they’d have finally figured out how to extend the lifespan by now.”
“Alas, no.” Rione was, to all appearances, studying the starscape again as she spoke. “You know what’s happened every time they’ve tried. Nature will let us keep humans healthy and strong nearly up to the end, but come the end still does, even though scientists have taken the human body apart down to the quantum level and rebuilt it in an effort to change that.”
Geary, feeling tired again, sat down and leaned back, closing his eyes for a moment. “It’s enough to give someone religion.”
“It’s certainly enough to make someone think about it.” She glanced at Geary. “Is there an ancestral home?”
“Not unless they’ve built one since the last time I was back.”
“Where will you go when we return to Alliance space?”
“I don’t know.” He stared at nothing, his mind wandering. “There’s somebody I need to look up on the Dreadnought, wherever that ship is.”
Rione didn’t mask her surprise. “You know someone on a ship back in Alliance space?”
“Not really. I have a message for her, though, that somebody asked me to deliver.” Geary brooded on that for a moment while Rione waited, then shrugged. “After that, maybe I’ll go to Kosatka.”
“Kosatka?”
“It was a nice place, once. I hear it’s still nice.”
“Kosatka,” Rione repeated. “I do not think your fate lies on Kosatka, Captain Geary.”
“Do you foretell the future as well as read minds?”
“All I read are people, Captain.” Co-President Rione walked back to the hatch, pausing in the entrance. “Thank you for your time, and for your confidences.”
“You’re welcome.” He half-rose as she left, then sat back down heavily, weary once again and wondering why his stomach felt so tight.
“KALIBAN?” Captain Desjani stared at Geary. “But the way home lies through Yuon.”
“Captain, the Syndics know you’re thinking that. They’ll be there.”
“But not in enough strength-”
“How can you know that?” Geary realized he was snapping at Desjani and reigned in his temper. “You told me yourself. The Syndic ships in their home system could hypernet to, uh, Zaqi and then jump to Yuon in a little less time than it’d take us to get to Corvus, transit that system, and jump to Yuon. They could have their entire damned fleet there, except for the ships pursuing us, which would come out of the jump exit and hit us from the rear.”
“But Yuon…” Desjani’s voice trailed off.
Geary saw the desperate weariness in her and felt a stab of shame at his own anger. “I’m sorry, Tanya. I know how much you want to get home. I want to get us there, too.”
“The Alliance needs this fleet, Captain Geary. And it needs Dauntless and what Dauntless carries. The sooner the better.”
“The Syndics’ll be waiting for us at Yuon, Tanya. If we go that way, we won’t get home.”
She finally nodded. “They understand us too well, don’t they?” When Geary didn’t answer immediately, Desjani continued. “The Syndics knew we’d jump at the bait they offered, the chance to hit their home system, and now they’ll know we’ll head straight home through Yuon.”
“I’m afraid so.”
“But you see clearer than that. You know we must take a longer route.”
Geary suppressed a groan of exasperation. Maybe I just don’t have the same emotional need to get home as badly as you other people do! “I’m going to notify all ships of our planned destination before we leave jump-”
“Captain!”
“What?”
Captain Desjani adopted a formal posture. “Sir, you must inform the ships’ commanding officers of this decision in person.”
He tried to dampen an immediate flare of annoyance. “I’ve been told that if we transmit it in jump there’s zero chance of the Syndics ever intercepting the message. And in any case I’m not going to put it to a vote.”
“I’m not saying you should put it to a vote, Captain, but you need to tell them yourself.” She must’ve read his feelings on his face. “I know this isn’t how you did things in the old days, but it’s how we’re used to doing things now.” Another pause. “Sir, you must lead personally! You can’t do that by sending a brief text message.”
The last thing he wanted to do was face that crowd of officers again, knowing that some believed in him with all the fervor of Captain Desjani and some thought him a living fossil who needed to be cast aside. “Tanya, we’re probably going to be awfully busy every second this fleet is in the Corvus System. Even if the Syndics don’t send ships jumping into the system right on our tails, they’ll still be coming at some point. We don’t know what kind of defenses the Syndics have in Corvus. We’ll need to decide what facilities to ransack, overcome, or overawe any resistance…” Desjani just looked back at him stubbornly. Face it. My gut tells me Desjani is right. I had to convince her in person about Yuon. If she’s refusing to be convinced now, it’s because her professional judgment says I need to talk those other ship commanders into going to Kaliban.
Nice to know Desjani won’t cave when she thinks I’m wrong even if she does believe I’m the ancestors’ gift to this fleet.
Geary nodded, not bothering to hide his reluctance from her. “Okay, Tanya. You win. As soon as we’re certain no immediate Syndic pursuit is coming out of the jump point on our tails, I’ll call a conference and tell everyone in person that we’re going to Kaliban and not Yuon.” She didn’t answer. “Okay. I’ll also tell them why we’re going to Kaliban and not Yuon.”
“Thank you, Captain. I hope you understand-”
“I do. And I thank you for making clear your recommendation.”
“Whatever waits for us at Corvus can’t be too dangerous, Captain Geary. They won’t even know the outcome of the battle in the Syndic home system.”
“Yeah.” Maybe we’ll be able to use that somehow. “But Corvus is so close to the Syndic home world it might be a tough nut.”
Desjani made a dismissive gesture. “It’s not on the Syndic hypernet.”
Geary thought about the way she’d said that. “That obviously means more than I realize. Explain it to me, please.”
She looked surprised, then nodded. “I just assumed you knew, but how could you? The hypernet lets someone go very quickly from wherever they are to wherever they want to be. They don’t have to go through other places to get there.”
“Oh.” Damn. I said it again. “With the system jump drives you have to jump through systems within range to eventually reach where you’re headed.”
“Yes.” Desjani nodded again. “Many, many systems only mattered because people had to go through them to get to somewhere else. They didn’t have any special resources or other significance. Once a hypernet is up, all that passing-through traffic vanishes.”
Geary thought about that. “I can’t imagine that benefited the bypassed systems.”
“No. The only reason someone will go to them now is if they have personal reasons or because the system has something special. But if the system does have something special, it’ll be on the hypernet.”
