The Lost Fleet Beyond the Frontier Invincible

He looked at the depictions of the bear-cow superbattleships with new eyes. “You’re right. They may not be that big just for immediate combat capability. One more thing to worry about.”

“We can take them as far as Syndic territory and lose them there so they can run amuck,” Desjani suggested. “I’m joking, by the way.”

“Thanks for clarifying that.” He was only half-joking in his reply. When he had first encountered Tanya, she had carried many of the ugly legacies of a century of war within her. There were few things she would not have done to the hated Syndicate Worlds enemies, military or civilian. She still carried many scars of war inside her though she rarely let him see external signs of those. “But if they do follow us, we’re going to have to take them out once we have them somewhere they don’t have these fortresses and all of the other resources of this star system backing them up.”

She nodded, smiling crookedly. “I notice you haven’t been talking much about what might be at the star we’ll be jumping to.”

“Whatever is there is there. We’ll deal with it.”

“Admiral?” the comm watch-stander said. “Captain Smythe on Tanuki is trying to get through to you. He says he’s getting a block notification.”

“Captain Smythe?” Geary looked at Desjani. “I know my comm settings don’t block him.”

Her face grim, Desjani hit her internal comm controls. “Systems maintenance, this is the Captain. Something is wrong with the fleet commander’s comm software. Find out what, find it now, and get it fixed five minutes ago. Understood?”

“Yes, Captain!” The systems maintenance personnel sounded worried, as well they should be when Desjani used that tone of voice.

“Forward Captain Smythe’s call,” Geary ordered the comm watch.

Smythe appeared, looking puzzled. “Comm problems, Admiral? I’m guessing, but then I don’t see how else I would have ended up unable to reach you directly.”

“Apparently,” Geary replied. “The systems people here on Dauntless are checking it.”

“It’s probably—Is it an isolated problem? Have you seen others?”

“At least one other recent problem with my comm settings,” Geary said.

“Admiral, I don’t wish to alarm you,” Smythe said, though his expression betrayed a worrisome amount of unease despite his words. “This may not be a software problem. That is, the operating systems may be working fine. But if the comm system processors and memory tacks are developing physical flaws, it will cause erratic behavior in the software.”

Everything else in the fleet was breaking as it reached the end of a short design life, but this particular problem hadn’t occurred to Geary. If he started having comm problems now, as they were heading for an encounter with the alien armada . . . “Captain Desjani, Captain Smythe informs me that it would be a good idea for your systems people to check the hardware in the comm system. Processors and memory tacks.”

As aware as he of the implications, Desjani stared at Geary for only an instant before reacting. “Systems! Check the hardware! Chief engineer! I want an immediate and full check of all comm and comm-associated processors and other gear.”

Smythe, unaware of Desjani’s words, was speaking to Geary again. “I was actually calling about Orion. Kupua completed her repairs on the damaged main propulsion unit and the fleet’s readiness system will tell you that Orion is at one hundred percent again, but Kupua’s commanding officer, Commander Miskovic, told me that she is worried.”

“Worried?” She’s worried? Try wondering whether or not your comms will work as you race to an encounter with an alien fleet. “Worried about what?”

“The systems test fine,” Smythe said, groping for words. “But . . . Miskovic told me they don’t feel fine to her.”

“What does that mean?” Geary demanded.

“It means there’s nothing quantifiably wrong with Orion’s propulsion right now, Admiral, but a talented and experienced engineer has a bad feeling about it.” Smythe gestured in frustration. “I don’t have to remind you that Orion has taken a lot of damage in the last year and received a lot of repairs, sometimes very hasty ones. That sort of thing can add up in sometimes indefinable ways.”

“I don’t understand.”

Smythe looked startled, then his expression cleared. “Of course. You didn’t spend your career in combat, not until after the fight at Grendel. Your pardon, Admiral, but everyone today tends to assume that any officer they know has been in the fight all their lives. But that means you don’t have extensive experience with combat-damaged systems that have undergone repeated repair. I’ll be the first to admit that hasn’t happened as much as it should have, because too many ships were lost completely or had to be scuttled. But it adds up, just like normal stresses add up over time.”