The Lost Fleet: Courageous

GEARY woke without knowing why, then glanced around his stateroom.

Someone was sitting nearby watching him. He squinted against the darkness, making out the figure’s identity. “Madam Co-President?”

“That’s correct.” Her voice was calm, which was a considerable reassurance. “It frankly surprised me to see that you hadn’t reset your security settings to bar my access to your stateroom.”

He sat up, trying to clear the lingering traces of sleep from his mind. “It occurred to me that it might be a good thing to let you have continued access.”

“I know some of what I said the night I was drunk, John Geary. I know what I told you.”

“That you’d do whatever it took to stop Black Jack. Yeah.”

“I said more than that,” she insisted.

“You said you’d kill me if you had to,” Geary agreed. “Maybe I think it’s a good thing to have that threat hanging over me.”

She sounded exasperated now. “You’re either very trusting, very naive, or very stupid.”

“Try scared,” he suggested.

“Of yourself?” Rione didn’t wait for an answer. “I hear you received an offer.”

Geary wished he could make out her expression. He’d wondered if Rione’s spies in the fleet would somehow find out about that. “What else did you hear?”

“That your answer was that you’d think it over.”

“No. My answer was that it wouldn’t happen. Clear and unequivocal.”

She actually laughed. “Oh, John Geary, you don’t know the first lesson any politician learns. It doesn’t matter what you say, it’s what people think they hear. Anyone wanting to offer you control of the Alliance isn’t going to hear you say no.” Rione paused. “You needed to talk. You’re tempted, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” he admitted. “Because of the hypernet gates.”

“You don’t trust politicians with knowledge of those weapons? I can’t say I blame you. I don’t want the Alliance government to learn of them, either. But you don’t trust yourself with that knowledge, do you? That’s why you gave me the program for scaling up the energy released when a hypernet gate collapses.”

“Maybe you should be the dictator.”

“I think I’ve given you abundant evidence of my own human failings, John Geary.” She paused, then sighed. “You gave me hard words, and I recognized their truth. You may now make another joke about a woman admitting you were right.”

“No, thanks.”

“By my ancestors, you have learned a little about women, haven’t you? Why is the fleet going to Ixion?”

The sudden change of topic startled Geary. “Because it’s the best of a lot of bad options.”

“You expect the Syndics to be there in force.”

“Yeah. I expect them to be present in force at any star we can reach.” He tossed off the covers and turned to face her. “I can’t stay lucky forever. Daiquon was so close. We might have lost the same number of ships to a finished minefield and not had any Syndic warships taken out to balance the scales. What else have your spies told you? I really need to know what you’re hearing.”

“Casia and Midea aren’t leading the officers opposed to your continued command of this fleet. I haven’t been able to find out who is, but they’re answering to someone else. Despite being under arrest and guarded by Marines, Numos and Faresa have found ways to pass messages to those who still believe in them.”

That shouldn’t have been surprising. “But Numos and Faresa aren’t the leaders of my opponents, either?”

“No.” Rione’s voice altered, becoming strained. “And you should know that rumor holds that I am intensely jealous of your relationship with Captain Desjani.”

Geary slammed a fist onto his thigh. “My imaginary relationship?”

Rione took a moment to answer. “It seems the best counter to those rumors is for me to cease avoiding you and for me to act civilly toward Desjani again. Besides, as you pointed out, I’ve been neglecting my duties. If you’ve been honest with me, my advice has been of value to you. You can count on it once more.”

“Thanks.” Geary hesitated, not knowing how to phrase the obvious next question.

“What’s done is done,” Rione stated softly. “What I first told you remains true-my heart will always remain another’s. But nothing has really changed. Even if my husband still lives, he’s just as lost to me, and me to him, as if death had claimed him. My duty will be to the Alliance. I know you need me.”

That sounded wrong. “Madam Co-President-”

“Victoria.”

It had been a while since she was Victoria to him. “Victoria, I need your advice, and I value your companionship. There’s nothing I can ask of you beyond that.”

“My honor is already compromised, John Geary. I have to do what I think best from this point on. And I have missed you. It’s not entirely a matter of duty.”

“That’s nice to hear.”

“I didn’t mean to make it sound so impersonal. Will you have me? I’m not drunk. I…need you.”