Storiesonline.net ------- Aggy-book 2 by Green Dragon Copyright© 2009 by Green Dragon ------- Description: A stand alone , better if read Book 1; the usual culprits, plus; still as exponentially improbable; still no sex and still not very romantic; adventure across the galaxy; some good against some evil; politics and war; the odd(very) battle against improbable odds and hopes for a future Codes: MF het ScFi Mil ------- ------- Prologue "Aggy, I need to see you urgently; I have some very distressing news which needs to be passed on to the relevant people without having the moves exposed." The Commodore considered the image of his fellow Grenob in the viewer of the PDA; Marcel Thoreau was one of the few people who, outside the Flock, possessed another of the Flock crafted hand com devices which were hand made in the very secure hold of R2, one of the FURS in "The Queen's Own". "Marcel, do I need to take action stat?" "No, no, its just the need to pass the information up" replied Marcel hurriedly but with a slight laugh. "Where are you?" "My office." "I'll send a UVA to your pad, should be there in twelve, thirteen." "Suits, but you know those things terrify me." "McCock clear." The Commodore slipped the PDA into its belt holder and activated his internal ship's com to vid the OW in the CIC; "Dispatch the pinnace to pick up the Grenoble Mil Sec at the Bollard House pad stat; he should be waiting. Thank you." Thoreau was half out of the flush mounted deck hatch as he saw the pinnace on landing approach to the roof pad. He sighed in relief at recognizing "Vector's" pinnace and smiled wryly as Aggy had got him back for that Partheon 'invoice'. He waited until the pinnace settled, flashed its lights and opened its hatch before he moved out of the stairwell. He stood on the hatch control and as the green indicated seal, turned and entered the pinnace where he secured himself into a seat. "In and tight" he called and heard the disembodied reply "Thank you, Commander" as the pinnace hatch whirred sealed and the boat lifted off. "You got me good this time, Aggy. Demned UVAs, give me claustrophobia" shuddered Thoreau. A faint twitch moved McCock's lips as he shook the extended hand. They walked quietly down the passageway from the boat bay ready room to the Captain's quarters and Thoreau followed McCock in. "I see you haven't reversed Millicent's mods to the ready room's vids" Thoreau commented as he settled in the lift chair beside the coffee table cum work desk. "No, we know what she did but its easier to replace them rather than try to reverse the changes; she certainly did a job on them" replied McCock as he passed the coffee percolator. "By tbe by, I've got a chest of Jamaican Blue if you're interested?" "Marcel, HM is not pleased with you. You supply Hernandes and us but not her Comptroller." "When HM's Comptroller restricts donated goodies to the immediate household and not pass them around to his grace and favour sponging mates, then I would suddenly locate the top stuff." "There's that. Now, your information?" Thoreau passed across a chip which McCock inserted into the reader and sent the image to the wall screen. It showed a distinguished looking conservatively dressed man of late middle age at a podium in front of an audience of what looked to be middle level executives. He was informing them that Mountserrat was in breach of the seventh and eighth Geneva Conventions and that he would so inform the United Solarian Senate. McCock turned and looked at Thoreau who informed him: "Solarian Ambassador to Harbouria addressing the combined sitting of their houses of Congress. One of my neutrals picked it up just as he was departing; he got in about ten days after your raid and it took him about twelve days to unload his grain cargo and had to leave empty as there was no longer a backload for him; took him another fifteen days to here. The only thing good about this is that the Ambassador is going to have great difficulty in getting his message out: and, yes Sol will accept that report and will act on it is my assessment. There are a lot of avaricious shipping cartels there who have been eyeing the Junction for decades. The truth of the damage actually done will be deliberately buried in an avalanche of propaganda which will be spread throughout the United Solarian Worlds and cries for a punitive expedition will resound as each politican will try to outdo one another." McCock extracted his PDA, selected a connection, waited til made and then spoke, "Uncle Rupert, Aggy, I'm on "Vector" and leaving now to collect Slow enroute; I need to speak to Aunt Lillibet ASAP. I'll have Commander Thoreau with me in "Vector's" pinnace." There was a very long pause as the speakers looked intently at each other's image on their PDA vid before exchanging nods and the voice from the PDA said, "No1 landing pad." The link disconnected and McCock replaced the PDA. McCock walked to his desk to inform the OW that the pinnace was needed again for a sortie to the Palace picking up Captain Gort en route. He then informed Slow saying he would explain en route. He then reseated himself to finish his coffee wondering as he did so how it had all ended up like this. He finished his coffee, pocketed that chip from the reader, stood retrieving his forage cap and looked across at Thoreau who also stood and together they made their way to the boat bay. McCock was still wondering as he secured himself in the pinnace seat. ------- Chapter 1 "Commodore, "Gremlin" asks us to come alongside to take on board an EVA; ah, its Captain Gort, Sir." "Thank you, Pilot; we'll come up and squeeze into the flight deck," McCock turned to his seated companion, "C'mon, Marcel, that damned woman and her EVAs has caught us without skinsuits." They both unbuckled and up the walkway they passed the Crew Chief hurrying aft to the hatch and securing his suit hood as he went. McCock signaled Thoreau into the Crew Chief's seat and he secured the hatch behind him. He watched the pilot bring the pinnace to almost a complete stop alongside the two suited figures standing on the hull. He felt the vibration of the pinnace hatch cycling and then recycling. "The cabin shows two greens, Sir" the pilot informed them "and "Gremlin" reports their Bosun is inside." "Thank you, pilot, we'll get out of your way", said McCock as he opened the hatch, entered the cabin followed by Thoreau, and stood aside to let the Crew Chief past. The crewman had a decidedly cheeky grin when he passed McCock. 'Satan's canines' thought McCock, 'the whole squadron must know about Slow's letch for EVA.' He glared at his miscreant Captain who just smiled back, "You know it saves time!" "And it's a lot more dangerous." rejoined McCock, "but I'm not even going to ask you not to do it — it would be pointless." "Watcha, Aggy?" McCock passed across the chip. Slow had unsuited by this time and removed her PDA. She viewed the information, asking as she passed the chip back to McCock, "What's the event?" Cdr Thoreau explained the situation which caused Slow to ask, "Who's controlling him? It sounds like someone is setting us up and it ain't Harbouria!" "Fair assessment" Thoreau informed them, "its probably Perseus & Orion Space Transfer Line. POST have had their eye on the Junction for decades as a good 'earner' for their consortium. They are thick with USW Colonial and Commonwealth Office and they're both as crooked as you will find anywhere." "So why do you want me, Aggy? This is above my rank grade." "My thoughts are still forming up, Slow. Stay with me for a while longer. What's Polack up to? He put in a request for a Recon Drone ten or so days ago plus a fifty cm graser. Is he still trying to tune energy weapons to hulls?" "Probably;" she replied, "Denny and he are pretty tight lately and spending a bit of time on R2 when ever they can spare from their duties but don't get your hopes too high. You do run us hard and none of us has much time for research now that we have command responsibilities." "Its not going to get any easier" replied McCock cryptically. He lapsed into silence as the aerofoils were extended as atmosphere was encountered. The pinnace shuddered as they bit into the thicker molecular concentration and it started to bounce slightly in the atmospheric turbulence. "Actual weather is good" reported the pilot "anticipated departure, Sir? Palace asks." "I can't say now but we will not be staying. Get parking at the pad and you had better arrange a meal." "Wilco, Commodore." 'Uncle Rupert' stood in No 1 Pad Control watching the vapour trail of "Vector's" pinnace curving down to the planetary surface. It had been challenged and its transponder was responding correctly with the codes sent to "Vector" when the flight had been requested. He had had to authorize the flight through the Regiment's Colonel before the clearance had been given and had had to get the Queen's permission for a visit to 'Aunt Lillibet'. He idly wondered what mischief the lad was up to this time but he was not concerned as the Commodore did not abuse these requests which were usually off the wall. "I'll park her on North 3. That's near the Mess. The crew booked a meal as they don't know exactly when they will depart." the Controller informed the Major who thanked him and left the centre for the ground shuttle. The pinnace touched down and then slowly taxied to its designated parking bay. The shuttle pulled up outside the parking area and opened its doors. The Commodore and his colleagues entered the shuttle, shut the doors, exchanged greetings with the Major and settled back for the short journey to the palace. The Major told his occupants "When you book your flight, you book your parking bays so Control knows if things are awry. Don't even think about going off on your own — you will be in a world of hurt." He drove from the Landing Pad through the archway in the rear wing of the Palace into the quadrangle. The others did not know that the shuttle was avoiding the official area and the Queen's Apartments and was moving to her office suite adjoining the Apartments. The shuttle stopped at a broad stone expanse of three steps to be met by three very hard faced men dressed in the Household Livery who had descended as the shuttle arrived. Slow noticed that their eyes were never still and seemed to be looking for something they had lost. As she alighted behind McCock, she automatically moved closer to him in defensive position and noticed that McCock had faded equally automatically slightly aside to take her back-up. The Major did smile and perhaps the lips of the servants(?) twitched in recognition of fellow professionals. The Majordomo, standing to obstruct the entrance way, looked quizzickly at the Major, received a slight nod in return, and with a quietly spoken "Come this way, please," and led the party indoors. As she mounted the steps Slow asked, "What was that all about?" and they passed through the doorway. Almost simultaneously the three PDAs began to screech and instantly Aggy and Slow threw themselves to their right tumbling over and springing upright with a wall at their backs and objects in their hands covering the five. The servants started moving towards Aggy and Slow and the Major shouted "Cancel alarm! Major Rupert Logan! Cancel alarm!" and rattled off a short series of letters and numbers in authentication too fast to follow. The servants stopped and Aggy and Slow stilled. The pounding of approaching boots did not slow. "Carefully, carefully, everybody!" called the Major loudly, and to his Colonel who came hurtling around the corner from a side hallway leading a section of suited PGS, " calmly Boss, don't point that at anybody, please!" Disregarding his commander's forceful request for immediate information, Uncle Rupert turned to Aggy and asked almost casually, "Ah! Those are weapons, I presume, Aggy?" Realising that Slow and he had made humongous fools of themselves, Aggy shamefacedly nodded his head. "And if I were to come in contact with them I would be hurt?" Again the nod. "Perhaps Slow and you would return them to where they came from?" Aggy nodded at Slow and the weapons disappeared. The Majordomo who was forcibly holding a door closed said in a voice from the polar regions, "Logan, that is the absolutely last time I'll believe you about anything!" "Ted, I didn't know they were armed; the shuttle alarm didn't activate. I'll still swear they are no risk to the Sovereign." "I am forced to confirm that" said Colonel Mulcahy resignedly, "hello Aggy, you'll be the death of me. Uh oh! How did she get out?" This last as he holstered his pistol and turned to face his Sovereign who was approaching the gathering, upbraiding her Comptroller, "Sir Humphrey, you do not tell me where I can go in my own palace. Edward, you can release that door handle, now. Aggy, Slow, why do I suspect you are in the middle of things?" "Your Majesty" acknowledged Aggy and Slow in unison. "Shall we have our meeting now? said the Queen and her turn to enter her office precipitated an outbreak of coughing from her liveried staff and vocal protests from the uniforms. She turned to face her Majordomo, "Edward?" "They are still armed" protested that man. "As my PGS are always armed, you mean the Commodore and the Captain?" and went on, in response to his nod, "they are also part of my personal bodyguard and I have been standing here for how long?" this last more gently and reassuring. She looked at the Colonel. He responded "I would like to know what went down here; and I don't suppose you'll tell me how ... no, you wont" with a sigh. "By your leave Ma'am," Aggy interposed, "Slow, explain to the Colonel and then come back as I want you for something at the end of my conversation with HM." "Good, now shall we refresh that tea please and have our planned talk?" said the Queen. The Colonel gave a half bow towards her and commanded "Ted, with me; Slow?" and, collecting his myrmidons, returned down the corridor leaving the liveried servants to finally close the entrance door. ------- Chapter 2 The Queen waved the men to the spindly appearing chairs at the low table off to the side of the office, and asked "Slow?" Aggy seated himself seconds after the Queen seated herself before answering "I want to divide 119 so my tasks will be a bit more manageable and not bogged down in minutiae. I've slotted Slow as Captain D (Grendles) which will probably include "Vector", Denny to take "Warburton" as Captain D (VWs) and Timothy Avers to be Commodore FURS; and before you ask, you are our Commanding Admiral and I need your rubber stamp." "Blue Hills raised this point after the raid's washup; he also said that you were onto it. It is a comfort to have competent people. Approved. Thoreau? Apart from the fact that I'm serving him Comalee tea!" Positively overflowing his chair, Thoreau managed to squirm and a slight flush of embarrassment passed across his features; the Queen just smiled gently at him. Aggy continued "Marcel is my unofficial Intelligence Officer and he has information which he wanted to get to you urgently and discretely, but I've blown that with a vengeance." He passed the chip across and as the Queen slotted it into the portable reader, she said "As a trusted servant, I'd better bring you up to date, Aggy. Since your first arrival at Gorgipest the Commander has been just as unofficially attached to my DNI. We have not been formal in our connections and its probably about time that we formalized that. Or perhaps not?" as she saw Thoreau's shake of head. "At present, Ma'am, I appear to be totally unconnected to your Government despite my now friendly contact with Aggy, and that is much to my advantage. Neutral people speak readily to me. As far as I knew, only Sir Laurence and my contact knew of my connection. I am apprehensive about spread of that knowledge." "I am only in the loop because at a Navy Board meeting, discussions got a bit heated about the source of certain information. Sir Laurence passed your name to me at a private meeting in this very office on a flammable strip which I immediately placed in that document flamer over there. I later squashed that argument using prerogative. There is no surveillance in here; I have the PGS' word on that. Now the explanation of this?" Thoreau obliged and the Queen's face became sombre as she spoke, "And your appreciation?" listened intently to the opinion, and then "And your advice?" Her face unguardedly showed surprise at the response. Thoreau's was a most definite shake of his head; McCock's was vocal, "Ma'am, that's so far above my pay scale I'll get nose bleed!" The Queen looked from one to the other and mused out loud, "What else then? You could have given that chip to 'Uncle Rupert'. Changes in command could have been done by com or PDA. I'll give Slow a 'rah rah' as she is here. But! Aggy?" "Ma'am, that chip germinated an idea which I had been swirling around in my brain for a while. We have tactical FTL coms but unless we 'planet hop' as we have to Gorgipest, word only travels as fast as the fastest vessel. We can only push a signal so far even through hyperspace and about a tenth of that in n space. This range is a function of spatial molecular density. I think a chain of UVAs in hyperspace at least to Renmark; Amranti should be easier as we can use Wormhole Control coms for part of that link I have also been thinking of using UVAs to explore the com range outside the epsilon layer of hyperspace and to do that, I will need to use the Grendels ... second thoughts "Shriek" is ideal but there is a risk going through that turbulence layer into hard vacuum. If it works out, and it probably will, then you will have instant com with the Emperor and the Lord Protector. You would be able to speak directly with anyone in Sol. We would run your forces nearly dry of UVAs particularly so if we go to Sol and Harbouria at a time when the UVAs are absolutely critical to the defence of the Realm. I'd like to trial local space to Amranti and Renmark and assess." McCock paused for a moment collecting his thoughts; "The ability to communicate instantly across the galaxy will be a two edge sword; access is immediate and matters will be raised without time for consideration and answers could be demanded and egos ruffled and relations strained. Bad! A further corollary is secrecy. If word of the system gets out then all and sundry will want it — their work is just so important according to their egos and naturally having access will be a cachet to their importance. Once the secret is out then our enemies will develop it — it just needs the idea to float and our enemies are not stupid; at least, not the professionals. I won't speak for the politicians and they should never under any circumstance no matter who they are be allowed access to the secret let alone the system." "That last is a bit harsh, Aggy. I have to trust my Prime Minister and my Ministers." the Queen remonstrated. He simply said "Brown Hollow." Her Majesty stiffened, and then sighed. The Colonel led his menagerie to the adjacent PGS Office. His troops went off to their duty quarters and Rupert Edward and Slow were lead to the Duty Officers' cubby. They squeezed in around the desk and sat. The Colonel commed the senior tech in the vids' room. "Debrief of this alarm; what did you have, Colour?" "Nothing, Sir; before or after. The shuttle was clear, the #3 detector was clear, just a PDA each and the big person had a ring of keysticks. The alarm was tripped by the Lieutenant apparently because of audible alarms which also seemed to have made the smaller two react to something." "Do the full survey and send it up." He then turned to Edward and raised his eyebrow, "The audibles and the reactions of the grey uniforms. I had allowed access on Major Logan's authority. I activated my alarm when I saw the Commodore and the Captain here dive to the side. They came up with what could have been weapons. I grabbed the door handles to hold the door closed and heard the Major cancel the alarm. I had seen the pair of them move up those steps and they are very well trained assassins." Slow blushed slightly as she objected, "Well trained but never assassins." Edward just snorted inelegantly. "Now now" gently from the Colonel, "Rupert?" "Nothing. I gave Ted the high sign when he got the heebies. The pair do move well and in his place I'd have done the same thing. They have both been in the Royal presence before even though that's not an absolute indicator but I do not doubt their loyalty — and the Queen was locked up by Ted." "I'll have to put the squeeze on Humphrey to find out how she did that. She was in there?" asked the Colonel. "Yes. I had escorted Her Majesty and Humphrey to the office and I had that door in view at all times. You won't get the time of day from that grease ball, Sir." "Lieutenant, not in front of strangers, but you are right; he does hold her secrets well. Captain Gort, I'm Robert Mulcahy by the way. We are the same rank so we can be a bit more casual." Slow seemed a bit taken aback at this revelation of equal rank having never considered the situation before but she grinned, "Slow Gort, Robert. What can a "Queens Own" do for you?" "Would you produce that weapon, please?" "I'll have to stand and turn to the side because I cant do it with my arm out to the side. Aggy and Polack can. But I just can't manage it." She stood, turned, bent her right forearm and a lime green flattened tube was being gripped in her hand. There were moulded finger grips visible between her fingers. "Once its in my hand I can point it anywhere and before you ask, it has twenty projectiles, each can blast a hole in light armour. It has a neural connection to, ah, unholster it so I cant take it off for you to examine. Aggy developed it as a relaxation while he was, ah, er, planning a recent training exercise. Polack designed the projectiles. Its all synthetic. This was its first real test." She went on hurriedly "We didn't plan it, truly. We just put them on with our uniforms and don't really think about them. They are just part of our kit now." "You've got another in your left sleeve" accused Edward "I saw both hands full." "Who else has got them?" enquired Rupert. "Just the Flock" Slow considered for a moment "That now includes Felix Arburthson. Aggy has two spares. We hand make them and no they don't lend themselves to mass production." She paused, "The weapons don't but the projectiles might." She opened her hand and the tube jumped back under her sleeve. "What was the alarm? There were at least two audibles." asked Rupert. "Three" said Slow, producing her PDA. "They pick up invasive radiation. Marcel has one, and so do the Flock. This was Denny and my relaxation. We are hand making them now in the workshop in R2. And before you ask its fully manned by Avers and the techies have been told to keep it zipped. Yes, there are a lot of "Queen's Own's" uses on it. These are not for distribution outside the Flock." "Its back to the plans for us; that detector was to be undetectable" groaned Mulcahy, "You don't have the time do you to do a little work on the side for us? It was worth a try. Edward, escort Captain Gort to the Office." Edward knocked on the door and in response to some signal, opened it and announced, "Captain Gort, Your Majesty." and ushered Slow into the Office and closed the door behind her. ------- Chapter 3 After Slow was seated, McCock continued "This news raises a critical decision which has to be made. Ma'am, your Navy must forsake any construction larger than a CA, and absolute priority must be given to Cruise missiles, missile carriers post Wamirant, KeyHACs, some UVAs and CVLs. For the latter we'll have to strip the bases to mount the necessary numbers; and I suggest that the BC construction be changed to make them into CVLs." "Its strange you should raise that matter, Aggy," the Queen informed him, "the Navy Board made that decision yesterday morning. They have even gone, reluctantly, so far as to cease ship construction except for the carriers. Explain about the BCs." "Pre diaspora, a wet Navy was building up before a war, things had been left too late. Some one did a paper review of the proposed fleet and found the CVs had been forgotten. Their solution was to transform several BC hulls then under construction into what were called 'thru deck' cruisers. Buships should be asked to look at this because of all our ships CVs are the most important." The Queen opened her com and asked for and linked into a conference call to her First Lord and her First Space Lord. While she waited for the connection, McCock slipped in a quick comment, "They should also consider a Fifth Space Lord for an aviation overseer on the Navy Board and I'd suggest Milligan." The Queen nodded. "My Lords, I have received news that the Solarian Ambassador in Harbouria has informed the Harbourian Congress that Mountserrat is in breach of the seventh and eighth Geneva Conventions and he will be reporting that to the United Solarian Senate. The implications of this suggest that we might be in combat with their forces in as soon as six months according to my First Lord's previous assessment. Also, consider Milligan for Fifth Space Lord to cover operational aviation overseer." "Elizabeth, would you care to take a holiday for a while, Tom's and my lives would be so much easier," the First Lord moaned, "I don't really mean that. Unfortunately you do have a lot of good ideas, too many and we have to deal with them. I have to ask — how reliable is the Harbourian news?" "Absolutely reliable; its from our usual source. Tom?" "Means we should go to flat out just in case Sol does join in because we won't know about it until their fleet arrives. Not quite — I think the first news will be our Ambassador will be rendered incommunicado, not lethally, but effectively. My fellow Lords are or should be at my door right about now to start on, ho ho, yesterday's decision. I had spoken with Milligan some week or so ago about his forming a commissariat for aviation; he thought it a good idea but didn't want the job — he wants to go back to space but suggested Rowan. Rowan lacks command time so I'd prefer Milligan and leave Rowan where he is; Milligan is sure to want him as a deputy but there is a good team in Third and this is not the time to break up that team. Majesty, may I use your command to persuade Milligan to do his duty?" "Certainly. If he hesitates you have my permission to tell him it is my Royal Command given without knowledge of the prior discussions." "Thank you, Ma'am," replied the First Space Lord and he was heard taking a deep breath, "and can I have McCock as Milligan's deputy?" "Wait, please Tom" the Queen muted the com and looked at McCock. "I would be the best choice for that position but I think this hyperspace work is more important ... I'd suggest promotion transfer of Peter Scott as the deputy and perhaps Carlton to Home Fleet's staff." "Aggy, that is evil," the Queen unmated the com, " Tom, you can't have Aggy, I've got him on something else, but a joker here suggested Peter Scott as Deputy and Carlton to Home Fleet staff." "Ma'am, I'll take Scotty in a heartbeat," said Sir Thomas "but Carlton ... you know that is not as silly as it sounds ... Scotty and he are a good team and Carlton has shown real aptitude, which has surprised a lot of people and not just me ... I'll take him; Milligan for Lord as Vice, Scotty for Deputy as Commodore and, wont Milligan just love this, Carlton for Assistant as Captain. Ma'am, would you ask your joker if he has a home for "Infamous"? She's old but what he doesn't know is that she got a BB battle 'puter at her refit; we have a surplus considering our fleet size and composition, and the "Queen's Own" could do with one." "Tom, I'll take the offer on advisement. I'll have a reply tomorrow. Andrew?" "Remind me never to upset you pair! Ma'am, I'll go with that. Tom speak with me after your conference, please. I'm done." "Thank you, gentlemen." and she broke the link. The Queen raised an eyebrow at McCock, "Infamous?" "I don't know, Ma'am. Off the top, I can't see a fit except that 'puter but to fully realise that we'd need a missile carrier. Let me think on it, please." 'Uncle Rupert' sat quietly in the pinnace as it lifted off the pad. He heard Slow start up over the top of Thoreau and turned slightly in his seat to watch them across the aisle. "Aggy! I would prefer that you warn me before you parade me in front of the Queen and promote me. You did this deliberately so I couldn't refuse. You are really a ... a ... a sneaky underhanded individual." "Oh, that was nicely recovered, Slow. For a moment or two there, I thought I would have to court martial you for insubordination" laughed McCock, "yes, I confess. This way cut out a dose of heartburn for me arguing with you. My main purpose got sidetracked with those alarms, though. What I wanted to do was bring you up to scratch with an idea of mine and get Royal approval at the same time— coms and travel outside the epsilon layer with a cover story of hyperspace FTL coms to Renmark and Amiranti." "Aggy," interposed Thoreau, "I know you have some nefarious scheme involving me in this which you will reveal in due course, but would you please explain your idea to me and remember I heard what you told Elizabeth." McCock looked thoughtfully at Thoreau and at 'Uncle Rupert', "Some basic physics first. Initially the Milky Way Galaxy, of which our area of operations is a part, was a rotating disc of atomic or smaller particles. It was probably of even texture. Because of gravity the heavier molecules accumulated in the middle of the disc and it became a flat plate with a bulge spreading across a hundred thousand light years. The lighter particles formed a layer on each side of the plate —the halo. By gravitational effect heavier particles accreted to form stars with or without planets. The continued rotations and gravity of forming stars led to spiral arms of accreting matter forming in the outer plate with attachment of the arms to the bulge. The livable planets have attracted an atmosphere about themselves inside the condensation of the particles of the plate. The plate is fairly thin compared to the diameter of the disc. The spiral arms have themselves haphazardly longitudinally split. The density of the plate is about, on average, I stress, thirty atoms per cubic millimetre. This is "n space". On either side of the plate is a layered disc of on average point one of an atom per cubic millimetre, the halo; this is the interstellar gas with densities ranging from alpha to epsilon. This is "hyperspace" in which travel is decidedly faster than in n space and similarly for coms. There is a very turbulent boundary layer between edge of epsilon and hard space in which the density is of the order of point zero zero one atom per cubic millimetre. I intend to run a line of UVAs through hyperspace, say delta layer — comparable with the semaphore towers of legend and story, between the allies; the terminal stations if you like will be 'above' the star. The distance through n space and 'up' to the repeater will be a very small fraction of the flat distance and with any luck, communications will be real time. Once coms have been established, I will have another UVA placed above the terminals in hard space to explore hard space coms. Persons who have returned to hyper after going through that boundary layer, and these are only an exquisitely small fraction of those known to have so penetrated, report gross disorientation. Please note these have all been experienced spacers with many translations. They also report they had no reference; the boundary layer does not show on the usual instruments, sails are useless as are shields except for protection from the minute penetrant rays. The returnees reported that movement was achieved by use of thrusters; they were just fortunate in their choice of direction. They expressed surprise at the extremely small amounts of thrust used — they obviously hadn't appreciated the densities. From the literature of the returnees, penetration of the boundary layer occurred at cruising power and I suspect that the kinetic energy of the vessel bursting into hard space meant that they travelled an extremely great distance from the layer before being able to collect their thoughts. There were light, xray and gamma ray sources but without references the sightings were useless. If the hard space com UVAs work and the medium allows dramatic improvements in velocities of coms, I will use the UVAs as known sources of radiation for navigation and gradually explore the hard space, initially along the comnav routes." "Aggy," thoughtfully commented Slow, "that might just work. But, and I know you, you have already thought of it, you ARE NOT commanding that exploring ship. Do you read me clearly, Commodore. I'll stop you even if I have to enlist the Queen's services!" ------- Chapter 4 Slow glared at her putative commander. "You'd do that, wouldn't you?" McCock asked. "Blood's oath I would, and I'd get Denny and Polack to literally sit on you while I commed her. I want your oath, Aggy, and no tricks. You do not personally do any exploration. You command but don't participate. Your oath, now!" "Gently, Slow," McCock said, "you have it. No exploring! My oath on it!" "Aggy, tell me " enquired Major Logan, "are all your subordinates so insubordinate?" Slow shifted her glare to the Major, and snapped, "Yes! In cases where he puts himself at risk because he doesn't want to risk others. He has no appreciation of how valuable he is and he won't delegate." This last was almost shouted. "Alright, I lose," laughed McCock, "Captain D, how will you do it?" That made Slow pause, and thoughtfully she considered, "It's the UVAs that are critical ... We have to know the range of the UVAs in delta ... Then we know the numbers to Renmark ... Do we use Wormhole Control coms as part to Amiranti? Above our pay scale, wait for advice from higher. Polack to Amiranti in "Grendel", because he is a relative and can be better trusted than an absolute stranger. Harryfor Avers in "Gorgon" because I'm counting on there being Avers in Renmark's fleet. It will be a good shakedown cruise for him also. Ask Hugh how many UVAs he can give us and if necessary "Gremlin", Peter Lowell, in a high speed run to pick them up to replace ours. Suit?" "Programme for holding a UVA in stationery position avoiding waves and currents?" asked McCock. "There is not enough computer power in those things for an independent programme. We'll have to rely on a response to a positioning signal from some where beneath them. We could use radar but we don't wish to broadcast our position. Sorry, Aggy, haven't thought it out." McCock had a large smile spread across his face as he spoke "And just how long have you been Captain D? I concur, by the way, but I hadn't thought of sending a Grendel to pick up UVAs; good thinking; do that if we need to. The com range is about twice Period detection range in n space and I see no reason to think the ratio is different in hard space but what if we use Period as a pure transmitter? The range should be comparable to a com set. Come to think on it, we might have placed an unnecessary restriction on ourselves; perhaps in a pure UVA role we only need Period for both com and detection?" "I think you're probably right" Slow considered, "but in this retransmission role I'd want both because Period is not too good in complex work. But how could we use it as a nav aid?" "Slow, there is almost nothing new in this world. Period can send out a global signal and a rotary beam. Each unit of time, an identified Period sends a global signal and instantaneously starts a rotary beam. Receiving Period knows when the TX is to be sent from that UVA and times when TX is received, then times the arrival of RX and its computer gives both distance and bearing and institutes correction. We'll have to brainstorm the project but to go on with that's a start. We will have to think about security in hyper but probably not outside epsilon." "No trouble that, there is an atomic clock in all the Hacks and Us. Yes, that will work; Denny and I will get onto it stat. When are the promotions effective as that will conflict a bit with the com project?" "Whenever you decide, Slow. The promotions were effective as soon as the Queen approved. What should be the Captain's quarters in "Vector" are occupied by Tony Pearson so you can tell him you promoted him to get your quarters. I'd suggest you just move the watchkeepers up a step; all of the squadron's watchkeepers did their 'Crusher" together and the results were from 3.7 to 4.0 — really extraordinary — but its your decision." "Not the best thing to have the Captain and the First both newbies, so your advice seems good. I'll not appoint First until I assess the chemistry though." "Secure belts for entering "Gremlin."" sang the tannoy. "Aggy, you ... you ... you ... oh words fail me!" screamed Slow and she sulked until disembarkation at which point she blew McCock a very disrespectful raspberry to that individual's great amusement. Her EVA hardsuit was handed out after her and the hatch recycled. The others settled as the pinnace departed "Gremlin" for "Vector". "Marcel, you will stay aboard and return to Bollard House. Your part in this is to be the conduit for information from the FTL setup, I'll have to get a codename for it, into your channels to give cover for the setup. Your cover for this trip is that you were commanded into the Royal Presence and ordered to supply HM personally with coffee and I'd suggest that case of Jamaican Blue for a start." "You sneaky sod, Aggy; this will cost you; its coming out of your stock. Suits, I'm good." "Just to tidy up the edges in case you thought you weren't in this; Rupert, you will be the Keeper of The Bag. You will select a very small group of PGS, one of whom will physically be at the Queen's side at all times. You won't actually carry a bag, but what you will carry is a unique PDA which will be the Queen's terminal of the project; there will be a spare available but that stays with your team. Your team will also be part of "The Queens Own" so we will want to see you for familiarization training. Your cover story is that you are following up on the investigation of the alarm with an inner cover that you are investigating the sleeve pistols. Use my PDA to tell your wife, you are overnighting on "Vector" and then Mulcahy." The major gave McCock a very withering stare as he took the PDA. Shortly after, the tannoy advised entering "Vector". As he disembarked followed by the Major, McCock thanked Marcel with a smile. The pair cleared the Boat Bay and were met by the First Officer. "Rupert, this is Tony Pearson, my First, Tony, Major Rupert Logan PGS. He and a few others will be carried as supernumeraries of TQO. Give him the full, no, designate a Middy for the full tour. To my quarters for Dinner eight first dog." The Major enjoyed the meal and the conversation between two dedicated professionals which ranged over the affairs of the highest down to the politics of the Realm. As they broke up for the evening, McCock informed him "Breakfast in here at oh six hundred, leave all your clothing in your ante room, it will be cleaned and pressed for you, there is a robe for you and there should by now be smalls. Toiletries are disposable for you. Slow might have led you to believe that I personally made the sleeve pistols but the fact is that I built my first and then got Master Chief Armourer Theodore Avers to make the rest; we had four spare and he was to make some more. You sort it out how many you want for your close protection team. The Master will start on you at oh six fortyfive. Expect to be on board for the day. Our SMO will place the insert in your forearm mid morning; sorry no live firing on board. G'night." The Major found McCock seated at breakfast reading the faxes. A casual wave indicated the self serve sideboards. Another wave indicated the spare faxreader and the pile of faxes and he was told that McCock liked to keep abreast of affairs by reading at the meal table. The Major concentrated on eating his substantial meal which he regarded as his main meal because of the uncertainties of his days. However, he always tried to have the evening meal with his family; even if he had to return to on duty afterwards. McCock excused himself at the half hour and said to leave the crockery. Timing it well, the Major had finished his coffee, no wonder HM wanted the brew, and the Commodore's steward advised the Armourer awaited his pleasure. Recognising the 'get your ass into gear', the Major smiled his thanks to the steward and nodded a greeting and said "Armourer." "This way, sir." and led him towards the rear of the ship. 