Captain Tulev was gazing at the display, his face somber. “You mean if any of them manage to escape the Syndics.”

“Yes. If they do, they know where to find us.” Geary looked around the table, meeting everyone’s gaze. “That’s a risk to us. As noted, it’s not the best route back to Alliance space, and we’ll likely need to hang around Ilion longer than I’d like to give those other ships a chance to meet up with the fleet again. But it’s the only thing we can do, and I made the decision to run those risks for the sake of those Alliance ships and crews.”

There was another pause, then Terrible’s captain nodded. “Yes, sir. Thank you, Captain Geary. I know you don’t have votes on decisions, but I’d have voted for that.”

No one contradicted him. Geary nodded back. “Thanks.” What else do I say? Please, no other ship captains take in your heads to run off for another star?

But nothing else seemed to be needed. The uncertainty Geary had felt earlier had been replaced by varying degrees of enthusiasm and resignation. The meeting broke up, virtual presences vanishing until only Captain Duellos remained. He gave Geary a stern look. “You should have told them about Ilion right off the bat. I was going to bring it up, having guessed what it meant, but Terrible beat me to it.”

Geary shrugged. “I wasn’t sure how they’d take it, how they’d take anything regarding those ships that followed Falco.”

“You’re not the only one who’s scared, Captain Geary.” Duellos smiled very briefly as Geary gave him a startled look. “Oh, you hide it exceptionally well, but I know, because I know enough about you by now to read the signs. Don’t be fooled by the brave talk of my fellow captains. We’re all scared, all wondering if the next system will be our last, all wondering if our best possible future involves a Syndic labor camp like the one we found on Sutrah Five.”

Geary sat down, rapping his forehead with one fist. “They needed to hear that I was still thinking in terms of everyone getting back, even the ones who took off.”

“Exactly.” Duellos exhaled a long, low breath. “That’s the only hope for those forty ships, by the way. That they’ll run.”

“I know.” Geary ran his hand through the star display, watching his forefinger spanning constellations. “But I’ve been told the fleet never runs.”

“Ha! Let me guess. Desjani?”

Geary bent one corner of his mouth in a smile. “No.”

“Ah, that’s right. She’s been watching you and learning. Let’s see…oh, of course. Cresida. Our little firebrand from the Furious.”

“The other captains seemed to agree with her,” Geary pointed out.

Duellos smiled. “The ones from Task Force Furious? Naturally. Because you handpicked them for their quality. But if you weren’t in command, even they would waver if things got bad enough, as they certainly will when Fighting Falco hits the Syndic ambushes you and I expect him to meet.”

Geary toyed with the controls, his mind not on them. “What do you think will happen? What will Falco do?”

“Fall apart,” Duellos stated matter-of-factly. “I mean it. Once he was a capable if unimaginative commander at his best. At his worst, Captain Falco assumed the enemy was as impressed by him as he himself was. The enemy didn’t always accommodate that assumption, to the sorrow of the Alliance forces entrusted to Falco’s command.”

Geary nodded, thinking those descriptions did a good job of summing up what he had learned of Falco’s battles before his capture. “But he wasn’t totally incompetent. I still can’t believe he was willing to charge into a certain Syndic trap with that small a force. For that matter, I can’t believe that so many commanding officers were willing to follow him.”

Duellos grimaced as if he were tasting something unpleasant. “Captain Falco’s powers of persuasion haven’t dimmed much. I finally acquired a copy of the message he had physically distributed among ships with possibly sympathetic captains. Even I found it to be actually moving and inspiring.”

“Too bad none of those captains saw fit to tell me about it,” Geary noted bitterly. “I might have saved some of their fellow officers and ships. But I can’t say I’m surprised to hear it was moving. I had the impression that Captain Falco honestly believes he is the only one who can save the Alliance. He’s not a fake in that respect.”

“Oh, he cares about the Alliance,” Duellos agreed. “Or, rather, he cares about what he thinks the Alliance is. His speeches have such power because they really do come from the heart. But because Falco also believes only he really understands what needs to be done and believes only he can do what needs to be done, he long ago convinced himself that saving the Alliance and advancing his career and power are one and the same thing.” Duellos exhaled heavily. “He’s spent twenty years driving himself in tighter and tighter rings of that mental circle, and he started out already convinced he was the savior of the Alliance.”

Geary spent a while thinking about that before nodding again. “His arguments have such force because he really believes them, but they’re even less grounded in reality now than they were twenty years ago.”

“Much less grounded in reality.” Duellos shrugged, looking unhappy. “On top of that, Captain Falco’s spent a long time in a labor camp, where routine rules. Did you notice how hard a time he has now adjusting when something unexpected happens, even in a conversation? He hasn’t dealt with emergencies, he hasn’t been fighting battles. He’s horribly out of practice at commanding ships. That’s just the mental side of things. Physically, he’s older and has been living under stressful conditions with poor food and poor medical care.”

“It’d been a century since my last command when I took over this fleet,” Geary noted dryly.

Duellos grinned this time. “For us. For you it had been a matter of weeks. And if you’ll forgive me for being blunt, the only thing Captain Falco has in common with you is the rank insignia.”

“That’s nice to hear,” Geary admitted, smiling to show he didn’t take the implied compliment too seriously. “So you think Falco won’t be able to command effectively at all?”

Duellos nodded, grim again.

“What will those ships do then? Make a glorious charge to the death into the teeth of the Syndic fleet?”

Duellos spent a moment gazing at the star display, his face serious. “Unlikely, I think. A glorious charge to the death has to be led by someone. Unless I miss my guess, Falco will be overwhelmed and incapable of doing that. The other senior captains like Numos and Faresa are neither inspiring nor emotionally suited to such an act of brave desperation. So, no leader to lead a charge. Worst case, they lose their heads and scatter, becoming easy meat for the Syndics. Best case, they remember Ilion and charge for the route back there, holding their formation together so they can protect each other. The Syndics wouldn’t be expecting those ships to head for a jump point leading back into Syndic space, so that might leave a chance for them to make it. A small one, but it’s there.”

Geary nodded, his eyes on the same stars. “You sound like you’ve been listening in to my prayers to my ancestors. That’s what I’m praying those ships will do.”

“If they do come to Ilion,” Duellos stated, “there may be Syndics in pursuit. A lot of Syndics.”

“I know. We’ll be ready if that happens. Ready to fight our way out of Ilion if the odds are bad enough, or to kick that Syndic force halfway out of this sector if the odds favor it.”

“You should have told our ship captains that, too,” Duellos advised.

“I will, in a message before we jump.” Geary took a deep breath. “Do you think anyone else will leave?”

“Now? No. Even those who are scared to follow you are more scared of leaving the fleet. That’s what held them from following Captain Falco.”

Geary laughed. “I guess that’s the best endorsement I can hope for.”