The Lost Fleet – Dauntless

“Because among other things, the ships of this fleet are already averaging point one light speed. We’re in normal space and subject to the rules there. That means the faster we go, the worse we’ll run into relativistic effects.” Rione eyed him, plainly awaiting elaboration and leaving Geary wondering yet again how much she really knew and how much she was testing him. “To put it in the simplest possible terms, our perspective of everything outside of this ship gets increasingly distorted the faster we go. At point one light, we can still figure out what we’re looking at with some accuracy. As we get closer to the speed of light, it gets harder to tell where everything really is. I’m having enough trouble now figuring out where the enemy is located and where their ships are going. The last thing I need is to have to wonder where my own ships are, too.”

Rione waved at the display. “I understood these presented images that compensated for relativistic effects when necessary.”

Captain Desjani, her ship’s honor apparently at stake once more, answered. “Madam Co-President, the systems can fairly accurately compensate for relativistic effects on this ship because they know what this ship is doing. For any other ship, the systems can only estimate from what it can observe. We’d get a time-late and distorted picture of the other ship, and the resulting corrections vary in accuracy. The image we get could differ significantly from where the other ship is actually located and from what its actual course and speed vectors are at any moment.”

Any further questions from Rione were forestalled by the communications watch. “Captain Desjani, we’ve received a challenge from Syndic defense forces in-system.”

Desjani looked at Geary, of course. He frowned at the display and the time. “That was quick. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that base on the fourth planet must only now be picking up visual on the first fleet ship coming out of the jump point.”

“Agreed.” Desjani swept her gaze across the bridge. “That signal must’ve come from a Syndic source about fifteen light-minutes out from the jump point. Find it,” she ordered her watch-standers.

It only took a few moments, thanks to the fact that the fleet was spread out so much. Using the bearings from which the Syndic signal had been received by different, widely separated ships, the source was easily localized. Full-spectrum sensors focused on the spot, finally picking out a small object. “It’s tiny,” the communications watch reported. “That’s no ship. Not a crewed object, either. Assess the source of the signal to be an automated traffic management assistant.”

“Why didn’t we spot it before now?” Desjani demanded.

“It seems to have been out here a long time, ma’am. Very heavily pitted. Preliminary sweeps assessed it as most likely an ancient piece of debris drifting through the system.”

Geary, pondering how that description also matched the last century of his own existence, rubbed his chin as he studied the display. The closest ship to the object, the cruiser Ardent, was less than a light-minute away. That thing won’t be equipped with weaponry, but it might have stuff that’ll help the Syndic base track us, and it could have a self-destruct capability that could damage any ship that wanders too close. Better safe than sorry. “Ardent, this is Captain Geary on the Dauntless. Get rid of that thing.”

Then he had to wait almost two minutes for a response. “Ardent, aye. It’s gone.” Geary watched his display, knowing that it would be several minutes at best before he’d see the indications that Ardent had blown away the satellite.

“Should we answer the signal, Captain Desjani?” the communications watch persisted.

She looked to Geary again. “It must’ve sent a report to the base.”

“Yeah. That report will arrive a little after they get visuals on us, I guess.” Geary thought the problem through, aware that he was setting in motion events and decisions that would play out for the next several hours. He tried not to think about how many lives in Corvus System and the fleet rested on what he decided now.

“Captain Desjani,” Geary stated carefully, thinking again of the shocked defenders of Corvus System. “Please inform the Syndic authorities that we are here to accept their surrender. Broadcast that through the entire system.”

She gave him a puzzled and disappointed look. “So far, everything indicates there’s very little in the way of defenses here, and what they have is hopelessly outdated. Defeating them won’t be hard at all.”

“No. But we’ll get a lot more supplies and usable parts off of them if they surrender quietly than if we have to smash them into submission. We may even convince them to pony up more if they think it’ll keep us from wrecking everything in this system.”

“Isn’t it better to ensure that their capability to resist is eliminated?”