'No. that wasn't right'; he remembered the Middy's rebuke, 'the stern; it is a ship and not a boat, destroyers are boats and this is a CL, a light cruiser; but 119 was originally a destroyer squadron and still is. Confusing. He went with the tide and followed the gray clad man to wherever they were going. There were several turns, numerous hatches noted as being the ancient mechanical hinged variety latched open. They stopped in a companion way and the Armourer inserted a stick in the bulkhead and it opened to allow them to enter a cabin not much larger than the Commodore's mess room. "Put your sidearm in the left slot, Sir, and then change into the dungarees." The Armourer indicated the duplicator with a wave of his hand and the clothing with a nod in that direction. The Major cleared his sidearm placing the magazine in the uniform's pocket for the spare, and then placed the weapon in the slot. As he did so, the Armourer placed a sand coloured pistol shaped blank into the right slot and closed the lid. As he exchanged his clothing, there was a slight burnt plastic smell. He noted that the dungarees came adorned with fabric name tag, regimental insignia and rank badges. He was not at all surprised to find the garment fitted perfectly yet allowed totally full move of his arms; he then, of course, had to perform an exercise kata to test the dungaree's full flexibility. "Headgear, weapon belt and all the other bits you would normally carry." came with the Armourer's slight smile. The Major complied and then took the proffered pistol(?). He could see his in the left slot but whatever this was felt nearly like his personal weapon. "Not quite perfect? We haven't been able to quite personalize the models. That is a target pistol for this range, a visible light beam. Easier for impact detection. The deck is a fully mobile system and will move in whatever direction you move your feet; you remain in the centre. Face away and fire at will at the targets." The Major did so until the Armourer called a halt. This was repeated with the model holstered and drawn as targets appeared. The Armourer then mobilized the deck and tested the Major with all round targets. There was a faint shine to the Major's forehead, quickly dissipated, when the Armourer called the stop. The Armourer approached carrying a long red cylinder with straps off it. "Which arm do you want to try it on? If you keep your holster on the right, your dominant side, I'd suggest this on your left; I'd be very surprised if you aren't as accurate as your right. If you go to a cross draw position for your holster so you can acquire it with either hand, then I'd suggest your right for the sleeve pistol. The real question is, do you want the sleeve pistol as your primary?" "I'd prefer to trial all options." "Wise" remarked the Armourer "now this weapon is simplicity itself. You clench your forearm and then grip your hand about the grip surface and press the firing ring. The difficulty is getting the sequence right. This red model is a light beam practice model. We have to use this as the weapon cannot be dry fired. To be difficult, let's use your left forearm. Pull up the sleeve, its expansile." The apparatus was strapped into place. "With the implant, you will gain about a tenth of a second." After numerous dry runs, the Major trialed the light beam model on the full tactical range. He then trialled his right forearm and came to a decision, "Right side primary, with service pistol in cross draw." The Armourer produced a service cross draw holster exchanging it for the hip holster. They then departed to the Sick Bay to get the implant. There followed a somewhat leisurely lunch and then back to the range. The Major departed late in the day carrying a loaded right sleeve pistol, a case containing five of the weapons, the red practice model, a packet of implants with instructions and his PGS uniform in a carry-on. The ammunition was already in the pinnace. "You are now one of us, Sir, and you will be correctly uniformed. You can contact me direct on you PDA with this link. A pleasure working with you, Sir." No one asked if the Major changed into his PGS in the pinnace. ------- Chapter 5 Polack had his stick in his hand about to insert it into the lock and the door opened to its full extent. He smiled at the short thin brown man standing facing them, "Barati, I'll beat you yet." The brown face split into an excreta eating grin which said 'in your dreams, bossman, in your dreams'. He took their forage caps and was murmuring a quiet "Welcome, Commodore." as a duo of energetic children exploded about either side of him and impacted into Polacks legs with cheerful voices not quite yelling "Hello, Daddy" "Hello Uncle Polack". Polack lifted the boys giving them each a hug. "Thank you, Uncle Aggy, for the puzzle set, I have got a few of them out" said the smaller boy blowing a raspberry at his friend "more than Gus-gus has." "I put your tribike back when you pulled it to pieces" replied that worthy. "Stop it, you pair, back to the school room." said Trudie. The boys threw their arms about Polack's and their friend's head planting sloppy kisses on Polack's cheeks, wriggling down to the floor and ran back the way they came. Aggy noted that Gus didn't run ahead of his smaller friend. Almost to himself, Aggy spoke as the Kowalskis embraced in greeting, "Sabajhi is just four and Gus nearly six? Isn't Sabajhi a bit young to be in school?" Turning her head from her husband's while still dangling from his neck, Trudie said with just the slightest tinge of scorn, "That is Cowboy's son you are talking about, isn't it? My son's progress makes me proud of him but little Sabajhi is scary. Schoolroom? We couldn't separate them — they set up a howling match to see who could out howl the other. Any way, what brings you, Aggy; this isn't an occasion?" By this time Trudie was walking to the Sitting Room hand in hand with her husband and they arranged themselves about the small table upon which Barati had placed a tea service with biscuits. McCock considered Trudie and then started "Polack has a couple of leave days.I have business at the Palace and I thought I might spend the night and spend some time with the boys." Trudie searched McCock's features, cocked an eyebrow and asked "You're not going to tell me are you?" "'Oath, Trudie. You do have a suspicious mind." Trudie accepted that and began serving the tea. They chatted about inconsequential things enjoying the friendliness. An hour later, school was out and the boys exploded through the doorway with Gus leaping onto his father's lap and Sabajhi onto McCock's but it didn't take long for the boys to get restless. "Boys, take them out to the court and throw some balls around for a while. I'll call you for dinner" said Trudie. The boys leapt to the floor, grasped the adults' hands, and, yelling cheerfully, dragged them out the door. As the noise disappeared in the distance, Trudie buzzed for an attendant, and when she appeared, gave instructions for the evening meals and the sleeping arrangements. The boys played enthusiastically; the men were in very good condition and for them this was a light work out but extremely pleasurable because of the boys' enjoyment. The sun was well declined when the attendant informed the males that cleaning up for dinner was required. With only slight disappointment, the boys trooped inside chattering away with the attendant in her native tongue. While the men donned their jackets and gazed abstractedly at the work in progress on the mansion behind "The Residence", McCock asked Polack "What language is that and where did you get your attendants from?" The men followed the boys indoors. "Ghorkhali" answered Polack "Their tribe got pushed out of a mountain country on Old Earth after a revolution destabilized the government. The loyalist fragment fled and migrated to space. There are colonies in the high mountains here and on Amiranti so when Augustus wanted security for Trudie, his lot contacted our lot and the rest happened. Papa Gus swears that he is paying for only twenty males but he admits each man brings his wife and kids; but only them. I don't know, but I snapped a vid of a gathering, unbeknownst to them, and there are eighty nine male noses I counted. I do know the little men are everywhere and I'll swear I am stepping on the females wherever I put my feet. Honest and loyal to a fault, scrupulous with us, but with others... ? You have got to look to your educational books though; when they borrow them you will get them back but you had better believe 'worn out'. MUSC library actually complained, reluctantly. It appears that one borrows the text and the whole lot read it. They exercise very hard and when I spar with them I win most times but only because of my size; but I think Barati isn't quite as not good as he makes out. The only times I've seen them playing is with the boys in the junior simulators and they are very hard goers." The men had walked to the fresher, leisurely tidied up and Polack continued, "Trudie told me a funny last leave, oh, about five weeks ago, now. Seems the boys were playing in the simulators and she heard an almighty row coming from there; she races up the stairs to the playroom very closely followed by Barati and a couple of male and female attendants. She swings into the doorway about to demand an explanation and she sees two of the younger attendants standing rigidly at attention looking as if they are frightened to breathe; and there is Sabajhi, just up to their waists, glaring up at them obviously tearing strips off them in Ghorkhali, with Gus standing at his shoulder fuming. Barati steps past Trudie and calls "Sahib", Sabajhi stops and faces him and Barati half bows. Sabajhi nods and Barati starts cracking orders and doubles the young men out ... Trudie asks for an explanation. Sabajhi stands tall and tells her that it is finished; and the boys go back to the simulator. Trudie gets Barati and demands answers. Barati gives that grin of his and explains that the boys got annoyed when those two lost because they weren't working hard at the game and the boys took them out. Barati expressed admiration at the telling off and said he was immensely amused by Gus's pithy comment which of course he wouldn't tell Trudie because it was mens' business. Trudie says Barati escaped before she got her breath back. She was really pissed." By this time, the men had returned to the sitting room where they found Trudie had been joined by 'Mina Denholt and Sally McGraw and were told Diana and Shelly were expected momentarily. After an enjoyable meal which had a definite oriental influence therein, over coffee, the conversation roamed over events in the Kingdom, the Alliance and beyond impressing McCock at the amount of intelligence gathered by this group and the opinions and assessments made; but as he sat and considered this he realized he should not be surprised In a break in the conversation, McCock casually asked Trudie, "What's happening with that mansion I saw from the court? I only ask because you don't seem to have a fence, only a group of cottages. I'd venture that is a security risk and you value your privacy." Sally was fortunate that McCock's attention was on Trudie otherwise her startled look would have raised his curiosity enormously. Trudie observed that the cottages housed the attendant's families with the two sheds housing the segregated older youths and maidens. To McCock's raised eyebrows, with a shrug, she went on to tell him that was the way the attendants wanted it. Further conversation was halted by the arrival of the nanny and the boys, hair licked down and freshly scrubbed, for what was the pre-bed ritual. The boys each received a hug and a buss on the cheek from the olders and McCock followed suit; except that Sabajhi tugged on his sleeve and asked "Uncle Aggy, will you read us a story?" Their mothers nodded approval and McCock rose from his chair saying "I'll turn in after I'm done with this pair; I've got some coms to send and an early start on the morrow. Goodnight, all." Sabajhi explained as the boys got comfortable in their beds, "One of us asks the adult and the other chooses the story" he then giggled saying "it doesn't truly matter 'cause we like all the adults and all the stories." Gus pointed at an ancient thick dogeared volume of paper pages. McCock opened it at the mark and began reading at the beginning of a chapter; he had read over two chapters when the nanny made a soft sound, took the book from him, shooed him out and silenced the protests with a stern look. McCock retired to his room and as he placed his clothing and footwear on the valet, he mentally composed the com he wanted to send. He placed his PDA, sleeve pistols and his pockets' contents on the bedside table, entered the com on the PDA and sent it. He moved the valet to the suite's ante room for the attendants to deal with and then walked to the ensuite; cleaned up, he moved to the bed. "Get into bed, Aggy, I've waited a long time" said Sally, holding the bedclothes up for him to slide in alongside her. ------- Chapter 6 "Giant" had hove to in the upper part of the epsilon hyperspace band. Captain Felix Arburthson had ever so carefully manoeuvred her to this position on the cosmos side of the Mountserrat system which sat in the outer edge of the Orion Cygnus arm of the Milky way. He had direct coms with his Commodore and his Captain D; in fact, Aggy and his Flock were on the bridge of HMS "Infamous". He had TQO "Shriek" in company and there was a wide circle of UVAs around them. His vessel's two UVAs were hovering alongside. Felix sighed, banished mental pleas to his mother, and ordered "Pilot, take U41 up and out as planned." "Up and out, aye, Sir." The pilot visibly shook herself deeper into her command chair and began moving her controls. The screens showed U41 moving into the distance on its thrusters First Officer who was monitoring both the Tac and the EW positions called "TEW has U41 TX on all units. Outer UVAs report signals distorting, Sir." "Mark" Felix ordered. Pilot called "Turbulence, Sir. Slight but increasing." called Pilot. "TEW shows outer UVA signals moderately distorted but readable, "Giant's" signal marginal distortion only, its not really much changed at all, Sir." "Turbulence decreasing, Sir." "Mark." "Turbulence ceased and marked, Sir." grinned the pilot, "and the thrusters have stopped as planned." "How thick is the layer?" enquired Felix. "A touch over eleven thousand klicks, Sir; I would not want to run into that under power." observed the First Officer. As programmed, U41 used thrusters to heave to at a layer's thickness above the boundary layer and Pilot so notified her listeners. The thrusters' energy used in penetrating the layer and then stopping was recorded. "U41 to global active search one ping." "UVAs, "Giant" and "Shriek" report U41 TX" "Send up U42." McCock ordered the 'puter to assess the rebro TX strength from U41 and the screen showed strength four out of five. The 'puter could have calculated the ratio to Diety only knows how many decimal places but humans being humans ... McCock ordered the U41 rebro direct to "Infamous" excluding "Giant" and "Shriek" from that net. U42 was positioned one kay Perseus ward of U41 and was transmitting through U41's rebro to "Infamous"; U42 was then despatched, by McCock, under thrusters towards Renmark sending continuous active TX. The craft in the epsilon band lost it because of refraction. These data were recorded for later calculation of the refractive index. Both U41 and U42 were recording visual star maps and sending the data down to the battle 'puter in "Infamous". U41 conducted a multi frequency mapping of the stars in its range. U42 did only visual frequency mapping as McCock wanted to keep U42's transmitted signal at its most powerful without having to divert power. The map obtained by U42 was the information carried by its signal. The plan was for the U42 TX to change to pure tone FTL if it weakened at the receiver, U41, which would then transmit the instruction for U42 to change. The rate of change of signal strength was being recorded for later attempts to calculate velocities in hard space. Thrusters were stopped on U42 after an initial fifteen minute burn. Both UVAs recorded no detectable turbulence, stationary or when in motion; they both were detecting the boundary layer and this was used to keep U42 skimming along. U42 reported loss of Mountserrat's albedo (total radiation output of the planet). The signal strength was weakening and was nearly at the point of changing to pure tone, when U42 reported an albedo and that revervse thrust was in use. Not knowing the delay of signal in hard space, U42's 'puter was programmed that reverse thrust would be activated upon detection of an albedo. At sixty nine minutes, U42 reported stationary over the albedo source and the signals from it were being transmitted to U41 and retransmitted by it to "Infamous". McCock, Slow, Denny and Polack were the only ones on "Infamous's" bridge and they were showing a truly restrained tension while comparing U42's signal of the albedo with available records of Renmark's radiation envelope. The albedo radiation was a horrendous mixture of everything from the star's output to that of repetitious signals exactly one minute apart. After several hours of the 'puter separating, sorting and categorising the signal, Mc Cock was seriously thinking of ordering a lunch break. That idea evapourated when Polack jumped to his feet, pulled out his earbud, and shouted at full power from that barrel sized chest, "Bewdymatebewdy!" The others turned to stare at his demented return to his console; much pushing of buttons, scrolling of images on his screen, manoeuvring of the pointer and then, with that taunting excreta eating grin of his, he slumped in the command couch, rotated to face them and triumphantly pushed a button. Over the bridge tannoy came the clipped dulcet tones of Yarragh. "Good morning! This is the cee bee cee, with the Cunningham Holding Home Service." Polack's grin had subsided to a quiet smile, "I think, well done all." Meanwhile, continuing with the protocol, "Shriek" was ordered through the layer. Lieutenant jg Algernon (Algy) Hardman, TQO, as Commander was a phlegmatic personality and wasn't interested in how he got to be there; he had researched the operation, discussed the parameters with the Commodore, and submitted his op-plan. Had he asked 'why me?', he could have been told 'Royal Command'; while that was not the absolute truth is was close enough. At that morning briefing, the Queen asked McCock if he had got a good night's sleep as he was looking a bit haggard while almost inhaling the Jamaican Blue. He had passed it off as 'sleeping in a strange bed' and then quickly went onto Operation Greenhouse planning. The Royal memory banks went into max boost and flagged a query as to which of the Nancarrows had been at "The Residence" last night. McCock had proposed Felix as Commander of "Shriek" only to be interrupted by his listener, "Aggy, confirm for me, please, that an armed cutter of that size is usually commanded by a senior NCO; let me go on; but "Shriek" has hyper capability and therefore requires the greater experience, say of a watch officer? Yes, good. You regularly crew her from trained spacers and junior officers?" McCock was forced to agree. The Queen had continued in tones of sweet reasonableness, "You will roster the crew of "Shriek" from the usual company, and if I find that you or any of the Flock went higher than the alpha bands, I'll permanently ground both you and the miscreant and post you to staff positions in my Palace. You do understand me, don't you, Commodore?" McCock did get her to relent slightly to allow Felix to command the operation, to McCock's great relief, as he needed an experienced officer commanding the safety ship and his other Grendels were tied up with other tasks like changing commands or readying for hyper space journeys with added bits. There was some clandestine finangling of rosters to get this crew for the operation. The Avers of TQO went decidedly po faced when they heard conversations about the lucky/unlucky selectees. They'd been around and there was their tribal knowledge. Otherwise Her Majesty had approved. As he departed, she had commented that the Jamaican Blue seemed to have improved his appearance and advised him to ensure he got a good night's sleep in future. So, hence Algy. "Shriek" came past "Giant" from galactic centre side, dead slow under sail, furling sails as she passed, using thrusters to further slow and then point her up through the layer. The vibrations from the translation had the crew reaching for the vomit seal bags which Algy to his disgust filled. Three others did the same with the other two looking very green. They had no time to be miserable as there was the unmistakable sound of metal letting go. That there was a sound ruled out an explosive decompress and as the skin suit valves hadn't shut, there was not a major breach of integrity. (Algy had insisted on full skinsuits for the translation.) Clearing the suit internal face-mask and forcing his nausea down, Algy ordered reverse thrusters stopping "Shriek". "Guns help Engineer to hold us steady and find out the damage; Tac EW, where are we?" "Guns, Sir, hove to, enviro holding, still looking." "Tac, Sir, I think we are about fifteen thousand clicks away from U41. I don't know how close to the layer we are as I have nothing of it. I'm going over my tapes and the gyros had the thrusters working hard keeping us stable, relatively speaking, that is." ""Giant", "Shriek"." ""Giant". Go." ""Shriek" we are through with some damage we are still looking for. Hull seems intact. We've got U41. Wait. Tac says we've got you but the calculations do not 'pute.Over" ""Giant". "Infamous's" 'puter places you fifteen kay from U41, and nineteen kay off the layer. Can you thrust over to U41? Over" ""Shriek". That's our next party trick. Wait." Algy turned to his Tac "Tac, put the bouncing red ball onto helm's screen; helm follow it; Engines, turning thrusters to helm please, and manoeuvring speed only. Let's try it." "Helm, she answers aye, Sir; I have forward speed. She is very flighty, and very easy to overcorrect." Tac at this point overrode the helm to begin reverse thrust and she apologised "Sorry Sir; sorry Tony, I'd set the move up on the 'puter as a complete trip and the 'puter sprang a red flag. Things are very more responsive out here. I'd suggest that we let the let the 'puter use the references and make the moves; hand controls are far too coarse. Ah, Sir? We are hove to at about five only klicks off U41; LIKE THAT IS SO CLOSE!" "Agree with that one." Rejoined Algy and opened the com "Ah "Shriek" we are hove to about five klicks off U41, over." "Algy, don't do that again! I had the power up and was about to shift U41 when you stopped; I was sure you were going to collide. The thrusters were spectacular and when you went to reverse, you shrouded U41; no report of damage but we had to use micro thrust to hold position. More to be studied. Algy, U41 visual shows you have an alpha node cocked up at the rear forty five degrees and probably slightly twisted. Over." ""Shriek". Sorry about that, we didn't appreciate how fast we were moving; Engines says she barely cracked the valve. I'll get an EVA to look at the node before I do anything else. Clear." ------- Chapter 7 The EVA was done by the book with two out on separate tethers and a third suited in the boat bay. Algy was concerned about having half his complement unavailable but not overly so as "Shriek" wasn't scheduled for any thing until her damage was assessed and "Shriek" could be 'handled' by two; just. Guns with Helm clumped across the hull on either side of the line to the damaged alpha node from the bay, tying off as they went. Guns went to his knees peering at the node and its seat. When satisfied, he rose to his feet to allow Helm access, "Yours, Tony." "Ta, Spec." and after having his good look, he sat back on his heels and looked up at his standing companion, "The port bolt on the securing strap was stress fracturing, I see the smooth surface, then the bolt shaft failed. I think the node then began working and the strap began flexing at the other bolt; the working intensified and the node lifted and twisted but only far enough to jam itself under the forward rim with the strap holding the aft end. Would have broken loose in more vibration eventually, say three more seconds." "I wouldn't even guess at a time, but generally I agree," laughed Spec, "did you get that, boss?" "And recorded," responded Algy, "now will you pair get on with it and tidy up my ship?" As Spec went to his knees across from Tony, he laughingly said "Satan's teeth, the slave drivers who gets command these days." and to Tony, "You tie a clamp to that free edge while I get this bolt out." He then applied his multitool to the bolt, adjusted the force setting and applied power. It was fortunate Spec was holding onto the strap because the bolt head sheared off. Tony noticed "Lucky that!" and got the falsely bright response, "Nah, just good planning." The strap and the bolt head went into the side bag; the node was worked free with some difficulty despite the men being able to brace against cleats and then tied over Tony's back to leave his hands free. The pair then separated walking away from each other around the remaining alpha nodes applying a multitool rotation to each bolt head as per sop. They retreated, met again and returned to the boat bay. "Infamous" had been aware of events, and McCock called a halt to continuance of the plan. He ordered "Shriek" to return under thrusters to the epsilon, "Giant" to take her as deck cargo and retrieve all but one of the epsilon UVAs to her boat bay (her armed cutter was in the hold of R1). "Giant" to return to Mountserrat n space, strip the 'puters in the UVAs and come alongside "Infamous" where "Shriek's" crew with all tapes and Felix with his tapes to repair on board. UVAs to be placed in "Infamous's" boat bay and "Giant", if necessary under her XO, to move to R1, dismount "Shriek" for repair and a very careful examination, and replace her own cutter in the boat bay. Events went smoothly; the full Flock were joined by "Shriek's" crew in "Infamous's" deserted Admiral's quarters and the debriefing began with "Shriek's" part. The voyage under her own power from the anchorage to the epsilon was covered on the tapes backed up by the recollections of the crew. All were satisfied that it was uneventful. The time spent hove to in the epsilon was then cleared. The manoeuvring into the boundary layer was very closely examined and cleared. The tape of the layer journey had just started when Polack stopped it. Under the collective gaze of the others, he manipulated the sensitivity for the width of the lines for each parameter, finally going back to an output of a forward sensor antenna. He sat back and restarted the tape. All eyes were on that tape and particularly on the wide line which developed increasingly irregular edges which seemed to reach a crescendo, as Algy put it, "Just about the time I filled my bag." Polack then went back to the manoeuvring tape and with the increased sensitivity of the line there was a demonstrated flicker; he went further back to the departure from the anchorage and the flicker was present. He explained, "I noticed a flicker on that line just at entry into the layer. It proved to be a record of the node's failure; I don't know what that actually records but it is a response to vibration in that node. Going back shows a progressive failure of that bolt with sudden failure under the stress of the boundary layer at that entry velocity. We're going to have to go back to the logs to get the batch number for those bolts and look at the lot of them under xray. That means all the node bolts — it will be easier to xray a higher sample of new bolts and replace the old which can then be examined at leisure. Hugh should get the information as well." Algy thoughtfully put an idea forward, "Traversing the boundary in a horizontal movement; might diminish the vibration and minimise how far you get thrown. We know a UVA which went up horizontally and is much smaller did not really get thrown about much at all. Certainly, velocity is very important as seen from the histories." "Yes," nodded Slow, "diving in as opposed to lowering in and size does matter, I think." "Polack, pass the word to R1, please" said McCock, and turning to "Shriek's" crew, "Thank you, find the Bosun and you'll find rations in the Boat Bay. I am vexed that "Infamous" is manned by only an anchor watch so things are all ends up." Algy and company departed to be met by the Bosun who had come up to meet them. The Flock made themselves comfortable again with filled bulbs. McCock recapped, "We know we can reliably and safely traverse the epsilon boundary but it reminds me of the very old maxim; 'Aviation, in itself, is not inherently dangerous, but like the sea, it is as terribly unforgiving of any carelessness, incapacity, or neglect'." "In other words" said Denny "Murphy lives." which earned chuckles all round. McCock continued, "We don't know why "Shriek" couldn't locate the layer and the Us could. Cosmic radiation is insignificant for stationary vessels in the short term and at an unknown velocity cosmic radiation did mark U42 but not cause damage; higher velocities and longer duration will have an effect which will require shielding but need possibly lower power than we normally use in lower layers. Transmission through the boundary layer is a function of densities and thus distance; refraction and critical angles are and have already proven to be a problem but more information for and from the 'puters should alleviate this. This raises a major problem. To get the best out of a 'puter, as Polack so beautifully demonstrated, requires the right questions to be asked and we don't know them." He sighed in remembrance "Cowboy would have..." Then he grinned, "Subajhi junior will from what little I've seen but we can't wait for him. We need a mathematician; who will keep his mouth zipped. Harryfor Avers is going to Renmark with Uncle Rupert as passenger ostensibly to explore another Royal Visit. While I'm organising Rupert, I'll ask advice on the math's expert. We have instantaneous communication with U42 which is probably 'on top' of Renmark. I have just had a brain flash. Does Yarragh have com satellites? Is their capital, Morrisberg?, in its upper or lower hemisphere? Don't know, play it as comes. Moving outward through the layers from the disc has realised exponential increases in performance for all modes in the layer and the move to hard space is no exception. Of course, currents and tidal flows have had a significant effect within the layers but that works both ways. We have just over one hour transit time to Renmark with an absolutely minimal power burn. That is only going to slightly benefit a fission pile but there is a relatively huge benefit for reaction mass power. Slow, Polack, thank you for straightening me onto the true point of this, hard space was what I should have been into from the first. I would have lost time playing in hyper which was really the fallback position. We have a lot to think about so meet here again in three days? Suit?" Slow raised her valid point, "Aggy, I don't want you to think I want you out of "Vector" because you will micromanage me..." "No, we can't think that of our leader" snorted Denny. Slow disregarded him, "When you get this mausoleum crewed, you should be here." "I have thought on it. I'll consider it. Now a developing idea I'd like to share..." The Flock joined the others in the Boat Bay, started on the rations while they waited for their rides. McCock filled his bulb, and fixed the Bosun with the fish eye, "Bosun, let's walk in the bay." They paced the Boat Bay with McCock starting the conversation, "An anchor watch, Bosun? Please explain my problem." The Bosun collected his thoughts knowing that this flag officer had the ear of the Sovereign and he didn't really want to get a shore posting to stores in Raffles or some other Diety forsaken out post of the Kingdom. Time for truth. "When the word went out that Scott was going to the Puzzle Palace and 'Sniffy' was going to TQO, the REMFs in Home Fleet, without telling The Lady, posted out the HAC squadrons to replace HF losses. Being exposed to the most recent operational experience made the crew valuable and Captains called in many favours to exchange their deadheads for the experienced crew here. 'Sniffy' didn't have a high ranking officer to protect her after Scott and Carlton went. The vultures didn't waste any time. When we hove to here after a journey I'd rather not repeat, I got the Coxswain and we went through the watch and manning bill and picked out the good ones. I took a trip to the Puzzle Palace and met up with an old student of mine. Sally McGraw. I'm told you and she are old shipmates in the "Shriek". I was her instructor on her coxswain course. We had a drop for old time's sake and I put the problem to her and my solution with the reasons. Sally's a good sort and had a word with Sir Laurence. They agreed this crew had to go and accepted my anchor watch. The word is that its your decision on my idea on manning 'Sniffy'. There is a little bit of resentment in Andrew that only 'Georgies' crew TQO. That was because of the circumstances and that's why there is so little resentment. But it will build. My idea is that you bring a nucleus of your people over here. We train then intensively. You call for volunteers from RMN who are on the beach on Mountserrat, and there are a lot of good people there, survivors but no ships. You'll be able to take the best and there are many wounded coming back that the vultures have been looking at but who aren't yet cleared for duty. Train them up and then select the ones you want — the others will probably be snapped up — and spread them throughout your squadron. The cox'n and I have been posted to Sandhurst as Boathandling Instructors effective end of training your cadre. You might include the anchor watch in your choice." The Bosun had indeed given McCock food for thought admitting that having only 'Georgies', as the Bosun called them, had not entered his conscious thoughts. They paced for a few more turns each with his own thoughts. The call to clear the Boat Bay to allow entry of pinnaces put an end to their pacing and McCock nodded at the Bosun and said, "Í'm seeing Her Majesty tomorrow on another matter and I'll put your idea." ------- Chapter 8 "Aggy, is it your coming to see me? Both recent times you look as if you spent the night carousing rather than sleeping in your bed. Oh, that's it, you were overnighting at "The Residence". I shall have to speak with Trudie about your comfort." 