“Dammit, Victoria-”

She held up one hand. “We all deal with our pain in our own ways, John Geary. You and I handle that very differently. ”

“Yeah, we do.” He looked down at the deck, knowing he was still frowning. Something else was bothering him, something he hadn’t connected yet. Something about the Alliance fleet’s losses. Majestic, Warrior, Utap, Vambrace… Vambrace?

He must have reacted as realization hit, because Rione spoke in a gentler tone. “What’s the matter now?”

“I just remembered something.” The heavy cruiser Vambrace, the ship to which Lieutenant Casell Riva had been transferred from Furious. A Syndic prisoner for almost ten years, liberated from a Syndic labor camp by this fleet and brought to Lakota, perhaps dead now. He tried to recall how many crew had gotten off Vambrace before she blew up. Had Riva been among them? Desjani hadn’t said anything, even though she’d surely realized much sooner than he had.

“Something?” Rione pressed.

“It’s a personal personnel issue.” He had to pronounce the words carefully so they made sense to her. “I’m sorry for blowing up at you.” Rione stayed quiet for so long that Geary looked up finally, seeing her watching him. “What?”

“Can you keep going?” she asked.

“Of course I can.”

“Of course?” Rione shook her head. “We took significant losses again, and I know the havoc created on the inhabited world in this star system by the destruction of the hypernet gate weighs heavily on you. For a long time after assuming command of this fleet, you were balanced on a knife-edge, ready to fall off if the pressure grew too great. You weren’t used to the sort of combat losses the Alliance has become accustomed to, so each ship lost weighed very heavily on you. You needed someone to prop you up, to keep you going, and for a while I filled that role, both as an ally to turn to and as an adversary to be bested. I don’t anymore.”

“Excuse me?” He studied her, trying to figure out what Rione was saying.

“Why are you fighting?” Rione asked, turning to face the star display again.

“For the people in this fleet. For the Alliance. You know that.”

“I know that those things are abstractions. You don’t know a fraction of the people in this fleet. The Alliance you knew is changed, your own home altered in ways I know have worried you.” Rione glanced his way again. “You’re not fighting for abstractions. No one does. Humans pay lip service to that, to big causes and great purposes, but any politician of any skill soon learns that what really motivates people is the small, personal things. Close friends, family, the small area they call home. They wrap those things around ideals and call them precious, but they’re precious for the smallest and closest of reasons. Soldiers may swear to fight for their flag, but they really fight because of the soldiers next to them. You’ve found something like that, John Geary. Here in this fleet, some personal connection that gives you the strength and resolve to continue.”

Geary eyed her. “And just what is that connection?”

“Not what. Who. Someone besides me.” Rione was back to studying the stars. “I know who. I don’t think you know yet. Or you haven’t admitted it to yourself yet.”

“Then tell me.”

“No. You’ll figure it out eventually. Then you’ll have to deal with it. For now, I and this fleet need you at your best, so I just accept what is.” She took a deep breath, then turned to face him. “Where are you taking the fleet next?”

The sudden shift in topic startled him, but Geary wasn’t interested in pursuing whatever Rione’s idea of his personal connection could be, so he just pointed to the display. “You heard. We’re heading for the jump point for Branwyn.”

She raised one eyebrow. “That didn’t mean you were going to use that jump point. Your old objective from the first time we were in this star system. As close to a straight shot for Alliance space as you can manage.”

“That’s right. The Syndics should have enough major combatants left to bring us battle, and we know they’re building replacements for their losses despite what we did to the shipyards at Sancere because they have a lot of other shipyards in other star systems. But after what we did here, they’ll have to gather those ships. We should be able to transit Branwyn without much trouble, then go from there to Wendig. Branwyn is supposed to have a minimal Syndic presence left, and the records we’ve captured from the Syndics say that Wendig was completely abandoned almost thirty years ago. From there we’ll have a couple of options, but I’m leaning toward Cavalos. There’s a strong Syndic presence there, so they’ll probably expect us to avoid it.”

Rione nodded slowly. “I see. Will the mines the Syndics laid across the jump point to Branwyn during our first time in this star system be an obstacle?

“No.” Geary pointed to the display. “They laid those mines so close to the jump point they couldn’t maintain a stable position. We knew that then, but also that it would take a few weeks for the mines to drift away from the jump point, so it didn’t do us any good at that time.” He paused and gave a pained smile. “Hell, I’m an idiot. That energy discharge will have fried all the mines at all of the jump points in this star system. It wouldn’t matter if they were still in position or not.”

“Sadly, you’re surely right. If only that had been all the shock wave destroyed. Do you believe we’ll face many mines in the systems where you want to go?”

“Probably not. According to our intelligence people, if our estimates of the Syndic mine inventories are anywhere near accurate, they used up everything in their attempt to trap us in or near Lakota. They’ll have to manufacture a lot more and get them to where they think we’ll be before they can try that again.”

“Good.” She turned a demanding look on Geary. “That takes care of the Syndic threat. What about the aliens?”

“I don’t know.” Geary scowled at the virtual stars. “The aliens have actively intervened against us, and somehow they’re tracking this fleet’s movements, but I’m out of ideas at the moment.”

“As am I. You need to make more people aware of them and see what ideas they can contribute.” She obviously saw Geary’s surprise at the suggestion. “There are officers you can trust in this fleet. We can’t try to solve a problem like this alone.”

“That makes sense. A few have already been made aware of it, but I haven’t really had any chance to talk it over with that group.”

Rione nodded, obviously unsurprised by the news. Geary shook his head as he considered the implications of the alien attempt to destroy his fleet. Whatever they were, they clearly had technology superior to humanity’s. “I’m not sure whether to be glad that we haven’t detected any more moves against us by them or worried that we haven’t spotted anything those aliens are up to.”

“I’d suggest worried,” Rione stated.

“I thought you might. Is there anything else?”

“Yes.” Rione briefly smiled sardonically at Geary’s aggravated expression. “Your internal foes, the senior officers in this fleet who’ve been plotting against you since you assumed command.”

If he really hated any part of his current situation, having to deal with disloyal officers who remained in the shadows had to be it. “Is there something specific you know? Something they’re planning?”

“No. But I know they must be planning something, and they must be intending to act before much longer.”

“Why?” Geary leaned forward. “Your spies must have told you something concrete to have you reach that conclusion.”

“I’ve heard nothing!” Rione stepped closer, her face angry now. “Don’t you understand? With every victory, with every star system you get this fleet closer to Alliance space, your legend grows and your standing in the fleet becomes stronger. Defeating the Syndics in this system was an amazing achievement, and if you want to partially credit my minor suggestion for that victory, then feel free, but even listening to such suggestions is a worthy accomplishment. This fleet believes in you. Sailors on every ship in this fleet are whispering that the living stars themselves intervened to prevent that energy discharge from destroying us, intervened because you are in command of the fleet.”