to her, and she caught it automatically. “I’d rather you have possession of this than anyone else. I ensured the work in the fleet system was wiped and overwritten. That’s the only existing copy.”
She was staring at the disc as if it were a deadly snake. “Why?”
He chose to interpret the question as being about her. “Because, Madam Co-President, that’s too dangerous to be entrusted to anyone else. Including me.”
Rione glared at Geary. “Why entrust it to anyone? Why keep even one copy?”
“Because if we can think this up, then someone else can, too.”
This time Rione paled. “You think…but if the Syndics had this…”
“The Alliance probably would have already felt the results,” Geary finished for her. “I agree. I don’t think the Syndics have really thought it through. I don’t think even Commander Cresida has, that the gates are potentially horrific weapons. But I think someone else does know that.”
“I don’t understand,” Rione demanded, her ice turned to heat now. “If you don’t think the Syndics have realized this, are you claiming the Alliance has?”
“No. Not the Syndics and no one from the Alliance.” Geary spoke bluntly, knowing his words were brutal but feeling he had to make his case. “I’ve seen how the officers in this fleet think after a century of war and trading atrocities with the Syndics. If the Alliance knew the gates were weapons, it would have already starting blowing them, obliterating Syndic star systems wholesale. Right, Madam Co-President?”
Rione sat silent for a moment, then nodded. “I think there’s a strong possibility you’re right,” she admitted, her voice quiet now. “Then who is it you believe knows this? There aren’t any worlds that aren’t part of the Syndicate Worlds or at least nominally part of the Alliance. There isn’t anyone else.”
“No one we know of,” Geary corrected, his eyes back on the starscape. “No one human.”
“You’re serious?” Rione was shaking her head. “What evidence do you have?”
“Where’d the hypernet come from?”
She seemed startled by the question, her hostility momentarily forgotten now. “The breakthroughs were sudden. I know that much.”
“And we still don’t understand the theory behind it,” Geary added. “That’s what Commander Cresida said and the fleet database confirmed. When did the Syndics get the hypernet technology?”
“About the same time as the Alliance.”
“Remarkable coincidence, isn’t it?” He paused. “I heard the Alliance believes the Syndics stole the tech. That’s certainly plausible.”
Rione nodded, her eyes hooded. “Yes, but I happen to know from reports I’ve seen that the Syndics believe we stole the technology from them.” She closed her eyes, thinking. “You are actually suggesting that some nonhuman intelligence provided that technology to us? To both sides? But why? The hypernet has greatly benefited us. The ability to travel so swiftly from one star to any other star on the net has been a tremendous boost to human civilizations.”
Geary sank down lower into his seat, rubbing his eyes. “Have you ever heard of something called a Trojan horse? Something that seems like an attractive gift but is actually a dangerous weapon?”
Rione stared at him, her face white again. “You think someone, something, gave us those gates, knowing we’d build them, and knowing they could be used as weapons against us.”
“Yeah.” Geary waved at the display. “There’s hypernet gates in every important star system in every human culture and grouping. Imagine what happens if every one of those systems has a supernova explode in it. Hell, just a nova. Even a mininova.”
“But…why?”
“Maybe they’re scared of us. Maybe they just want to keep us from bothering them. Maybe it’s insurance if we ever threaten them. Or maybe that’s how they fight, by hiding in shadows and luring an opponent into a trap.” Geary shook his head. “This war started for reasons no one really understands, and it’s kept going long past the point of making sense. There’s nothing unique about that in human history, unfortunately, but this war has certainly kept the human race fully occupied with internal conflict for the last century. Neither the Syndics, as far as we know, nor any part of the Alliance have done any expansion into new star systems for most of that century. I checked.”
Victoria Rione was gazing into the distance, her eyes narrowed. “Your ideas are still just speculation, though. Is there any proof?”
“No proof. Some strange stuff at Kaliban, where the Marines found the Syndic security vault had been opened using nonstandard tools and where no one could explain why the Syndics had done some of the things they had when they abandoned the system. But that’s not proof of anything except the existence of something unusual.”
She switched her gaze to the starscape. “How would anyone trigger all of the hypernet gates to explode at the right level of energy? Is it possible to send a signal of some sort through the hypernet? We don’t know of any way to use them for that.”
“But then we don’t know a hell of a lot about how they work,” Geary noted. “As long as neither us or the Syndics win the war, I think we’re safe. If I’m right about what I admit is pure speculation.”
“Awful speculation, Captain Geary.”
He nodded, looking back at her. “I’d be grateful if you’d think about it, too. I’d be incredibly grateful if you could tell me I was wrong. But regardless, please keep that disc safe. Hide it somewhere and don’t tell me.”
“Surely even you wouldn’t be tempted to use it.”
“Even me?” Geary found himself laughing harshly. “Even me? Is there still something you think I wouldn’t do, Madam Co-President? Should I be grateful?”
“As grateful as I am for being handed the instrument for the extinction of the human race!” Rione snapped back at him.
Geary bit his lip, then nodded. “I’m sorry. But there’s no one else I’d trust not to use that.”
“You claimed to want to avoid killing civilians and devastating planets.” Rione seemed to be pleading with him. “Are you saying that wasn’t true, either?”
His temper flared. “Either? Listen, Madam Co-President, you’ve yet to prove me false in anything! Until you do, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t speak as if I were already without honor.”
Her face tightened, but Rione nodded. “Very well, Captain Geary. I will refrain from calling you dishonorable until I prove otherwise.” Her voice left no doubt that she expected that to happen at any time.
“Thank you,” Geary replied coldly. “Now, as to your question, no, I hope I’d never want to use that. But I imagined being with our backs to the wall, the Syndics about to triumph, and I wondered. If everything seemed lost, would I give in to temptation to take that last chance despite the risk that an energy discharge aimed at destroying the Syndics would destroy a lot more? And I couldn’t say with absolute certainty that I wouldn’t. So I don’t want the opportunity.”
“Instead you want me to be so tempted!”
“I trust you more than I do myself, Madam Co-President. My focus is on saving this fleet. You’ve got a larger perspective.” Geary stared at nothing for a moment. “In case it hasn’t occurred to you, I also just gave you the ultimate weapon against Black Jack Geary. You’d have the ability to stop him if it came to that.”
He knew she was watching him. “So you now admit that Black Jack is a danger to the Alliance.”
“I already admitted he’s a danger to this fleet. I can’t afford to ever let myself think I’m what too many people in the Alliance believe Black Jack Geary to be. But I’m sure you’ll help keep me honest.”
“I’ve been trying to do that since you assumed command of this fleet, though I believe myself a failure in that respect right now.” She held up the data disc. “How do I know this is really the only copy? How do I know you don’t have another?”
“Why would I lie about that?” Geary demanded. “What possible advantage would I gain from that?”
“I don’t know. Yet.” Rione curled her fingers around the disc, hiding it from sight again. “You fooled me once, Captain Geary. I thought I knew you. I won’t be fooled again.”
“Maybe the only person fooling you is yourself,” Geary snapped.
“Maybe,” Rione stated, though her voice and expression held no trace of agreement. “I know what I’ll be doing for the long period until we reach Sancere. What will you be doing?”
“Why do you care?” Geary shrugged. “I won’t be plotting taking over the Alliance or another attack on the Syndic home system, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