'It wasn't the bed' he thought 'it was Nan. How did she know I was coming? I came unannounced and there she was at Dinner; and later... ' He shook himself mentally, inhaled the cup of coffee and reached for a refill. The Queen continued, "I shall have to get coffee mugs for this office; my Space Lords and my otherwise admirable First Lord all reach for refills after virtually inhaling their first cup. Now that my coffee seems to have revived you, what is it?" McCock briefed his Sovereign on the events of Operation Greenhouse and was subjected to a Regal inquisition regarding "Shriek" At the completion of the brief and the subsequent plan of events, he was asked, "And what do you plan for "Shriek's" crew after "Greenhouse?" McCock mentally patted himself on the back for predicting that one; "Hardman for TQO's "Crusher" and the crew for TQO's Officer Training; all their efficiency reports had recommended them so it will be just an acceleration." "Poor things; you know Carlton is dining out on his tales of his "Crusher". I don't know if he has forgiven me yet. Informing the Emperor and the Lord Protector?" ""Grendel" with a message from you and of course, dispatches from the Admiralty; of course the relationship between the family has been considered in the choice of Kowalski. I'm telling Polack to push the personal relationship to get a one on one with Papa Gus, spring Greenhouse on him and let him choose his confidants. I suspect von und zu Reiperbahn. In your Personal to Augustus you could emphasise the importance of the one on one and Polack can describe the system and get permission to put up U91. 'Uncle Rupert' in "Gorgon" on a low level visit to discuss a return visit by the Lord Protector; it will never happen, he's near as you can get to an absolute ruler. Major Logan accompanied by Sergeant Whittle will hand deliver your Personal and the PDA. Choice of "Gorgon"? New Captain, an opportunity to shake him down. GmBH tell me that Yarragh have UVA and perhaps their government might spring to use some as planetary satellites. Millicent Utah tells me they don't have them because there is not the need for the smaller population which hasn't spread that much. I have found out that both Amranti's and Yarragh's capitols are in their magnetic northern hemispheres; its just that Yarragh's north pole is discward and U42 is cosmosward. Lord Protector can link that way to U42 which is sitting over his south pole. 'Shaking Down'..." McCock then put the "Infamous's" problem and the rather high handed action of the NCOs in getting rid of that crew but a talk with Sally had revealed that Sir Laurence had taken the opportunity to clean them out of RMN; well ninety eight percent of them, the Bosun had let a few slip past him. The Queen enlightened McCock, "The exclusiveness of 'Georgies' was a concern which waved at me from time to time. This will solve your difficulties?" "No, Your Majesty. It won't. We still have effectively a hulk until I get it manned and also get my HAC elements. I can't get the return of the squadrons we had without causing an almighty row which will probably end up on your desk and leave a horrendous residual resentment. I will probably be able to obtain squadrons of middle level competence and experience — your RMN Officer Corps is reasonably even handed and will think they have the better end anyway. I have been examining the role of the HACs and I see the HAC as a small warship and it should be used in that role. They are effective in the anti missile role but I have wondered if..." McCock then went on to detail his thoughts upon which he was fiercely interrogated by his Sovereign who transformed before his eyes into the Commanding Admiral. "Seek out 'Uncle Rupert' and tell him of your plans for him. Otherwise keep yourself busy until I com you; plan on staying planetside overnight. Give Sir Humphrey the details of "Infamous's" NCOs as you go out." Elizabeth made a com from memory and as the link was made, "Good morning, Virginia, I have a task for Scott and Carlton to game on your simulators. They are coming over from the Admiralty for a briefing and out to your estate. No, I wont tell you; at least until I've got more information and keep your talons out of Scotty and Victor. Thank you and don't bother my First Lord, he doesn't know either; yet." The second com was to her First Space Lord, "Sir Thomas, I need Scott and Carlton stat; I want an op plan gamed; see, I have learned the terms and I won't tell you what for just now and it won't alter your resources any more at present except for the loss of the day for those two. My office. ASAP. Thank you, Tom, and apologise for me to Milligan." The third link was to GmBH; she did have to refer to her PDA for that one as it was not a usual link, "Hugh? I believe you know an old shipmate of mine, in fact he was my cox'n, Alan? I have been talking to a mutual acquaintance who told me of a small biting insect. He tells me you have investigated its physiology and have some new details. I am doing some research on its nest. Would you send the insect's c.v. to Uncle Silas. He's has it now? Very efficient. I'll speak to him now, thank you very much indeed. Good Morrow to you." "Admiral Rowan, Hugh Avers says you have the specs on Aggy's latest project. There are two? Isn't he a busy beetle? Can you go PDA with them? I'm good here; its down. Thank you. Oh, I'm having Scott and Carlton game it with a view to using them on "Infamous" and keep that close, mind you. We can use her for the test squadron. Thank you, Good day." The fifth link was back to the Admiralty, "Sally, go through the records of all the people on the beach and those coming off injury. I want the best of them for "Infamous"; include the present anchor watch, no, not those two, they did go a long way outside channels and I can't let them get away with that, but I agree with the Sandhurst College postings to take some sting out of it. Now let me tell Sir Laurence and I'll let him tell you what you have to organise." "Sir Laurence, good morning. Now why do you sound suspicious? As the "Infamous" is coming into my personal service, I take a definite interest in her and seeing how you managed to empty her, you can fill her. Inasmuch, as it is to my personal service, bulk com your selections saying there are berths available in "The Queen's Own" pointing out that promotions will be limited and slow and they will have to swear to my person and my heirs. Also, Sally has the names of those two on "Infamous" going to Sandhurst, mark their records that at the end of a satisfactory posting they get their choice for their next posting. In due course, you'll receive notification of awards of a DSM. Thank you, Sir Laurence." Settling into the ground shuttle seat, Carlton was looking thoughtful. "You know we are the most senior HAC commanders left?" His companion turned towards him, tilted his head pensively, "I hadn't thought on it but you're correct; there are more senior officers in the department but they are all deck types and thinking about it, we are probably the last of the wave after the 'Sniffy's' first; are any 'Sniffy' originals left? I hadn't realised what a dangerous game we volunteered for. I think I'm going to have a discussion with Red on this because it does raise the whole question of our cost effectiveness and just what role we should be playing. I think Aggy has got it right, and, I don't think even he appreciates the full implications. My head hurts thinking about it. Victor, you know you think too much?" They sat in companionable silence until the Palace. They were quickly escorted in to Her Majesty's office where they were introduced to McCock's proposition, given the "Gnat's" specifications, told to wargame the idea on the Cunningham simulators, form an opinion within six hours and return. Somewhat dazed they found themselves back in the shuttle heading for the Cunningham Estate. "Satan's teeth, where does that woman get her energy?" complained Carlton. "Shut up and read!" After the departure of Scott and Carlton, the Queen sat back for several moments relaxing in her office seat. Coming to a decision, she used her PDA to link "The Residence" and had a free flowing conversation with Trudie. With an exchange of courtesies, the Queen broke the link, briefly smiled in recollection, looked at the Red Boxes, sighed, and linked her PDA to the bottom one. ------- Chapter 9 Scott and Carlton had discussed the role of the Gnat and decided that the raw specifications were not enough. To gain a better insight, a duel between a later model HAC in the anti missile role and the Gnat would probably give a baseline. Having more time in HAC command, Scott would take the HAC and representing the newbies, Carlton, the Gnat. This command structure would best represent the actual initial condition at the introduction of the Gnat. They quickly set up two simulators and Carlton undertook a short familiarisation sortie 'in' the Gnat. Scott 'joined' in and the two sparred to give Carlton a comparison. By agreement, the tempo was increased by Carlton with Scott matching his intensifying efforts. After a quick discussion on their findings to then, they went into full dog fight mode. Game on! The scenarios were frighteningly rapid and lethal. The attack was the twin laser weapons on the Gnat against the defence by the HAC's shields. The Gnat's defense was its manoeuverability not having shields or armour to speak of; it was to be manned in EVA suit. The HAC's point defense weapons was its attack but they had great difficulty acquiring and holding the miniscule target; the Gnat massed five tonnes and any hit totally destroyed her. The Gnat primary twin laser was effective against HACs but would not be called destructive as survivability of the HAC behind its shields was good. The Gnat carried twelve very efficient hunting rockets which were fire and forget with a high probability of hits. The rockets were upgraded models of those presently in service on the UVAs and KeyHACs. The FAFs would damage an unshielded HAC and could destroy it if 'lucky'. The scenario was changed to the anti missile role. The FAFs were destructive of the less manoeuvrable missiles; IF they could lock onto the missile. The twin lasers were destructive if a hit was achieved on the missile. The Gnat had some all round detection but the hunting rockets were restricted by having to rapidly acquire the target before the link to the Gnat's battle 'puter was broken. If the Gnat wasn't otherwise occupied, say evading incoming, then it could guide the FAF onto the target but an enemy was probably not going to be that thoughtful at the knife range of the weapons. The missiles' countermeasures were not quite ineffective against the Gnat; their CW had been designed for longer range, longer time frames and different methods of attack. The two pilots broke it up and cleared the simulators of all record of their work; the Queen had been specific about that. They discussed the simulations and began working on their report as they shuttled back to the Palace. McCock had found Major Logan. He was outside the storage shed of the 'open' range at the "Queen's own Regiment" from whose ranks PGS were usually drawn and who backed up the PGS when required. With him were five PGS troopers. They were all in work dress with a sleeve rolled up and a sleeve pistol strapped to the exposed forearms. They were gazing at a collection of twisted metal pieces at their feet. Major Logan made the introductions and explained the bits, "We just put Sergeant Whittle through the tactical walk using ten of the numerous targets available. They randomly expose so that no shooter will know where one will pop up. The shooter walks the range which is a mixture of town and country taking about fifteen minutes. He usually has about ten targets but its not consistent so the shooter doesn't know he is done until he passes the no-fire line. But we have a small problem here; after one of these rounds hits the target we can't use it again." pointed at the twisted metal and went on, "that's seven plates, the other three we cant find and before you say it, he hit them; the electronic scorer recorded them but then indicated target malfunction. This will be a cause of concern for HM as I think she will not like to have her subjects splattered with body bits while we are saving her life. Peculiar people, Royalty." McCock smiled beautifically at him and produce a sleeve pistol magazine, "Have you any gel body targets which you can armour?" "Over in the fifty metre shed." was the response and Sergeant Whittle led the party towards it. McCock indicated to the Major to fall behind, "Expect to be ordered to "Gorgon" in one or two days time for your jaunt to Yarragh. Don't look so concerned, the trip is in hyper; we haven't done enough work yet in hard space for manned trips there. HM will brief you when you receive the Message." "What do you want done with these, Sir?" asked the Sergeant of McCock. "Put them in front and back armour and then place them anywhere on the range." The troops quickly placed the gel torsos in the armour, put them down the range and then retired behind the firing line. Several troops moved about the firing line readying for live fire. McCock pointed to the Sergeant and the magazine changed hands to be inserted into the Sergeant's sleeve pistol. "We know you can hit the target so you should be able to demonstrate. I'd suggest one round into each and then we can examine the effects." Major Logan performed the duties of Range Officer and the Sergeant fired a projectile into each target. Once the sleeve pistol was retracted, the party moved forward to inspect the targets. A two finger hole was in each of the front plates but there was no exit wound in the back plate. The gel had disintegrated and rested in a puddle as the armour cuirass was lifted. There were no marks on the inside of the back plate. "Master Chief predicted that" commented McCock, and in response to a tilted head and raised eyebrow, went on, "he ever so casually cornered me in the Boat Bay and, apropos of nothing, gave me a lecture on bullet projectiles. It appears there are three types, ball, explosive and specials of various categories..." There were various derisory sounds heard in the vicinity which McCock scorned to notice; "he went on that the range of the three in the sleeve pistols was roughly the same. However if a body got in the way, the range of the ball was diminished some what by the impact effect but otherwise keeps going; you saw that on those metal targets. The explosive round impacts and this initiates relatively slowly the explosion so that the centre of the explosion is theoretically in the centre of the body. The ceramic round disintegrates into tiny fragments after impact. You just fired the ceramics. He did sound a bit annoyed that no one had informed him of the tasking. He suggested that you have a yippee shoot, whatever that is, get rid of all other types of ammo and indent from him some ceramic rounds. There's my shuttle, I have to go, a good day to you all." Scott and Carlton were ushered into the Office, braced briefly, Scott said "Your Majesty," pointed at the coffee and asked, "By your leave?" and, at the Sovereign's Royal Nod and Wave, went on " we cleared the staff out so no catering." The pair produced and filled bulbs with the restorative and imbibed deeply as they settled into the indicated chairs, "Your Majesty, Commodore; the Gnat is a very small, fast, extremely agile, unarmoured, relativelt heavily armed attack craft. It has a one man crew who is to be protected by an EVA hard suit as the craft has no shields. It is effective but not destructive in an anti HAC role and destructive in an anti missile role. Its primary weapon, twin barrel fixed laser cannon are effective against HAC and destructive of missiles with the disadvantage that the craft has to be momentarily pointed at the target. The rockets have effectively a moderate off bore capacity; they are useless against the shields of a HAC but destructive of missiles. The battle computer has limited capability but we think it might cope. Any hit on this craft will result in total destruction. The endurance is limited but is probably in excess of the human pilot's physical limitations. Over all, we think it bodes well as a fleet outer anti missile defence and an economic substitute for HACs in that role at present." "You mean that I'll lose less spacers using this system than using HACs?" snapped the Queen, " ... I apologise Commodore Scott; that was discourteous of me." Peter Scott sat tall, knowing this, among other things, is what he got paid for, "Yes Ma'am, that is exactly what I mean. Two flights each of six Gnats will, in our opinion, perform the anti missile role of two flights each of four HACS. We estimate that six Gnats will be lost or three HACs damaged with twelve casualties; you temporarily lose the services of those HACs and the use of their crews, in addition to the cost of repairs. In the HACs, there will be four dead, two who will be medically discharged and four, after varying periods of treatment and rehabilition, will return to full service and two to shore duties. The cost of repairs to the damaged HACs will probably be half as much again, at least, of the cost of replacing the six Gnats. It is called the 'Butcher's Bill', Ma'am, and when it is fully itemised decisions can be made." "Thank you, Scotty; there isn't really any pleasant way to look at it. Aggy?" "I think we can do better than an EVA suit, even if only to make it more comfortable. We should be able to give a face plate a HUD, head's up display, and that I think would improve reaction times. Because I'm looking at smaller pilots, we can add more protection. and possibly free space flight capability in the suit. I don't know what advantage FSFC will give except to make me feel better." "Speaking from the bottom of the heap," Captain Carlton joined in, "Aggy, I agree. The thing is just a mobile point defense pod and FSFC will make the pilots feel just a little bit safer even if it is a mirage. It's called 'morale' and in this department, its critical!" "We are agreed? Captain Carlton, in addition to your duties allocated by Admiral Milligan, this is your baby. Liase with Admiral Rowan and GmBH for whatever craft exist into the berths on "Infamous" and get onto the improvements of the suits but hold on construction until you get the trainee pilots; "Infamous" is to mount the test squadron. In two days I'll have nice fresh raw civilians for pilot selection. I'm going to recruit them now. Scotty, Carlton, thank you; the shuttle will return you to the Admiralty. Brief only First, Second and Milligan. Aggy, I'll share the ride with you to "The Residence". Your Captains D have been informed. They both tell me they don't need you." ------- Chapter 10 McCock was entering the shuttle when he remembered. The Queen settled beside him and the PGS trooper closed the hatch and mounted next to the driver. They set off and McCock raised the matter, "Ma'am, what with the hard space work being done, the Flock are finding they are out of our depth with the very high level mathematics involved plus the demands of their command responsibilities don't leave enough time for research these days. I ask permission to approach MU for a mathematican, if one of them can pass security scrutiny." His Queen looked at him with a contemplative air, and then most un-royally gurgled, "You know, I have just the fellow for you. The Royal Astronomer. Every time the VC meets me he complains that Henry won't publish any research, gives the minimum lectures and doesn't do seminars and would I please un-appoint him. Meet him as see if the chemistry fits. One for you, now. You tell me the UVA, whatever the number is, detects Renmark's albedo and in that was embedded a news report? You are considering a UVA over Sol so I can talk with the ambassador? Good. Could we listen to news' stations on Sol?" "Yes, we can broaden the TX to the full bandwidth of the equipment. It really depends on what bands Sol broadcasts. We could, could please mark, either broaden the TX bands we have or perhaps new equipment. I would like to be convinced of the need as there is a limit of space; no there isn't, we can just strap it on the outside, but there might be a power limitation" explained McCock "There would be a lot of unnecessary material caught. How easy would it be to narrow the collection." "I think I see what you are getting at. Usually the Ambassador would do the filtering, but if he is neutralised, then we would have to choose what to select and then filter the TX to get anything useful. Thoreau might be helpful but a staff would be necessary and that raises security. A tap over Harbouria would be useful, but, I agree Sol first." The Queen nodded as the shuttle passed, slowing down, through "The Residence's" gate. The cortege drew up before the apartment block's entrance and the PGS troopers poured out of the accompanying shuttles taking up all round positions. A PGS Lieutenant, followed by an outraged Barati, appeared in the entrance and nodded to the trooper by the shuttle hatch. As the Queen emerged from the shuttle so did Trudie from the building entrance. Approaching the Queen, Trudie stopped and curtsied. "My, you did that so gracefully," the Queen managed to stifle a giggle. "I am a bit out of practice, Your Majesty" Trudie grinned in reply, and, falling into step alongside the Queen, muttered "She isn't here yet, about twenty minutes.' "Well, I can find something to occupy myself. Aggy, go do something useful; talk with Trudie." She smiled at them and shooed them off. Then, with an almost visible stiffening, her voice hardened, "Subedar Major Barati Norgay! A word, please! Walk with me!" Barati had automatically braced to attention, raising slight smiles on several troopers' lips, and he had blanched; still it was without hesitation that he fell in beside the Sovereign's left side and accompanied her through the grounds. "You wont tell me what that's all about, will you?" McCock asked Trudie. "Poetic justice, Aggy, poetic justice." Trudie smiled. They walked inside to the sitting room to partake of the ritual of 'Afternoon Tea'. 'Mina Denholt, already there, was the hostess. Over the next fifteen to twenty minutes, the three Nancarrow women arrived, followed by Diana Halliday and Shelly Indira. They were quietly casually chatting to be interrupted by the entrance of a PGS officer and trooper causing the assembly to stand to greet the Sovereign. After a long pause, she appeared in the door dismissing Barati with a nod of her head. The Queen advanced several steps into the room and an attendant ushered Gus and Sabajhi past her to stand off to the side. The boys rather clumsily bowed and the attendant, with a shy smile, dropped a curtsey. The boys looked confused. The Queen nodded at her PGS officer, who placed himself at her left hand while the trooper closed the door and stood with his back to it. "LtCdr Shelly Black Indira, Royal Mountserrat Navy; attend your Sovereign" ordered the officer. Shelly unhappily advanced and Mina and Trudie fell in on either side of her. "Tomorrow" the Queen started, "a Special Gazette is to be published recounting 119's recapture of Gorgipest. We, here, all know the details. In that Gazette are the awards for that action. I have agreed to a private presentation among our friends of this posthumous award for Cowboy's part in that action." The PGS officer had produced a simple scarlet leather box, opened it and held it for his Sovereign to remove the plain gunmetal Maltese Cross of the PMV on its neck ribbon. The Queen approached Shelly and placed the decoration about her neck and then embraced her; the Queen stepped back, looked directly into Shelly's eyes and said "Thank you." While the Queen got her own cup of tea, the others were\ surrounding and supporting Shelly. She noticed that McCock was seated with the boys, on foot stools, listening to him; the attendant stood behind them also listening attentively. The attendant spoke and the boys gave McCock a hug and as they left the room Gus Kowalski put his arm around his friend's, Sabajhi Indira jr, shoulder and held him close. "In the past, after Dinner," announced the Queen, "the Ladies were dismissed and the Gentlemen partook of their port and cigars. As there is only one mere male here, I exercise my prerogative to dismiss him. Aggy, you need to have a long talk with Barati; he is waiting for you." McCock felt Nan's hand upon his arm as he began to rise, "Erin has not yet returned." They looked at one another for a long moment. McCock turned to the Queen, smilingly bowed and said "Ma'am, I will bid you all a Good Evening as I am sure that Barati has a long list of questions for me." He turned and left. As the door closed, the Queen went on, "Right, now that he is gone, let's attend to ourselves and meet in the parlour." She led the dash to various parts of the house. "Caps in the corner and first names," Elizabeth decreed, and turning to the PGS Lieutenant, "and you can stand outside." She glared at him, daring him to object. That officer held his ground for thirty long seconds before shaking his head in resignation and letting himself out. Elizabeth told her listeners of the potential threat from Sol without giving the source, and "Probably, in the near future, we will have access to an horrendous volume of electronic output from Sol and possibly Harbouria. The quantity needs to be restricted to the faxes broadcasts, voice and vid. There should be a record of these newsfaxes' stations somewhere in Mountserrat. Ideas, girls?" "If not too much secrecy is involved," Nan Nancarrow started the discussion, "Foreign Office has those records but it would raise questions if I requested data for Sol from the Renmark desk." "The Public Library archives but they might not be as up to date." 'Mina suggested. "Marine and Navigation..." started Sally and then exclaimed "Thoreau." "Good, I'll contact Marcel, 'Mina scout the Library and Sally, Marine." Elizabeth allocated the tasks. "DNI would have that data" Diana stated. Elizabeth shook her head. Trudie raised a point "Many countries actually broadcast their parliamentary proceedings." "How did I forget that?" Nan was disgusted with herself; Renmark did. "Nan, I don't want to listen to my friends, ... or do I? No, that's what ambassadors are for," Elizabeth pointed out, "but neutrals?" She then looked around the Parlour and began to come to the core of her visit. "I need a facility where this information can be stored, no, that's not quite accurate. A facility to actually receive the downloads, a team to do the sorting and a panel to both oversee the sorting and to assess the nuggets in a timely fashion. In this room, I have a strong Admiralty presence with some operational service and much administrative and personnel experience; Foreign Office; Peerage, well, after a fashion which could be to our advantage, no, not pandering but certainly gossip and scandal — it's the slant that might be on the information that I need, Erin; business and finance, 'Mina; and government Trudie. You all have an overlap but those are your strengths." Trudie was almost bouncing out of her seat with excitement, "Elizabeth, I've got just what you want. Like you I was born to politics and even married to Polack, I've still got the urge to play the game. I can't of course but that didn't stop my resourcing information; it has been useful in the "Gaggle's" investments- well there is the Flock and we are the Gaggle..." there were snorts and moans which Trudie pretended she didn't hear, "Dama, that's Barati's senior wife, and I run a school for the attendents' children — we have tutors from outside as well — and as an exercise in 'puter work we have set up a current affairs' course. We have a cadre of eight young women who have stayed with it. The other older children have either got interested in the opposite sex, playing landsticks, or gone 'army barmy'. There is a strong military tradition in the culture and all the young are given self defence instruction with the boys going on to a land warfare course. Sorry, I got off the point. This group scours all information resources in Mountserrat covering this area of space and they are very good at assessing information. There's the cadre for the team. We are your panel, I'm Director of Intelligence..." and dissolved into giggles which caused smiles; and recovering, "because I'm always here; but it is rare that the others do not visit at least twice a week. Well, not the Nancarrows, but they'll be living next door in two weeks any way." "I meant to ask about that. What about a place to set up?" Elizabeth asked. "There are five apartments in this block," Trudie pointed out, "the others were for Aggy and Slow. Well Aggy is sorted out; poor fellow; so that's the place. The team is here in an already secure compound which is well known to all and sundry and we've already got an antenna dome on the roof and if need be, we have the Nancarrow roof." "Trudie, you are now the Director of the Queen's Intelligence and the first one who says anything I'll behead." Elizabeth laughed "Your initial salary is one credit a year but work out real salaries for the team. Hmmm, I'll have to take some of your attendants off your payroll but we can deal with that later." "There could be a problem, Elizabeth," Trudie hesitated " Papa Gus pays for them, well some of them." Trudie explained the payroll. "That's easily resolved," Elizabeth said quite firmly, "they are all on my ticket, but if Papa Gus wants to make a contribution towards your security, I'll take it." "Speaking as your Third Space Lord, Elizabeth, I do think you should bring Petra into this." submitted Diana. Elizabeth slowly replied "No, Diana. The security on this has to be restricted to as small a group as possible otherwise it becomes a status symbol. The information we will be looking at will be political anyway. This group is only this large because you have already existed as a tight knit group for some time and I am becoming so cold blooded about things that I'll take advantage of it; and on that rather negative note I'll leave. I have truly enjoyed the company. Good night, Ladies." ------- Chapter 11 The community hall was packed with male attendants. As this was also the dining hall, (and the school during the day) some females were tidying up in the kitchen and attending to the tea samovars and sweetmeats for the audience. Barati had addressed his menfolk informing them of the Queen's offer of enlistment in "The Queen's Own" for approximately fifty as pilots of an experimental spacecraft whose role was to be a part of a fleet antimissile defence. The risks were not inconsiderable and being wounded was not likely, it was life or death and nothing between. Groups of twenty volunteers, starting in the morning, would travel to the Naval Aviation Wing at RMN Academy for tests lasting the day; these would include a simulator exercise. He then asked Commodore McCock to further explain and answer questions. McCock briefly described the spacecraft and supplied more detail of the proposed tasks. He explained and described the living areas on "Infamous" and briefly described the ship board day. There were few questions. Barati told the assembly how the young Sahibs had obtained a list of call-signs from the playroom simulators with the highest scores first. If that man wanted to volunteer, please answer to his call sign. There was no answer to the first name and Barati's disappointment showed as he went on. There were answers to the next four callsigns and then another silence. The silences became more frequent as the list progressed. At twenty volunteers, McCock excused himself and headed back to the apartment block. He noticed movement at the female quarters and saw a group of females hurrying across to the community hall. He had barely further progressed when loud voices increasingly raised behind him told of a family disagreement. Having an interest in the matter, McCock was retracing his steps and saw the cottages apparently empty of the older females to descend upon the hall. The increased volume of sound and fury turned McCock back to his bed; his curiosity was rapidly lost at the thought of finding himself in the middle on an intertribal conflict divided along gender lines. In his suite preparing for bed, he realised that he had conflicting emotions about an awakened relationship with Erin. He appreciated the significance of Nan's message and then wondered why she had thought to give him such a message. When he examined the recent 'Nancarrow' events, he wondered what nefarious scheme was being hatched, how it involved him, should he stop going with the tide and would he be dropped into a bucket of it. McCock decamped early, more hurriedly when he noted the breakfast was not as tasteful as usual and that only male attendants were on view. As he entered his shuttle to take him to the Royal Observatory, he saw a cheerful group of Ghorkhali men clambering into a shuttle bus. The absence of the female attendants had not gone unnoticed. An embarrassed and evasive reply to Trudie's rather offhand query as to the location of the female attendants concentrated her attention more closely. To be told that Barati was involved on family business and was not available was not the most diplomatic response to a further question The image of the Memsahib, with steam rising from her upper body, fire issuing from her nostrils and eyes blazing, quickly convinced the junior male staff that this was a problem for the Majordomo. That worthy was torn; on the one hand he had tribal problems and on the other a very annoyed Memsahib whose anger, slow to rise, was explosive. He had female problems no matter where he turned. The Memsahib was unfortunately here and now. Barati entered the Memsahib's office, stood courteously in front of her, "Memsahib?" with the look on her face making him think perhaps this was the wrong choice. "Where are the women?" "They are returning to the home village, Memsahib." He noted the slow resolution of the Memsahib's features to completely neutral with an increasing trepidation. "It is up to you to settle your dispute, but if they are not back here by tomorrow sunset, you will face the Queen Empress for your explanation. You may go." Barati knew that the Memsahib did not make idle threats and facing his Sovereign's wrath, however she was involved in this, was the lowest on his list of possible pleasures. He arranged for a fast shuttle, instructed his Sebadar to undertake the Majordomo duties while he retrieved the women. They both expressed amazement that the Sovereign was taking an interest in such a trivial matter. They were not aware that the Queen through Trudie had an interest different to that which had precipitated the females' departure; that the Memsahib was not aware of the reason for the departure was fortunate for the Sebadar Major. "Don't bother to knock" was the advice given to McCock by the Porter at the Royal Observatory, "he never answers. Just open the door and go in." When he came to the door bearing the name plate baldly informing the reader that a "Bollinger" might be behind it, McCock did just that. He entered an office not much bigger than a clothes closet which was almost totally occupied by a normal sized desk and a gnome sitting behind it. The gnome continued to write using a stylus dipped from time to time in a tar coloured fluid. After some moments, McCock noticed a rather out of place balloon backed carver under a pile of documents; he removed the documents to the end of the desk, placed the carver opposite the gnome and sat in it. "Her Majesty declares you a curmudgeon and your VC wants to get rid of you." McCock began conversationally. This statement earned a stare over half moon glasses followed by a placing of the stylus in its stand; the gnome then leaned back in his office chair and spoke scathingly, "That poltroon has to have his assistant instruct him how to drop his trews to use his bowels. What's the fancy dress?" "The uniform of "The Queen's Own"." "Army or navy?" "We are a naval unit whose prime loyalty is to the person of the Sovereign." "The Lords must have been asleep that day. And so?" "The unit is undertaking some exploration and we need the services of a mathematician. There are some matters such as diffraction for which we need answers; there are other matters in which we don't even know the questions to ask." The gnome studied McCock for almost a minute. He opened a draw in the desk extracted a work bag into which he placed his stylus, the now sealed fluid container and attached the bag to his belt across his stomach. He then got out of his chair, placed two boxes extracted from under his desk under the seat, turned to lift a squarish box from its resting place onto the seat, walked into what appeared to be a fresher and came out with a red velvet cloth bag clenched in his teeth, and carrying a rectangular box in each hand which he proceeded to attach to the sides of his chair. The red bag he dropped between the square box and the backrest. A turn about the room, a touch of the backrest answered by a 'beep' and a "Coming?" at McCock, over his shoulder, the gnome moved to the door followed by his loaded chair. McCock scrambled to follow him into the corridor. The Porter looked enquiringly at the gnome as he shuffled by, and appeared satisfied by the answer "Andy, tell them I've gone to look under mushrooms." He followed McCock to the shuttle, guided his chair into the baggage space, sat alongside McCock and offered his hand, "Henry Bollinger." "Aggy McCock." and shook the proffered hand. Sir Henry then proceeded to brief McCock. "Refraction does not involve land. You are navy. Air-water has been done to death. Galactic space don't refract, it curves space-time and has been done to death. Leaves epsilon hard vacuum. A ship has safely transitted that barrier and you have more questions than answers. There is a small group of ships involved; hence a Commodore. More involved than simple transit as no poltroon waggling his jaw at the faxes yet. Elizabeth knows me. I travel light. 