Victory Conditions by Elizabeth Moon

for them, and munitions, or the ships are useless for war. That’s a lot of resources. It isn’t just the money; it’s also the market—where’s he have to go for resupply?”
    “If he’s got allies among the anti-humod systems,” Douglas said, “that may be his funding source. They could also be hauling his supplies in commercial vessels.”
    “Geoffrey Baines’ Practical Tactics for Regional Conflicts, ” Yamini said. Ky stared at the screen, confused.
    Douglas smacked his forehead. “Yes! That’s what I was thinking of. That’s his playbook; that’s what he’s been using. And that picture of Baines, the frontispiece, all dressed up in some kind of costume—”
    “The Royal Irregulars,” Yamini said. “Blue and yellow, instead of maroon and black.”
    “Explain, please,” Ky said. “I don’t remember that source in our tactical studies.”
    “You wouldn’t,” Yamini said, “because we didn’t use it. Baines wasn’t actually military; he was an enthusiast, an amateur historian. His tactical instincts were good but he didn’t really understand modern space warfare.”
    “It’s been effective for Turek so far,” Ky pointed out.
    “Yes, but Baines doesn’t go beyond the elementary. Look, you’ve been able to defeat his people even when you were outnumbered,” Yamini said. “You picked up his tactical approach right away; you were able to improvise something effective against him.”
    “Why didn’t he use something else?”
    “Maybe he doesn’t know which to use. Most texts now assume a force with certain proportions of ship types he may not have. Or maybe he can’t get his people to understand them—”
    “Or he doesn’t trust them,” Douglas said. “He started with criminals, pirates and stationside both. People so unreliable he had to implant them with suicide triggers to be sure they wouldn’t blab his name.”
    “He’s got instant communication,” Ky said. “And people he doesn’t completely trust…that’s going to constrain his tactics, isn’t it?”
    “Absolutely,” Yamini said. “And inhibit his subordinates, and annoy them, too.”
    “Downjump turbulence!” Lee said from the pilot’s seat.
    Hugh turned to look at the screen himself as other ships reported the same. “Estimates?”
    “By the turbulence, big and fast.” He looked at Ky. Douglas, to one side, looked as though he wanted to speak but didn’t.
    “We run,” Ky said. Hugh looked surprised, but Douglas gave a tiny nod. “Priority’s getting to Cascadia.” She spoke to all the ships. “Close formation, jump on my mark. Come out at the next jump point in the same formation as here, weapons hot, and immediately go into Yellow Three.” She waited as they acknowledged and Teddy Ransome microjumped back to his place, then gave them the signal. The safe haven of FTL closed around Vanguard once again.
    “What do you think that was?” Hugh asked.
    “Worst case, pursuit,” Ky said. “And maybe we just missed our chance to take out Turek…but I don’t think so. I’m wondering if somebody found out where we were going, and that was a tight formation of his ships.”
    “You mean a leak from Mackensee?” Douglas asked, frowning.
    “Not necessarily.” Ky felt stupid for not having thought this through before. “Turek knew we left Boxtop with you—the logical destination was your home planet. He must know Stella’s in Cascadia, and that I’d go there; this is on the logical route. All it would take is one person on your home world telling him when we left. Would you vouch for everyone in your system?” Ky asked.
    “No,” Douglas said. “But I don’t like the idea that we might have a leak somewhere. Or that there was someone to intercept and act on it so quickly. If that was pursuit, they were within an hour of us. And they probably know where we’re headed next.”
    “Or it could’ve been someone making a fast transit through because they were worried, having run into that