The Lost Fleet – Dauntless

It’s over. He stared at the cloud of debris that was all that remained of the heavy cruiser that Dauntless had last targeted. I don’t want to know how many human beings died over the course of the last few hours. The great majority who died were our enemies who were trying to kill us, and the ugly truth is that’s all that matters right now.

ELEVEN

THE star that humans had named Kaliban had acquired a great many more objects in orbit. Most of those objects were small, the shattered debris that was all that was left after Syndic warships had either blown themselves apart or Alliance boarding parties had done the same thing to prevent the ships from being salvaged and reused by the enemy. Also among the remnants of battle were a swarm of Syndic escape pods scattered through a wide area of space, carrying the survivors who’d managed to leave their ships before the end. Small, unarmed, and with just enough range to reach safety within the Kaliban System, the pods were no threat to the victorious Alliance fleet.

“Those crews could fight again. They will fight again,” Desjani argued. “I’m not saying we should have target practice on the escape pods, but rounding them up and taking the crews prisoner would be a good idea.”

Geary let her see he was considering the idea before he shook his head. “Where would we put them? They’d fill every brig on every ship and have large numbers left over. And we’d have to feed them.”

Desjani grimaced but nodded. “Security and logistics. Those two things keep getting in the way of a lot of good ideas.”

“You got that right.” Geary grinned. “Though I’ve seen plenty of plans that didn’t take reality into account, and that didn’t seem to bother the people who created the plans.”

“Of course not. Why spoil a great plan by letting reality intrude?” Desjani smiled as well. “This is a wonderful victory, Captain Geary.”

“Thank you. There’s some unfinished business, though. How can we find out which one of those pods contains whoever’s the senior surviving Syndic officer?”

It took a little while, bouncing messages around various escape pods until the one containing the Syndic commander was located and a communications link established. As fate would have it, the overall commander had survived the battle, though Geary wondered whether that officer would be grateful for the fact for very long.

The Syndic CEO’s carefully tailored uniform had suffered the indignities of several rips and burns. His face, as pale as if he were in shock, had the stunned look of someone who hadn’t been able to absorb what had happened. Geary didn’t recognize the CEO, but the CEO stared at Geary with eyes filled with disbelieving recognition. “It’s true,” the Syndic commander whispered.

“What’s true?” Geary asked, knowing the answer already.

Instead of giving that answer, the Syndic CEO appeared to try to steel himself. “My force will not s-surrender,” he stuttered.

Geary couldn’t help raising both eyebrows in a surprised expression. “That’s not really an option anymore. There’s nothing to surrender. Your force has ceased to exist. All of your ships have been destroyed.”

“We can s-still fight.”

“Hand to hand, you mean? But, you see, we’re not interested in fighting you any longer,” Geary explained. “Your former command no longer possesses any military capability, and to be perfectly frank, we have no interest in taking on responsibility for a large number of prisoners.” The CEO somehow paled a little more, but he stayed silent. “There are two things I need to tell you. The first is that I still have some personnel on an asteroid in this system. I’m sending you the orbital data for the asteroid I’m speaking of. If you still have any doubts as to which asteroid it is, make sure you contact us. Try to ensure none of the escape pods from your fleet land there. I’ll be taking off my personnel and have no wish to confront refugees from your fleet, as that could inadvertently lead to further bloodshed.”

The Syndic CEO nodded, still silent.

“The other thing is that we surveyed all of the abandoned Syndicate Worlds facilities within the Kaliban Star System, and I want you to know that the former towns at these locations I’m now sending you remain in good condition. Your people will have no trouble restarting life support. I regret to state we drew down the supplies of foodstuffs that had been left behind when the towns were abandoned, but enough should remain for your personnel until other Syndicate Worlds units arrive in the system to discover the fate of your command. In order to ensure word of your presence here is known, I assure you that when next we contact any Syndicate Worlds planets or other representatives, we will also inform them that you are awaiting rescue.”

Another nod. The Syndic CEO seemed increasingly confused, as if waiting for the other shoe to drop.