'puter access?" McCock thought there are too many clever people in the galaxy, give them just a sniff and deductions can be embarrassing. "Access to a BB 'puter; you'll be quartered aboard without external contact except through me." "When the papers are finally published, my name will be there as undertaking personally exploration of cosmic space." and in an apparent non-sequitur, "I'm still on the active list as Lt Cdr (Intel)." As they debarked at the Bollard House pad, the driver informed McCock, "Uncle Rupert plus one are on board." On route to "Infamous", McCock briefed Bollinger on the initial exploration without mentioning U42 involvement and told of the problems of localising "Shriek" using direction finding, DF, beams from beneath the layer. Sir Henry went further, "Using your U41 as a navigational bouy presents some interesting questions. With it powered up it can retain position over the north pole of Mountserrat; but to do so it will alter is position vis-a-vis the Galactic Centre because of the rotation of Mountserrat about its star, compounded by the movement of the star in the Orion Cygnus spiral arm and the movement of the arm itself; you don't yet have to worry about the Galactial wanderings. Further studies will be needed for journeys across the intra-galactic space to Maureen's Moon, Raffles and Amiranti across the Perseus arm. No immediate rush for those because in the immediate future, the shifts ain't significant. Yet. Cosmic maps of galaxies near us combined with bouys as navigational aids. Perhaps I'll be known for cosmic navigation — have to establish a reference; a cosmic Greenwich and wont history repeat itself." On arrival in "Infamous", McCock handed Sir Henry off to the Bosun to get him squared away and arrange familiarisation. McCock proceeded to the Admiral's quarters to get his briefings. McCock filled his bulb with coffee which his steward always seemed to have freshly brewed; he suspected Trojan had a contact in the Boat Bay; settled comfortably in his moulding lift chair, he inserted "Giant's" chip into his PDA and began reading. ------- Chapter 12 "Giant" recovered "Shriek" to her Boat Bay from R1 and flew U91, U92 and U 93 onto her davits. She slowly passed "Grendel" and "Gorgon" where U91 was flown by "Grendel's" crew into her Boat Bay and similarly U92 into "Gorgon" The opportunity had been taken to gain experience in close handling of these small craft by the ships' crews. The U90 series had an upgraded power plant with a small satellite craft attached which could be held by a tractor from the mother craft; the SC 90s were fitted with Period detection equipment and coms equipment. McCock had originally envisaged them for use between hyper and n space. The U90 was the second project along with the Gnat. GmBH had started on both projects shortly after the departure of 119(Reinforced) to become "The Queen's Own". (Angie Merton, as CFO to Hugh Avers CEO, had acquired the additional manufacturing facilities. GmBH had become a serious R & D player using the holds of "Trader" with the docks still performing small working vessel repairs as a very convenient cover. The Avers, with their tribal knowledge, had christened the "Traders's" holds, "The Skunkwerks".) The U90s had been further modified in R1's holds by the addition of the Navigational Omnidirectional Beacon externally. There wasn't space internally with the larger fission pile and its insulation. To make the NOB, Slow and Denny had modified the active detection equipment to TX a hemispherical signal identifying the transmitter and time date allowing the receiving vessel to calculate its distance from the sending station. That is, they could, when the Royal Astronomer calculated the signal velocity of n and hyper space "FTL" signals through hard space now called Cosmic Space. (He would need more observational information before he could begin.) The equipment also sent a rotating signal, RX, which transmitted the sending transmitter identification and the bearing of the signal off the programmed reference line, U93Mountserrat — U92Renmark, in degree increments taking a minute per rotation. Further investigations would be required to establish the reference line to New Breslau. The Avers Techs in R1 were working on a few more sets to cover the U90s on hand and the design had been sent to GmBH for Patent. The modifications made the U90s a powerful navcom tool. U91 and U92 had also each been specifically pre-programmed to fly through the boundary layer 'above' their respective planet. The crews were allowed to believe that this secret project was to put the UVAs into hyperspace where the FTL network was to be established "Giant" positioned herself under U41 and "Shriek" was released. ""Giant", "Shriek", free and clear. That is a very tight fit; we wouldn't want to do that under pressure, over." ""Giant", ah, Algy, we were designed for the later model armed cutters which are a bit smaller. You'd fit easily in "Vector". Call when ready for translation. Meanwhile U93 is going up. Clear." Felix had his EW pilot release U93 and fly it up through the layer to within touching distance of U41 in spatial terms. The pilot let out a relieved sigh when U93 hove to; Felix restrained himself from making a comment. Captain Denholt was on "Infamous's" bridge and he powered up and brought on line U93's equipment. Renmark's signals came through clearly. "Giant's" second pilot took over U41 and with a huge grin at his colleague, brought up Period and moved off towards Renmark. U93's Period was on line and acquired U41. U41 was then sent on a circular track about U93. "Infamous's" 'puter was recording this directly. After a complete orbit, NOB was brought on line and the exercise repeated using NOB. It gave the anticipated results and the more limited capabilities of U41 showed consistent results. Meanwhile Algy and his minions in "Shriek" were working through the checklists for translation. The crew pulled up their skinsuit hoods, checked the seals and the coms. Algy called "ready" before the NOB test was completed. They moved a hundred klicks 'north' of U93, hove to and waited while U41 was 'parked to the west' of U93. Felix commed Denny to alert the Captain that "Shriek" was about to translate. ""Giant", "Shriek", your are cleared to translate. Runway zero zero, winds are negligible and QNH is one zero one three decimal two. Have a good day. Over." ""Shriek", boss you have been watching those historical romances again. Translating. Clear." Algy switched to the crew com and ordered his Tacnav 'to beam us up, Scotty' which earned him several disgusted sounds. "Aye, Sir. Translating." The Tacnav wriggled her shoulders in the restraints and moved her control to horizontally enter the layer. The screens showed "Giant" disappearing and the vibration started. The nausea was not as gut wrenching and the vibration levels were less than the vertical entry. Passage time was slower on a scientific assessment for the same power settings, but in human terms there wasn't much in it, time wise that is. Comfort wise there was no comparison; as Guns said "I don't think I'd have a meal beforehand but I want that one every time." With U93 and U41 for near references, "Shriek" performed eight hours of planned manoeuvres. They also tested efficacy of hole in space shields; these performed as for heavier space except there was no hole detectable. While "Shriek" sortied, U93 lowered SC93 through the layer without incident. SC93's Period was activated and "Giant" acquired by U93 and at that stage "Shriek" signalled the receipt of this information to "Infamous". "Shriek" indicated that her Period also had "Giant" directly and one of the planned manoeuvres was to move away from U93 which was directly above "Giant" until the direct contact was lost. This would establish a critical angle and to confirm that SC93 was indeed acquiring "Giant" who then under took a series of manoeuvres to further test the system. "Shriek" returned to hyper and recovered to "Giant's" Boat Bay. "Giant" moved down the bands, entered n space and returned "Shriek" to R1 for maintenance and inspection. Algy and his crew were to have a stand down next morning and to meet with the mathematician at four afternoon watch. McCock realised that meeting was scheduled for two hour's time. He passed the word to the Bosun to locate Cdr Bollinger and have him come to the Admiral's quarters for lunch. He received a nod from Trojan. Sir Henry looked even more gnome like in the grey work dungarees of TQO with the mis-shapen work bag held around his waist by a tied blue strap which McCock thought he recognised as coming from around a bale of issue bath towels. The forage cap rested on the tufts of hair on the sides of his head. McCock diplomatically informed him that head gear was not mandatory when moving about the ship on duty except for Boat Bay Watch personnel. The inoffensive cap was scooped up by Trojan. They enjoyed the light lunch but McCock wasn't sure about the conversation. McCock was 'put through the hoops' by a master inquisitor on his thoughts about the uses of cosmic space for the Navy in particular and cosmic space travel in general. Bollinger had had many graduate students over his career, just not as many as an ambitious VC wanted, and had the fine art of drawing out critical knowledge and subtly suggesting directions for further probing. This facet of an apparently casual lunch time chat germinated an idea in his mind. The lunch was terminated by the arrival of Captain Arburthson and party who were directed to the Admiral's briefing room. McCock and his guest joined them. McCock made the introductions of the officers and apologised to the NCOs for his ignorance and had Algy introduce them. Guns again lightened the atmosphere, "If its no bother to you, Commodore, I'd have you not know me." McCock joined the laughs, smiling inwardly to himself that was not going to happen. He directed Sir Henry to take the conversation. Sir Henry then led the participants of Operation Greenhouse through the progress to date. When Sir Henry expressed satisfaction and a desire to examine the data to date, McCock gave him a passkey to the computer which was in user lockdown at present in the absence of a Bridge Watch. As he rose, he issued the directive which had germinated, "Sir Henry is to lead 'Greenhouse' subject to Felix' and Algy 's veto; talk disagreements out your selves with me as final arbiter. Henry, you are on my staff so you dine in Admiral's Mess at eight last dog; there aren't any other officers yet anyway. Trojan will organise your cabin." The cox'n magically appeared to escort the others to the 'puter deck and McCock returned to his quarters. He dealt with a note from Slow making the point that transferring a cadre from her ships to train in "Infamous" would leave them short of personnel particularly "Grendel" and "Gorgon" who were due to sortie in two days; she suggested not transferring the cadre until the shore selection was completed to replace the cadre. McCock sent agreement because the major delay for "Infamous" was in getting her HAC wings. He was reading the readiness reports from his Captains (D) and Trojan announced Captains Kowalski and Avers accompanied by Major Logan and Sergeant Whittle awaited his pleasure. McCock greeted them in and seated them in the lounge He spoke to Rupert "Get the ammunition sorted out with Master Chief?" Rupert nodded and the Sergeant laughed, "Oh yes! We shot off all the ball after you left and I got detailed off to collect the ceramic. The Major said he was to busy to be tripping across the universe after ammo. So I got the day on R2; their Seniors' mess is better than ours and I thought we did well. Any way 'Dore gave me a couple of magazines of explosive and a couple of cases of ceramic. The Rangemaster does not like the Major after he destroyed the fifty metre range with the explosive." That worthy's visage became choir boy like, "I had to shoot it all off; get rid of it; couldn't take the chance of a mix-up with the ceramic." After the laughs and snorts subsided, McCock produced two very plain PDAs; he checked before passing one to Polack and the other to Rupert. "Each of them has the respective personal coat of arms embedded into the cover," he then passed an envelope bearing the Winsor coat of arms to each of the PDA holders, "inside that is a Royal Personal and a small keystick. The keystick is unique to the PDA to bring it on line. A code sequence is included in the letter which opens the direct person to person link. The encrypt / decrypt facilities unique to the person to person audible is activated by the code sequence. Rupert, you will extend my personal apology for not obtaining permission for locating U42 over the planet but things went faster than we envisaged. Polack you make the point why there isn't a UVA over Papa Gus. If they agree, then you will release the U90s. Both countries have Period and hole in space so there is no secret what's on them. If Renmark can't organise satellites, Harryfor you are authorised to raise your UVAs and leave them there. Oh, also retrieve U42. Renmark does have the plans for the UVAs so they might want to use their own but check to make sure they can carry the encrypted personal signal. Questions?" "Can I use U42, if I have to or is there a special reason to bring it home?" "You can use her, Harry; you might prefer to fly her into Renmark orbit rather to undock yours and fly it up." "Why are you sending me?" came from Sergeant Whittle. "The 'close protection group' is now part of "The Queen's Own" and all of you will be made familiar with your ships. Also you can keep Uncle Rupert out of mischief. Just joking, Rupert. The Queen sending two of her CPU will impress their Palace Security with the importance of the message; and before you ask, Harryfor, you are an Avers and I doubt there are no Avers in Renmark Space Navy." ------- Chapter 13 Barati was in trouble. The fast shuttle had overtaken the females' transport shuttle near the foothills of the high mountains of their home villages. The chase had taken nearly all of the remaining day across the flat fertile plains which surrounded Settlement. The star was now low on the horizon and his senior wife was still refusing to obey him — perhaps he should have beaten her; his parents had always said he was too lenient with her. There she stood like a rock defying him. Scattered around him were bundles of belongings acting as backrests for the females, chattering like the monkeys in the mountains passing criticising comments on the argument. He knew he was on a losing argument; he needed a way to save face or even his wives would scorn him. The spectre of an angry Sovereign supported by a furious Memsahib was causing him serious heartburn. The females on his left became silent and he saw them rise to their feet, press their palms together in front of their chest and respectfully bob to the approaching figure. All the women followed suit. He took a good look at the man walking out of the deepening shadow of the mountains and felt the chill pass down his spine and his bowels loosen. He could barely stand but quickly saluted the Shaman. The Shaman? How? It's a day's march to the home village. Why? Shaven headed, covered in a red gold cloth wrapped in the traditional manner, sandal shod, without a speck of dust on him, the Shaman glared at the husband and wife for two minutes; he turned to Dama, "Woman! Obey your husband." The females exploded into movement, gathering their bundles and climbing into the shuttle so quickly the driver was left sitting on the top of the shuttle from whence he had been observing events and calculating his fare. A glare from the Shaman, spared from Barati, got him moving. The heavy shuttle was turned around in quick order and swirled past the two men. The dust avoided the Shaman but covered Barati. "You," hissed the Shaman at Barati, "grant the women's wishes in this and obey your Memsahib." and with that, turned on his heel and stalked off into the now full darkness leaving Barati to restart his shuttle and once again chase after his women. "Aggy, I'll doss down on the computer deck, if you've got no objection. I am a haggard sleeper and when if I get an idea, I need to get onto it or I lose it. I found a storage room and I got the Bosun to put in a cot frame. There's a fresher next to it and working surfaces in abundance at which to put my chair; the Bosun and I rigged clamping so that things won't go flying about. He's arranging an extra set of dungarees and smalls so I don't have to worry about one off one on as the laundry doesn't cover working areas." "No mind, Henry. As long as you remember you dine here and that is not just logistical, its networking of command and staff; we aren't as jealous of position, Oh, sorry, I forgot. Why are you still on the active list?" "I was in DNI before I swallowed the anchor and went to the Observatory. I was working out my terminal leave entitlement there, unpaid of course, but DNI frequently had me working on astronavigational problems; come to think of it, like yours. DNI was using me as a consultant and someone with nothing better to do calculated that it cost less to retain me on the Active List than to periodically reactivate me as a Reserve List officer let alone paying me at consultant rates. So I am a Lt Cdr with, I think, fifty three years seniority; Navy wouldn't promote me because I didn't have a permanent posting — unattached. Apopros of nothing, I did my middy cruise in "Vance". I want the story on her when we have a day to chat. And a thing I think you should know. "Infamous's" original BC 'puter is still in situ. Bosun thinks it was made part of the ship's structure and at the refit was too much to remove so the connection cable was pulled and the data scrubbed. This was being built as a battle cruiser, an experiment, all the later CV or CHACs or whatever are new builds. The 'puter deck was meant to be "A" missile magazine. So it was left still with power available and a new modular BB 'puter was placed in the "B" magazine space. I want to power the BC and assess it and if it works, use it exclusively for Greenhouse. Suit?" "Suits Henry, show me this treasure and I'll check your accommodation as well so I don't have the Master at arms, when I get one, complaining of unauthorised sleeping accommodation." As they traversed the companionways, McCock explained the manning travesty on "Sniffy" and mentioned that Sir Laurence and his PS were visiting eight morning next day to discuss the situation. ------- Chapter 14 "Still no honours, Aggy?" asked the Second Space Lord with a broad smile which took any sting out of the question, shaking McCock's proffered hand. McCock looked somewhat sternly at him before replying, "'Sniffy' is now in the Grey Line Shipping Company." Turning to greet the PS, "Hello, Sally." and returned her salute. "Good morning, Commodore." And Sally returned the slight frown with a perfectly bland expression. McCock led the visitors to his quarters They settled into the liftchairs around the table upon which LtCdr McGraw had placed the carry box. She extracted a chip container which she passed to Sir Laurence. Trojan placed the coffee mugs before the occupants and as he departed informed his Commodore, "I found Commander Bollinger raiding the pantry. He missed breakfast." "My, my, and doesn't that speak volumes," commented Sir Laurence. McCock nodded agreement, "I'm going to have to reinforce my distaste for the old saw 'no work in the mess'; to me this is my time for informal discussion and networking; there are not enough hours in the day for me not to use when I am with company; meals are often the only times when the staff are together informally. I hold with working lunches with just the emphasis on the lunch. Now, Sir?" Sir Laurence began his sales talk, "Aggy, you require a Captain for "Infamous" who will have to have an input into his wardroom. You need a Chief of Staff to run your staff, and don't try to tell me you don't need a staff. You command what is developing into a young Task Force; you probably don't know yet but according to a little bird who whispers into my ear from time to time, your favourite shipyard is sending two missile carriers to go with 'Sniffy'. Sir Thomas has approved because he wants you to prove the concept of CV led fleets — incidently there is an order to be promulgated renaming CHACs to CV, either heavy or light. 'Sniffy' is a CVL for your information. To complete this thread, we've only been able to half fill one of the MCs at this time. You also need an aide-de-camp. Captain." He passed across a chip. "There is a list with records of suitable candidates who are willing to serve in "The Queen's Own". The officer I recommend shouldn't be on there because he is in Plans under Milligan, or was until Milligan became Fifth. Brian Wallace; he heard the talk in the chaos of Milligan's elevation, refused to go with Milligan as he wants to return to space. You served with him in 119 and his experience in Plans, which has been the defacto air department, will help. Before Plans, he had "Leicester" in 8th fleet after the Armistance breakdown and did well in her. Recent operational time in command, good knowledge of present aviation policies, has the seniority in rank and is due for larger ship command with exposure to fleet operations. His staff experience would make him a good Flag Captain. I passed the idea to Gort and Denholt and they have no objection. Study the list and let me know your decision. Next chip. Chief of Staff. Much smaller as all the good ones have been grabbed for Home Fleet. All these are just coming off the injury lists. I recommend, Oh Lord, this is 119 Reunion week; Eldred Yoncey. After the Armistance breakdown, he had "Nairn" in 32nd Cruiser in 3rd Fleet and took her to the action in Home Space. He is one of eleven survivors out of the squadron, all off "Nairn". His hands are still needing a bit of time but he is in Rehab and nearly ready to be cleared for limited duty. He shouldn't have got "Washton" without "Crusher" but nobody wanted her, too old and convoy duty in 'Para' and we were strapped for good officers. You saw his work in 'Para'. He did very well on "Crusher" where he went after "Washton" paid off. Recent combat command, is ready for a staff job and if he does well will reach flag rank. Aide-de-camp. Here I'm going to use my influence and appoint Evan Evans. Yes, that one. Was in your ward room in "Vance". Third son of Earl Curragh. Last in his class. Most senior ensign in Andrew. Heading for that distinction as Lt jg. He was asissant assistant tactical officer in "Leander", CL. At "Home Space" was at his Action Station in the Boat Bay where he was out of the way. "Leander" takes serious hits leaving Evans the only officer on his feet. He gets to the CIC, rallies survivors, assesses damage, goes looking for his squadron, banging away at every thing he can see with a couple of missile mounts, rejoins what's left of the squadron, takes more hits and sustains serious wounds himself, wont lie down and eventually brings "Leander" back to the yards to be evacuated and immediately condemned. Stuff of PMV; but there was so much that day ... He is healed but is in need of a home and a familiar face. Try him and if he doesn't come up to snuff, sack him." "Seems I'm outvoted before I start on Captain. Suits for 'Dred and I'll take the chance on Young Evans — mayhap the smell of powder has lifted his game. What's the situation regarding the ratings?" "I'm managing that." Sally declared, "Detachments will begin arriving on board here in the next few days. I talked to the Bosun and "Infamous" will be used as the depot for the time being. I am posting all ratings with time in CHACs into "Infamous" but they are thin on the ground. As the others process through, the Seniors Slow and Denny have detached to "Infamous" will allocate them to the DD squadron with ratings from the DDs of same numbers moved in here. Its going to need good movement control with two vessels on perimeter duty at a time but that's a job for Captain Yoncey who should here tomorrow. I'll brief him this afternoon on that." Sir Laurence finished the presentation, "I have reminded Milligan that 'Sniffy' needs its Aviation Wings. He is still shaking down in his Department. Its going to be chaos there for some time and as he so pointedly remarked to me, it's the same with "Infamous" and literally the last things you need are your Wings." "Barati, send for these women, please." "Yes, Memsahib." He quickly eyed the list and coughed discretely to attract the Memsahib's attention; when he had it, he explained, "Two of the women are at the Academy today." Trudie cocked her head towards him. "At the Queen Empress command." Trudie nodded his dismissal and paused thoughtfully. Extracting her PDA, she made a com link, "Sir Humphrey? Good morning. When convenient please whisper in her ear that two of my team have gone to the Academy today. Should I replace them and do I need to know why the visit to the Academy? Thank you." Trudie returned to the household accounts. Barati actually attended to them but had been shocked and perhaps somewhat insulted at her suggestion that she did not need to review them. She also took the opportunity to balance "The Residence" trading account. She was enjoying a quiet moment, enjoying her tea and reading the news faxes to keep current when Barati entered, shepherding the women, bowed and then departed. Trudie chuckled to herself at Barati walking on eggshells and then looked to the carefully neutral faces of the women, "I wish to establish a team of people to undertake an ongoing analysis of news faxes and like materials concerning the local galaxy and as far afield as those reports cover. You will be paid at Navy rates of pay." That last produced smiles and shrugs in about equal proportion and in reply to Trudie's puzzlement, "Memsahib, the wages the group earn here are pooled into a fund managed by Dama and the other senior wives. After providing for our needs, the surplus is sent to the village Shaman. Please do not think us not grateful," her face split into a wide grin, "our bride value has hugely increased." Trudie was about to go ballistic at the chauvinistic approach of these people but she managed to pull herself back from an incredible gaffe. She remembered her visits to the High Counties on Amiranti where she had admired these same village folk and their simple way of life but didn't see the economy to support it. Now she knew. The people worked for the people; she was going to have to investigate this further. She returned to the matter at hand, "You will still have to do the drudge work here because for reasons which are not yet evident, the facility is to be kept secure and your activities are not to be discussed under any circumstances with any person other than those who are involved and at this point, all those people are in this room. Come with me." Trudi led the group to the fourth and fifth suites in the block and conducted a tour during which the tasking of the rooms was discussed. Trudie's suggestion that one of the suites be used as quarters for the women was not accepted, "Memsahib, where will we meet our husbands?" Remembering her first meeting with and later courting of Polack, Trudie accepted that the women would still be housed in the unmarried segregated females' house in the grounds. She left them to the cleaning work and went to organise the 'puter. She had consulted with Denny and 'Mina on the purchase; she had undergone a close questioning of the purpose of the equipment, which was primarily storage and recovery of data in the form of electronic transmission with emphasis on vocal than vid. The security of the material collected being low level, they had advised a commercial brand which had the largest memory banks internally; external banks could be added and they advised a large satellite 'puter for examination of recalled material. Nan and Diana had advised not using DNI's programme because of the potential of lapses of security in the material exposing that system; Nan had suggested a commercial programme supplied by the programmers of the Foreign and Colonial Office's equipment. Trudie ordered the equipment mentioning that Bollard House was leasing an empty suite in which to place its archives and the equipment was for that purpose. The admittedly tenuous connection between "The Residence" and Bollard through McCock was no secret to the commercial world in Settlement and lent credence to the story. Thoreau's connection lent further credence. Trudie had barely broken the com to the 'puter programming company and the PDA chirped its ring tone again. The Queen's visage appeared as the audio came through, "Good afternoon, Trudie. Two things; your call this morning; the women will make a greater contribution on our team than flying in one of my carrier combat wings. If they want to fly, they can train at my expense in their spare time; and the second, that's selection for small craft combat." "So, Elizabeth, you won't object if I pressgang them out of Andrew and into tour personal service?" "Not in the slightest, Trudie. A last thing. Would you, plus others, explore Aggy's feelings toward the Nancarrows; I noticed the Mansion is far advanced. I'd even make him take a leave. Diety alone knows he needs one." "I'll talk with the Flock's women first. Suits?" "Wonderfully, thanks Trudie." ------- Chapter 15 "Navy Harbour" this is "Gorgon", I am powered up, request clearance for the outer marker, I have onward clearance; information golf; over. "Gorgon", you are cleared for the outer marker via the inner marker and the departure channel. Be advised "Vance" and "Washton" have just entered the approach channel but you will be clear at the inner marker; call control at the outer 4315 over. "Cleared for the outer marker. 