Desjani only took a moment to a.n.a.lyze the order. "You're splitting the difference between the jump points for Branwyn and T'negu?"

"I want to keep the Syndics guessing on our objective," Geary explained as he stood. "Ready for another fleet conference?"

"If you can face them, I can," she replied.

Desjani followed Geary off the bridge, but as Geary pa.s.sed Rione, she stood up and came right behind him, interposing herself between Geary and Desjani. "You're going to be physically present at this conference?" Geary asked, surprised out of his concentration on his alternatives.

"Perhaps," Rione answered with a frosty edge to her voice. "I'd like to know what you're going to say beforehand, unless it's a secret."

"All right."

Rione walked alongside him as they headed for the conference room, Desjani trailing and remaining silent.

"I'm going to tell them that I intend trying to lure the Syndics at the hypernet gate out of position. The track we're on will keep them guessing as to our objective but lead them to believe we're just transiting the system and intend leaving as soon as possible."

"Isn't that what you really intend doing?" Rione pressed.

"Well, yes, though if we get that Syndic flotilla far enough out of position, we can make a run for the hypernet gate. That's going to remain an option."

"Do you really think they'll risk leaving the gate?" Rione wasn't trying to hide her skepticism.

"They might. If they don't, we go on to Branwyn."

The conference room was already expanded by the virtual meeting software, most of the fleet's captains already in attendance. A small heads-up warning floated before Geary as he took his place at the head of the table, reminding him that because the fleet remained dispersed, there'd be noticeable delays in response times from ships at a distance.

"Welcome to Lakota," Geary stated, realizing that he'd need to come up with some other way to start these meetings. "It looks like we outguessed the Syndics again."

"Why aren't we headed for the hypernet gate?" Captain Casia demanded.

Feeling very tired of having Casia interrupt him, Geary just stood and looked at the man for a long time, until Casia began fidgeting. "I'd appreciate it in the future," Geary stated in a voice as devoid of emotion as he could make it, "if you would wait until I have outlined our plans before commenting on them. Is that clear, Captain Casia?"

"I'm only-"

"Am I clear, Captain Casia? Did you understand what I said?" Oh, yeah. Black Jack could do this. It felt good on that level. He just had to make sure he didn't push it past the point that John Geary would regard as appropriate.

"I understood you." Geary's face hardened, and Casia added a final word. "Sir."

"Thank you." Gazing down the table again, Geary tried to pick up where he'd left off. "There's only a small Syndic flotilla in this system, but one easily big enough to destroy that hypernet gate if we try to charge it while they remain in position near the gate. As long as they're there, we can't hope to access the gate."

He gestured to the display, where a representation of the Alliance formation glowed, a long line arcing through Lakota toward a point about midway between two jump points on the other side of the star. "If we can't get those Syndics away from the gate, we'll have to use jump points again. If it comes to that, we'll head for Branwyn." That brought smiles, since Branwyn led toward Alliance s.p.a.ce. "But we might as well keep the Syndics a little uncertain until then about whether we might jump for T'negu instead."

"They won't leave that gate," Captain Tulev noted. "The Syndics must have orders to ensure we don't use it."

"Probably," Geary agreed. "But there's a chance if they're convinced we're heading for a jump point, and they see an attractive enough opportunity, that they might risk coming after us."

Far down the table, Captain Tyrosian flinched. The last time Geary had needed a lure, it was one of the auxiliaries. She'd be even less happy when she found out he intended using all four this time.

Geary altered the display floating above the table, zooming in on the depiction of the Alliance formation. "The Syndics can tell the ships in Echo Five Five consist mostly of our four auxiliaries and our most badly damaged ships. I've already positioned the formations so that Echo Five Five trails the fleet. As we head across the system, Echo Five Five will gradually lose ground on the rest of the fleet as if unable to keep up."

"How much ground?" Captain Midea asked. Her att.i.tude was a bit different, Geary realized. In the absence of an immediate threat, she'd been extremely aggravating. But with the Syndics around in force, Midea seemed more professional, more focused on dealing with the enemy than with messing with Geary.

"Echo Five Five will remain within supporting distance of the rest of the fleet," Geary a.s.sured her.

"If so, the Syndics won't take the bait," Midea objected. "We need to be far enough away that the rest of the fleet seems too far off to render a.s.sistance."

Duellos was giving Midea a measuring look, Casia was frowning at her, and Captain Cresida was nodding. "She's right, sir."

