Geary looked around the table, knowing he was about to set off a firestorm and seeing no alternative. “Ladies and gentlemen, the Syndics are drawing a net about us. The traps we encountered in this system are clear evidence that the Syndics are predicting our next objectives well enough to prepare for us. As you all know,” or should know, Geary added to himself, “the Syndics had light ships posted at all of the jump points in this system. As the light from our arrival reached them, three of those ships jumped out. There are three possible destinations through those gates, and all will be warned of our possible impending arrival.”
He waited for any comments, but there were none. Everyone seemed to be waiting to hear his proposal. “I’ve taken a look at our possible objectives from this point, and the reachable stars beyond those, and it’s all too clear that the Syndics will be able to channel our options down to the point of being able to trap us with greatly superior forces no matter what we do.” He paused, letting that sink in. “I have no doubt that we’d inflict terrible losses on those Syndic forces, but this fleet would be destroyed in the process.” That was a valuable offering to their pride, Geary thought, as well as a reminder that this was still about trying to get home.
“The Marine exploitation groups were able to get an outdated but useful Syndicate Worlds star system guide from files left behind at the labor camp.” Geary nodded toward Colonel Carabali. “After reviewing that, I believe there’s another option, which I think gives us a chance to not only avoid that trap but also to inflict a powerful blow to the Syndics, totally disrupt their plans, and leave us many options for heading back toward Alliance space again.” He used his finger to draw a line through the display. “We take the fleet back to the jump point we used to arrive. Not to go back to Kaliban but to jump to Strabo.”
“Strabo?” someone blurted after several seconds of silence. “What’s at Strabo?”
“Nothing. Not even enough rocks to have developed much of a human presence and now completely abandoned.”
The captain of the Polaris was staring at the display. “Strabo is almost directly away from Alliance space.”
“Yes,” Geary agreed. “The Syndics have to believe the chance we’d jump back toward the way we came is very remote. They haven’t sent anyone through that jump point since we’ve arrived. Once they get word that we did, they’ll consider a jump to Strabo even more remote. But we’re going to throw them off worse than that.” He swung his finger again, knowing his next words would trigger a much stronger reaction. “From Strabo we jump to Cydoni.”
“Cydoni?” Captain Numos had finally been prodded into challenging Geary again. “That’s even deeper into Syndic space!”
“It is. The Syndics will figure out eventually that we’ve jumped to Strabo, and from there they’ll assume we’re headed for the other three stars within range of Strabo, all of which bend back to Alliance space. It’ll take them a long time to figure out we jumped to Cydoni.”
“What possible purpose could that serve?” Numos demanded. “Shall we run to the far side of Syndic space? They won’t expect that, will they? Do you have any idea how badly we’ll need resupply by the time we reach Cydoni? What’s there?”
“Nothing,” Geary stated. Everyone was staring at him. “It’s another abandoned system. The star’s photosphere is expanding, so the one once-habitable planet was evacuated decades ago. No, what counts is what lies beyond Cydoni.” He gestured again, trying to make it dramatic. “At extreme jump range from Cydoni is Sancere. Again at an angle away from Alliance space, but the odds seem exceptionally good that our arrival at Sancere would be a total surprise to the Syndics.”
“Sancere’s the site of some of the Syndicate Worlds’ biggest shipyards,” Captain Duellos observed in the shocked silence that followed. “But can we really reach it from Cydoni? Jump drive specifications don’t say they have that range.”
“We can. I’ve made longer jumps,” Geary advised. “Since the invention of the hypernet, you all haven’t been dependent on jump drives for long hauls between stars. We had no alternative to using the jump drives in my time, and we learned some ways of extending the range past the official maximum.”
“This is insane!” Captain Faresa commented in a baffled voice. “Running deeper into Syndic space, repeatedly, to reach an objective sure to be heavily guarded with our own supplies near exhaustion!”
“It won’t be heavily guarded enough to deal with us,” Geary stated with a confidence greater than he really felt. There was always that awful chance that he was wrong. But he couldn’t admit to that and have a hope of convincing these people. “The Syndics will have had to send strong detachments every which way to try to find us and intercept us. They’ll never suspect we’ve been bold enough to strike at Sancere, even if they have someone who remembers that the jump drives will let us reach there from Cydoni. And resupply won’t be a problem. This is a heavily populated major shipbuilding center. It’ll have everything we could possibly want.”
“Including a hypernet gate,” Captain Tulev observed.
“Right.” Geary nodded, looking around and seeing uncertainty on most faces. “If they destroy it, it’ll prevent reinforcements from arriving relatively quickly. If they don’t destroy it…” He let the thought hang, deliberately holding it out as bait.
“We can get home. Fast,” someone breathed.
Numos gave Geary a narrow-eyed look. “The Syndic hypernet key we acquired from the traitor still exists then?”
“It does.”
“We could’ve gone to Cadiz and used it there!”
Geary felt anger rising at the stubborn stupidity of Numos. “As we decided at the time, Cadiz was too obvious an objective. The Syndics surely had overwhelming forces there awaiting us.”
“But they won’t at Sancere? How can you take such an insane risk?” Numos demanded.
Geary stared coldly at him. “I thought I was supposed to be too cautious. Are you now accusing me of being too bold?” He shifted his gaze, sweeping it across the other officers. “You know the truth as well as I do. The Syndics laid not one but three traps for us in this system. They’ve sent word ahead to all of our possible objectives if we continue on our current paths toward Alliance space. The only way to disrupt their plans, to preserve this fleet, is to do something so unexpected, not once but three times, that they’ll be scrambling to catch up.” He pointed again. “Sancere was a big shipbuilding center even before the hypernet, not just because it’s a wealthy star system, but because there’s six stars within jump range, not counting Cydoni. Six options, five of which bear back toward the Alliance. No, I’m not thrilled by the amount of distance we have to make up, but we’ll inflict a major blow on the Syndics, we’ll ruin their plans to keep wearing us down and trap us, and we’ll be able to pick up everything we need to keep going.”
“And if all works,” Captain Duellos added, “perhaps the hypernet gate we need to get home.”
Too many pairs of eyes were still locked on the path Geary had traced. He knew from the expressions that those officers were gauging just how far Geary’s plan would take them from Alliance space. “If our objective is to get home,” Geary emphasized, “and to hurt the Syndics in the process, then Sancere is the way back to Alliance space.”
“This is nonsense,” Numos declared. “I call for a vote!”
Geary eyed him coldly. “There are no votes in my fleet.”
“If I’m to be asked to charge deep into Syndic territory on a suicidal mission, I should be allowed a say in it! We all should!”
Captain Tulev made a disgusted sound. “You already voted to do that. When Admiral Bloch was in command of the fleet. Or have you forgotten that a vote put us in this situation?”
Numos flushed with anger. “That was an entirely different situation. Where is Captain Falco? What is his advice?”
“You’ll have to ask him,” Geary advised. “I’ve already received his input.” And discounted it. But they didn’t have to know that.
“Where is Captain Falco?” Captain Faresa demanded, seconding Numos as usual.
Captain Desjani answered, her voice as calm and un-emotional as if she were providing a routine report. “Captain Falco is undergoing medical tests recommended by the fleet medical personnel aboard the Dauntless.”
Geary tried not to look surprised and not to smile. He hadn’t suspected Desjani could be so devious.
Faresa, however, looked outraged. “Medical tests?”
“Yes,” Desjani confirmed blandly. “For Captain Falco’s safety. He was under considerable physical stress in the