4315 at the outer. Moving now "Gorgon" clear." "Navy control, "Gorgon" for the hyper." "Gorgon", you are clear, no known traffic." "Gorgon." "Sir, "Gorgon" closed up for translation. Coxswain on the wheel. Ready to answer bells." "Very well, Number One; take us up." "Navy Harbour, this is "Grendel", ready, request clearance for the Gate. Information hotel. Over" "Grendel", you are cleared direct for the Gate. Approaching the Gate call Wormhole Control on 4723 over." "Cleared direct; Wormhole 4723. Moving now. "Grendel" clear." "Wormhole Control this is "Grendel", approaching the gate." "Grendel", take Blue Route, call Departure 4565 approaching Alpha35." "Blue Route, Departure 4565 Alpha35, "Grendel" clear." ""Grendel" approaching Alpha35." ""Grendel", zero three zero, zero eight zero, decrease to one hundred gravs, call at the outer marker." ""Grendel" zero three zero, zero eight zero, one hundred gravs, outer marker." ""Grendel" outer marker." ""Grendel" at the inner, three three zero, zero nine zero, decrease to twenty gravs, you are number five behind the Brandies, maintain double separation, he's a rogue." ""Grendel" at the inner, three three zero, zero nine zero, twenty gravs, number five, double separation." "My ship, Number one," called Polack, "Nav on my screens please; paint the bugout track on the screen. Engines, we are number five behind a rogue so be ready for anything. "Helm, three three zero, zero nine zero, ring for ten gravs." "On three three zero, zero nine zero, answering to ten gravs, Sir." "Engines, we are number three, rig sails in order, on my mark." "Number three, Sir." "Rig forward sail five, four, three, two, one, Mark! Rig after sail, two, one. Mark! Stand by to furl sails. Mark! Hold impellers. Nav, raise Gregor and get instructions. We'll coast for a bit, at the moment we wont hit anything. Engines will you spread the screens and be ready for anything, we could need impellers in a hurry; the one ahead of us wandered off into the departure lane." Engineers as a breed don't have much imagination, they don't want one issued considering what they play with; but they could appreciate the effect of a runaway at the Junction. "Sir, Gregor clears us direct to the hyper limit and could we expedite; max to the limit is two fifty gravs." "Thank you, Nav. Engines, rig impellers stat and take us to two fifty gravs. Helm, ring it down, please. Nav, get cle... , good man. Number one, take us through hyper and four eighty gravs to New Breslau." "Captain Kowalski. Welcome to the Palace" Admiral von und zu Reiperbahn returned the salute and ushered Polack to a seat at the coffee table in his palatial office. The officer seated there rose and offered his hand and said, "If you call me 'Papa Gus' I'll do you a mischief, Polack. I'm Gus and he is Chien-lu. Now the official reason, then the cover and then the real reason for this visit; Elizabeth's too cunning not to use you for an official visit just to show off one of her personal destroyers. Then you can show me the vids of Trudie and Gus-gus." They settled and they doffed their headgear. Polack placed the monogrammed hand addressed envelope on the table before them. "As you guessed, we are here to show the flag and say what clever boys we are with this magnificent super destroyer in the Queen's personal service and as a reward for unspecified services your in-law gets to pay his personal respects to his wife's family and perhaps make peace offerings. The ostensible reason is that the Sovereign wishes to greet the Emperor by sending a Personal Communication and the envelope can be left lying about on Chien-lu's or your desk for a while. The real reason is actually in the letter. Aggy McCock wants me to use my marriage ties to obtain a one on one with you to present the sales pitch, that's Slow's definition by the way. Chien-lu, it is not that my superiors do not trust you, it is because they do not know the politics here; we have a good idea but we are not certain. Elizabeth apologies for her temerity in putting you both in this situation but the knowledge is critical and the Emperor makes the decision." Von und zu Reiperbahn would not put his Emperor into a corner, so he rose, retrieved his headgear, smiled courteously at Polack, bowed to his Emperor, "I'll let you get on with the family matters and I'll catch up with them later." "I do hope that was necessary" said Gus reaching for the envelope after his Principal Advisor had departed. He walked to the desk, sat in the chair, slit open the envelope, extracted and read the letter. He read it through, gazed thoughtfully at Polack for a moment and reread the letter. He placed the folded letter in an inside pocket and put the small packet from the envelope into his chest pocket. Gus leaned back in the chair thinking about the letter's contents. Returning to join Polack, he remarked, "I could be convinced one on one is necessary. Tell me what you know." Polack recounted the development of the idea, the involvement of PGS, Marcel Thoreau, Trudie and her Ghorkhali women, the informal analysis team, Sir Henry Bollinger, the Flock, "Giant" and "Shriek". He then went on to discuss the extent of the knowledge at each level. Gus asked, "The PGS?" "Women's fashions, Gus. The Queen can't wear a PDA carrier in public and often doesn't carry a fashion bag; the PGS are too close not to know something so we made it tight there by forming a 'Close Protection Unit'. Similarly the Palace Security are even closer to the Lord Protector, they even check his marital bedroom before they let him go to sleep." "Marcel Thoreau?" Polack explained Marcel's position and his being under the Queen's seal. "I've known Marcel most of my adult life and I trust him. He sits like a spider in a web which spreads across the whole galaxy and has lines of communication both in and out of the Kingdom. I wasn't aware of his DNI involvement before, but it has to be at least fifteen years and I'm sure CI periodically 'vets' him. I've not heard of his having access to any thing inside DNI, its one way traffic through a control All he knows that is that a listening watch is to be set up through hyper using FTL. He is not aware of the hard space experiments, nor is Trudie, I don't think.' Gus reached out his hand and Polack put the PDA in it. Gus admired the case and the coat of arms, "A nice touch" and then went on "These could cause tremendous difficulties, Rulers are not meant to talk directly, egos and pride can get in the way and cause disaster. Naunces of language can be misunderstood. That's why there are diplomats with that ridiculously stilted speech; but each word has a precisely understood meaning to all diplomatic services." "Aggy thought of that and appears Elizabeth thought of a solution. You use it as if you are in your throne room giving a public audience. Aggy said she then spoilt it by giggling and saying that conducting a conference call in the fresher might affect the ambience." "The UVA?" "On my davits. With your permission, Just as we translate on departure, I press a button and I spend a month on paperwork explaining how I managed to lose a UVA. Its programmed to place itself through the layer above the planetary centre of rotation and then sends a signal to your PDA and another to "Infamous" through U93. The Emperor extracted his personal PDA from its holder, made a link and spoke a few words into it. Nearly a minute passed before von und zu Reiperbahn rejoined them. The letter was passed and the PDA examined. Gus used it to tell his Empress that they would be dining with their in-law that evening. "Your Grace." Major Rupert Logan and Sergeant Whittle held their salutes until the Lord Protector nodded his acknowledgement. He took the proffered envelope, extracted and read the letter and looked as his PS bodyguard, "Captain, guard the balcony, from the outside, please." The Captain baulked and had to be firmly commanded, "Captain, outside. If the Major had wished to assassinate me I'd have died as he handed me the letter and shot me with that sleeve weapon he's got." The Captain was drawing his pistol from its hip holster and was stopped by the Major's holding both hands up, "Carefully, Captain! Carefully!" That good man only subsided as he saw the alertness on the Sergeant's face and realised that if these men had wished, both the Lord Protector and he would be already dead. He walked very stiffly to the balcony and closed the glass doors behind him. "How?" Rupert asked. "I'm sitting, you're standing. I saw an object up your sleeve as it was drawn up as you extended your arm to hand me the letter; I looked carefully at the fall of cloth of your sleeve and there was a suggestion of a ridge along your forearm. Your salutes didn't show anything that I noticed. Now, I'd look closer. You will have to show Captain Hound. PS is in for an interesting time." The PGS were waved to chairs and the interrogation began. The matter of Yarragh's magnetic pole pointing discward was settled as, since Commodore Utah's sojourn, com satellites had been sent into geostationary orbit. At he end of a gruelling half hour, the Lord Protector called his bodyguard from his exile and informed the Major, "It won't surprise you to be told that my confidant will be 'Foxy' Hound" and introduced the men. He then passed the letter to 'Foxy' to read, "And the PDA?" The Major passed it across the desk to be admired and turned to his PS Captain, "Foxy, I hope this forgives me?" The Major explained about the release of U92 and that a signed note authorising Captain Avers to do so was required. "Now," went on the Lord Protector, "we all know that a return visit was a cover story and that you really came to show off your technology and to demonstrate some secret weapons. Major, you can demonstrate that sleeve weapon to Foxy and explain how it got past my security while I arrange refreshments." "He can't pass up an opportunity to keep every one off balance," Foxy said to the PGS, "now, let's be looking at it." ------- Chapter 16 Captain Carlton was demonstrating the antics of a decapitated fowl. The news from the Academy was excellent; a full course of fifty candidates had passed selection and were ready for training. They would begin at beginning of next week. Initial kit issues were to be Navy. Initial training was to use atmospheric aerofoil fitted vehicles. More advanced training required introduction to the vessel type to be ultimately used and simulators were somewhat limited for pilot training as opposed to the use of the type in its role. Where were the Gnats? Where were the pilot's hardsuits? Carlton did what others before him had done; he sought higher direction. "See Rowan" advised Milligan. "I was waiting for someone's call" said Rowan. "Diana is making grabbing noises and it is difficult to fob her off." "Tell her, ever so politely, to keep her grubby paws to herself. This is HM's personal baby and she had given it to me to change the nappies. Personally I'm not too thrilled that she is personally involved, it should be in Navy. But having said that, this is a test squadron and this way will get it established faster than in the service. Where are the Gnats?" "In Buships orbital warehouse. The flight suits have not yet been fabricated, they are individual fit to a degree. Aggy was in touch with both GmBH and WepDev with his upgrades. Hugh Avers has an EVA suit manufacturer lined up — still not enough work down there — but he wants to talk to someone about the pilots. Here's Hugh's personal contact com and don't overdo it please; he is covering so many things for us, GmBH is near enough to Wepdev while we concentrate on Buships side of things." "Mr Avers, Captain Carlton, assistant fifth Lord. HM has taken this idea over from Aggy and she dropped me in the bucket. I'm chasing up the flight suits." "My commiserations" Hugh laughed "Alan said she could be a handful when she got going. My man's firm down here went insolvent when the yards were destroyed as there was no call for hard suits; Navy had a surplus of the things. He grabbed at the opportunity and almost joyfully started on the HUD face plate when he heard. Of course his Uncle's sister's cousin, any way you get the idea, was making these. The firm is already a supplier to the Navy with a very good reputation. I knew of the brand, but didn't realise it was made in Gorgipest, nearly the smallest factory on the industrial estate dirtside. We need only height and weight. We designed the ODs of the capsules to the same size. The design of the ID is for three sizes of hardsuits, with the pilot height restriction of one seventy five centimetres and weights between fifty and one hundred kilo. Get that information and you will have the suits in a week, but our techs will have to finally pack the skinsuited pilot into the shell with special foam but that can be done up there. The HUDs will be standard and might not be up to the Gnat's role but that can be tested. It's a nuisance to replace the plate but is a wing level repair." Hugh was positively loquacious these days. "I'll get that information to you and thank you, Sir. Carlton, clear." "No, Captain Carlton, you can't have my women and I don't care how well they performed. I have discussed this matter with my superior who has instructed me to retain their services which are more important than buzzing around in a flea sized flying weapon pod." Hearing echos of his own description, Carlton took it no further and told Academy to go with what they had. Academy was to obtain the measurements for him; he made the decision, in view of Rowan's comments to protect GmBH not to have them sent direct but through him. A bit complicated but 'need to know'. Captain Wallace had been 'read in' and was busy filling his ward room on the recommendations of the Second Space Lord. Captain jg Yoncey had joined, was recruiting the staff and had lent his services to the Flag Captain to act as traffic policeman of the drafts to the smaller vessels and to receive the replacements from them Lt Evans, who was almost literally a shadow of his former self, had taken over the organising of the Commodore's life, much to Horace Trojan's joy. The Bosun and the Coxswain were being run ragged as they familiarised the new senior NCOs with 'Sniffy' and supervised TQO's senior NCO's in handling the drafts initial introduction to TQO. McCock had decided that the two squadrons of TQO should exercise as a unit and had delegated the task to the senior captain, Captain Gort. Slow had drawn up the exercise and it was planned for four days after the return of "Gorgon" as she was expected to be the later of the two ship presently absent. Warning orders had been sent and preparations were in hand. Meantime the elements of the unit continued with the assigned outer patrol duties of Home Fleet. McCock now had some time to sit back and think of the big picture. He had attended the Home Fleet gatherings for staff and command discussions as was required of a subordinate commander. He had had discussions with 81 BC Squadron and participated in simulations of scenarios. All this had been in addition to the unique duties of "The Queens Own" and the explorations of cosmic space. McCock was conversant with the opinions of the Admiralty and the Home Fleet Admiral and knew that Home Fleet was tightly pinned in this system and would remain so even with the accelerated construction underway and the return of the less severely damaged vessels. It was anticipated that the next fifteen to eighteen months could see Home Fleet restored to its former strength and a further ten to twelve months to see Maureen's Moon with an all RMN fleet guarding that junction. Looking at the Admiralty assessments of resources available to Harbouria caused a marked increase in the pucker factor. TQO's raid had made a significant depletion of those forces but it was unlikely a similar opportunity would be allowed. The potential involvement of the USW was of grave concern as their intervention against Mountserrat would result in the destruction of the Allies. Information was the key. The USW was a collection of worlds which sent representatives to a Senate which was located in the ancient city of Geneva. None of the participating worlds let alone any government on those worlds were bound by the decisions of the Senate but the approval of the Senate lent great authority to agreements and subsequent actions. Not one of the governments outside Old Earth could project the power of the major players on Old Earth itself. Keeping Old Earth's major players out of local space had to be the aim of the Allies because once one of them bought into the war here, no matter which side, Old Earth would stay. Whilst he was free to act, the Mountserrat Ambassador to the USW was the best conduit and filter of information. He should be asked for the best sources to cover current affairs. Perhaps it might be possible to maintain contact with, Diety forbid that a diplomatic officer would engage in such nefarious practices, 'free agents'. He considered the matter of UVAs over Harbouria and Sol, actually only Old Earth as that was the putative government of the United Solarian Worlds. A U90 series UVA; Period and hole-in-space removed; passive detection equipment which covered point five mega klicks and NOB which was based on active detection equipment would be retained. The satellite would remain and have passive detection, multi frequency reception and a whisker transmission capability to the U90. A connection to the Sol com net was extremely desirable. Information on this should be held in Foreign Office; or DNI? Commercially? Sir Joshua Galbraith? He needed some leave. McCock was paying a semiformal visit to his FURS. He had realised enroute that he had never been aboard these vessel despite having had them under his command for the past six years and, now that he had thought on it, that was truly unpardonable. Thus it was that his first action on boarding R1 was to apologise to Timothy Avers and to address the crew to extend his personal apology for the omission and the neglect which was never implied. "It's not as if you have been lollygagging about, Aggy. You have been a tad occupied with other tasks" laughed Master Timothy Avers. Tim Avers conducted McCock on a Cook's tour of the vessel. In "C" hold, McCock discussed the modifications he wanted for U94 and U95. He enquired about reception of commercial transmissions of audio but not vid as he thought the latter was too profligate of bandwidth. That statement led to a not quite forceful discussion of the point. McCock asked the techs to think on the matter and he would inform them of any bandwidth and frequency limits he might want. They then passed into "D" hold where sat "Shriek" being subject to routine maintenance; she was being fitted with two satellites. McCock was told that Captain Felix Arburthson ordered them fitted as he had found the SCs invaluable for dipping into n space from hyper. McCock was impressed. An idea was trying to come to the surface but it couldn't quite get there. Tim led the way into the engine compartment which brought McCock to a puzzled halt and a cheerful smile to Tim's features. "I just know that I shouldn't ask this, but even though I've been remiss in not visiting, I did look up the Rider's general specs in Jane's. 'D' in a sequence ABCD is the last, at the end. That means that 'D' hold should be at a pointy bit of a freighter not between a hold and the engine. Why this configuration?" Tim's smile looked as if it was meeting around the back of hid head. "It is all Slow's fault. Blame her." "I'm going to be even more sorry I persisted. Why is Slow to blame?" "Well, when you people tied the "Trader" alongside GmBH and she changed the holds from numbers three and four to A and B, we decided to maintain the tradition and..." At this point McCock began shaking his head as the centicredit dropped. "How our sins come back to haunt us." McCock smiled wryly. He turned and entered the engine room to be met by a smiling face. "Hello Aggy." "Hello Colin, it has been a while. Does this mean you are all here?" "It was too good a chance to miss. To space again in a cushy number. We just couldn't resist the call for volunteers." ------- Chapter 17 "Navy radar, this is "Shriek' at the hyper, for the harbour, request clearance, over." ""Shriek", clearance denied, you are to proceed directly to the navy yard, call control on 4315 for onward clearance stat, clear." "Aggy, why do I think we are knee deep in the stuff?" "Alan, I have no idea why you might even contemplate such a thing? Let's see what happens." "Navy control, this is "Shriek", at the hyper, request clearance to the navy yard, over." ""Shriek" you are cleared direct to the yard, one hundred gravs, call harbour on 4547 approaching the outer marker, over" ""Shriek" direct to the yard, one hundred gravs, 4547 at the outer. Clear." "Suits, Alan, take us in." "Navy harbour, this is "Shriek", at the outer, request clearance and direction to berth, over." ""Shriek" cleared direct to berth two, twenty gravs; be advised papa golf sierra pinnance is for the captain, over." ""Shriek", berth two, twenty gravs, clear." "Hello Rupert, why am I not surprised?" "Commodore McCock, Her Majesty commands you attend upon her, immediately. The pinnace, Sir." "Rupert, I am experiencing a déjà vu event except last time it was a Marine Ensign." McCock, with his escort, had entered the Palace entrance to the Royal Office and approached the doors when loud voices echoed down from the PGS office, "Let me at him. Get off me, you great oaf." "For Diety's sakes, Boss, stop her jumping around while we get her arms." "I want his guts to feed them to him raw; I want his balls for ear rings." "Tommy, stop that arm waving around, ladies her legs please." "Let me go you fools, I just want to kill him." Edward, resplendent in full livery, appeared at this point from the side corridor, looking serene, to change to deliver a most pitying gaze towards McCock and inform them, "Commodore, you no doubt recognised the screech? Yes, Slow. Colonel Mulcahy managed to tackle her before she got out the door; having to open it slowed her down just enough. Sergeant Wheeler has her right forearm pinned to the floor and Corporal Tomlinson the left. Commander McGraw is sitting on Captain Gort's legs and I think the Duchess of Western Hove is holding the ankles. Four of our largest troopers are convincing Captains Denholt and Kowalski not to tear you apart. You appear to have very seriously upset your friends in addition to a considerable number of important people." nodding at the Office. He turned to the doors, opened them and stood to one side announcing, "Commodore McCock and Major Logan." McCock straightened and marched to the front of the desk. He stamped to a halt and executed a perfect Grenoble Defence Force salute, which so happened to have been incorporated into "The Queen's Own" ritual. The Queen was not amused but acknowledged the salute with a stern nod of her head. From the side of his eye, McCock saw Milligan and Rowan on one side but could not identify those on the other side as he had not got a good view of them. "Commodore, where have you been?" "Ma'am, I have been on leave; I enjoyed a short cruise in "Shriek" with your consent." "Where did you go?" "Ma'am, I claim privilege." "I ordered you not to proceed higher than the alpha bands." "Ma'am," said McCock resignedly, "you gave that order in the context of crewing "Shriek" for Operation Greenhouse. Outside that context, that order was senseless and unenforceable; I command a Naval force in your Service and I am required to sortie from point A to B, for example Maureen's Moon to New Leige and return, and to perform these duties it is accepted Naval practice to move in the high hyperspace layers." McCock did not recognise the signs but the other listeners did and the tension in the room was palpably apprehensive as the Queen's temper approached critical, "McCock, you are ... are ... a ... a lower deck lawyer. You have totally disregarded my wishes. You are insubordinate and I will not have it. You are dis..." The shuffling of booted feet had been increasing and at this point a voice which in the days of the wet navies would have been described as "a quarterdeck voice" thundered from behind McCock, "Majesty!!" and in the pause that ensued, it went on at a lower volume, "McCock, outside; Admiral Cunningham and Admiral Rowan, above your pay scales, please wait outside. Major Logan." McCock turned and saw the tight faced First Lord, standing beside his seated wife, the Home Fleet commander, and the seated First, Second, Third and Fourth Space Lords. 'The full Navy Board', McCock sighed quietly to himself and left the office, follwed by the others named. Virginia Cunningham confronted McCock, "What in Diety's name did you do to get her so angry, Aggy?" "I just took a short leave, combined business with pleasure and took the most effective means of travel. Major, I need a place to write." The Major looked hard at McCock, and then said softly, "You need to think carefully, Aggy." "I have, ever since we came out of hyper." After inspecting the FURS, McCock had submitted a formal request for leave to visit old friends and stated he intended to use "Shriek". He was also intending to confirm some thoughts he had regarding the collecting of electronic information. He had delegated temporary command to Slow telling her he was visiting old friends. He arranged for the Avers who had accompanied him to Helena to be the crew for "Shriek". He had used "Infamous'" pinnace to commute to R1 and boarded "Shriek" which had been handled out of "D" and moored alongside. The hatches had cycled closed and McCock was moving to his command chair to be met by a familiar voice; that of Sir Henry Bollinger, "Hope you don't mind my coming along for the ride, Aggy? I heard you were off on a jolly and I thought I might keep you company. Besides I want to chat about an idea I had." "Not at all, Henry. Alan, get the clearances and the take us to the hyper, please. Henry, use the pull down position there, that's the assissant Tac position and get strapped in; there's no gravity in "Shriek" as you've no doubt noticed." McCock used his screen's controls to produce the star map of the Amiranti — Gorgipest region. He imaged the UVAs in cosmic space, "Those are the positions; U93 Mountserrat; U91 Amiranti; and U92 Yarragh. Each has been fitted with an omnidirectional rotating beacon in a plane parallel to the layer. We have used the active detection equipment, somewhat modified, because all RMN ships are equipped with receivers for that wavelength and they don't have Period detectors. U93 uses the zero as Mountserrat — Yarragh and the others use the line to Mountserrat as their zeros. The rotary signal transmits the bearing off the zero line. If the bearings from the three UVAs are drawn to Gorgipest, you can see the bearings we want to reach if we run down the U93 line, zero three five from Mountserrat. The present accuracy is only plus or minus half a degree but covering Gorgipest with the three bearings gives an area the size of the star system. But, once at the star system, locating the planet is no problem particularly with the dipping satellite. Along the way,..." "Captain, ship closed up, coxn on the wheel, ready for translation." called Alan. "Very well, Alan, takes us through with only twenty gravs once through. Excuse me Henry, I've got a bit of work to do." They felt the gut wrenching of translation with Sir Henry dry retching into his seal bag to the smothered mirth of the crew. Once through, McCock dialed in U93's down TX and pointed "Shriek" at it. To Henry he explained, the others were also listening avidly, "Despite knowing that continuing at this upward angle, theoretically we should emerge from the layer this side of the beacon because of refraction, I'm not going to take that chance because the layer does appear to throw vessels out haphazardly. Alan, up please gently in the epsilon until you feel turbulence and then come to parallel the hyper boundary layer. We'll move ten kay Yarragh-ward and heave to and furl sails." While this manoeuvre was being completed, Sir Henry raised his point, "On Old Earth explorers had a constant direction available. Magnetic north. The clever people then divided the sphere with a set of criss-crossing lines and thus the noble art of navigation was born. At the galactic centre is a black hole which emits detectable radiation and a rather coarse receiver could keep a needle pointing that way. That radiation does contain several unique wavelength if anyone wants to get really fancy. You know, those flat earthists nearly got it right, they just didn't think big enough, it ain't the earth that's flat, it's the galaxy. Use GC-Mountserrst as zero and we can begin navigating by the stars again; of course it might help if there are a few beacons spread round. I'm working on a paper and collating the star maps we have from the UVA. While I was doin' that, I realised we already have the cosmic star maps, just take the Milky Way stars off our existing maps. Viola." "Blessings upon you O finder of ways," laughed McCock and to bust his bubble, "You might grab another seal bag. Alan, keep us horizontal as it were, and use thrusters to slowly take us up. It's about eleven kay thick, so shouldn't be too bad." When through, McCock located U93 and found they had been thrown about a bit. The detection equipment in "Shriek" could not detect the layer confirming the previous finding. McCock directed Alan at the helm in manoeuvres to point the bow at U93. He then activated the forward SC to send a directional beam to the after SC which he had placed in non directional receiving mode; then he activated a fan shaped signal from forward SC to rotate away from after SC. The signal partially bounced off the layer until a point where the after SC received it. With some more fine tuning with thrusters, "Shriek" was brought parallel with the layer. Further calculations using the known distance between the SCs in the hull, "Shriek" was positioned fifteen kay above the layer. By further adjustment, the maindeck was also paralled. "Alan, onto your screen now, we are on the three five zero bearing from U93, at low thrust forwards, come left forty five degrees of heading until we meet the zero three five bearing and turn left, that is outbound, on it to Gorgipest. Engines, Claude, total forward thrust ten minutes please. Bert, defensive shields, please. Harryoh, did you get that? The Detection Level will confirm we are moving away." "Now," McCock continued, "I don't believe that layer is always as millpond as it has been so I want the Gravitic Detector alarmed; it works for turbulence in hyper and it should work out here." The crew and other had an extensive discussion about things that could go bump in cosmic space. Some hard reverse thrusting was required to heave to overhead Gorgipest but otherwise their arrival was uneventful. McCock spent a somewhat busy time remaking contacts and being brought up to date on GmBH and other matters. Angie Merton had a few twisted ones which were quickly sorted out and McCock obtained the information he wanted from Sir Joshua. McCock found sleeping in the Captain's Cabin on the "Trader" very restful. The return trip itself had been as they say "a piece of cake". It was a shame about the greeting. ------- Chapter 18 McCock was led to the PGS office. As he entered to sit at the desk, he said to Slow, "Stop being so bloody childish, Slow. Behave yourself. Paper, please Major." Colonel Mulcahy got off Slow's torso, but Sergeant Whittle wasn't so trusting, "You will do as the Commodore orders, Captain?" To which he received a muttered "Yes" in reply. Whilst McCock was writing, Slow got off the floor and was straightening her uniform. McCock finished the short note, folded it, and handed the note and his forage cap to the Major. As McCock was standing up from the desk, Slow snatched the letter from the Major's hand sending the cap flying. Slow hissed, "Back; stay right back!" at the Major and when that good man had steadied, unfolded and read the note. She went po-faced as she looked at McCock for a long few moments before passing the note to Denny and Polack. She nodded to her often disparaged cap on the floor, "I won't be needing that." Denny said quietly, holding out his hand for the stylus, "I believe I'm next senior?" and wrote his signature beneath McCock's. "I'm next" from Slow as Denny handed his cap to the Major. Polack looked carefully at each of his friends, seeing no emotion on any face, and added his signature to the list and handed the note with his cap to the Major. With a look of terrible anguish distorting his features, the Major demanded, "Why?" and facing Slow directly, "Why, Slow?" Slow looked reflectively at him, "You have never really understood us. We were nerds. Still are. We don't want reward; we don't seek recognition; we don't look for respect; but when we give our loyalty we need trust." Sally had been telling her daughter, "Warn Nan and advise the others. I'll contact as soon as I know." She turned to the Major and picked her beret off the floor giving it to the Major "I'm the 'plus one' of the Flock" McCock requested. "We will need transport out of the Palace to Bollard House, Major." Colonel Mulcahy nodded his approval, and the Major spoke quietly into his lapel mic. McCock led his party out and they shook into formation with Sally in the trail. Admirals Cunninghan and Rowan were standing in the entrance vestibule as the shuttle came to a halt outside; their attention was drawn to the sound of muted marching feet.as McCock's party came into view and marched past them with McCock nodding at Virginia "Admiral" and nodding at Rowan, "Silas." Virginia Cunningham wondered at the formation as Kowalski, Gort, Denholt, McGraw and then McCock entered the shuttle. Its departure was accompanied with a muttered "Oh. Shit!" from Rowan. The frown from Virginia was answered by a quick shake of the head. As she hurried along the corridor to the PGS office, the memory clicked, they had moved in the 'missing man' formation with Cdr McGraw trailing. She entered the PGS office where the occupants stood for her. She returned the salute, then echoed Rowans's thoughts as she took in the small stack of grey forage caps and the RMN beret. No one objected as she read the note. Elizabeth III Queen of the Kingdom of Mountserrat. Madam, No longer holding Your especial Trust and Confidence in my Loyalty, Courage and Good Conduct, I herewith withdraw my services. Date Time Sgd H.M.S. MCock Sgd E.B. Denholt Sgd L.A. Gort Sgd G.A. Kowalski "People of few words, aren't they. Damn that woman. Why can't she keep that temper under control?" No one had the answer to that rhetorical question; or objected to the expletive. Some two hours later, Edward found them sitting, clutching coffee mugs, surrounded by an air of gloom. "Her Majesty requests the presence of her Commodore." Edward straightened and looking directly at his Colonel, went on, "I admit to gross cowardice." "I just wish I had the courage to desert," almost snarled Major Logan, "you carry the headgear. You aren't going to escape that lightly." They marched to the door of the Office. Edward gave the caps to Rowan to hold to that person's horror, used both hands to open the doors, announce "Major Rupert Logan", retrieved the caps and marched into the Office behind his superior. Major Logan saluted the Queen and passed the note to her as Edward placed the headgear on the desk. The Queen read the note and passed it to her First Lord, saying "That resolves our dilemma." to which the First Lord snorted, and then asked "Where are they?" "They left two hours ago for Bollard House." The wheels could almost be seen turning as Sir Laurence asked of the Major "Sally's?" and in response to his nod, "Mine, I think." Diana Halliday meantime was working the com set and holding a muttered conversation, finished it and replaced the com; ""Shriek" cleared the hyper three minutes ago. She was met by a shuttle beyond the outer marker to recover some 'adrift crew'; at least that was the information tendered by Felix Arburthson who was aboard her. That makes the full Flock." ""Shriek" is part of my Navy" protested Elizabeth. "No, actually she has never been taken on strength anywhere" the First Space Lord informed them, "and to be quite accurate, nor have either of the Riders; they are leased in from GDF and thinking on it, those new missile carriers have not been brought in either." "I have been paying for them, haven't I?" was the worried Royal Question. "Actually, no!" returned the Second Space Lord sounding angrier as he went on, "Those arse warming time servers you've got in Treasury have been playing ducks and drakes and kept fobbing GmBH off despite all I can do; I only just prevented those REMFs from passing the pay accounts for the recent RMN drafts to GmBH to pay. If this ever gets out, you wont have any spacers left. I've been passing memos up to you for the past months and you've not bothered to give me the courtesy of an acknowledgement let alone a reply and don't try to tell me you've been too bloody busy. I won't wear it and if you want my resignation you can have it" and with that he stalked out with Cdr McGraw's beret clutched in his hand. The urgent com call signal from the First Space Lord's PDA broke the rather embarrassed silence; Silas Rowan had rushed after his old friend to calm down the angry feelings. The message tightened up Sir Thomas' features markedly. McCock thanked the PGS driver as he dismissed him. He led his party to Thoreau's office where they exchanged greetings and all filled coffee mugs. "We're almost back to where we began, Marcel. In the Grenoble Defence Force." said McCock and briefed him on the recent events. Commander Thoreau pondered for a while before saying "I think you are in the wrong here, Aggy. You should not have pulled the pin. Let me see if I can repair things with Elizabeth." McCock thought about this offer before rejecting it, "No," McCock said thoughtfully, "there has been a, ... a,..." searching for the word, "cooling, since we returned from Harbouria. There has been a ... its as if a wall has been building and I don't know why. Before forming "The Queen's Own" we'd only met the once but since then I've never felt quite trusted. It's never felt as if she was at ease with me and I have probably given her a couple of hares to chase as well. To the chase, Marcel, I want Bollard Lines relocated to Old Earth as quickly as possible; I know you have had the procedures in place ever since Brown Hollow. Old London? Offer our people repatriation with their families, as you had planned — you weren't quite as discreet as you thought you were, old chap. While you dust off the plans, I'll com my parents." He got up, extracted his PDA and walked ouside to the corridor. Shaking his head ruefully at the other four, Thoreau went to a cabinet and retrieved a slot box of chips. As he fed the chips into the puter, his face saddened. When McCock returned Thoreau informed him, "I'll be staying behind, Aggy, to keep a branch office open; but really I've done my running and I think your parents have said the same?" McCock nodded and Thoreau went on, "those who go will expand the London office. These are the chips to operate the various accounts. They are quite longstanding accounts of substantial value which have just been enhanced, considerably but not suspiciously, in value" "I have to attend to GmBH; that's a bit more complicated. You will be able to pull our people out using the next returning passenger liner; it is the "Bethune"? Good, she'll do. I'll have to get something a lot bigger for Gorgipest. I've instructed the Riders to make all haste to Gorgipest. We'll join "Shriek" at the outer marker. Felix is aboard her, how I don't know. Marcel, I'll try to return but if I don't, thank you for everything and if this does go down, get everyone up into the High Mountains and find the Shaman. I'll come looking when I can. Diety bless!" The party made their way to the pad to find a shuttle waiting. Polack remarked to McCock as they were settling in, "You can be remarkably dense at times, you know, Aggy; every time any one of ours is away, the 'shacks go onto a listening watch and you can be sure that this time, every com line is conferencing. Our lot are like latrine rumour mongers except they don't do anything until the senior Avers have assessed it; and I'll take your money they have a good 'line' on this." Sir Thomas Cassimatis would not have taken the wager. Captain Brian Wallace had managed to break through the Admiralty and Palace com centres to give the First Space Lord the news About ninety percent of the 'Gorgis' in TQO were either on or making their way to R1 and R2 who were preparing to get underway. There was a 'Gorgi' officer with a shuttle in "Infamous" collecting their people who each had a 'pusser's' bag of personal possessions. As far as Wallace knew only one RMN officer had elected to depart and that was Evan Evans. Sir Thomas asked to speak to the 'Gorgi' officer and activated his PDA's speaker. The listeners in the Queen's Office were stunned to hear, "Lieutenant jg Algernon Hardman, Grenoble Defence Force, to whom am I speaking? "First Space Lord, Hardman. Explain yourself." "The short story, my Lord, we're leaving. The long story? I was one of the four hundred and fifty one, the Flock took with them to Gorgipest after Brown Hollow cast us adrift. I signed my articles to McCock. When he was rebuilding 119, I swore my allegiance to him personally; my choice as he said. I metaphorically placed my hands between his and made my oath and I received his in return. So did every person who joined that squadron. McCock has a personal motto, my Lord, one which I'd commend to you. "Mind your friends". Hardman, clear!" "Wallace, let me speak to young Evans" demanded Sir Thomas. A languid dreamy voice came over the link, "Evan Evans here. I suppose you want to know what I'm doing, Thomas my friend?" and his voice hardened into bitter cutting tones, "I have received official notice that, effective two days after joining Commodore McCock's staff, I am medically discharged the RMN with total disability entitlements on grounds of mental instability" and the voice lightened laughingly, "And what else can a crazy man do but find himself a home." ------- Chapter 19 Felix Arburthson was a little apprehensive but not surprised when "Shriek" went up into cosmic space to journey to Gorgipest. He was somewhat distracted by the