The Lost Fleet: Courageous

Duellos’s virtual presence smiled. “It’s not that much of a hardship.”

“I’m still grateful.” Geary sat down again and sighed. “There were a couple of things I wanted to ask you.”

“Is something wrong? Or perhaps I should ask, is something else wrong?”

Geary made a twisted smile, and he nodded to acknowledge the point. “Nothing that didn’t come up at the meeting, I think.”

“The usual subsurface intrigue and counterproductive debate,” Duellos observed, examining his fingernails.

“Yeah.” Routine not-quite-disrespectful-or-mutinous behavior from some of the fleet’s officers. “I am curious about something.”

The figure of Duellos stood up, walked over to the seat opposite Geary, and sat down. “Policy issues? Personnel?”

“Both. First, what can you tell me about Captain Casia?”

Duellos’s lip curled. “An officer of very modest gifts, so modest that he was even outshone by Captain Numos. Are you wondering why he was so big a pain at the last fleet conference and now this one?”

“Yeah.”

“Because both Numos and Captain Faresa are currently under arrest. That leaves an abuse-of-power vacuum within the Third Battleship Division,” Duellos noted. “As you may have guessed, that division has been a dumping ground for problem commanding officers.”

Geary pondered that. In his time, with so few capital ships available, the idea of devoting a division of battleships to isolating problem officers would have been unthinkable. “How serious a problem is Casia?”

“Hard to say,” Duellos admitted, his image frowning. “Alone, he’s most likely to do damage by messing up badly. But if he serves as a rallying point for those who want to contest your command, he could be a dangerous figurehead for more capable officers who want to keep their true motivations hidden.”

Unfortunately, that assessment matched Geary’s worst fears. “Would you feel comfortable speculating on who those other officers might be?”

Duellos let his discomfort show. “I would prefer not to do so, sir. If I had evidence or direct knowledge, it would be one thing. But I’m very hesitant to accuse others based on speculation.”

“I understand. Frankly, I don’t want to be the sort of commander who tries to spy out subordinates who might be troublemakers.” He’d never imagined being that kind of commander, actually, because a century ago the fleet’s culture wouldn’t have accepted such behavior.

“It’s not exactly unheard of,” Duellos suggested. “As I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, you’re going against the common practice for a fleet commander by not conducting espionage against your own subordinate commanders to find out who can be trusted and who cannot.”

For some reason, that brought an ironic smile to Geary’s lips. “A century ago a fleet commander was expected to be qualified to make such judgments without spying on subordinates.”

“A simpler time. Like much else, current practice is excused by the fact that we’re in a war for survival.”

“It makes a great excuse, doesn’t it? But I can’t imagine our ancestors look upon it with favor.” Geary shook his head. “I refuse to conduct a witch hunt among my officers.”

Duellos eyed Geary for a long moment. “And if the price for your honor is the loss of this fleet and the loss of the war for the Alliance?”

“Are you trying to convince me to act against my own officers based on suspicions?” Geary asked. “I’m surprised.”

“And disappointed?” Duellos waved one hand in a dismissive gesture. “I happen to believe that if this fleet makes it home, it will be because we remembered the honor of our ancestors.” His gaze shifted to the star field on one bulkhead. “It seems so obvious, really. Deplorable practices adopted during the last century were repeatedly declared necessary if regrettable in order to win the war. Oddly enough, we’ve yet to win. You’d think somebody would have asked before this why the regrettable but necessary measures haven’t actually produced the promised results. Not until you came along and started us really thinking about it instead of just accepting it.” Duellos sighed. “No, I’m just playing devil’s advocate, Captain Geary. Every commander needs someone like that, don’t they?”

“At least one,” Geary agreed.

“And you have not only me but also Co-President Rione.” Duellos gave Geary a speculative look. “How’s that going? If I may ask.”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

“She’s a strong woman, and a hard woman, and as respected as any politician can be among the fleet.”

“I have plenty of experience with the first two descriptions, and I don’t doubt the last.” Geary shrugged. “She’s been distant since Ilion. I don’t know why. She won’t say.”

“The commanders of ships from the Rift Federation and the Callas Republic have confided in me that Co-President Rione has been uncharacteristically disengaged lately,” Duellos observed. “She seems to be more distant with them as well.”