The Lost Fleet Beyond the Frontier Invincible

“And some appeared to be honest and dedicated,” Geary said. “Senator Navarro, for example. But as Victoria Rione said, Senator Navarro has been worn-out by his former duties as head of the council and attacks by political enemies. I don’t trust Senator Suva at all, and I know she played a role in our orders to go on this mission. I still don’t know what cards Senator Sakai is playing. Those are just three examples.”

“Factions,” Duellos mused. “You know, the bits about pulling the auxiliaries from the fleet and trying to strip you of anyone with knowledge of how the hypernet works could just be the usual bureaucratic stupidity. The orders could have originated from different sources, both acting as regulations or ‘the needs of the fleet’ demanded in their tunnel-vision eyes. We are, after all, talking about fleet headquarters, an organization not famed for its ability to coordinate even within itself. As the old saying goes, never attribute to malice that which could be explained by stupidity. I wonder who first said that?”

“That has occurred to me,” Geary admitted. “Under normal circumstances it’s easy enough to think that the military bureaucracy is gunning for you, and these are worse than normal circumstances.”

“Exactly. You’ve also seen enough of the sort of minds that inhabit the higher ranks at fleet headquarters. Many of them got to those positions by focusing their careers on advancement. People like you who have advanced by actually accomplishing things are a threat to those whose résumés are all about ticket-punching. They would seek to trip you up out of general principles even if no plot existed. Rush you out the door, deny you time to prepare . . . why, you might fail in your assigned mission, and wouldn’t that be awful for those who see themselves as your rivals? Even if you didn’t fail, at the very least your life would be made more difficult, and that would be some reward to those of vast egos and small minds.”

Duellos thought again. “The new ships. Again, that makes sense. These ships have seen much hard use and, as you mentioned, were not designed for long service lives. It is not hard to see why new ones would not be built to provide an enduring defense for the Alliance. Indeed, you could argue that is the responsible course of action.”

“You could,” Geary admitted. “Why keep it secret?”

“If you assume the whole process has no dark undertones? Because, as we discussed earlier, for the average taxpayer in the Alliance, military expenditures have become that-which-shall-not-be-done. But even corruption could be relatively routine. Construction contracts for favored individuals, kickbacks to politicians from suppliers, bribes, all the usual.” Duellos sat quiet, brooding.

“Do you think that’s all that’s involved?” Geary pressed.

“I think it is for some. If we are dealing with many different factions, many different individuals, then we are dealing with different motivations. Some may have approved the contracts and the secrecy out of nothing more than recognition that this was necessary for the defense of the Alliance and had to be done in a politically viable way. Others may have been motivated by greed. And others . . .” Duellos glanced at Geary. “Who gets command of these new ships? That will tell us much. Some officers, such as the late and mostly unlamented Admiral Bloch, were known to have political ambitions.”

“He wanted to stage a coup!”

“Yes.” Duellos shrugged. “We simply don’t know enough. But when someone is named to command that new fleet, the identity of that officer will tell us a great deal, as will how they justify—” He stopped speaking abruptly, his mouth tightening.

“Justify what?” Geary asked.

Duellos fixed his eyes on Geary. “Justify not giving you that command. You are the best fleet combat commander the Alliance possesses by far. Your popular acclaim, your standing among the populace, is far higher than those of any other officer. How do they justify not giving you those ships?”

“You seem to have thought of an answer.”

“I have. If Admiral Geary is not there, Admiral Geary cannot be given the command.”

Geary sat back, raising hands clenched in frustration. “‘Not there’ can have a lot of possible reasons behind it.”

“It can. But those who differ in their reasons for wanting Admiral Geary to not be there can agree on wanting him not to be there.” Duellos nodded with satisfaction. “That is how I read this situation. Not a colossal conspiracy working surely to one end, but various parties with various agendas, many of which converged to send this fleet on this mission in this manner. It’s not you against the government.”