enthusiasm of Sir Henry Bollinger's playing with the star maps he had adjusted by 'removing' the Milky Way stars Navigation in cosmic space was going to require powerful 'puters with almost bank vault size memory. The voyage in cosmic space took about two hours as opposed to seven days by a fast freighter in the upper hyper bands Harbour Control at Gorgipest were not surprised at the quick return of "Shriek" as they had the tribal memory of its antics over the years. McCock had used the FTL links to establish a Search And Rescue time procedure (SAR Time) notifying "The Residence" of their arrival. GmBH were surprised at their quick turnaround and carefully refrained from any comment on the circumstances when told. Felix moved into Suite No1 which had been cleared of Cowboy's effects. Sally recommenced her duties as yeoman-writer in the Purser's outer office and moved into the Captain's Cabin which raised Angie's eyebrows. By the time the Riders, accompanied by the missile carriers, were berthed at the Ferguson yards, McCock, the senior GmBH Avers and Angie had made arrangements for the returning two thousand or so 'Gorgis'; they were sent on leave. A review of GmBH's contracts with the navy revealed that only one was held for continuing supply of heavily armed cutters and payment for these were six months behind schedule at that point. The Gnats had been a speculative build on McCock's request and there were no further contracts for UVAs; the U90s were covered by a contract covering experimental equipment and had been halted pending assessment. Work had been frozen on a frigate contract because of the policy change leaving GmBH with a nearly completed frigate in the fitting out yards. Because of the damage caused by the Harbourian raid, Gorgipest had been reduced to an outpost of the Kingdom as another multinational had discovered. Its new orbital yard was underutilised and haemorrhaging money. The parent company was in financial straits because of a major loss on Old Earth and were looking for buyers of several assets. Angie had supplied the information in way of general briefing of the economic situation on Gorgipest for the GmBH management team. Sir Joshua and Angie had investigated the matter as a possible investment. GmBH was awash with funds because the great majority of the beneficiaries of the various Gorgipest salvage and 119 transactions had invested in GmBH. Being eminently pragmatic, the financial advice accepted by Sir Joshua and Angie had been to establish a merchant bank in Geneva on Old Earth where it had become a small but successful player. Sir Joshua had used family connections to establish Gorgipest Merchant Bank Holdings and his only complaint was that of problems caused by delays in information transfer but the problem was not unique to GmBH. This discussion had come about following McCock's revelation that he was looking at transferring operations and people to somewhere out of the line of fire and to do that a passenger liner would be needed and work and accommodation thereafter. Sir Joshua accepted the task of investigating these matters but warned they would take time. The meeting broke up McCock immersed himself in familiarising himself with the greatly expanded organisation existing under the flag of GmBH. Denny, Polack and Slow had been joined by Felix and were generally getting in the way of the Avers working in the 'shops until firmly dressed down by Paul and Theo; understanding that the Flock were bored, the Avers then firmly integrated them into the lower echelons of the workforce. Contacts had been quickly established between "Trader" and "The Residence" using the existing FTL commercial links which had been re-established since 119's departure; information had also been passed onto "The Mansion". Things had been temporarily left on a deferred decision basis. Five days after "Shriek" had returned, McCock held a conference with the Flock and working on the basis of one thing at a time allocated the tasks. Slow and Denny to modify U94, now in R1's holds, to be able to interface with Old Earth's orbital communications systems keeping its ability to retransmit selected newsfaxes and vid news programmes; the base information for this was contained in information McCock had obtained from Sir Joshua previously. Denny estimated two days. U95 was to be upgraded to pick up signals in the bandwidths which were used by Harbourian Navy; the Riders still had the signal books and even though the codes would have been changed, McCock doubted the bands had. Polack to contact Timothy and Desmond Avers and to oversee their tying everything down that wasn't already welded to the hull. Please talk with Hardman to get an explanation. Also "Shriek" to be subjected to another inspection. Felix find Bollinger and then get together with Algy Hardman to get star maps Gorgipest — Sol. Denny and Slow to confirm the neither U94 nor U95 had Period or Holeinspace but did have Passive in both satellites. The intention was: Firstly, establish public news fax services listening watch on Old Earth and Harbouria; Secondly, establish volume of Harbourian Navy signals as an indicator of fleet activity; and Thirdly, to establish virtually instantaneous coms with Old Earth. Fourthly, tear Bollinger away for a one hour meet with McCock and then you can have him back until Algy is satisfied with his maps and please return him to McCock. After his people scattered to their tasks, McCock got Sally to find out how many UVAs were held by GmBH and what type; also to freeze shipments to RMN. Paul and Theo both planted wet sloppy kisses on McCock's forehead for giving the Flock other things to do. The docks were still beavering away at small craft work and turning a good profit for what they did which really was keeping a supply of workers for the "Skunkwerks". The dining hall in the "Trader" once again was set up for a literally round table conference; actually tables pulled into a five sided circle. Algy Hardman wondered what he was doing there. Felix reassuringly patted him on the head to reassure him and then sat down next to him and burst out laughing. He took the time to explain the earlier times he had experienced. McCock smiled at Algy reassuringly "Algy, you are here because you are the second most experienced cosmic space commander." Hugh Avers snorted, "And there's no prize for guessing who is the most experienced." "I did let someone else go first to explore" McCock defended himself which earned him a furious stare from Slow. He started the meeting by bringing the GmBH people up to date with the operational plans of 119 and the objectives; he then briefed them on the Us already in position. He reported Sally had located three 90s, twenty nine standard UVAs with Period and Holeinspace, five NOBs and eight satellites after two had been utilised for U94 and U95. McCock explained that signal strength from U41 over Renmark was weak almost to the point of not being able to send complex data. This was a four day journey in upper bands of hyper space. Warships up in the epsilon layer did the journey to Old Earth in twenty one days; going in the same layers to Harbouria took forty eight days. He then led the discussion as to how to utilise the available 'puter power of the Riders to manage establishing the chains of rebroadcasting links (rebros) pointing out that a chain of five UVAs plus a 90 at either end for the Sol link and eleven UVAs for a Harbouria link and two 90s were contemplated. Sir Henry opened the discussion "Aggy, I had a look at the Riders 'puters and it is marginal to Harbouria even if a fission pile is added for additional power; it's the 'puter itself that's the problem and the additional power just pushes it to the limit and it can't do anything else. We are satifactory to Sol with the one Rider 'puter on its own power and it will be able to run the ship, just. The "Trader's" 'puter is just not up to it but she does have a tremendous supply of available power from a very underutilised engine." "We will have to bunker up if we are looking at long term power availability from "Trader"." Polack interjected. Theo raised a hand and got McCock's nod "Ever since we joined GmBH, Paul and I have kept an eye on what has been coming and going out of the Port. Now that major construction has been stopped there are quite a few companies holding inventories which aren't moving and a couple are in a financial bind. There is a company which has been told that RMN does not have a requirement for the three DN 'puters they have on inventory. The feel I get is that it's Treasury being difficult; probably some playful sod wants a peerage." "I hope he doesn't have to enjoy it in a prison camp. Sir Joshua, make enquiries, please" McCock delegated and Sir Joshua enquired "That Generic Electronics, Theo?" and received a nod in reply, "thought so. They are pulling back to Sol; they are fed up with getting their fingers burnt. I can have them here in two days. Think on where you want them as I'll have to take them as a job lot — probably all for the price of one." "Polack, if you can power up a tween deck and put atmosphere there then either tween would do." Sir Henry advised to which Polack replied "A tween, direct hook up to power box on the bulkhead and hook up to the Radio Room's antennae; atmosphere's no problem as we can open into the accommodation and last I remember the seals were still good to close off from the rest of "Trader". Hugh?" "Last routine maintence cycle five weeks ago, and the seals are still in date." McCock then turned to the Riders, "Desmond, I want R2 to go through the layer. Tim, R1 as safety and hold the UVAs in your hold until we get the DN 'puters up. Both of you have a good talk with Algy and his crew. Felix, you'll command the operation. Take "Shriek" in company If all goes well, Sir Joshua, you'll be talking with our bank in a week's time; Diety allowing." ------- Chapter 20 Sir Joshua was talking to the multinational regarding assets it was considering divesting in three days. He had organised the 'puters the next day and by that day's end Polack had made the connections with the disorganised assistance of Bollinger- the blighter wouldn't stop drooling and dashing away to enter something else he wanted to explore on the system. In the end, Polack tossed him at Sally to keep out of everybody's way and borrowed some Avers from the 'shop. Polack had Sally organise bunkering from the mobile tanker and then left Sir Henry at it. The layer translation by R2 had been successful except that a bulkhead hatch had not been properly secured and the hatch was now a permanent accessway. McCock had then ordered a stand down and then had to physically drag Bollinger away from the 'puter During the stand down, McCock noticed a glow from the bridge area of the "Trader" and had investigated anticipating delivering the offender a large rocket. He found Evan Evans reading with a half empty glass of whiskey on the table next to him. Evan stood up and greeted his boss. "Can't sleep?" enquired McCock waving Evans back into his seat and joining him on a lift chair on the other side of the small alcove. "Haven't slept much at all since the battle" Evans paused, "It's not so much the nightmares it's the horrors and the night sweats. The nightmares are all in the hospital ship. You know, I don't have any recollection whatsoever of events that day. I remember an impact without any noise which hit just aft of the Boat Bay and then nothing until the hospital ship. I used to try to sleep but I wake up screaming nonsense, feeling so terrified I can't think, absolutely drenched in sweat; the bedding would be stained yellow and stink of death. During the day, I get flashbacks of parts of my ship with various damage and friends' bodies blown apart, gaping holes in the hull seeing ships explode into puffs of smoke and a thousand little bits of silvery metal. Mostly, I just want to disappear inside myself and never come out; watch the universe pass by without involving me, but I know if I let that happen, I'll never come out. I find it best to be among my own, people who accept me and where I can feel that I'm useful in a structured environment which tells me what to do and I don't have to think about things. I lightly sleep and catnap enough to be functional and I have to watch the 'pussers', I've already seen too many of my acquaintances drown themselves in it and they don't come out of it. I'll be alright, Boss. You need your sleep so you don't make a mistake and take away my home. Go to bed, Commodore. Good night." McCock, Slow, Denny, Polack and Sir Henry gathered in the A tween deck. "Gorgipest is at 32 degrees parallel of latitude in the northern hemisphere and the north pole here is cosmos ward; an ideal location from our point of view." according to Sir Henry, "here on the corner of this orbital platform we have unobstructed line of sight, electronically speaking, to the sub layer vessels. Any vessels above the layer will have to be at least fifteen kay klicks above the layer to beam to us directly because of diffraction; to be on the careful side, I have asked for rebro through R2. U96 will go through first and then the stream from R1 will pass up. A chain of UVAs will move in their respective directions led by U94 to Old Earth and U95 to Harbouria. I have amended the star maps of the routes removing the Milky Way stars. I think there are enough stars with their identifying spectra to confirm our track. That said, I would not like to rely upon them to enable me to locate myself if I were lost in space; and I might observe, Aggy, that I was not impressed with the strength of the Amiranti signal and the margin for error put us anywhere between Sol and Betelguese." U96 was dispatched without incident and established eleven kay klicks out into the cosmos space. Observations of the stars correlated with the star maps in the 'puter's memory. Cross readings from the UVAs already above the layer further backed up the placement. U94 and U95 were dispatched through the layer and after checking coms and having the 'puter affirm their position based on star maps, were sent outwards. A stream of UVAs followed them; those to Old Earth were designated UGS one through five and to Harbouria UGH ten through twentyone. Each stream of UVAs was linked by an electronic string back to U96 sitting above Gorgipest. Sir Henry busied himself with the mapping performed by the advancing U94 and U95. The others broke from time to time to replenish coffee levels, eat, answer calls of nature and not leave Bollinger alone in case another pair of hands was needed. Approaching the six hour mark, U94 was going into reverse thrust as were the UGS vehicles. Sir Henry was confidant that U94 was 'spot on'. "It is rather pleasing when your experts are 'spot on'" commented McCock "now for Harbouria. What's it looking like on that run, Henry?" "I would like to be able to say on track on time, but would you settle for "on track"? Contact should be sometime in First Watch. I've set the 'puter listening watch for key words in received TX and I'll have a closer look in late Morning Watch to see how the selection is working out. As for Old Earth, we are receiving so much that it is impossible to filter. You were saying that there was to be a filtering body in Mountserrat; do you think you could set one up here. One way would be to make a selection of public and economic affairs analysis programmes to pinpoint ... Your problem, Aggy." "Thank you so kindly, Henry, remind me to return the favour sometime." Sally, in her new role of Executive Secretary of GmBH, had made the arrangements for a com between the CFO GmBH and his opposite number in Generic Engineering Corporation which was based in New Wincester in Noracom. This com was the test of the link via the chain and it worked wonderfully. Sir Joshua had a satellite com for his use when he visited Old Earth and the Telco apparatus was recording the com link as arising from that com. It worked in both directions as GEC's CFO's PA had returned the com to confirm the CFO was available. At the given time, just before forenoon watch on Gorgipest and late afternoon in Noracom, a com link was made. Both parties had received the report of the preliminary probings of their assistants and so the decision makers wasted no time. "We are looking for orbital shipyards where we can start up an enterprise on Old Earth and use our own employees and the rumour mill said you were wanting to rationalise your assets" started Sir Joshua. "We have been exploring centralising our operations to the Atlantic and Noracom regions and we would be interested in divesting Chagos and Pachristmas. To give you some detail, Pachristmas orbits over Krismas Island on the equator in mid Pacrim. It's an old yard, two thirty years since first built and up to a decade ago was building a volume of two twenty kilotonnes at a time; its been on care and maintence since. It still has all its machinery. Chagos is our real problem and I'll give you the facts rather than the crap you'll get from elsewhere. Chagos is seven years old, can build eighty kilotonnes. It was purpose built for a specific order which still sits in it, the AV "Gigantic". It was a dictator's vision. Being polite about it, it's a monstrosity. The basis was an amphibious assault ship of seventy thousand tonnes, with dreadnought main armament, liner accommodation and viewing galleries which can be covered by armour; which armour and the hull, I might add, is of material made specially in a laboratory in the north of Enkland. Two power plants, one more then needed from Adama-Wartzsilo-Seltzer Atomics, six centuries of big ship engines there. All fully automated from a control centre. Fortunately for them, all the suppliers got their money up front. We got the yard, but we got caught for construction costs. Oh, didn't I mention it, the dictator got assassinated after bankrupting his country and the new government doesn't want anything to do with it. No one else wants it. Frankly it's making us a laughing stock and that is hurting. If we can negotiate a good price, I've been instructed to throw in the Gorgipest yard and that hull." "We are interested" Sir Joshua replied, "even if we end up throwing that AAS into a star; thinking on it though perhaps we could start tours up in the Paracelcus." Which caused chuckles from both men. "Our bankers will contact you to negiotiate on price." Sir Joshua continued, "Our CEO is planning on visiting Old Earth, business and pleasure, and asks what are the best newsfaxes to link to get a cover of politics and business while he is there. He wants to get a feel for them as we have already expanded some of our operations there." "That got some cover here, mainly in the Eurocon, and "Futuro" ran an article on Bollard and GmBH. United Solarian Worlds Senate broadcast their sessions as does both Enkland and Noracom but I would not want him to waste his time. WCBN here, the Beeb of course, BBC, and probably Swiss Inter give a good political cover; business? NY Quadrant and the Beeb again. Any particular reason you are expanding here? Last we heard, Harbouria got trounced when it poked its head into your frontyard?" Sir Joshua and McCock exchanged smile that should have been kept in the darkest corner of the planet. "No, last I heard things are quiet at present; but I did get something peculiar last week. A tramp pulled into Northulla orbital yards here in Yorkhire to rebunker. He had taken a cargo of grain to New Liege expecting a backload. The locals finally unloaded him at an outlying dock. Appears there is not a Home Fleet there anymore and the dockers said it had been destroyed and the planet bombed; no docks and that was why he was half way round the planet unloading. The Master had been a Solly naval officer and when he transitted out he went over New Liege, there wasn't any traffic control which he said seemed to bear out the claims. He said there a lot of small burnt areas and it looked as if somebody had performed a surgical strike on all the military targets according to his maps. We haven't heard anything of it and I haven't heard that Mounrserrat has claimed credit for it; have you heard anything?" "Not a whisper, but I'll look into it. Might be some business for a neutral. Hope we can do business together." "We might just have our liner; might even have gold plated toilet seats." laughed McCock. "I'll have Wayne do a survey on the yard here and that frigate. We might have some work quickly. Get GMBH valuers onto those yard and let our negotiaters know. By the way, where were you calling from?" "Old Boulton, its up in Yorkhire." smiled Sir Joshua, "I have a manor house on care and maintenance and the house staff only go weekly so they don't know if I'm there or not. We'll have to get someplace in either Geneva or Old London or both for visiting dignitaries — leave that to me, I'll get our people onto it; using this com line it will appear that I'm on Old Earth. Rather convenient. When are you thinking of visiting?" "Probably before the bulk of the personnel return. Go and spend a few days on Old Earth on an inspection visit. Have to use a Rider, "Shriek" as Cowboy once pointed out is a warship. I'll talk with the Flock about it. Thank you Joshua." ------- Chapter 21 "Well Jeff, it sure has been a busy week in politics here in New Leige, this week." "It certainly has, Matt. My sources tell me that the Navy is very divided about the Middletown — Tidsworth bill, and even those who accept that Congress is the body to decide policy are not that pleased with that policy." "Jeff, a little bird whispered in my ear that Congressman Middleton did not really want his bill to pass, or at least not with more than seventy percent majority. That same little bird tells me that the Congressman himself does not believe that the Geneva Convention was breached. He just wanted to apply the blowtorch to President Forde and the cabinet" "Yes Matt. I heard the same thing but after that speech by Ambassador Wangfor, Congress got carried away by the emotion of the terrible defeat we suffered and were looking for some way to save face. To be able to blame an unspeakable belligerent for this disastrous defeat seems to make it somewhat more acceptable." "Then who would have expected The Senate to act so fast. They usually nit pick a bill to death strictly on principle. But that moving speech from Senator Cauthold reminding the Senate of their duty to those brave spacers who were struck down without warning and the tragedy of those hundreds of unarmed civilians murdered in their beds seemed to motivate them. Of course Jeff, that speech might have been an attempt to strangle moves in his State to not nominate him at the forthcoming election; his record in the Chamber has not been at all spectacular, in fact, the claim is that he is just warming a seat and not doing anything to earn it." "That is a matter for his electorate, Matt, but it did have the effect of raising the patriotic fervour of the Chamber and the bill passed unanimously on the voices. You might have noticed that the official reports of the civilian casualties are no longer being made public. Just dried up as if they never were." "That's true but Forde's enemies certainly didn't wait to have the bill on her desk, Jeff. Middleton and Tidsworth took it there personally the next morning, they accompanied the House Speaker when she presented the Bill in company with the Vice President in his role of Leader of the Senate." "She certainly knew that there was not a chance of her not being impeached if she did not sign that bill into law. Our constitution is very clear on that point, Matt. The President has to sign into law any bill which passes both houses with a clear majority of those present voting of seventy percent; and that bill went through with only one vote against and that was Congressman Sherman who was a naval officer until he was invalided out because of wounds received at Third Yarragh." "There will be a delay now though Jeff, Vice President Brooken has to be sworn in and he wants that to be performed before the combined Houses. He was on this station yesterday saying his first action will be the signing of the Middleton — Tidsworth bill there at the Speaker's desk because the people have spoken." "Well, he has got another task in front of him what with the breaking news this morning, Matt. He will have to appoint a new Secretary for the Navy and that person will have to find someone to take the job of Chief of Naval Operations. The only officer in the CNO's office this morning was a Commander returning from injuries and by midday he had reported sick and departed for his home planet." "Speaking of departing, Jeff; Ambassador Wangfor has finally got his ship back to Sol to report to the United Solarian Worlds. He departs on the passenger freighter "Bethune", surprisingly headed for Settlement in Mountserrat first." "There is certainly an irony there, Matt; that is a Bollard Line ship originally based in Grenoble but now a neutral register in Panaman in Midamcom on Sol and he is a neutral diplomat. I wonder how he will present our "No Quarter Act" to the USW Senate. We'll be back, after the break." "Now that we've got it, what do we do with it?" asked Sir Henry of his listeners. The full board of GmBH had been urgently assembled to discuss, not so much the implications, but the dissemination thereof. "It will be about fourteen days before "Bethune" arrives Settlement" McCock calculated, "She will turn around in a day, probably with the Bollard House personnel bound for Sol aboard as well; and then eight to ten to Sol. Those people know I was in TQO, that I am virtual owner of Bollard and that I ordered relocation of Bollard. They won't be conversing with the Ambassador but they certainly will with his minions. There will be wives and children and we couldn't keep them all quiet. And I'm not going to hold back the relocation because I don't know if I can get them off Mountserrat later. Telling Elizabeth this news says we've established our own listening watches. Not telling her will not harm her, or disadvantage her. Marcel will pick it up off "Bethune's" Master and pass it on. Might get her to put the torch to her bureaucrats. No. We don't tell Elizabeth. This means we have three months to get the affairs on Sol finalised as after that we will run into political interference which we will eventually overcome but the word is eventually and I don't want to be delayed in whatever it is I want to do. Sir Joshua and I need to go to Old Earth and bed the deals down and take stock of the politics and economies." "You will need a staff to be most efficient and probably bodyguards for them" Sally said, "let me think on this for a bit." Sally took the yellow legal pad from Angie and began writing lists of names, with sometimes lengthy pauses between bursts of activity. "Putting aside how we get there for the moment and that is above my pay scale as our beloved leader was once wont to say; here are my suggestions: Sally McGraw, personal secretary; Evan Evans, personal aide; Sir Joshua Galbraith, CFO and the man with the earth contacts; Angie Merton, Legal Adviser; Sir Henry Bollinger, officially Scientific but actually Intel Officer; Trudi Kowalski, political officer; Nan Nancarrow, foreign affairs liason officer; Dowager Duchess of Western Hove, Social Controller Paul and Theo Avers, Works Engineers; and get forty or so Ghorkhali as bodyguards. Making a total including Aggy of fifty one. I deliberately did not take Hugh or Harry because they will have to keep things running here; the Flock would be invaluable but too noticeable and they will be needed with Wayne to check out that behemoth and they can travel direct without having other contact. How long are we likely to need on Sol?" "I'd think about three four weeks would wrap it up," Sir Joshua estimated, "but we do have a major security problem. We cannot arrive within the next three weeks. It has been just over two weeks since Aggy arrived back here and it takes about six weeks to reach Sol by a fast company yacht, of which of course the company has several. I am already on Sol, why, I was talking with business people only the other day," he facetiously pointed out to a few coughs from those who knew the reference, "but we will have to be careful. We will have to make some contact with our Embassy." "Yes," joined Sir Henry "and Harbourian interests will be over us like flies, not to mention every Nation on Earth wondering why a Grenoble refugee is again running and what are his interests; aarrgghh you get the picture. The Duchess is going to have to leave our cards with a lot of people, political, economic and social and we are going to have to do a lot of mingling and that could put us in danger particularly the managerial people." "You will need good coms, wont you, Henry?" asked Denny "Yes," and turned to Sir Joshua, "and what's the attitude towards weapons for the body guards on Sol." "Works on the basis 'don't ask don't tell'" "Yeah, and that so frequently goes out the window when things go pear shaped" objected Sir Henry, "Would you enquire of the various contacts in the protection forces in places we are likely to visit?" Sir Joshua made an entry on his PDA as did Angie on hers; Angie did have a somewhat puzzled air about her. "Aggy" went on Sir Henry, "can we use our full resources to get the Ghorkhali here asap for equipping and training." "Are you thinking of uniforms with short sleeves, Henry?" "Something along those lines, yes." "Right!" said McCock, "Sally, contact "The Residence", get the Ghorkhali and liase with Felix for R1 to pick them up from Bollard House pad; use commercial shuttles to take them to R1 which will drop out of hyper to pick them up and then back here. Also advise the ladies and see if they agree to come to Gorgipest on business for say four weeks in about two weeks time; we will need time to brief them. Denny, I would like each of our Principals to have one of our PDAs with ear bug and lapel mike; the bodyguards can have PDAs with headsets and we'll have to work out their coms freqs and links later when we get the equipment; also Slow can look at what we can do with U94's equipment and Sir Joshua's Old Earth satcom. Polack, advise Master Chief Armourer there will be a call on the personal weapons and get into the ammo, mainly ceramic but a small stock of the other say in coloured magazines. Go to it please." ------- Chapter 22 Angie came into the Purser's outer office as Sally had established the link and was waved by that worthy to the guest's chair. Sally put the link on speaker. "Trudie, Sally, how are you? How are the boys?" "If you mean our two, they are getting on fine. If you mean your lot, they are driving Barati crazy. He says whenever he talks to one of them he has to measure his height and then remember the line of them before he can guess the name of the lad he is talking to; otherwise they are all joining in the selfdefense training and the arms training and studying. Walter and Matthew team up against Gus and Sabajhi with Peter lording it over them as referee. James and Dorian stop it when it gets too rough except when Peter and Dorian team up against James and the rest sit back and offer pointers; then when the Ghorkhali children join in the whole property is seething with running, fighting, laughing, screaming kids. The others troop off to work, you disappear and Rein and I are looking for a nice quiet asylum to commit ourselves to. It is hard work but yes I would rather be doing something else like force feeding a full grown white bear. Now tell me that you have been enjoying yourself and I will declare you an enemy for life." Sally was by this time laughing outright at the tale of woe, "Trudie, I have an offer of escape for a while. In about two weeks Aggy is planning a business expedition off planet and wants Nan, Rein and yourself to form part of his staff; he anticipates a week's briefing and then the trip. Also Bollinger is looking at some beefed up security down here and wants forty Ghorkhali to train up asap. Can you manage that please? Sir Henry can make arrangements to have them picked up at the Bollard House pad tomorrow and brought down. Pay rates will be as what Uncle Gus was paying the twenty." "Sally, why is it I feel the need of the services of a mathematics department. I will pass the invitation on. I'll talk to Barati and perhaps have him com you; at the "Trader"? Good! You know..." The friends talked on for a while about events and happily broke off the com. "Why is it that I felt she didn't fully swallow your story, Sally?" "Because she knows Aggy, Angie, because she knows him too well." R1's transponder signal was recognised by Mountserrat approach as she came through the hyper limit to be met by the transport shuttle bearing the Ghorkhali. Once transferred to R1, they were met by Avers crewmen who handed each four seal bags and advised the Havildar and Naiks on their purpose. The group were ushered to the troops' lounge and instructed on strapping in. A short briefing was translated by the Havildar on what to expect and R1 returned to hyper. The Ghorkhali had been advised by Sir Henry about the unwisdom of even small meals and Barati had simply made that an order. Despite that, there were some uncomfortable people when R1 translated out of hyper over Gorgipest but none that disorientated to render them unfit for space travel. For all of them this was their first venture off planet and on their first journey had been among the first to travel through cosmic space unbeknownst to them as galactic geography was not a major part of their syllabus. The Ghorkhali were quartered in "Trader's" crew space leaving the Havildar to handle the gender issues. They were mustered in the passengers' dining hall for a short welcome by Sir Henry. Then Theo and Paul Avers described the vessel in which they were located and they divided into groups under a Naik for a tour of the "Trader" and the working areas; after which a light meal was served. The first afternoon was given over to several lectures on techniques involved in being a bodyguard. Sir Joshua and MFH had arranged for a security firm who drew its staff from ex-naval infantry to instruct on this subjects. Then a rest period before an evening meal with all the GmBH staff and tradesmen. That was the last easy period they had for three weeks. Their knowledge of self defence and basic infantry skills (here the females were at a training disadvantage, but as one of the instructors remarked 'show them once and the males had better step aside') were orientated to defence of an individual. Practical lessons were conducted dirtside using all environments. The evenings were spent on communication skills, a widening of their political horizons to enable a better threat assessment and on over view of enemy tactics. The dirtside exercises did lead to an advantage. The EVA / pilot suit manufacturer witnessed one of the exercises and presented Sir Henry a benefit. The business in the factory next to the suit manufacturer was a material extruder who often cooperated with each other in their products. There was available a material which could be made to look as if normal attire which was proof against hand held projectile weapons and gave considerable protection against beam weapons in the same class. At this time, the only colour available was a dark grey cloth. It could also be made into close fitting undergarments. There was a down side in that only special seaming machines could be used to do the joins. The troops were then subjected to the indignity of being, in small groups after the end of formal evening lectures, stripped and measured for this clothing and then later fitting. Their muttering did not reach the volume of protests raised later by the staff ladies. That is until one of the tailoresses produced a series of very old prints of something described as Saucy Victorian Corsetry at which the rush was on to add lace and stitching to the garments. The Ghorkhali females rapidly took note and they had a tribal memory of very elaborate embroidery upon which to draw. R1, R2, "Shriek" and the Riders' shuttles gained further experience in cosmic space with the crew members being restricted to returning ex "Giant" spacers and officers. The exTQO personnel were distributed through GmBH's yards; Ferguson's, the UVA and U90 plant, the Armed Cutter plant and auxillary to that was a downgraded production line of Gnats of two per month. The plan was to retrain spacers into tradesmen and semiskilled workers. The spacers were supervised by the Avers from the "Skunkwerks" which was in care and maintence. Not all the TQO chose to return; some took their discharge and retired and a few others joined the RMN. Training conducted by the Avers was on the job and for many of them it was as if TQO had never existed. For the three hundred and sixty six, however, there always remained a question of what could have been. It was no secret that GmBH was looking at expanding to Sol and was presently exploring the acquisition of orbital yards in which to offer employment should some want it. There are always sceptics. One group insisted that GmBH were going to abandon Gorgipest altogether and the other