Syndic counterfire had lashed out, pummeling the massive shields and armor of the Alliance battleships. After the battleships had absorbed the first volleys, Syndic fire had flailed at the following Alliance warships, weakened but still deadly.

It had all taken only a fraction of a second, in which humans could only trust to the strength of their defenses, the accuracy of their automated targeting systems, and their luck. Now, as the Alliance formation and the Syndic flotilla raced away from each other, Geary watched as the fleet’s sensors evaluated the results.

The seven Syndic battleships and three battle cruisers anchoring the center of the enemy flotilla had faced thirty Alliance battleships and battle cruisers. Outgunned three to one and without the null fields, which gave the Alliance an advantage at very short range against ships whose shields had been weakened, the Syndics had suffered the inevitable result. All three Syndic battle cruisers had exploded, along with two battleships, another battleship had broken into three large pieces, and the remaining four battleships were drifting, badly shot up, displaying the huge bites in their hulls that marked null-field hits, and showing few systems left operational.

The list of disabled or destroyed Syndic cruisers and HuKs was gratifyingly long. The center of the Syndic flotilla had simply disappeared.

“Executing maneuvering package two at time one four,” Desjani announced, the excitement of battle finally breaking through her aggravation with Geary.

He simultaneously checked the Alliance fleet’s status and the movements of the Syndic flotilla. The Syndics were swinging their formation to the right and around, keeping the four corner formations slaved to each other, probably expecting the Alliance ships to keep heading for the jump point. But instead, the big Alliance formation was dissolving again, the battle cruisers, light cruisers, and many of the destroyers angling down as they coalesced into a new formation, while the battleships, heavy cruisers, auxiliaries, damaged warships, and the rest of the destroyers closed up on each other and bent their track upward. Geary felt like he’d swallowed grapeshot as his display pulsed with alerts reporting heavy damage or destruction of Alliance warships. A bright symbol in the wake of the Alliance fleet marked the spreading debris field that was all that was left of Exemplar, his last scout battleship. Smaller than battleships, bigger than cruisers, the scout battleships must have made sense to somebody but had suffered from the compromises in their design. Like her sister ships destroyed in previous engagements, Exemplar had been large enough to draw extra enemy fire but too small to withstand it. None of the Alliance battleships were out of commission, but the Syndics had concentrated their fire on Resolution and Redoubtable as the Alliance battleships engaged them, and both of those battleships had taken major damage forward. Resolution, having also suffered propulsion damage, was trying to keep up with the fleet but sliding backward relative to the other warships. In the wake of the fleet, the battle cruiser Incredible drifted, having suffered even more damage as she protected the auxiliaries. She still had some weapons operational, but otherwise was a sitting duck, her crew doubtless praying that the battle would remain clear of Incredible until they could get some propulsion units back online.

Heavy cruisers Tortoise, Breech, Kurtani, and Tarian were knocked out, with nothing left of the first two but pieces of wreckage. Light cruisers Kissaki, Crest, and Trunnion were gone, and destroyers Barb, Yatagan, Lunge, Arabas, and Kururi had been destroyed. There was simply no time to review all the lesser damage inflicted during the first firing pass. Where the formations had clashed, swarms of escape pods filled space, Alliance survivors of destroyed ships intermingled with Syndics who had abandoned their own disabled craft. Worst of all, with a second volley of missiles fired just as the forces passed through each other, the Syndics had finally scored serious hits on one of the ships Geary could least afford to lose. “Goblin has lost all propulsion units,” the operations watch reported. “Serious damage aft from two or three missile hits. Estimated time to regain partial propulsion is at least one hour.”

Geary watched the auxiliary’s track through space as, unable to alter its course or accelerate, the stricken Goblin followed the path of the wreckage and derelicts from the engagement, curving away from the rest of the Alliance warships. Running out Goblin’s path and comparing it to the movements of the Syndics produced a simple and unpleasant result. “Goblin doesn’t have a chance. Can anyone confirm for me that the most probable estimated time to the Syndics hitting Goblin is twenty-five minutes?”