Geary shook his head. "I can't risk-"

"Paladin can fight," Midea insisted. "Put her back there with Orion and Majestic and Warrior. Add in the ships from the Seventh Battleship Division, and we'll have seven battleships in that formation. That's enough to deal with the warships in the Syndic flotilla."

Commander Yin of Orion was staring at Midea with unsuccessfully concealed horror. Majestic's commanding officer shook his head regretfully. "We're not front-line capable. Neither is Warrior."

"Warrior is prepared to engage in combat," Commander Suram corrected quickly and firmly.

Geary gave Suram a measuring look, impressed by his att.i.tude and letting Suram see it.

"Since when does the Alliance fleet need superior numbers to engage the enemy?" Midea demanded. "Warrior is ready to fight, so even if you leave out Majestic and Orion, that would still give us half the number of major combatants the Syndics muster. Alliance ships can easily defeat twice their number of Syndics." She turned an accusing gaze on Geary. "Black Jack Geary defeated ten times his number."

Had he really been outnumbered ten to one at Grendel? Funny how he couldn't remember general things like that, just lots of details of the battle.

Geary suddenly realized that Captain Midea had the potential to be a thorn in the side of every fleet commander, not just him. When not facing an immediate threat from the enemy, she was difficult and challenging, and when facing the enemy she wanted to charge straight into battle. He couldn't fault her courage, but being reckless in every environment wasn't a good thing in an officer. He wondered how Numos had managed to keep her under control.

Was the chance of reaching that hypernet gate worth the chance of increasing the risk of losing one or more of his auxiliaries? After all, if the fleet could get home quickly through the gate, it wouldn't need the resupply capability the auxiliaries offered.

h.e.l.l, if he believed sacrificing ships like that was a good idea, then why bother attaching the three good battleships of the Seventh Division to the formation? Why not just send the auxiliaries and his crippled warships off alone and let them get wiped out while Geary took the fleet home?

Geary shook his head. "I want to lure the Syndics out, but I cannot expose the auxiliaries or the damaged ships in Echo Five Five to destruction. We need to ensure they have adequate protection."

"Alliance sailors are ready to die for their home worlds," Captain Midea insisted, which earned her a number of looks suggesting that not all Alliance sailors were all that eager to die, even if they were ready to do so.

"My objective," Geary stated, "is to make sure that any Syndics who are ready to die have that particular wish fulfilled." That brought him some smiles and some relieved looks. He wondered what he was doing, how he was acting, that those relieved officers thought he would sacrifice ships that way. "I'll run some simulations to check possible outcomes, but for now I don't want Formation Echo Five Five to drop back more than three light-minutes behind the rest of the fleet. Is that understood?"

"May Paladin join that formation?" Captain Midea demanded. "Two of the ships from my division are already there."

Geary switched his gaze to Captain Casia. "You're the commander of the division containing Paladin. How do you feel about that?"

Casia bent a dark look toward Midea. "Certainly. Paladin can join with Orion and Majestic."

"Captain Mosko?" Geary asked. "You're in command of Echo Five Five. Do you need Paladin?"

Mosko shrugged. "Need it? No. But Indefatigable, Audacious, and Defiant are always ready to welcome a sister ship alongside us, under my command." The last three words were emphasized slightly, resulting in Midea narrowing her eyes at Mosko. She didn't object to them, though.

"What about Conqueror?" Captain Duellos asked innocently. "If she also joined Echo Five Five, then the entire Third Battleship Division would be together again, fighting as one."

The look Casia gave Duellos would have killed if that were possible. "Conqueror should remain in a position toato coordinate with the fleet commander."

Geary eyed the man, trying to decide if putting so many of the bad eggs in the Third Battleship Division into one formation again was just asking for trouble, and if sending Casia there wouldn't create more problems. But in a way Duellos was right. Sending Paladin to Echo Five Five and keeping Conqueror in Echo Five Four didn't make sense.

No. If I send Casia back there, too, I'll have to keep my eye on him constantly. I can't afford that distraction.

Captain Mosko frowned slightly. "If Captain Casia were also in the formation, it might create some confusion about command arrangements in Five Five."

Geary nodded judiciously, grateful for another reason to turn down Duellos's mischievous suggestion. "That's true. And we can't let Echo Five Five get too strong, or the Syndics won't be attracted to it. Paladin will ensure the formation is not too badly outmatched in terms of numbers. Are there any other questions?"