group held that dreams of expansion were just that. Transfer of workers into the GEC yard on Gorgipest had both groups scratching their heads, but to McCock it went a way to solving one of his problems; the lack of an intermediate size ship to fetch and carry. It was however some way off as it had only spent some months in the fitting out yard. The power plant was a smaller Adama Wartzsilo Seltzer Atomics which gave McCock and Polack several happy days going over the plant and the manuals. The start-up was the same as for the Renmark fission piles of which this type was a more advanced variant — a reaction mass fed pile requiring rebunkering every twelve to fifteen years. McCock did have a few very bad moments at first glance of the system because of a lecture at Sandhurst College on the follies of specialised fuel systems. There had been a wet navy which had built a commerce raider needing specially filtered fuel; the fuel itself was commercially available and the ship had the filtering equipment aboard. Enemy action had destroyed the filter system and the end result was that the ship was scuttled as it could fight but not go anywhere. The nodes were mounted on hull mounted pods rather than as bands circling the hull and this allowed them to be used in manoeuvring the hull at velocity; for low velocity, thrusters were still fitted. Generic was obviously hurting as the prices negotiated were top value for the two Solarian yards but the small modern yard on Gorgipest and the two ships as sweeteners made the deal satisfactory for McCock. The contracts were signed and formal handover would be in two weeks at Geneva. McCock planned on being present. The ladies were quartered in the passenger cabins on "Trader" and the Avers chef was exuberant; diners who would appreciate his efforts and they did. (To the mere males it was good but it was just food.) The staff underwent briefings and quickly realised the trip was to Sol. They had some problems with the cast iron panties for several days and were still concerned for the boys. That last problem had been solved by Barati taking them to the High Mountains to enjoy the tribal lands; Cerise, Marchioness Claigh Valley accompanied them as 'Mother Cerry'. One unfortunate result of the expedition was that each boy came back equipped with what Trudie described as a chopping axe which they carried at the small of their backs. The mothers went truly ballistic when they all got together at "The Residence" and Trudie was reduced to gobbling, when James, speaking for them all, patiently explained that all warriors wore them and that the tribe had moved with the times as a result of the Gnat and bodyguard recruitments and females were now wearing them. McCock spent a lot of his time with the Ghorkhali and regularly exercised and sparred with them; he also gave lectures on the sleeve pistols and demonstrated them on the ranges dirtside. He thoroughly enjoyed himself particularly on the tactical walk range. No one commented that the Nancarrows shared Sally's cabin and the Captain's cabin as well. However, Slow did find cause to mention the matter as she thought that the Nancarrows were wearing McCock out as his performance sparring with the Flock was slower than usual. Sally hastened to reassure Slow that they were taking good care of their principal. Slow just looked at the neutral features and snorted. The days before departure were filled with last minute briefings, and fittings and testing of com gear. Each member had a personal com PDA which was highly digitally encrypted for Mounty coms and could be used as a satellite com on Old Earth. Sir Joshua's com bill was being picked up by GmBH even though he refused additional salary as he intended to use some of the time to further his own firm's interests. The Gorgipest departure time was calculated so as to arrive at GEC's Azores orbital station during night time in that part of the planet and after clearing the authorities would shuttle directly to the leased Swiss mansion outside Geneva and R1 would hide up in cosmic space in full link with the ground party. Wearing strictly utilitarian clothing over the 'cast iron panties', the party boarded R1 to receive the ritual bags, settled in the troops' mess, strapped in and did as all passengers did universally, chilled out in whatever way suited the individual. The arrival was uneventful with the Ghorkhali performing their duties for the first time impeccably. The arsenal of weapons passed through the detectors without a flicker. GEC was superbly organised and the paper war was defeated before it started and with minimal baggage, the transit through the station was no worse than a walk in the park. ALL the ladies were travelling light; they had made the usual decision why take clothes when you travel as there are all those wonderful shops at the destination in which to buy clothes; and this trip was after all on GmBH's credits. ------- Chapter 23 The layout of the mansion and grounds had been obtained, advice from the security trainers and consultations with the Havildar had a proposed suite /room occupancy laid out. The Nancarrow suites had somehow been arranged about McCock's suite. In the best traditions of the service, the Avers chef finangled a place in the party and thoroughly enjoyed himself in a large kitchen and luxuriated in the wealth of 'new' foods for the duration. He was also able to draw upon the Ghorkhali knowledge for some very appetising dishes. The party had nothing scheduled for two days and so scattered about the local area admiring scenery, lake, historical buildings and a female reconnaissance of the latest fashions. The local fashion houses did significantly benefit by the need for 'dressing up' for the first event scheduled — the formal handing over of the orbiting yards at a ceremony followed by a reception at the Beau Rouge Hotel. During his apparently meaningless meanderings about Geneva, McCock, who had been educated in one of the great defence academies of the Galaxy, was suffused with a tremendous sense of humility as he remembered the origins of the efforts to decrease the horrors of war. It was in this city that the first First Geneva Convention was signed dealing with the care of the wounded following the ground work of the Hague conventions. In this city, that purpose was expanded to protection at first of prisoners of war and then to non combatants. As politics spread to Solar space, this city hosted the conferences which produced the Fifth and Sixth Geneva Conventions and later the Seventh and Eighth Geneva Convention to minimise the horrors of Galactic War. There was a tinge of anger mixed in that feeling at those who deliberately did not disclose to their audience that it was the responsibility of the authority in whose control POWs and non-combatants were, not to expose "protected persons" to risk near targets of military value. But, of course, hysteria always prevailed over reason in politics. One reason for McCock's visit was to attempt to head off such an abuse. The staff meetings on Gorgipest had included discussions on how to present the effects of the TQO's raid on New Liege. It had been decided that as Mountserrat had not made any statement about such an event, that the tale of the tramp freighter would be pursued accompanied by queries of the listener if they had heard from their consol / factor / agent / representative in New Liege. McCock was relying on "Bethune's" not only carrying Ambassador Wangfor but also mails from Harbouria. The imminent arrival of "Bethune" if she was on schedule, was casually dropped into the conversation by the 'connections' of Bollard House. The reception was attended by representatives of the Embassies to the United Solarian World Senate, multinationals with interests on Harbouria and local representatives of the world's fax organisations among others. So coverage was widespread. The McCock staff then spread across the continents pursuing their obvious interests in one area and then returning to their base in Geneva where Sir Henry Bollinger sat like a spider in its web gathering and collating his information. The ladies had the added benefit of combining business with pleasure as shopping does allow such wide spread contacts from shop attendants, fellow shoppers, social climbers wanting a moment of glory, fashion editors and unofficially representatives from governments who just happened to shop there; and the wives, mistresses, concubines and partners of interested parties. Nancy Alma Nancarrow was almost immediately contacted by Mountserrat's Embassy to USW and information was exchanged informally. Nan was on a holiday but arrangements were put in train for an informal get-together of top brass. Thus it came to pass five days after arrival in Geneva that Mr H.M.S. McCock accompanied by a small staff, the Dowager Duchess of Western Hove, Sir Joshua Galbraith and Sir Henry Bollinger paid his respects to Ambassador Abraham Lindsay, Baron Westlake.at the Royal Embassy of Mountserrat and his small staff. Pleasantries were exchanged and tea dispensed with the ubiquitous biscuits. They seated themselves about the low table in the alcove of the Ambassador's office and then began the serious exchanges of information. The meeting was coming to a close; Sir Henry and McCock exchanged glances, Sir Henry cocked his head to one side as if listening intently and then nodded at McCock. McCock passed across a letter from GmBH endorsed "For Eyes Only". After thoughtfully considering the envelope and McCock for a minute, Westlake retired behind his desk and perused the contents. There was no sign on his feature of the mental calculations which must have been swirling across his neurones. "Please retire to the bar, I'd like a personal word with Mr McCock before he leaves." Both sides departed, all wearing precisely neutral expressions. "Now, McCock, what's this all about?" McCock produced a plain metal covered PDA and passed it to the Ambassador. "This is one of a small number in existence made in one of my facilities. It is slightly different to the models we hold in that you can use it as a satellite com on Old Earth. To activate it you need this small stick key inserted into the slot in the face of the panel, it is specifically coded for that PDA alone, so don't lose it. If on the other hand you don't want it to get into another's hands break the stick and the PDA is useless and believe me, no one will get any information out of it. There is also an activation code on this card to bring up the numeric panel for establishing a link. You can of course leave it lying around as you will be carrying the PDA at all times but to be on the safe side put it in a secure place. This number you should memorise and then destroy the record. The PDA can be encrypted to your desire by keypad selection and yes, we can record and with some difficulty decrypt the com but it does take some days. My experts do not believe any one else has that capability." "Who is on the other end of that link?" the Ambassador was suspicious. "Try it" was the simple reply. The Ambassador did and his eyes did widen slightly at the response, "Sergeant Whittle, to whom am I speaking?" came hard tones in reply. "Timmy Whittle, a sergeant, Diety, the barrel bottom has been reached. You inept clumsy oaf have you found anyone to close your boots for you since I left?" Humourous tones replied, "Captain Abe, as I live and breathe, are you still trying to impress your betters with your queer sense of humour, you malodorous cretin. When did you get back, Colonel?" "Tim" gently said the Ambassador, "I haven't returned and I somehow don't think you are visiting." There was along pause before the equally gentle reply, "She's sleeping, Sir; it's been a long hard day and it's early in the morning here." There was a soft grunt of realisation, and the harshness came back "And tell that bastard McCock, I'll rip his guts out next time I see him for what he's done to her." "You can tell him I am warned and that I'll shoot him first; I'll leave you to your new toy. I'll make my own way out. Good even, Sir." The arrival of an interplanetary passenger freighter was an event which was usually covered by the local fax networks not the planetary services; such was the eagerness with which "Bethune" was awaited, the dock police at the New London orbiting yards had to request reinforcements from dirtside to assist with crowd control. The usual reporters who covered such events noted a heavier security presence of Customs and Postal officers. The USW Ambassador hurriedly cleared the area with a spokesman notifying all and sundry that there was no comment until the Ambassador had reported to the Senate. Thwarted of that prey, the faxes turned their obnoxious attentions upon the other passengers and the crew. The passengers from Mountserrat could only repeat what their fellow passengers had told them. The spacers in the crew varied in their reports of damage to Harbouria from total obliteration of the planet to the more sober comments of the junior officers. The Captain and his senior bridge officers were not immediately available being subjected to intensive debriefings by experts from Enkland, Noramcon and Coneuro Ministries of Defence. One little gem that all networks ran with was that Ambassador Wangfor had been planning to hold a press conference immediately on arrival to make a special announcement but appeared to have been pre-empted by the large media pack. The faxes divided along the usual lines. McCock was in Edinberg when Ambassador Wangfor made his official report to the Senate. Wangfor painted a picture of almost total destruction of the metropolis of New Liege mentioning only in passing the total destruction of the Harbourian Home Fleet. This official statement resulted in serious navel gazing in the Ministries of Defence of the more powerful governments who to date had only the second hand evidence of "Bethune's" crew of that destruction. Wangfor made an impassioned speech calling for a punitive expedition to wipe Mountserrat of the face off its planet. The usual suspects vocally joined in support. When order was restored, Ambassador, Baron Westlake of Mountserrat rose to address the Senate. Without stating who had caused the damage, he stated that his instructions were that damage to New Liege consisted of military targets only, with very little collateral damage, estimated as being less than five hundred non combatants. After all, whose responsibility was it to emplace a missile battery in a residential area or allow population to build next to a munitions factory. To Wangfor's consternation, Baron Westlake produced combat vids and over head post bombardment vids. The Naval attaches who were privy to the debriefings noted the consistencies. Hysterial demands for the heads of the Mounties were mingled with the sombre reports from others in New Liege at the time to their home governments. The Senate resolved to send an investigating party and Chencon accepted the onerous task. "And that," remarked Sir Henry, "is putting the wyvern among the bovines." Sir Joshua nodded agreement, "Perseus 'n Orion shipping are almost one of their subsidiaries." ------- Chapter 24 Sally noticed McCock sitting with his head held back reading the Senate coverage on his PDA, with that instrument held in his outstretched hand. "What's wrong with your eyes, Aggy?" "Nothing" laughed McCock, "it's just that my arms don't seem to be long enough these days and I am a short fellow to start with, you know." "Nonsense" snapped Sally and signalled over the waiter. "This gentleman has something wrong with his eyes. Where can I find someone to look at him?" The waiter laughed, "He's getting longsighted; probably just needs glasses to read. My brother in law is an optha, oftam, yes, one of those, I can never remember how to pronounce it. He is just up "The Mile" and he should be able to find the problem, if it's just that and if not might be able to organise an early consultation." Sally got the details and with Nan on the other side of McCock marched him up the hill to the eye man. The knights smiled tolerantly at McCock as he was led off saying they were going to play tourist and would join them at the Royal Scotchman. The shop was easily recognisable; the large spectacle frames hanging suspended over to pavement was a dead giveaway. Nan was intrigued by the "Established 2009" plaque swinging from the spectacle sign. So she asked "Have you been in existence for eight centuries?" "Not me personally," laughed the rotund women at the counter, "but the business has been here for that long; not in the same hands mind you. My family bought the business nearly ninety years ago and we expect we'll hand it over to our grandchildren in a century or so when we want to retire. Now, who needs help?" "This one," said Sally, "he says his arms aren't long enough." "A common enough story as you get older; come sit here and I'll have a look." The lighted letters at the far end of the room were no problem but the small print of the pages to be read, were. A framework was swung in front of his eyes and a hand device was put into his hand with the instruction to push the button when he could clearly read the words. One eye was tested at a time and then binocular was tried. The hinged framework was swung away and a spectacle frame was offered and tested. A few changes later, the selected lens pattern was entered into a lens former which constructed the lenses. A plain wire frame had been selected and the lenses were fitted. Sally paid the account and McCock was asked for his card. "Card?" "Yes, I have to enter the details on your records; all 'regens' do." At this point Nan joined into the conversation pointing out that they were strangers to not only the city but to the planet and would the lady be so kind to more fully explain. "You are from off planet and you got off without having a card?" Nan was becoming more puzzled, "Would you please start an explanation from the beginning such as by explaining what a 'regen' is." "If you dinna mind, I'll not be involved; but I'll pass you onto someone who not only can tell you the history but might be able to help" She made a com link and spoke rapidly to the other end, "Earliest, day after tomorrow midday, fine?" Sally accepted. McCock just looked at her and she glared back, "No, you don't have a say in this." The Cock and his hens returned to the Royal Scotchman and reviewed the coms from Chagos. At the same time McCock and his staff had been arriving at New London, the Flock had berthed at Chagos in "Shriek". The arrival had been planned and Generic had notified the caretaker staff to be ready for them. The cover was that this had been a group travelling with McCock who had separated in n space to proceed independently to Chagos. Slow commanded the party and she oranised a meeting with the care and maintenance crew as to the status of "Gigantic". The first thing they were informed was that the vessel had not been formally launched or named but the nickname seemed appropriate. The C&M crew had been working on the vessel with a view to working up and acceptance trials. External power was connected and all the systems were on line except for the weapon and EW equipment. The yard offices contained the all the construction records, parts lists and operations' manuals. Each Flock member snapped up 'their' manuals and settled down for a 'good read'. They had brought e-rats with them so as not to impose on the resources of the C&M people. They napped during the night in that hemisphere and next dawn donned their skin suits for a guided tour of the vessel The control bridge had the standard equipment panels but all so ergonomically arranged that six watch officers could 'fight' the vessel by directing the 'puters except that the battle 'puter was wholly inadequate. The C&M explained that the major powers on Sol restricted the sale of top level weapons and their control systems, and the dear departed dictator had not been on the approved lists of anyone who could make that equipment; second line gear was readily available but any nation found selling top level stuff had biting enforced sanctions applied across all trading and the purchaser usually found his equipment and the vessel it rode in scattered in small fragments across whatever place it was located. So DDD has the best and newest energy weapons and a hopeless battle 'puter and no missiles. Point defence and defence shields were top line but EW was "adequate?"; for what? was Denny's question. Denny was interested in the decoy system fitted and was informed that it was experimental work by Generic which had not been fully tested because of lack of funds. There was a roughly written manual. All the systems were controllable from the control bridge with specialised centres fitted for each system with local system control as back up. Polack had to be dragged away from the atomic engines and the others had to admit they were impressed also. Officer territory was, well, palatial was the term that sprang to mind and C&M said that a very modern hotel had been the basis of the design. Crew quarters were of good standard 'bunking' six hundred. There were barracks type accommodation for fifteen hundred fully equipped marines. The after part of the vessel was a series of stacked hangar decks, one of which was for Marine heavy equipment. Three of the decks were for shuttles / armed cutters. The fifth was for passenger vessels etc and contained a cutter equipped as an Admiral's barge of most resplendent appearance and equipment; in addition, its power plants were an Adama Wartzsilo Seltzer Atomic design. Partly as an exercise, Slow had "Shriek" brought into the vessel and docked beside the barge. Felix with Denny had brought "Shriek" in and the reported a DD patrolling the space near the yards. C&M opined that it was a Chencon who seemed to be taking a bit of an interest because 'sightings' were frequent. Slow egged on by Polack asked for permission to bring the engines on line. McCock had no hesitation approving engine start up and ordered Slow to move the vessel out asap to rendezvous with R1 in hyper to prepare her for cosmic space and when ready depart for Gorgipest and to have all necessary upgradings undertaken there. After dinner that evening, the usual staff meeting was held but Sir Henry was absent having scuttled back to Geneva to receive his regular fix of information from the other staff. All Ghorkhali reported an increase in interested parties trying to look innocent. There also was a increase in the questions about Chagos equally divided between when the yard would be available and the fate of the AAS. Sir Joshua reported an appointment for the morrow with the Trade Attache from DaDakiDan, as the country of the DDD was jokingly called. The subject was the AAS and he had prepared a brief and documents for McCock. The Trade Attache was very good but his argument was not and he didn't seem to have his heart in it. DaDakiDan wanted the AAS. It had been ordered and paid for by DaDakiDan. It was theirs. McCock rejected the claim, politely, and pointed out: Legally the DDD had ordered the AAS as his personal order. There was a considerable debt against the AAS owing to GEC for costs of construction and fitting out. Upon the untimely departure of the DDD, the President of the government of DaDakiDan, recognised by the Senate of the USW at that time, had publicly declared having no interest in the AAS and disowning the DDD's actions. Said President, while still in power had publicly signed a document to that effect in the USW. Thereafter GEC won an action in the Admiralty Court of Enkland against the vessel for payment of outstanding debt, Chagos being in Enkland's jurisdiction. The fact that the then President and his political allies had amazingly disappeared from the face of the planet, did not in any way abrogate GEC's ownership. Also, GmBH had purchased the AAS from GEC in good faith for full value (and this was the way it appeared in the documents; Sir Joshua was a canny man.) and this protected GmBH. Any claim DaDakiDan had was against GEC and that for compensation only. The courtesies were maintained and the Trade Attache and his companion departed. Sir Henry worked hard on identifying the companion; Sir Henry was as suspicious as Sir Joshua was canny. The identity was available to McCock and the Havildar the next morning just before departing for the appointment in Chalmers Street off Lauriston Place. The companion was a Chencon national employed as a gardener at their Embassy in New London. ------- Chapter 25 The journey in the hired ground shuttles was deliberately roundabout and showed that the remains of the grim edifice of the Castle did indeed glower over the city and its surrounds. Chalmers Street had retained its air of elegance even if slightly faded. It was overshadowed by the Castle Hill and the storied hospitals around. The old school had seen far better days since being condemned even as a residential site. McCock with his party entered the door and up the narrow stair way through the now dingy passageway to the office with the door bearing the message: Sir Lancelot Splatt Aging Physician "Reassuring" muttered Nan to Sally. They entered a surprisingly sunlit room and were greeted by a cheerful woman of a certain age with piled up grey hair held in place by combs and hatpins(?). She closed the ledger on the otherwise bare desk top, and having ascertained their identity led them into an inner sanctum and announced them while the Havildar walked to the room's window and gazed out to the buildings opposite. A large solid man with a black old style shaped beard rose from his wheeled chair in front of his desk to shake McCock's hand and bow to his ladies; he waved them to the three chairs strategically placed to ring the desk. "Some details first, your full name, date of and place of birth, please," and having received the details, went on, "hmmm, fifty four years old, becoming longsighted, hair line beginning to recede and the slightest bags under the eyes; tell me, Mr McCock how it is that you have no received "Antigerone" immunisations as a child. I know that Sol has been very strict in enforcing the emigration policies." Nan's face registered deep shock and she turned to exchange looks with Sally to find a carefully neutral gaze returned. Realisation came rapidly, "You knew" she accused Sally, "and you didn't tell us. How?" she demanded. Sally explained to a furious Nana Nan and to a curious McCock, "His pre-graduation medical. I found it in his file when I was working on 119's reabsorption back into the Queen's service; many of them were reservists and their files had to be activated. As Sir Laurence's PS I handled those of the officers. I saw the highlighted entry and read it. I was as stunned as you are but I realised that Aggy had countersigned it. He has known from at least that time and has said nothing. I made the conscious decision to say nothing and remember I already had Peter by that time and you now have Matthew." "Peter? Matthew?" asked McCock. "Later" said both ladies in unison, with Sally going on, "this is far more important." "We don't want to lose you." persisted Nan. "Shelly already has lost her man" McCock pointed out in hard tones. Sir Lancelot coughed, "Ladies, shall we postpone the family argument until you get home? Let me give you a bit of medical history which, I think is relevant, and I will then go on to what I might be able to do for Mr McCock. Early in the twenty first century, research discovered genetic treatments which prolonged life. By the end of that century "Regen" was developed and introduced widely. It was found to delay natural degeneration by one hundred to one hundred and fifty years and could be repeated with the same benefit. extending enjoyable life by some half millennium for most people and further for many. The problem with "Regen" is that in a small number, a percentage so small as to be clinically insignificant, except for the puir sods who develop and die from malignant breakthrough. It was for that reason that research was continued and "Antigerone" discovered as a childhood immunisation but we are now finding that it lasts for four to five centuries and does not work if repeated. Research is still developing variations on the theme improving it but there has only been relatively small increments in survival. We are also finding that "Antigerone" recipients do not benefit from "Regen" treatment. Thus work is being continued on "Regen" but to date, the only significant finding has been to identify the genotype most likely to suffer the breakthrough of the malignancies. Work of course is exploring cancer prevention but to date nothing significant has developed. I would therefore recommend Mr McCock receive "Regen" therapy in its concentrated form if he is not allergic to the delivery medium." "How long does it take?" queried the potential recipient. "You will not experience any effects for about a seven day. After that you will be slightly lethargic and your appetite will be voracious for about a month. To obtain the best physical development from the treatment you should commence a vigorous programme of exercise which the "Regen" will establish as the norm." "Can you do it now? Here?" "Yes, it is not technically difficult; and being forewarned I obtained a supply from the regional stock. There will be loud wailings from them when they become aware that the material has been injected into an off-worlder, but they will no be able to take it back and sometime next century their bill might catch up with you. If you are agreeable, take off your coat and expose whichever arm I can use. Meantime I'll have my girl prepare the limb while I do my thing." McCock moved to the examining couch and began removing his upper garments. "Rosemary, would you prepare Mr McCock's forearm for me?" His 'girl' entered from the reception room to take McCock's coat, fussily placing it on an elaborately shaped frame, apparently designed to maintain the shape of the garment, and hung it on the coatrack standing off to one side. Sally noted her clothing and recognised it from those prints of Victorian Corsetry. Rosemary delicately coughed as she saw McCock lying down clad in the grey undervest and sleeve pistols. Sir Lancelot asked, "Anticipating elephant, old chap? They are safe, I trust? You will have to remove one for access." and turned his attention to Nan who stood beside him quietly asking a question. His answer was at his usual volume, "It will, of course, be better if fully exercised as well." Nan had a slightly smug look as she sat beside Sally who was now holding a sleeve pistol. Meanwhile Rosemary had identified a forearm vein and shaved the area around it before cleansing the patch with a pinkish solution. Sir Lancelot drew a small blood sample and tested it in a series of test tubes. He appeared satisfied with the combination of colours produced and proceeded to infuse about a cupful of a clear brown fluid. "No faintness or difficulty in breathing? Good! Just rest for a few minutes while I make some notes and pen a note for your local chap." Rosemary watched as the contents of the bottle emptied and ran down the tube. She clamped the tube just as the last was about to run into McCock's vein, "Cant afford to waste any, hold this pad there for me, please" and extracted the needle. After a minute or so she sealed the puncture mark, "You can get up now, Mr McCock and dress." McCock did as he was told. Sir Lancelot handed McCock a copy of his records, a letter for his 'local chap' and a small book which contained directions as to the manufacture of the latest version of "Regen". McCock had passed them onto Sally to put into her case and was being escorted to the surgery door by Sir Lancelot when the Havildar softly interrupted, "Go tactical, Sahib." The off-worlders each made an adjustment to their PDAs and donned tinted wrap around eyepieces. "I can acquire the sniper from the window here without his seeing us, I think, as the angle subtended is very small and I am in the shadow of the overhang. You wait inside the door until the ground shuttles pull up and move to them when I fire. I'll join you immediately." "High ground does have the disadvantage that the occupant has often to expose too much of their body to shoot down." McCock commented to Sir Lancelot as he led the ladies out. McCock, hearing the shuttles stop outside followed by the shot from upstairs, opened the door leading the ladies to usher them into the opened hatch of the shuttle. He became aware of full powered roars of approaching shuttle vans from which projectile fire was being received. He raised and straightened his left forearm at the van moving to block his shuttle's front and placed five rounds into its front end compartments. It came to an immediate halt. He turned his attention to the second shuttle van to see it in a similar condition. There were isolated shots from either side of him as his bodyguards mopped up already placed assassins and two shots above and behind him accompanied by the sound of a body crashing through the centre window post and adjacent windows and unearthly continuous screaming. The body hit the pavement with a sickening thud and the screamer, holding both hands to his head, ran through the still open door to the surgery straight into a parked shuttle which appeared to silence his screams but caused him to fall convulsing onto the pavement. Within seconds, Rosemary, clutching a shawl and a flat crowned straw bonnet, came fussily through the door, saw the convulsing body, trotted up to it, trod on its neck and with a most unladylike brushing aside of her long skirt, extracted a bobbined long pin from the fellow's eye but not before slashing it from side to side. This did have the result of stopping the convulsions. The window defenestrator was trying to drag himself up but Rosemary took a step towards him and using that momentum placed a well delivered sensibly shod foot into his nose and drove it into the brain. Rosemary was draping her shawl about her shoulders after fixing her hat to her head with her hatpins to be joined by the Havildar who was rubbing a scorch mark on his jacket and Sir Lancelot carrying a stick and gloves and donning a fedora. He surveyed the scene and tut-tutted at his one time receptioniste "How many times must I tell you Rosemary, you are supposed to give them a chance to surrender." "As often as I tell you that is only effective when I am in a position to accept that surrender, if the enemy indicates he wants to surrender and when he is a legal combatant as defined by the Conventions. These deluded persons attacked a target of no military significance, are wearing no insignia, were not carrying their weapons openly, are without an obvious chain of command and that makes them assassins and if this sod twitches again, I'll put his ears together, through his head." Sir Lancelot sighed in apparent defeat, directed his attention to McCock, "No casualties? Good! Now while we all get into your shuttle and decamp, allow me to congratulate you on obtaining the personal services of the eminent physican with a broad experience of battle trauma, Sir Lancelot Splatt, late Lieutenant Colonel RAMC attached Royal Scots. Seeing as how you have made me a target in whatever feud you have started, I do hope I am welcome?" Sally remarked, "We seem to have picked up about every body else why not a doctor? Sir Lancelot, why is it I feel I have met you somewhere?" "Good lady you have fallen under the influence of a twentieth century entertainment which lampooned my ancestor. Shame!" As their shuttle pulled out passing the shattered hulk of the shuttle van, no one paid any attention to the blood which leaked from inside onto the roadway. ------- Chapter 26 Time to go. The lot. Everybody. Stat. McCock used his PDA to make the broadcast message. Everyone back to Geneva. Acknowledge recall. R1 down into n space and dispatch the assault shuttles to the Geneva Mansion. Lock the Mansion down and pack up the belongings McCock and his expanded party returned to the Royal Scotchman where an international shuttle organised by Sally awaited. A quick scatter to collect belongings and then to the roof pad and shuttle. McCock noted that his ladies assisted by Rosemary carried their own baggage. Sir Joshua was still giving instructions to one of his executives as he prepared to board. McCock connected to Sir Henry whilst en route to discuss the attack and was informed that the Chencon gardner had lost his way and had some how sought refuge in the Mansion's cellars; the poor fellow was bruised and battered having tripped on the steps going down. Sir Henry claimed that a carpet he was at this moment purchasing in the village was to cover the deck of his 'puter compartment and he was not going to leave it behind. And by the way, McCock's was the last in, the shuttles were in n space and expected just before McCock. Geneva Control was being 'sticky' about landing assault shuttles on a private property. Well it hadn't been mentioned that these were assault shuttles and Geneva Control was concerned about migration and customs' clearances. Sir Henry had used his initiative and ordered them into stealth hoping that