“Confirmed, sir,” the operations watch responded immediately. “I have twenty-four minutes on my estimate.”

Way, way short of the hour Goblin needed to get moving again, and in any event the lumbering auxiliary couldn’t have escaped even if half of her propulsion units miraculously popped back online at this moment. Nor could the Alliance fleet get back and around in time to try to prevent a Syndic firing pass on Goblin. Geary sighed and tapped his controls. “Goblin, this is Captain Geary. Recommend you begin abandoning ship immediately and set power core for overload in about twenty minutes.” He planned to win this battle, but the outcome remained in doubt, and he couldn’t risk the Syndics’ capturing Goblin intact.

Goblin’s answer came half a minute later. “Sir, we’re trying to load what fuel cells are left on board onto our heavy-lift shuttles. We might be able to get them out. Our repair crews are trying to get one of the propulsion units back online.”

Desjani made a disbelieving sound. “Those heavy-lift birds can’t get clear of the Syndics. They don’t have the speed even if they’re empty.”

Geary nodded. “Goblin, the heavy-lift shuttles are far too slow and will be magnets for enemy fire. They cannot escape, and anything on them will be lost. One propulsion unit can’t save your ship, and the fleet can’t get back to you in time to cover you. You’re an engineer. Do the math. Get your people off that ship while there’s still time. You may regard that as an order if that makes the decision easier.”

This time Goblin’s reply took an extra minute and sounded resigned. “Yes, sir. I’m ordering all personnel to the escape pods now. Setting power core to overload in… eighteen minutes.”

“Sir, Incredible’s commanding officer informs us that he has given orders for nonessential personnel to abandon ship.”

“Very well,” Geary responded. The situation didn’t leave any other choice.

“Resolution cannot keep up with the fleet. She’s declaring her intention to close on Incredible and provide support.”

“Approved. Tell Resolution and Incredible that we’re going to try to keep the Syndics busy.” Geary concentrated on the movements of the Syndics and his own two formations as the three groups of warships swung through the huge turns required at velocities still close to point zero eight light speed. As the Syndics came around to the right, a cluster of battleships began sliding over to fill the gap where the center of their flotilla had been, then apparently halted halfway between its old positions and the center.

“They’re confused,” Desjani said scornfully.

“That’s the idea.”

Rione’s voice came from the back of the bridge. “Why are they confused? You’ve put our fleet into only two formations instead of up to six as you have in the past.”

“It’s how those formations are constituted,” Geary advised her. “One is built around all of our battleships, slower and massive, obviously configured to slam right into the heart of the Syndic flotilla again. But the other formation contains all of our battle cruisers, swift and agile, obviously configured to hit the edges of the Syndic flotilla.”

“I see.” Rione smiled with one side of her mouth. “They don’t know where you’ll hit, so they don’t know where to put their heaviest firepower.”

“Exactly.” Geary shook his head as he watched the Syndics. They’d been expecting the Alliance fleet to turn back toward the jump point for Padronis, but instead found themselves lining up with the Alliance battleship formation to one side and above them, while the Alliance battle cruisers were to the other side and beneath. “I don’t think I should punch the battleship formation through the middle of the Syndics again. Not yet, anyway. If the Syndic commander reacted quickly enough and collapsed his flotilla around the center he could hurt our battleships badly.”

Desjani thought about it, then nodded. “I agree. May the Alliance battle cruisers lead the way this time, Captain Geary?”

“Yes, Captain Desjani. Let’s do that, while I bring the battleships around to hit the Syndics from another angle.”

“Captain Geary, sir, Resolution and Incredible request that you leave plenty of Syndics for them.”

Desjani laughed, and even Geary grinned despite his tension. “Tell them that shouldn’t be a problem, Lieutenant.”

Led by Captain Tulev’s Second Battle Cruiser Division, the fifteen remaining operational Alliance battle cruisers and their light cruiser and destroyer escorts angled upward and to the right, while Geary ordered the battleships to come left and accelerate. The battleship formation moved much more sluggishly, both because of the massive battleships and because it included the three remaining auxiliaries in the fleet. Hopefully, he’d compensated properly for that in his orders.