"What about the Syndics we left at Ixion?" said Commander Neeson of Implacable, not asking a leading question but a real one. "Four battleships and four battle cruisers. They haven't shown up yet, but they will."

"They're waiting," Captain Tulev announced. Everyone looked at him, clearly wondering at his reasons for the statement, so Tulev shrugged and continued his explanation, his face impa.s.sive. "Lakota wasn't the most expected destination for us. Correct? So they think maybe we're not going there for real but intend jumping there and jumping right back to Ixion to confuse the Syndics."

Duellos nodded. "So they wait."

"Yes," Tulev emphasized. "Jump takes five and a half days here, five and a half days back. They wait, say, twelve days total. We don't reappear at Ixion, they jump after us then."

"We could be clear of Lakota by the time they jumped in here," Captain Cresida objected.

"So? There's a Syndic flotilla at the hypernet gate. There's Syndic facilities and the inhabited world. If we just pa.s.s through and jump elsewhere, they know, but if we're here to create long-term trouble, they catch us anyway."

"They might also have been waiting for reinforcements they expect to meet them at Ixion," Captain Badaya objected.

Tulev frowned, then nodded. "True. Either way, they come here eventually, but not right behind us."

"That sounds like a good a.s.sessment," Geary agreed. "We can't forget about that force, but we don't know when they'll get here. We should be a long way from the jump exit from Ixion by the time they do, though. Anything else?"

Captain Tyrosian spoke with visible reluctance, as if not wanting to draw attention to herself and the state of the auxiliaries. "Raw materials stocks on the auxiliaries are getting low, but we have new fuel cells and munitions available for transfer to warships."

"Can we risk transferring supplies while the Syndics are out there?" Tulev asked.

Geary tapped some controls and rechecked the status of his warships. Not great, but okay. "Go ahead and transfer their share of fuel cells and new munitions to the ships in Echo Five Five," he told Tyrosian. "That activity will help provide a plausible cover for you falling behind the rest of the fleet and maybe make you look a little more vulnerable. Captain Tyrosian, there are two destroyer squadrons rounding up some Syndic ore carriers not far from the track we're following. Hopefully we'll be able to manage an intercept, and you can bring some material off those ships for the bunkers on the auxiliaries."

He thought that would be all, but then Midea spoke again. "Captain Geary, if you wish to offer the Syndics an inviting target, then transfer to one of the ships in the trailing formation in such a way that the Syndics know you've done that. The chance to eliminate Black Jack Geary will be a very powerful temptation."

There was plenty of truth to that. Especially since he was asking other sailors to risk their own lives as bait. But Dauntless has the hypernet key on board. A lot of people still don't know that, but I do. I have to stay with Dauntless. Was he grateful that the hypernet key offered an out? It wasn't that Dauntless was necessarily safer than a ship in the trailing formation, but the battle cruiser and her crew were familiar, the only truly familiar things Geary had in this universe a century removed from his own. It probably was a weakness, but he didn't want to go through the emotional turmoil of trying to get accustomed to another set of surroundings, not with battle looming and so much else to deal with. Two big reasons for staying on Dauntless, neither of which he wanted to discuss here and now. "Thank you for the suggestion, Captain Midea, but I feel I can best continue to command the fleet from Dauntless within the main body of the formation."

To Geary's surprise, Midea briefly revealed a flash of success, as if Geary had done what she wanted. Her next words explained why. "Is the fleet best served by a commander who's making decisions for the wrong reasons?"

Desjani was giving Midea a murderous look.

Geary shook his head. "Explain that statement, Captain Midea."

She shrugged lightly in reply. "We're aware that you have strong reasons for not wanting to leave Dauntless," Captain Midea stated, giving the name of the ship an ironic twist as if actually referring to something else.

Now Desjani flushed with anger, and Geary understood what that something else was. Yet in order to counter Midea's sly innuendo, Desjani or Geary would have to explicitly bring up the rumors of their being involved together.

Desjani's tone was as hot as her face. "I will not-"

Victoria Rione's voice, as cool as Desjani's was warm, cut across the conference like a saber forged from ice. "Captain Midea, do you know something I do not? Or are you referring to me?"

Midea might resemble a Syndic CEO in the perfection of her uniform and her att.i.tude, but Co-President Rione had about her all the cold authority and aloofness that Geary remembered from his first encounters with her. Intimidating was an inadequate word to describe Rione at times like this.

