My eyes go back to Io, where most of Fá’s big ships have been sighted, and settle on the thin band of green that wraps around the yellow stone that represents Diomedes’s home moon. “What happens if Obsidians do seize Demeter’s Garter? Over sixty percent of the entire Rim’s agriculture is produced there, no?”
“They will not,” he says flatly.
“But if they do get through the battlewalls and shields?”
He sighs. “The Rim is vast, cold. If the Garter falls to the Ascomanni, it would mean famine for many of our dependent worlds. The moons of Neptune and Uranus in particular. But the Garter has never fallen, nor has Sungrave. If the ghost sail succeeds, and I believe it will, we will hit Fá when most of his men are on the ground on Io and we will end this travesty before your fleet even arrives.”
“Then Mars,” I say.
“Then Mars.”
“So, it all begins here, at Kalyke,” I say.
“Yes. And when we arrive, I would like you on the bridge.”
“Why?” I ask.
“If Rim and Core are to be friends once more, moments like these will matter. I want the crew to see you there. Moreover, I want Helios to see you there.”
“You’ll suffer his displeasure for me?”
He shrugs. “Until he returns, I am in command.”
44
LYSANDER
Grapes and Iron
Kalyke is about thesize of a small coin in the holoDisplays that surround the command triangle. Behind it, Jupiter looms. Its myriad moons twinkle, many still distant. Io, our eventual destination, where we will smash Fá, is four days’ ghost sailing away. It is on the far side of the Gas Giant for now.
Diomedes smiles when the Blue pilot, a girl of maybe twelve, murmurs: “Dominus,we are receiving a hail from Consul Lux. Passing to coms. Shroud requested.”
The bridge crew hum like happy bees at the news and at the first sighting of enemy debris. It makes me wish I was aboard theLightbringer.My fleet is now four weeks behind the Rim’s. Disappointing. I spoke to Cicero and Pytha yesterday. Their crossing of the Gulf that yawns between the Belt and the moons of Jupiter is taking longer than expected due to fluctuations in the reactor. I fear theLightbringerwon’t contribute to the conflict at all.
As the shroud enfolds the command triangle in a wall of darkness, a hologram glows. Helios’s hawkish face peers out at us from the bridge of his torchShip.
“All’s foul on the wine dark,”Helios says.
“But there’s joy on the wind if you turn east.” Diomedes then gives a sixteen-digit code. Helios replies with a code of his own. Identities confirmed, both relax. Helios has a fresh flash burn on his face the shape of a hand and heavy circles under his eyes. His skin hangs loose. He is exhausted from days behind enemy territory.
“Young dragon, you must be jealous. First blood’s to me.”Helios grins from behind his clasped mustache.“You missed quite a hunt, lad. How’s my dusty lady?”
“Still in one piece, Consul. Eager to have you back in the Cestus,” Diomedes replies.
Helios’s eyes narrow.“Why is Lune on my bridge?”
“I thought it sent the right message, Consul,” Diomedes answers.
Helios pauses as if about to order me off, then reconsiders with a grunt.“Perhaps you’re right.We may yet need his aid purging these vermin. They’ve infested dozens of moons with outposts. Few serious battalions, but enough to keep the locals miserable and complicate matters further.”
“My Praetorians and I are eager for the fight, Consul Lux,” I say.
Dido’s hologram appears from her bridge aboard her flagship,Dragon Song.“Helios, we were worried you’d taken your isolationism a step too far,”she says without a greeting.“You went dark for longer than planned.”
“Intelligence reports underestimated the enemy strength.They are well-equipped. Ascomanni craft in numbers I’ve never seen. The Volk are the real danger, though. They’ve got Republic code-breaking technology, heavy patrol craft to go with their dreadnaughts. And those dreadnaughts are frontline material.”
“Where are the rest of your hunting squadron? I only see three torchShips with you.”