The Syndics were continuing their turn, angling slightly downward. Geary adjusted the track of the battle-cruiser formation to counteract the Syndic maneuvers, increasing the angle of the Alliance attack so it was climbing almost straight up toward the enemy.

The Alliance battle-cruiser formation screamed upward at the rear bottom corner of the Syndic flotilla.

“They’re braking!” the operations watch-stander shouted at the last moment before contact, too late for anyone to react. At the velocities they were all traveling, both sides noticed the changed vectors too late for either group of warships to compensate.

Instead of racing past outside the corner of the Syndic flotilla, the Alliance battle cruisers slammed through that corner. The automated maneuvering systems managed to avoid collisions, which would have instantly vaporized the ships involved, but the Alliance battle cruisers still ended up enduring close passes against enemy battleships.

The four Syndic battleships anchoring that corner threw out a barrage of hell-lance fire that tore apart Steadfast, riddled Intrepid, and hammered Inspire, while Illustrious took more damage on top of that suffered at Cavalos, and Courageous spun out of control as the Alliance warships cleared the Syndic formation.

“Intrepid thinks she can keep up but all of her combat systems are out,” Dauntless’s combat watch reported. “Inspire has full maneuvering but has sustained heavy damage to weapons systems. We can see escape pods leaving what’s left of Steadfast.”

“What about Courageous?” Geary demanded.

“No communications, sir. She’s off the fleet net. Sensors register all systems dead.”

Along with who knew how many of her crew.

“Roberto Duellos is very hard to kill,” Desjani commented.

“Let’s hope so.” Geary shoved his worries for Captain Duellos to the side and grimly focused on the Syndic flotilla. The Alliance battle cruisers had been hurt, but had also been able to hit the corner of the flotilla with a lot of firepower. The two Syndic battle cruisers there were both too badly damaged to keep fighting, and one of the enemy battleships had taken enough hits that it was falling out of formation, while another seemed as badly off as Intrepid, able to maneuver but otherwise badly hurt. Most of the Syndic light cruisers and HuKs in that corner of the flotilla had been knocked out or destroyed, but there were more Alliance escorts also missing now or helplessly falling behind.

Fortunately, the Syndic maneuvers that had put the Alliance battle cruisers badly out of position had also positioned the Alliance battleship formation to hit another corner of the Syndic flotilla head-on. This time the four Syndic battleships there were not only badly outnumbered locally but facing warships as heavily shielded and armored as they were. Gallant and Indomitable were the focus of the enemy fire, and both suffered damage as their shields failed in spots and Syndic grapeshot or hell lances made it through to their hulls. But as the Alliance formation opened the distance again, they left three of the four Syndic battleships out of action and three Syndic battle cruisers in pieces.

“That more than evens the odds,” Desjani remarked.

The rest of the Syndic flotilla swept toward Goblin, which vanished into a ball of fragments a moment later as its power core overloaded. Beyond where Goblin had been, Resolution and Incredible threw out everything they had left at the approaching Syndics.

Geary involuntarily closed his eyes as a corner of the Syndic flotilla tore past Resolution and Incredible. When he opened them, he was astonished to see that both Alliance ships were still there. “They survived? That’s…”

“Incredible?” Desjani murmured. “Resolution shielded Incredible as much as she could. She got shot to hell, and Incredible took more damage, but the Syndic intercept must have been far enough off to save both ships.”

Luck had saved Resolution and Incredible, but a moment later the gods of war favored the Syndics.

“Damn,” Desjani commented. “There goes Intrepid.” Missiles had leaped out from the Syndic formation during the last firing pass, aiming at the projected course for the Alliance battle cruisers. Because of the last-minute vector changes, most of those missiles had been too far off the Alliance track to get hits and had curved through space, chasing the Alliance ships. Many of the missiles were destroyed as their slow relative speeds in a stern chase made them easier targets for the Alliance escorts, but one made it through to the already heavily damaged Intrepid. The stricken battle cruiser seemed to buck as the missile hit her dead astern, smashing her propulsion units. Intrepid spun off to the side, her weakened structure visibly buckling under the stress of the impact and the sudden changes in course and speed. “She’s not going to be recoverable, sir.”