Captain Midea obviously felt the same way, clearly groping for some way to avoid openly stating what she had previously implied. Casia was giving Midea the look of a superior whose subordinate had just royally screwed up. To Geary's annoyance, his closest allies among the officers, such as, Duellos, Tulev, and Cresida, were silently watching Midea's discomfort with ill-concealed satisfaction and not changing the topic, even though pursuing it would just generate more discontent.

Fortunately, Captain Badaya stepped in, speaking as if imparting a lesson that his students should already know. "Every officer in the fleet is surely aware that Captain Geary has developed a good working relationship with the commanding officer of his flagship. That's an important and beneficial command arrangement. It's easy to understand why Captain Geary wouldn't want to disrupt that situation and attempt to forge a similar working relationship with a new flagship commander when the fleet is in an enemy star system and facing combat."

Badaya's statement had the virtue of being absolutely true and not open to dispute. It also offered Midea an out, which she jumped on. "Of course that's so. I was expressing my concern that the fleet commander might benefit from shaking up the current command arrangement, but as you say, this is not the optimum time to do so."

The entire room seemed to relax, but then Geary spotted Rione turning an icy gaze back on Midea. He managed to catch Rione's eye and silently convey a wish for letting the matter drop. Rione gave him a stare that briefly made Geary feel cold as well, then subsided.

"That's all," Geary added quickly. "We're just under seven days from the jump point for Branwyn if the Syndics don't take the bait we're going to dangle. We'll have to see what happens and be ready to react. Thank you."

Within moments almost every virtual presence vanished, though Badaya lingered just long enough to give Geary what might have been a subtle wink. Hoping that Desjani hadn't seen that, he turned to her as Badaya left. "I'm sorry, Captain Desjani."

"It's not your fault, sir," she replied firmly. "By your leave, I need to return to the bridge." Desjani hastened out, her back stiff as she marched past Rione.

That left only Rione and the virtual presence of Captain Duellos with Geary. Duellos inclined his head respectfully toward Rione, then faced Geary. "Sorry. My fun made things a little more difficult for you."

"Yeah, I noticed. Just remember that if I die and you inherit command of this fleet, my spirit is going to be watching you and laughing as you try to deal with these people."

Duellos smiled slightly. "I'll remember that. Knowing your spirit is watching would be a comfort, even if it was mainly for your spirit's amus.e.m.e.nt." His smile faded into a look of concern. "Does everything feel too calm to you?"

"Now that you mention it, yes," Geary agreed. "I'm wondering if it's just because we expected a lot of trouble here, and it didn't materialize."

"Not yet, anyway," Duellos cautioned. "I have a premonition that our troubles in this star system won't remain confined to fleet conferences."

"We should be able to deal with anything that shows up now," Geary observed. "But I'm a bit worried, too. Speaking of troubles, though, do you have any ideas short of relieving her of command for shutting up Captain Midea?"

"I was already trying to figure that out," Duellos admitted. "Midea was Numos's executive officer before being promoted to captain and given command of Paladin. As we discussed back in Ixion, he knew how to keep her quiet. We could ask Numos."

"No thanks. I don't think I'd trust anything he told me. h.e.l.l, he could be getting messages to her."

"That's possible." Duellos paused to think. "Numos could actually be prodding Midea into acting like this. Hopefully he's not goading her into anything more than rash words."

"Yeah. That's definitely something to worry about, though I don't know what I can do about it." Geary gave Duellos an aggravated look. "Speaking of goading other officers, at the next conference please restrain yourself from taunting our opponents, okay?"

Duellos grinned, saluted, and vanished.

Rione was still seated, and now she turned an apparently unruffled expression on Geary. "You should let me deal with people like that Midea woman. I'm not a fleet officer and I can't debate movements of ships in these meetings, but she's playing politics, and I can run rings around her in that area."

He thought about that, then nodded. "Okay."

"And you should be more worried about placing that woman's ship any farther away from your control," Rione added. "As Captain Duellos said, she's either getting out of the habit of deferring to Numos or she's being provoked into foolish actions. She's been more aggressive and argumentative in each successive conference since Numos was arrested."

"You think that she'll act the same way in her ship?"

"I'm certain of it. You shouldn't have let her go to the other formation. She'll do something contrary to orders. I'm sure of it. And when she does, she may haul some other ships along with her."

That took Rione's a.s.sessment out of the realm of troublesome and into the area of major concern. "d.a.m.n. You may be right. I wish-" He managed to choke off the next words.

But Rione knew what they would have been. "You wish I'd expressed that during the conference? The same conference where you made a clear sign to me to sit down and shut up?"