I didn’t want to die. When my ship’s last combat system was knocked out, I set the power core on self-destruct and tried to get away using a remaining survival pod. A damaged pod that was further damaged when my ship blew up. No working beacon. Just another piece of junk in a system filled with junk from the battle. No one found me. Not until almost a hundred years later, when your mighty fleet came sneaking through that backwater system and stumbled across me.
To finally wake me up and tell me the Alliance has turned me into something I didn’t recognize. Promoted in the wake of my supposed death during my “last stand” to the rank of Captain in the fleet and legendary hero of the Alliance. I think I can be a Captain. How can anyone living be a legendary hero?
But Geary said nothing, because looking at Desjani he knew she wouldn’t believe it, and because he now knew that if she did believe, he’d be killing her last hope. I promised the Admiral I’d save this fleet if I could. I don’t see how I can do that. But maybe this heroic idol they believe in has a chance of somehow doing it. “That was a long time ago, Captain,” he finally replied softly. “But I’ll do my best.” And pray it may be enough. “Now, before this meeting, what’s this ‘key’ business about?”
Desjani looked carefully up and down the passageway before answering, and then spoke so quietly Geary could barely hear her. “The Syndic hypernet key is onboard the Dauntless.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
She looked startled. “I’m sorry. I forgot you didn’t have hypernet.”
“All I know about it is that this hypernet provides much faster interstellar travel than the system jump drives do.”
“Much faster. Yes, sir. The exact advantage over system jumps varies based on some science I frankly don’t understand, but it’s usually by a factor between ten times and one hundred times as fast.”
“Damn.”
Captain Desjani nodded, looking around quickly to once again ensure no one could hear them. “Unlike the system jumps, which use the gravity wells from stars, a hypernet has to be created, and when a hypernet is set up, the entire net is aligned to what’s usually called a frequency, though it’s actually something more complicated than that. Each gate is assigned a sort of subfrequency. To use a particular hypernet, you need what’s called a key. It allows you enter that net and select the gate you want.”
Geary nodded, trying to absorb the implications. “So having a key to the Syndic hypernet let’s us use it. Where’d Dauntless get a Syndic key?”
“We got it from the traitor.” Her face twisted. “The double traitor. It made our strike at the Syndic home system possible.”
“I see. They gave you the means to get here and then waited for you.” Guessing you’d never be able to resist such an opportunity.
Desjani grimaced. “Yes, sir.”
“Then the Syndics know we have this key. Why’s the fact it’s on Dauntless so important?”
“Because they know we had it, but they don’t know what ship it was on. They don’t know if it’s been destroyed already. They don’t know if one of the surviving ships still has it. If they knew it was on Dauntless…”
“They’d immediately throw everything they had at her to make sure the key was destroyed.”
“Yes, sir.”
“They can’t just change the, uh, frequency of their hypernet?”
Desjani shook her head. “That’s impossible, Captain Geary. Once the net is constructed, its fundamental characteristics can’t be changed.”
Geary thought for a moment, all too aware of how much he had to learn but also knowing that he had to get into the conference room quickly to meet with the gathering ship captains. “How big is this key?”
“Too big for someone to carry, if that’s what you mean. It’s large and heavy.”
“Can we duplicate it? Make copies and give some to other ships?”
“No. Copying a hypernet key is beyond the capabilities of any ship in the fleet. Back home, in Alliance space, there are worlds with that capability.”
He thought for another moment, thought about what that key would mean to the Alliance if it could be returned home. One more responsibility for the great hero to shoulder. “Let’s go meet the ship commanders.” People who looked like him but apparently didn’t quite think like him. How long would it take him to figure out the differences forged by a hundred years, a hundred years spent at war? He’d have to listen carefully to everything they said…“Wait. One more thing. A few moments ago, when you said we didn’t have any chance of defeating the Syndic fleet here, you started to say something else. What?”
Desjani looked uncomfortable, her eyes shifting to look past Geary. “I…I started to say that Black Jack himself couldn’t defeat this Syndic fleet. Sir.”
Black Jack himself couldn’t do it. The expression had the ring of something used all the time. For a moment, Geary couldn’t figure out how to respond to that. Then a twinge of self-mockery came to his rescue. “Well, Captain Desjani, we’d better hope you’re wrong about that, hadn’t we?”
She stared at him, then unexpectedly grinned. “Yes.”
Geary went inside. Desjani followed him into the room, then when he paused, she indicated one seat not far from the door. The conference room wasn’t all that large in reality. Geary had seen it with the conferencing systems off, just a moderately sized room with a moderately sized table to accommodate those who might actually sit in here. But with the systems on, as Geary came to his designated seat at the table, he saw it stretching out with scores of seats, each seat occupied by the commanding officer of a fleet ship. Geary couldn’t help staring a little at them, amazed at how each officer looked exactly like he or she was sitting here instead of on their own ships. As his eyes focused on each, their image came close, as if they were now sitting nearby, and a small tag popped up with their name and ship clearly identified. In the center of the table, easy to see from every seat, a large projection showed the disposition of the Alliance Fleet and of the Syndics. Virtual image technology had clearly improved during his long sleep.
I guess it’s a lot easier to hold meetings now. Geary took a moment to wonder if that was a good thing, or if that was one of the things which had sapped the spirit from the fleet. He stood at his seat, wondering if anyone should or would call everyone else to attention, but when that didn’t happen, he sat stiffly.
No one spoke. With the exception of Captain Desjani, who’d taken a real seat just to his left, every other officer was looking at him. Geary looked back at them, one by one, letting his gaze linger on each briefly before moving on. Some gazed back with carefully blank expressions, hiding their thoughts. A number of others held challenges in their eyes, plainly not receptive to Geary’s authority. But the majority stared at him with the desperation of the dying, praying for deliverance. To varying degrees, all of them seemed weary and worried.
Geary took a deep breath, deciding to deliberately avoid the informality he’d seen among this fleet in favor of the formal speech and actions he’d always known. “For those of you who haven’t met me, I am Captain John Geary. When Admiral Bloch left the Dauntless, he placed me in command of the fleet. I intend to carry out that responsibility to the best of my ability.” He wondered what his voice sounded like to them, what the words meant to them.
A woman who must be approaching retirement age gave Geary an acidic look. “Did Admiral Bloch provide any reason for that action?”
Geary frowned at her, feeling a slow glow of heat forming inside and welcoming the relief from the coldness he’d felt since being rescued. “I’m personally not accustomed to asking my superiors to provide me with reasons to justify their decisions.” A ripple ran through the ranks of the ship captains, but what it meant he couldn’t tell. “Admiral Bloch did, however, inform me that I was the senior officer in rank and length of service remaining with this fleet.”