Desjani didn’t seem shaken by the losses of Intrepid and Courageous, but then Geary knew that she’d seen far worse. “Let’s avenge her.” He tried to relax, watching the tracks and projected paths through space, attempting to factor in the seconds of time delay in the images he was seeing. “Formation Indigo One, come right two five degrees, down one six zero degrees at time five three.” The Alliance battle cruisers came up and over, swinging down and to the side for another pass at the Syndics. The Syndic commander was trying to concentrate what was left of his flotilla, bringing the ships together until the group of enemy warships once again almost resembled a square box, though a much smaller one than the Syndics had started with. At the same time, he tried a tight maneuver, rolling the entire formation up and around to the left to face the Alliance battle-cruiser formation.

“Bad move.” Desjani bared her teeth. “We look like an easier target, but we’re faster than he is. That’s not a very experienced commander.”

“Neither are some of his captains, apparently,” Geary replied, watching the Syndic warships scramble to get into position and carry out the major changes of their vectors. One of the Syndic battleships blundered into a Syndic heavy cruiser, causing most of the heavy cruiser to disappear in a flash of light while the battleship reeled away with major damage. “One more down.”

The intended compact Syndic square spread and warped out of shape as the Syndic flotilla failed to make the turn.

“Formation Indigo One, come right two zero degrees, up one five degrees at time zero six.” The Alliance battle cruisers raised their bows slightly as they turned, sliding around to aim for an intercept of one side of the flailing Syndic flotilla. “Formation Indigo Two, come left two eight five degrees, up two one zero degrees at time zero eight.” The battleships, now well below the Syndics, began turning upward as the Alliance battle cruisers closed on the enemy again.

This time, with the enemy caught in temporary disarray, the Alliance battle-cruiser formation roared past one corner of the Syndic flotilla at almost perfect range, lashing out at the exposed Syndic warships with a large local superiority in firepower.

Dauntless shuddered heavily in the wake of the firing pass. “One Syndic missile got through, Captain. Damage aft. Hell-lance battery six bravo out of commission. Reduced capability from main propulsion unit alpha.”

“Can we keep up with the formation as it maneuvers?” Desjani demanded.

“Engineering is boosting output from the remaining main propulsion units, Captain. Damage control teams are reinforcing damaged hull sections. Damage control central requests we avoid major maneuvers for the next ten minutes.”

“Tell them to make it five!”

“Yes, Captain. Five minutes.”

Illustrious, still carrying plenty of damage from the fight at Cavalos, took more hits, along with Valiant and Daring. But the outnumbered Syndics in that part of the flotilla had lost three more battle cruisers.

“What the hell are they doing?” Geary burst out with as the Syndics continued to swing up and around in a corkscrew movement.

“Beats the hell out me,” Desjani confessed.

“They’re just continuing the same—We got the CEO. They’re following their last orders because no one else has established themselves in command yet.”

“Nice,” Desjani almost purred, watching the Alliance battleship formation rip through the diminished Syndic flotilla. Only ten Syndic battleships and battle cruisers remained operational after that, though the Alliance formation shed Gallant as it bent back for another firing run.

“Propulsion damage on Gallant, but she can still defend herself. They’re concentrating their fire,”

Desjani noted with grudging approval. “Throwing everything they can at the battleships that have already taken the most damage. Look at how badly Redoubtable got hit, too.”

“At least she can still keep up with the formation.”

Desjani spun to face her engineering watch-stander. “Five minutes are up. Can I maneuver?”

“One more minute, Captain,” the engineer pleaded.

“I don’t have one minute!”

“Ready for maneuvers,” the relieved watch-stander gasped as he received the report.

“Good,” Geary approved. “Let’s go.” On the heels of his words, the Syndic flotilla altered course radically, bearing back around and down. “Where…?”

