Jack Campbell: The Lost Fleet: Courageous

Colossus Arrogant (lost at Kaliban)

Amazon Exemplar

Spartan Braveheart

Guardian

FIRST BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION SECOND BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION

Courageous Leviathan

Formidable Dragon

Intrepid Steadfast

Renown Valiant

FIFTH BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION FIFTH BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION

Dauntless (flagship) Invincible (lost at Ilion)

Daring Repulse (lost in Syndic home system)

Terrible (lost at Ilion)

Victorious Furious

Implacable

SIXTH BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION SEVENTH BATTLE CRUISER DIVISION

Polaris (lost at Vidha) Opportune

Vanguard (lost at Vidha) Brilliant

Illustrious Inspire

Incredible

Titan

Witch

Jinn

Goblin

First Heavy Cruiser Division

Third Heavy Cruiser Division

Fourth Heavy Cruiser Division

Fifth Heavy Cruiser Division

Seventh Heavy Cruiser Division

Eighth Heavy Cruiser Division

Tenth Heavy Cruiser Division

minus

Invidious (lost at Kaliban)

Cuirass (lost at Sutrah)

Crest, War-Coat, Ram, and Citadel (lost at Vidha)

First Light Cruiser Squadron

Second Light Cruiser Squadron

Third Light Cruiser Squadron

Fifth Light Cruiser Squadron

Sixth Light Cruiser Squadron

Eighth Light Cruiser Squadron

Ninth Light Cruiser Squadron

Tenth Light Cruiser Squadron

Eleventh Light Cruiser Squadron

Fourteenth Light Cruiser Squadron

minus

Swift (lost at Kaliban)

Pommel, Sling, Bolo, and Staff (lost at Vidha)

First Destroyer Squadron

Second Destroyer Squadron

Third Destroyer Squadron

Fourth Destroyer Squadron

Sixth Destroyer Squadron

Seventh Destroyer Squadron

Ninth Destroyer Squadron

Tenth Destroyer Squadron

Twelfth Destroyer Squadron

Fourteenth Destroyer Squadron

Sixteenth Destroyer Squadron

Seventeenth Destroyer Squadron

Twentieth Destroyer Squadron

Twenty-first Destroyer Squadron

Twenty-third Destroyer Squadron

Twenty-fifth Destroyer Squadron

Twenty-seventh Destroyer Squadron

Twenty-eighth Destroyer Squadron

Thirtieth Destroyer Squadron

Thirty-second Destroyer Squadron

minus

Dagger and Venom (lost at Kaliban)

Anelace, Baselard, and Mace (lost at Sutrah)

Celt, Akhu, Sickle, Leaf, Bolt, Sabot, Flint, Needle,

Dart, Sting, Limpet, and Cudgel (lost at Vidha)

Falcata (lost at Ilion)

1,560 Marines divided into detachments on battle cruisers and battleships.

THE captain of the Syndicate Worlds merchant ship approaching the jump point out of Baldur Star System might have been having a good day-right up until the point that several squadrons of Alliance fleet destroyers appeared coming out of that jump point. He might have had a few minutes to wonder if he could somehow run past the Alliance destroyers and jump out of the system to safety, before many more destroyers appeared and before squadrons of light cruisers materialized behind the destroyers. He and his crew had definitely run for the merchant ship’s one escape pod by the time divisions of heavy cruisers, battle cruisers, and battleships emerged from the jump point.

Syndicate Worlds authorities on the one habitable world orbiting Baldur would see the annihilation of the merchant ship and hear its crew’s calls for rescue in about six hours, about the same time the light from the jump point reached them and they saw that the Alliance fleet had appeared in their backwater star system.

They wouldn’t be having a good day, either.

“RAPIER and Bulawa report destruction of the Syndic merchant ship. One escape pod noted leaving the merchant ship. Singhauta reports destruction of the automated traffic management buoy monitoring the jump point.” The watch-stander’s voice rang calmly and clearly across the bridge of the Alliance battle cruiser Dauntless. “No minefields detected or suspicious anomalies sighted.”

Captain John “Black Jack” Geary nodded to acknowledge the words, his attention focused on the display floating before his command seat. He could have picked out from the display every piece of information the watch-stander had just provided, but experience had proven that humans remained the best filters for highlighting important data. If some other human handled that, Geary could concentrate on the bigger picture. “Which one of our ships is in the best position to pick up the escape pod from the merchant?”

“Wait, sir. Battleaxe, sir.”

Geary tapped the proper communications control without having to search for it, relieved that the unfamiliar equipment of this future was finally becoming second nature to him. “Battleaxe, this is Captain Geary. Request you pick up the Syndic escape pod. I want to interrogate that merchant crew.”

The reply took a minute, naturally, since the destroyer Battleaxe was about twenty light-seconds distant from Dauntless. It took her twenty seconds to receive the transmission and another twenty seconds for the answer to make the return journey. “Yes, sir. Who should we deliver them to?”

“Dauntless,” Geary advised.

He was still awaiting Battleaxe’s acknowledgment when a cool voice spoke from behind him. “What do you hope to learn from the crew of a merchant ship, Captain Geary? The Syndic leadership wouldn’t have entrusted them with any classified information.”

Geary glanced back, seeing that Victoria Rione, copresident of the Callas Republic and a senator of the Alliance, was giving him a curious look. “That ship was about to jump out of the system. That means they likely jumped into the system within the last few weeks instead of being a purely in-system trader. They’ll have news from other Syndic star systems. I want to know what they’ve been told about this fleet and about the war in general. I also want to see if we can get them to cough up any rumors they’ve heard in their travels.”

“You think that information will be valuable?” Rione pressed.

“I have no idea, but if I don’t get it, I won’t know, will I?”

She nodded, giving little clue to her opinion. Not that Geary found that unusual. He and Rione had been lovers for a few weeks, in the physical sense of the word, but she had been distant since just before they had left Ilion Star System, and he had yet to learn why. “Then perhaps you should have the prisoners delivered to Vengeance,” Rione added. “That battleship has the best interrogation facilities in the fleet, or so I’ve heard.”

Captain Tanya Desjani, sitting to one side of Geary, jerked her head around and spoke coldly. “Dauntless has excellent interrogation facilities and can ensure Captain Geary receives every measure of support he requests.” Desjani wasn’t about to let anyone imply that any other ship in the fleet was in any way superior to her ship.

Rione gazed back impassively at Dauntless’s commanding officer for a moment, then inclined her head slightly. “I did not mean to imply that Dauntless could not carry out the mission effectively.”

“Thank you,” Desjani replied, her voice no warmer.

Geary tried not to frown. Desjani and Rione had apparently been just one step shy of going for each other’s throats ever since Ilion, and he hadn’t been able to find out the cause of that, either. Bad enough he had to worry about the Syndic fleet without also trying to figure out why there was bad blood between two of the best advisers he had. He refocused on the display, where the fleet’s sensors were busy adding newly detected information, then muttered a curse.