Free Relentless by Jack Campbell Page B

could say anything else, he pointed at the display. “The Syndics know how badly we need to reach that jump point. They know we could try blowing past them, and they’ve had time to prepare for that.”
    “What could they have done?” Rione asked, then frowned. “Mines?”
    “Yeah. Mines. Look at that small flotilla there between the main Syndic group and the jump point for Padronis. They’re in a perfect position to track our trajectory past the main flotilla and plant mines along our path. If we were going fast enough that the Syndic targeting systems couldn’t hit us, we’d also be going so fast that our own systems wouldn’t have any chance of spotting those mines, or any others already laid along our probable tracks between the jump exit where we arrived and the jump point for Padronis. They could drop the mines right in front of us along our track in as dense a pattern as they could manage.”
    Desjani was frowning now. “They shouldn’t have that many mines left, but they could have transferred everything from the other warships onto that small flotilla.”
    “If we did strike a minefield, there’s no telling which ships might get hit,” Geary added, “and the higher impact velocity would increase the force of the mines.”
    Rione stared past him for a moment, her brow furrowed in annoyance. He didn’t have to say openly that Dauntless could be the victim of such a mine strike, and Dauntless had to get home. “What’s your plan then?”
    “I don’t know yet.”
    “You knew we were likely to encounter the Syndics here. You must have planned something.”
    Geary felt a familiar headache starting, while, unseen by Rione, Desjani rolled her eyes. “Madam Co-President, I knew I’d probably find the Syndics here, but I didn’t know in what strength or how they’d be positioned. Unless we found them waiting at the jump exit and had to fight right off the bat, I knew I’d have to develop a plan once I saw the situation.”
    “How long will that take?” Rione pressed.
    “Madam Co-President, has anyone ever told you that sometimes you can be extremely demanding?”
    She smiled with mock sweetness. “Thank you for the compliment. But we were talking about your plan, not me.”
    “I’ll let you know. We’ve got time to think, and I won’t waste that.” Geary stood up and nodded to Desjani. “We’ll stay on course for the jump point for Padronis. I’m going to walk around and think a bit. If you get any ideas, or the Syndics react to our presence, give me a hail.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    He gave Desjani a suspicious look, but this once “yes, sir” appeared to mean nothing but that.
    Geary walked the passageways of Dauntless , returning salutes and greetings from the crew almost absentmindedly as he thought. The basic problem was that the Syndics had been learning and adapting to his tactics. He couldn’t count on any more brainless charges straight for the center of the Alliance formation that would allow the Alliance fleet to bring to bear all of its firepower just where Geary wanted it.
    There were ways around that, ways to confuse and out-maneuver the Syndics, but all of those ways required more use of fuel cells. A fleet wasn’t supposed to find itself in a situation where fuel-cell reserves were so low. But like many other things that weren’t supposed to happen, he had to deal with that reality.
    His steps took him through many passageways, across the width of the ship more than once, past living areas and hell-lance batteries, and no inspiration struck. Neither did Desjani call with some concept that might work. He thought that in some ways she still had too much confidence in him, too much certainty that the great Black Jack Geary would manage with the help of the living stars to pull yet another rabbit out of his hat just when that rabbit was desperately needed.
    Finally, Geary paused, took his bearings, and headed for the one place where he might receive wisdom beyond that of anyone