Geary brought the battle-cruiser formation toward the Syndics in as tight a swing as he could, trying to guess on which vector they’d steady out. The answer became clear after several minutes. “They’re going after Resolution and Incredible.”

“We’ll get at least one more pass at them before then,” Desjani pointed out, “and so will the battleships.”

“Any updates from Gallant?” Geary asked. He could scroll through the display looking for that information himself, but he needed to spend that time and concentration on the big picture.

“Gallant reports about half of her combat systems remain active,” the operations watch reported.

“Shields weak but regenerating, several major breaches in hull armor being sealed. Estimated time to regain some maneuvering control is twenty minutes.”

Deciding that Gallant could look out for herself for the time being, Geary lined up the battle cruisers on another intercept with the Syndic flotilla and adjusted the track of the battleships so they’d hit the Syndics again.

The wait to contact was agonizing this time. Resolution and Incredible drifted helpless, both ships too badly damaged to have any hope of surviving another Syndic attack and neither having enough working weapons to have much chance of inflicting any damage on the enemy. The Syndic box, even smaller now, was curving in from above and the left. Farther to the left and slightly higher, the Alliance battle cruisers were swooping down on the Syndics. Off to the right and roughly even with the Syndics, the Alliance battleships were boring in steadily.

It must have become apparent to the Syndics that they didn’t have a hope of rendering death blows to Resolution and Incredible before being savaged by the rest of the Alliance fleet. As the two Alliance formations drew close, the Syndic flotilla abruptly dove, greatly increasing its down angle and steadying out toward where the smaller Syndic formation was holding off from the battle. Geary rapped quick commands to the battle cruisers and the battleships, correcting for the Syndic moves.

As the Alliance ships steadied onto their new vectors, collision-warning alarms blared. Geary barely had time to jerk his gaze to the alerts before the Alliance battle cruisers raced through the Syndic flotilla from one side and above almost at the exact same instant as the Alliance battleship formation tore through from the other side and slightly above.

For that heart-stopping instant, a lot of warships going on widely different vectors at very high speed threaded past each other, automated maneuvering systems screaming alarms in protest as they tried to avoid collisions in the maelstrom of warships. Meanwhile, the automated combat systems on every combatant saw a suddenly target-rich environment and gleefully hurled out shots in all directions. Then the three formations were diverging again. Geary inhaled heavily as he realized he’d forgotten to breathe for a moment.

Even Desjani looked pale. “Sir, have you considered the possibility that there could be such a thing as being too good at compensating for the movements of the enemy?”

“Not until just now.” He took another breath and checked his display, then checked it again. “We lost some more destroyers, but that was probably to enemy fire. No collisions?”

“All the same, let’s not do that again, sir.”

“Okay.” The Syndic flotilla’s box, subjected to so much firepower at once from different angles, had disintegrated. Two battleships were still slogging along their track, but both had sustained significant damage. No Syndic battle cruisers remained, and the escorts had been slaughtered. Conversely, with so many targets at once, the Syndics hadn’t been able to concentrate their fire. Aside from some unfortunate cruisers and destroyers, the Alliance fleet had avoided more serious damage. Geary breathed a sigh of relief. “Formation Indigo Two,” he ordered the battleships, “break formation and get those two remaining Syndic battleships. Formation Indigo One, general pursuit. Avoid the two surviving Syndic battleships until they’ve been reduced by our battleships.” The last thing he wanted was another loss like Opportune.

To his surprise, Desjani didn’t instantly whip Dauntless around to go after a target. She saw his reaction and shrugged. “The only thing left worth killing is those battleships. Besides”—she pointed to her ship’s status display—“we’re down to thirty-five percent fuel-cell reserves.”

“Thirty-five percent?” In peacetime he would have been court-martialed for letting fuel-cell reserves get that low on ships under his command.

“Good thing we saved Titan, Witch, and Jinn,” Desjani observed. “We’re going to need every fuel cell they can squeeze out between here and Varandal.”