Jack Campbell - Perilous Shield

Bradamont smiled ruefully and shook her head. “I have too little experience in negotiating with Syndics.”

“We’re not Syndicate anymore, Captain,” Drakon said, “which is why I will also tell you that you’ll be on one of the heavy cruisers along with the Kommodor, and Colonel Rogero will be on one of the freighters. Until you reach Atalia. Then you’ll transfer to Colonel Rogero’s ship.”

“So near yet so far?” Bradamont asked. “You don’t need to send Colonel Rogero, General. I already agreed to go.”

“Rogero’s going,” Drakon said. “Because he’s the best officer for the mission and because I know you and he can work together to get this done.”

Iceni nodded. “That was General Drakon’s judgment, and I have agreed with his reasoning. The fact that you have proven your ability to work with Kommodor Marphissa is also a factor in my decision. Do you have any questions? No? If there is anything you feel is needed for this mission to succeed that you do not have, inform me or General Drakon personally. Now, I have one question for you that does not pertain to this mission. When Black Jack first came to this star system he gave his rank as fleet admiral. It has been brought to my attention,” she added with a sidelong look at Drakon, “that he has consistently referred to himself as admiral and worn an Alliance admiral’s insignia during the last two times he was here. Are you aware of the circumstances behind the use of a lower rank by Black Jack?”

“Everyone in the fleet knows that, Madam President,” Bradamont replied. “He was a fleet admiral during the final campaign of the war with the Syndicate Worlds, but his current rank is admiral.”

“Which is a lower rank than fleet admiral?” Iceni pressed. “Captain Bradamont, why is Black Jack using a lower rank than he did when his fleet first repelled the enigmas from this star system?”

“He reverted to captain when we returned to Alliance space after that engagement, then he was promoted back to admiral.”

“Why?” Iceni asked, not bothering to hide her bafflement.

“I don’t know all of the reasons, but I know the reversion to captain rank was at least partly a personal matter.”

“A personal matter?”

“Captain Desjani,” Bradamont said, as if that explained everything.

“Who is?” Iceni prompted.

“Geary’s wife. Captain Tanya Desjani.” Bradamont looked from Iceni to Drakon. “You hadn’t heard? I assumed Syndic intelligence would have learned that. It’s no secret in Alliance space. Not at all.”

Iceni stared at Bradamont. “We are a long ways from Alliance space, Captain Bradamont, and Syndicate intelligence isn’t in the habit of forwarding reports to star systems in rebellion. Admiral Geary was interested in a subordinate? And instead of just sleeping with her, he accepted a lower rank to legitimize it?”

Bradamont’s expression didn’t change, but her posture stiffened. “Regulations in the Alliance fleet do not permit relations between officers and their subordinates in the chain of command.”

“We have similar rules,” Iceni said, openly amused. “Those with power don’t need to pay attention to them.”

She noticed that Drakon didn’t quite avoid a flinch at that. Feeling guilty about your drunken roll in the hay with that crazy female Morgan at Taroa, General? You should feel guilty. Or are you just afraid that I’ll learn about it, not knowing I already have?

“Admiral Geary behaved with honor,” Bradamont replied. “He is a man of honor as our ancestors understood it. Admiral Geary and Captain Desjani followed the rules and regulations of the fleet and acted honorably.”

“I see. Thank you, Captain. Once you’ve been escorted back to General Drakon’s headquarters, get in touch with Colonel Rogero. He’ll work you into the troop lifts up to the freighters.”

Iceni watched Bradamont leave. “Have you noticed that even when that Alliance officer is at her most relaxed with us, there is still a barrier?”

“That’s scarcely surprising,” Drakon replied. “To her, we still look like the enemy.”

“I don’t think it’s just that. Kommodor Marphissa and Kapitan-Leytenant Kontos in their reports to me both said they did not feel Bradamont was holding back on them. Yet I see that sense of reserve in her when dealing with us.”

Drakon snorted derisively. “Kommodor Marphissa was a lower-midranked executive. She didn’t make decisions, but she paid the price for decisions made by her superiors. That’s even more true of Kontos. You and I were CEOs, part of the hierarchy of the Syndicate Worlds. We called the shots.”

“Not as much as we would have liked to,” Iceni said, her voice subdued.

“Yeah. That’s why we’re here. But it’s not surprising that, to an Alliance officer, we’re in a different category from more junior personnel. We were CEOs. We did things.”

She looked back at him for a while before answering, trying to sort out her feelings. “I did what I had to do. So did you.”

“Yeah,” Drakon repeated.

Only one word, yet the feeling behind it came through clearly to Iceni. A feeling she understood all too well. “I did what I had to do” isn’t what anyone would want carved on their memorial. Unhappy at the direction the conversation had taken, Iceni gestured upward. “The Syndicate is ahead of us on tricks with the hypernet. I have a strong feeling the Alliance is even farther behind than we are.”

“A feeling?” Drakon pressed.

“There are some facts. Black Jack wanted the device from me that would keep a gate from being collapsed by remote command. That meant the Alliance didn’t have it.”

“You gave him that?”

She paused, then nodded, not looking at him. “Yes. It was a deal.”

“Are there any other deals?”

Iceni turned her head to look directly into his eyes. “None that you are unaware of. I made that deal with Black Jack before we revolted, Artur. I couldn’t coordinate it with you, I couldn’t even talk to you about it, not with the snakes still everywhere. Do you know what I find most intriguing about that interview with Captain Bradamont?” It was a very clumsy change of subject. Why am I never at my best with Drakon anymore? He’s rattling me for some reason.

Drakon didn’t call her on the awkward segue though. “No. What did you find intriguing?”

“The bit about Black Jack’s rank. Despite Captain Bradamont’s impassioned defense of his honor, Black Jack must have manipulated his rank to technically avoid violating Alliance rules about marrying a subordinate. But why? Why bother with the theater? Why did he then choose only to advance back to the rank of admiral? And what do we know about this Captain Desjani?”

Drakon poked in a query. “Battle cruiser captain. Dauntless. Rated highly effective based on what we were able to learn of her. As a lieutenant, led a boarding party in an operation that won her the Alliance Fleet Cross. That’s about it. No, wait. In the report Morgan and Malin gave me when they got back from talking to Black Jack to set up that trick we pulled on Boyens. Captain Desjani was there. Black Jack insisted that she be present. That confirms the relationship that Bradamont told us about.”

Iceni rested her chin on one hand as she thought. “The whole show must have something to do with Alliance rules and protocol. Maybe he had to justify what he did to their fleet and their citizens. How that translated into playing games with rank, I don’t know. Maybe, with time, Captain Bradamont will tell us more about it. I didn’t want to push her during this meeting. She’s acting very open with us, as if there’s not a secret in her pretty little head. But she has a hidden agenda. People always have hidden agendas.”