Harbourian EW would be enough. It was. McCock found Evan acting as local controller for the shuttles. The Edinberg party moved from their shuttle directly to the ramp of the assault shuttle and quickly seated and strapped themselves in. Evan came up the ramp making the 'raise it' signal to the crew chief and the shuttle went to full power and lifted off. Evan commed McCock to tell him everybody was accounted for with the additional two taken on McCock's trust. The crew chief threw a cargo net over the assorted baggage piled in the middle of the compartment — to the restrained horror of the females of the group. By the time the shuttle was nearing R1, Eurocon Control was demanding the unidentified vessel over Suiss speak with them. McCock ordered the shuttle into its berth in the hold and R1 to immediately translate into hyper. Timothy Avers reported no potential problems as he was receiving the signal from U94 which had its SC deployed below the layer. The Crew Chief passed around the bags and the passengers awaited the layer transition. R1 moved into cosmic space without incident except for strange noises emanating from a rolled up carpet. Once into cosmic space McCock had everyone move to the accommodation on R1. Sir Henry moved among the group debriefing their after action reports. R1 moved down the layers to enter Gorgipest Harbour, joined to "Trader's" No 5 hatch, disgorged McCock and his staff and then stood off to the Ferguson Yards. This time, however, the bodyguards were loaded down with what the females couldn't carry; and that was a lot. The Ghorkhali females had used their time off to go into the country side and the Staff females had moved into the up market end of fashion. All the females purchased baggage was placed in the dining hall and McCock was grandly informed that it had been a planned exercise with each group doing what it knew best and purchases had been made not only for the purchaser but for other females. Slow had knowledge of this grand scheme and had contributed funds. The next two days were a fashion show interrupted only by meals and by the need for some of the females to make their reports to the now all male board meeting. Rosemary was in an eighth heaven, you know the one above seventh, flitting from group to group admiring all the styles and offering helpful advice. McCock attended the farewell party sporting a truly magnificent / horrendous left black eye depending from whose side of the opinion fence you sat. The morning after their return, everybody was finishing up at breakfast and McCock was in conversation with the three Knights preparatory to continuing the Board's review. The Dowager Duchess walked purposely up to the group and asked Sir Lancelot "He" nodding at McCock "is going to enjoy a long useful life?" "Yes, while there are some physical side effects as his systems adjust, they are basically treated now." "So, he can still suffer the slings and arrows as it were without side effects or any more harm than would be expected?" A rather puzzled Sir Lancelot answered, "Oh, yes he can still be injured but the effects will not be more than expected." "Good, very good" nodded to Sir Lancelot, turned on her heel as if to go and used the momentum to punch McCock's lights out; well, one of them. McCock ended up on the deck with the Duchess standing over him and giving him the best of her furious glare, "And that's for not telling me. As for the sixteen years we've missed, you are going to make up for them every day of your regenerated lives." And stalked off. No one mentioned it but all of GmBH knew that the Nancarrow women had spent the night in the Captain's Cabin so the consensus was that things had been settled. Not quite. The 'boys'. The party was very successful and enjoyed by all. The pairings off were noted with pleasure and approved in general. McCock untangled himself and attended to his ablutions; dressed and with a slight smile toward his bed companions went to breakfast. He joined the Flock and Sir Henry at their table. The faxes were passed and comments made; there was a new document added to the usual and that was the in-house production of the latest intelligence from the UVAs. Sir Henry raised the point about naval signals. Denny added his bit that the Riders had produced a lot of information about the Harbourian systems and code patterns. Sir Henry asked for information on how to programme the battle computers and how much help were those programmes in listening. The Flock all considered this question and it was left to McCock to make the assessment, "Battle 'puters are just that; their programmes are orientated towards combat, navigation and the here and now; they certainly do have sigint capacity but again the here and now — the strictly local tactical. I have often thought that amateur radio hams do better than the navy in the ability to reach out, as it were, to drag in distant in time and space signals. You might ask Hugh if the Avers can help; I'd be surprised if they can't even if only to tell you where to start. Now that you have raised it, Henry, where have you put the BB and BC 'puter programmes you copied from "Impulse"? don't come the innocent with me, you are a packrat and I'm going to take advantage of it. We, people, have a number of problems one of which is that behemoth we've got moored at the fitting out yards under cover, I hope? Good. You tell me its got a kiddy 'puter and I know you have been transporting the modules of the GEC 'puters from here, and don't you try to look innocent. But you didn't think about Henry's acquisitiveness, and you didn't think about "Shriek's" battle 'puter programme. Grab some of the experts from the Riders and mount those GEC 'puters in the AAS. How are we placed for the frigate?" "Renmark piles and i/c, GmBH nodes and she will probably give "Shriek" a race, but as yet no 'puter, ... although that AAS 'puter might do. Let's think on that." supplied Polack, "Should be ready for trials in six weeks from what Hugh says depending on the 'puter." The Gaggle then appeared for breakfast and were joined by the off shift Ghorkhali. The men folk broke up heading for their worksites after paying their respects to the women. McCock reviewed the reports of the Board Meeting's assessments of the recent sojurn on Old Earth. He was impressed by the network established by the Dowager Duchess and the Emperor's great grand daughter; the Foreign Offices' contacts had yielded results as the attitude of one country towards another was important and so was knowing the true neutrals — Nan had done well; the financial side of things had been in good condition to start with but massage by Angie had not gone astray; Sir Henry Bollinger had used his scientific and mathematic credentials to make contact with some interesting people who appeared to have no place in the role of power brokers, but as Henry did note, others did walk carefully about them. The acquisition of the AAS solved any transport problems he had but did not yield any long range hitting power. He had the CV and the Keys but no real striking power "Henry, liase with Hugh about the Gnats here. Can you get simulator programmes with a view to cross training some of our Ghorkhali, after all, flying one of those things is just another form of bodyguard, bigger body, different tactics. Now, don't take on so, Henry, you know you love a challenge." "Denny, my apologies, I didn't enquire about shields on the AAS. Yes, I had thought of that; get Algy with crew and use "Shriek" to do a run around to test them. Of course I want hole in space, I'll take an insect net if it will do any good. Thank you." "Slow, is Felix with you. Good. You start looking at locking down the crew numbers for the ship's manning and Felix to take a good look at those hangar decks with a view to mounting Armed Cutters, Keys and UVAs. Felix, that AAS will need a COHAC, think about that appointment please and let me know. Thanks both of you." McCock took a walk through his domain ending up in the Office where he found Hugh looking at barge plans. Hugh looked suspiciously at McCock "Food and missiles?" asked McCock. "Food. Plenty, storage on the farms. POWs have nothing better to do, we pay them for it. Avers farms have had good years too. Some POWs partnering widows- lots of them after Home Space. Not causing problems, good citizens. Missiles; don't know ... I'll check with Angie." The Gaggle spaced out that evening returning to Mountserrat. Trudie and 'Mina were planning on relocating to Gorgipest as were Erin and Nan; there was concern about Sabajhi jr being on his own, if Shelly wanted to stay in "The Residence". Another burr was niggling his grey matter but it wouldn't surface. ------- Chapter 27 "Aggy, Baron Glanville on the FTL link; do you want to talk with him?" Sally asked from the Purser's anteroom, "line 3?" McCock pressed '3', "Prime Minister?" "Commodore, Willie Bruce, any prospect of patching up the differences?" Silence. "Oh, well, I had to ask; not that I was asked to. Blue Hills was suggesting yesterday that you might have access to political intelligence that we can't obtain in a timely enough manner and he suggested that we send a liason officer down to you. He went so far as to nominate Sam Costello, Chief Counter Intelligence in DNI. Would you consider such a request?" "I'll will always consider such requests but I will have to consult with my Board and particularly my Intel Officer." "Thank you, Commodore. We would be eternally grateful." "Aggy, Head Office have just been in touch. They have taken an option on four V and W destroyers which are being replaced with more modern vessel. Appears the Government are giving them away because they are outdated. They were in some strange unit called "The Queen's Own"." "Angie, if you are joking, I'll use your blood to redecorate your office walls." "I'm not joking. Head Office might be but they have less of a sense of humour than you do. Talk to Ernie Wells, he is actually waiting for your call." "Marcel, McCock go secure 37." There was a slight buzz in the PDAs as the encryption was made. "I've just got off the FTL to Wells at MFH in Settlement. He has just obtained four old V and W destroyers, last in "The Queen's Own". Appears RMN have manning problems and they don't want old outdated vessels ... They are coming exactly as we left them. Have you still got that documentation making them privateers? Coming off the Navy List makes those registrations active again ... Fourth Space Lord says they will be at the Bollard docks early morning watch. Will you arrange bunkerage there and I'll have crews up by the time that's done ... I should be able to get them away just before afternoon. I'll have Captain Denholt in command. Thanks Marcel." "Denny, we have the V and Ws back. Never mind how. Locate as many of the four fifty one as you can to Ferguson's eight second watch; I'll get R2 to transport you to Settlement to bring them back via cosmic; R2 can go safety until we have given them a run through the layer ... How am I going to use them? Scouts Denny, scouts. Armed scouts; hole in space and Period will extend the cover for the AAS so far that we'll be looking into the next galaxy ... You know what I mean. Get to it" "Captain Avers. Des, Commodore Denholt will be with some warm bodies up to four hundred of them to go to Bollard Line docks in Settlement to pick up the V and Ws. Go safety at the layer for them and follow them home. Cosmic both ways ... Didn't I mention it, at Ferguson's eight second tomorrow ... That's why I have intelligent subordinates to tell me where it is; thanks Des." McCock was enjoying a bulb of Kenyan Mocha in his office, contemplating his order of battle; he had the AAS, four VWs, a frigate, "Shriek" as independents. As many Armed Cutters as he could fit into his hangars and they had the new 1.8 graser as main armament and an unknown number of Gnats without pilots. Sir Henry appeared before him like an apparition. He was accompanied by Slow and Polack. "Good news about the V and Ws; I'd have preferred the Grendles but..." commented Polack. "How did you hear? I only finished talking to Denny an hour or so ago." "Aggy, I'm up on the frigate thinking how we can get the 'kiddy' computer into her when half my workparty's PDAs sound off and next thing I know Denny comes up on mine asking for 'volunteers' from the four fifty one for the same job as before without the exiting bit at the end. I had to come down hard on my lot because they all wanted to go. Those ships are legends and for some reason are regarded as lucky; I can't see twenty percent losses as lucky but perhaps I'm a pessimist. You know those survivors have formed their own secret society and have their PDAs dialled in. The women have their own and you can imagine what they are like; Trudie, 'Mina and the Nancarrows got inducted during that pre trip brief time. That's not what I want to talk with you about. While I'm here, that kiddy computer is suitable for a frigate — far more than it really needs but Henry and a couple of the Avers can load the BC programme into it." "Polack, you are like an old woman" accused Slow "what we are here about is the Gnats. Between us we can make the Gnats remotely controllable from the second GEC 'puter — well actually we only need part of it — with pilot stations to it to the Gnats. I am onto the electronics, Polack is on top of the control module and Henry and his Avers 'sparkies' have got the programme." "I cant take too much credit, Aggy," demurred Sir Henry, "all we did was tweak the simulator programme from 'Sniffy's' BB 'puter when I put it into the back up 'puter in the AAS. If we need it we basically have a full BB 'puter and a bit to handle Keys and UVAs; the Flock drummed me on your use at New Liege. I've had a look at our cruise missile stocks and while half a Missile Carrier might not sound a lot it's only slightly less than you used at New Liege. The problem is replenishment of stock." "I'm very concerned about missile or lack of them." McCock agreed, "with them we don't need vessels with fire power inbuilt, without them we don't have enough inbuilt firepower even with that brute out there. Depending on its shields we could handle a couple of DN squadrons as the range of her grasers far outdistance any current DNs. What are her shields like anyway?" "Didn't Denny tell you?" Slow smiled brightly at him, "Oh sorry that's probably why he gave me his report before he hared off. I confirmed it with Algy before I stood him down for the day. Oh hell, that's why he was in a hurry, he and his crew are 451ers. Brief, the shields are excellent, probably somewhat better than RMN's but not too much. But this thing has a double layer of shield and according to the file in the 'kiddy' 'puter, the intershield gap has an electronic field in it that reverses all polarities and should blow out the circuits on any missile that penetrates the outer shield. They trialled the system at GEC with Solly missiles and it seemed to work. I'm not sure how cruise misiles would go as they are well protected electronically. The outer and inner shields are given an extremely high rating; appears the DDD was quite paranoid and he had the full facilities of several organisations to play with. Our hole in space works outside the defensive shields and so we don't have to switch between them; and yes, hole in space is now hard wired into the 'puter and the equipment is in place in its own compartment in the radio shack. Shack? We could put a gym in the place. The Avers 'sparkies' from R1 and 2 are fitting Period, in fact three of the sets. The frigate's electronics are in place waiting for the hard wiring of the 'kiddy' 'puter. Haven't trialled her yet." "Waiting on the final hook up of the piles," explained Polack, "Hugh is really working on it." "Henry," McCock turned to his Intel Officer "Baron Glanville, Mounty's Prime Minister, commed me, asking if we would share our intel with them. Suggested sending a CI expert down to liase, a Sam Costello. He of course is a spy for Elizabeth but the only thing they don't know about and that isn't certain, because it was an open secret on Old earth is that we have the behemoth here. Dammit, we've got to name the thing." "That's easy" sadly smiled Slow, "there is only one name now. "Vector"." "Yeaahh!" agreed Polack, "we've got 119 back again." "And you were going on about being 'lucky; you're as superstitious as the rest of us. Thank you, Polack, Slow, I wasn't courageous enough to suggest it." said McCock, " A.V. "Vector" she is." "A.V.?" asked Polack. "Atomic Vessel. Just following the tradition, old chap. SS steam ship MV motor vessel." "Shelly to christen her?" quietly asked Slow. Both men nodded solemnly. After a reflective pause which Sir Henry was reluctant to break, McCock shook him self and raised an eyebrow towards Sir Henry. "If it is the student, I once had — wondered what happened to him — this could be a gift from the Diety. My man was a mathematician of singular bent and I could see him going into Intel work. He was a cryptologist. Now, I am receiving a lot of coded signals on military bands from both Sol and Harbouria; once broken the Harbourian signals are comprehensible; done a bit of playing around with them at night when I can't sleep; nothing of import so far. I can't make head nor tail of a lot of the mess from Sol and that's because of the 'foreign' languages. The one I'm really interested in, is the Chencon and I think I've located the bands. In MUGC, there is a career Chenologist, Yin Sung. Sung was brought here as a babe in arms, bred with love of every thing Chenian except for the government for which he has a deep and abiding hatred. HMG has used him in the past when dealing with the Chencon Ambassador; so his clearances are high and any way Costello if from CI would have the word on him. Can I sound him out, Aggy?" "Go to it, and I'll have Sally speak to Shelly. Suit?" All three affirmed. ------- Chapter 28 The DDs of 119 returned. They were taken out to Ferguson's and underwent a quick refurbishment. That was all that was needed as the RMN had maintained the vessels during their time in Andrew. Being suspicious, Denny had checked that Holeinspace and Period were still fitted and found them as per the original equipping during the convoy years. Denny replaced the sets with newer equipment. The original crews claimed precedence of appointments. The 'surplus' Captains were allowed to borrow the vessels for exercises to maintain ship handling skills in the larger vessels from time to time. However they and the more occupied Captains had another interest; one, Algernon Hardman. His 'Crusher' For the next twelve weeks Algy could never decide when he was awake or asleep. Whilst the course was longer, there was the added knowledge for A.V. "Vector" although the Captains were only just ahead of him by earlier access to the manuals. Algy managed to push Tony Pearson and Gregor Kowalski to the bulkhead and both had to work very hard to stay in front. All did manage to survive. Felix Arbuthson came up with another development. DDD had indeed been paranoid. His Admiral's Barge was hypercapable and had Renmark power plant equipment fitted. Some bright person in an architect's office had noticed the advertisements in prewar brochures for small fission piles and i/cs from Renmark and made a few enquiries of the agents on Old Earth. Yes, there were two on hand; no they had never been fired up; no one knew how, no one had ever expressed an interest, fission piles frightened everyone and yes you can have them at cost. So DDD was informed that he had a Barge which had the power to go hyper but no one had tried it. Felix mentioned this at a meeting of the Flock and Polack immediately excused himself to begin the procedure for bringing up the piles. He did at least remove the Barge well away from "Vector" using Algy in "Shriek" as the tug. Polack then, of course, took the Barge for trials, sitting alone in the pilot's cabin transmitting down to "Shriek" which is what Slow did when she heard; no one was sure whether it was because Polack did the start up by himself, did the trials or went through the layer or what combination of sins. Polack's excreta eating grin was in evidence again. The power plants were somewhat less powerful than those in "Shriek" but McCock was not concerned as the Barge was not weaponed. McCock had her fitted with Period and Holeinspace; he had his passenger runabout. There was a surprise when Sam Costello turned up; Nancy Alma Nancarrow accompanied him as his Foreign Office adviser. Elizabeth's fine hand was seen in this but not malevolently so. It was accepted as the graceful gesture it was meant to be. Besides Nan's experience in Foreign Office despite being on the Renmark desk would be of benefit in analysis. Bollinger's Boys (and girl) were quickly into it. Three streams of Chencon traffic were identified. The first was the largest and consisted of myriad encoded systems originating from commercial interests; these were identified as far as possible and then put aside for Sir Joshua's attention at his convenience. The second was probably the diplomatic within which was two patterns — a lightly encrypted 'general' interest news cast bringing all embassies up to date on matters thought significant by Foreign Office and the second, a high level encryption signal in which several more patterns could be discerned, one of which Costello thought was one-time pads. He was not going to waste his time on those despite the information to be gained being of the highest importance. The third stream was 'defence' with embeds again; a general 'bumpf' channel and a tight burst encrypted signal probably carrying the most important messages. Resources available on U94, particularly when the SC was deployed, allowed a rough approximation of the position of the origin of the signals. Yin Sung had identified the Capitol and the major Naval bases both dirtside and orbital. With the added information from the SC's passive detectors, a picture of the Chencon Navy both wet and space was being gathered. The wet navy was going about what appeared to be its usual duties. The space fleets were being reorganised. What was Chencon Home Space Fleet was being reinforced by heavy elements from the three force projecting peripheral fleets, Midpac, Rusiberia and Noram and these were being replaced by cruisers. Comparison with Naval Dock activity over Eurocon, Enkland, Canal, and Noracom disclosed a high level of activity in the Chencon Naval Docks even allowing for the size of that fleet. Major elements were being 'touched up' A major fleet activity was apparently being planned. This activity was not unnoticed on Old Earth and other navies began playing catch up. The material was considered by the full GmBH Board and one thing was very clear was that whatever was going down in Chencon was more than was required for an investigation of the damage at New Liege. Costello organised his information for dispatch to Settlement. He met with McCock in the Captain's Cabin and raised a difficulty, "Commodore, we haven't got a way to get this information to Renmark or Amiranti in a timely fashion." McCock contemplated him for a moment and then waved him to a chair. Reaching into the small of his back under his frock coat, he produced a plain cased PDA into which he inserted a key stick and then punched in a number from memory, "McCock here, can I speak to your principal, please." The remembered voice came back to him in strictly neutral tones, "Yes, Commodore?" "Good morning, Sam Costello tells me he does not know of a way to have recent information sent to Renmark or Amiranti." "That's true for Amiranti. We have just not been able to raise him." "Have you tried using a UVA above the northern end of the wormhole and using the link from there." "I haven't been able to get a UVA freed up from the Navy and I'd rather not make too big a shouting match. I'm told that no more are forthcoming from the supplier." "That is news to me as Hugh says GmBH is still constructing them and they are filling up our warehouse. I was envisaging having them hanging off all my davits as well as filling my Boat Bays. I'll look into it at my end. Meantime, I'll get Costello to record his information onto a UVA which I'll dispatch direct to overhead Wormhole at Grigor. We have got some tone signals from that end so I know the equipment is in place and basically functioning. I'll get back to you on the other matter. McCock clear." He replaced his PDA and activated the in house coms, "Hugh, I'm sending Sam Costello down to see you; hold; Sam, Hugh is in his office and he'll be waiting for you, go to it; Hugh, get a record onto a UVA I can send to the northern end of the Grigor Wormhole and set it up for relay to U91; seems no one has been playing speaks with Gus. The lady at Settlement tells me she has been told there are no more UVAs forthcoming. True?" "True, the contract hasn't been renewed; we continued to send about another twenty and when we enquired why no payment Fourth Space Idiot said 'no contract' so can't pay you and nobody has authorised new contract. Angie is going spare but nothing happens." McCock was taken aback somewhat, "Does someone up there have a death wish? No, don't answer that, Hugh. Get that recording done and get back to me with the details." "Aggy, got a moment?" McCock had been exercising in the gym as per Sir Lancelot's general directions and Wayne Burton-Avers had arrived to begin his fitness regime. "Go, I'm just relaxing before hitting the fresher." "You know we are really a bunch of masochists but we keep coming back for more. To business, enough of this frivolity. Its becoming a problem to get fission piles from Renmark these days as they are needing them for themselves; we have taken over our own i/cs under licence from them but the power plants are becoming scarce. I have had a look around the planet and there is an extremely high grade uranium mine in the southern hemisphere which is so hot it has to be completely robot mined. The ore is transferred into fissionable material on site and then used to fuel really small power plants for remote localities. Our present crop of UVAs and Keys are horrendously overpowered because the present power plant was the only one available and now the upgraded power plant is available the original plant is being phased out. We are going the wrong way for our remote vehicles; I can see a use in the U90s as their reception power must be high but ... This manufacturing plant can set up almost as many piles as we can supply the casings. There is still reserve capacity in the industrial estate here and I've spoken to two shops which are still shut down; they can get their labour force within a week, another two to three weeks to tool up and in a month cases can be going south and in five weeks I can have twenty piles a month off the line for Hugh and we can preserve the Renmark piles for vessel power. I need your approval to get Angie going. Suit?" "Suits." He commed Angie and gave his approval to be told Sally would have the documents for him next morning. He got back to his office to find Hugh, Polack and Denny waiting for him. They were draining his coffee supply. "Aggy here are the codes for U98; it is ready to go off the "Trader" pad now; it does not have a satellite and links into Wormhole Control link 5491; Denny has done the encryption work. Sam's information is on and when it positions itself it will whisker lock onto 91 and keep pinging until the other end answers. Angie confirms Admiralty is still playing games." Hugh finished his bulb and departed. McCock had to brief his friends and then listened to their request. The Gaggle was ready to come to Gorgipest and the duo wanted to take the barge to collect them, baggage and extra bodies. McCock cupped his chin in his hand and regarded them from under his brows, "I have just had a revelation." "Why do I think we are going to end up in the bucket" groaned Polack. "You pair want to pilot the barge up to Settlement?" "That is the plan" answered Denny warily. "To the best of my recollection, and that goes back a very long way with you pair, neither of you are checked out on small craft pilotage." "Be fair, Aggy, I test flew the thing" protested Polack. "True, and you don't want to know how close you came to being grounded. It was only that you did not have passengers that you got away with it." "Aggy, we test flew the "Offspring" and "Shriek"" Denny almost whined. "Very true; but the 'we' was a crew of five, if I remember correctly. Wait." He commed Sally, "Sally, who's a check pilot for small craft?" "Not me, I drive them not instruct. Why?" "Polack and Denny want to bring the girls back from Settlement and they don't have small craft tickets." "Right" put Sally very definitely "if there are check flights available, I'm in for them too. Alan for sure and Harryoh possibly; and I think both Felix and Algy have check licences. When were they planning for?" McCock raised his eyebrow at the duo who were looking a bit hard done by, "When were you planning to go?" "Tomorrow first dog" replied Polack. "You heard, Sally?" "Got it; send them down to me and I'll get them organised." "They are on their way; and put me down too please." As the duo dragged their sorry backsides out the hatch, "I just hope it's the Avers; they'll be bad enough but Felix or Algy — we put them through Crusher" moaned Denny with accompaniment from Polack. McCock walked to the A tween with a smile on his face to find Sir Henry, as he expected using the GEC 'puter. Sir Henry had heard the footsteps and turned "What dire emergency brings you to my den, Aggy?" McCock explained U96 needed to be placed over Grigor; the knight's eyebrow went up. "The Grigor end of the Wormhole Junction is a local com to Settlement exchange, Henry." "Makes sense" Sir Henry acknowledged "I'll set it up." ------- Chapter 29 Sally and Nan were bustling about the Captain's Cabin, tidying up. McCock had finished his ablutions and was adjusting his waist band attachments; the insistent beeping of his PDA sounded. McCock extracted the instrument as he moved into his office examining its face and it told him this was a com on the FTL link to Mountserrat and very few people had his private com link. "Good morning, McCock." "Aggy, good morning to you, Uncle Gus. Trudie included your com in a list of contact numbers. Your information was that this PDA linked to the Settlement exchange and having a spare moment I thought I'd fiddle." McCock just snorted at the thought of Uncle Gus fiddling. "Now I have you, Aggy. Thank you for the information; it was helpful in explaining the increased activity of the Chencon consul with the Sol embassy going about normally. Spoke with Elizabeth today and we will link with the Lord Protector later. That is a point I will raise; my inability to com to Renmark except through Elizabeth." "Uncle Gus, you will just have to trust your allies a bit more. For purely technical reasons we were not able to join you to Renmark. You are on the wrong galactic arm." "And thank you, I am happy being here; it's further away from Sol. Your assessment of the situation, please." "Well, ascribing the worst possible motives to Chencon, I consider destruction of Mountserrat for control of the Junction and the Perseus arm trade as being a probability. How much of the kingdom they would plan on destroying I cannot assess. Without Settlement and the Mountserrat orbitals, there is no kingdom. Even with what reinforcements Renmark and Amiranti can spare us, that size fleet as appears to be assembling can't be stopped from doing whatever it wants to do. Even with all fleets combined and that would be risky under our present circumstances, I think we could only give them a black eye and not stop them. If they are reinforced with Harbourian fleet, we won't even blacken their eye. We need more time to produce missiles and CVs but our experience here locally is that idiots in the bureaucracy seem to take this as an opportunity to increase their power bases. It is not looking good on this side of the fence, Sir." "Reiperbahn agrees with you and he is recommending pulling all our units back into Home Fleet for the defence of our Empire. We do have an obstacle defence not many know about, and that is an extremely turbulent hyperspace above the Empire. It is why my ancestor decided this was the place for him; we can only be attacked from the disc. It's also why the wormhole stops short of Amiranti. If Chencon controls the Junction, we wither on the vine. Harbouria has always desired a foothold on Orion arm and that makes Renmark attractive to them. Thank you Aggy, please do keep us informed. Augustus, clear." Sally had waited by his desk while Nan had departed, pecking McCock on a cheek. She elevated an eyebrow, "Uncle Gus touching base" she was informed, "and why are you waiting for me?" She held up his skinsuit as Evan Evans appeared. "Good morning Commodore; I see your PS has got you organised for me. I do have to concede an advantage though." "Any smart comment from you, my lad, and the Boss won't be the only one with a black eye." "I am suitably chastened, my lady. Boss, we have combined things. The three of us are going on check rides in the barge whilst we go on an inspection tour of GmBH holdings. Your skin suit, Sir. Yours too, Sally." McCock and Sally retreated into the living quarters to don their new dark gray 'skinnies'. McCock noted on the right breast a new patch which he studied closely and identified as being the "Queen's Honour" and the number "451" beneath. He looked at Sally. "Came through two months ago with Cowboy's PMV, but we've been a bit busy of late and it wasn't until MFH drew our attention to it. DSO to you and MCs to the Flock. There is a strong rumour going around there are peerages in the offing, officially for Gorgipest's recovery but the same rumour says for New Liege." McCock studied Sally closely and then reached for his PDA entering a code and when linked another, "Sorry to trouble you, but there is a whisper about peerages for New Liege. I would rather there be silence about the perpetrators of that raid." The female voice replied, "My sources tell me that is still held very tight even in the Service and the politicians remain ignorant but you can't stop speculation." "I would suggest that Abe be instructed to heavily play the 'nobody knows' theme on Sol. The only solid evidence presented to date is that still of what might be a Snipe and bits of metal which might be from seventy year old missiles etc etc." "Agree, we need every bit of propaganda we can get. I'll com him now. Clear." "Still have friends in high places, Aggy?" "Mutual advantage, Sally," McCock said sadly, "Mutual advantage, only." Entering the barge through No 5 hatch on "Trader", the party was greeted by Alan, Harryoh, and Felix. They seated themselves in the comfortable suite in the forward compartment just aft of the pilot's cockpit. Felix began, "This vessel although old in concept is a one-off design of it; she is nearly twice the size and has power plants rated at redline six forty gravs with max power seven hundred. I have spoken with the experts at Renmark and they warn that max power needs an engine replacement and more than two hours at red line a major rebuild; max mil power of six twenty gravs can be sustained almost indefinitely but does shorten engine life detectably on routine maintenance checks. Max cruise five twenty gravs and the plant basically needs pile replacement quote once in a life time unquote. There is a very expensive Adama modification to the twin fission piles and that is the addition of tanks for reaction mass which is slowly injected into the pile maintaining the fuel available in the pile far in excess of what the Renmark piles can supply. The modification was originally an experimental model in their laboratories; the DDD saw it and wanted it. Totally cost ineffective. Would have been cheaper to replace the piles but we got it now and we're keeping it. The total load hasn't been calculated but seems that if it can be loaded it can be carried. Atmosphere on thrusters is a bit sluggish as it is not designed to play about there for any period of time; it's an Admiral's shuttle so most of its life would be in n space. Aggy, take the left hand seat, I'll take the right and the others can use the flight deck extras..." McCock satisfactorily completed his check ride up to the frigate where he was greeted by Hugh and Polack to be informed the power plant had been fitted and was now being connected. Polack disappeared back to the engine rooms and Hugh took him on a conducted tour. McCock played the 'visiting brass' to the hilt, poking his nose into nooks and crannies, asking questions and renewing acquaintances and making new ones; he made a point of greeting every spacer wearing the 451 Honours. He repeated the process at the Ferguson yards and the fitting out docks. Slow took him around A.V. "Vector" catching glimpses of a grey and haggard Algy Hardman periodically. Slow commented that Algy was going to be "a good one". McCock was awed by the size of the hangar decks and wondered what it would take to utilise the space. When he asked Slow, she referred him to Felix when next he saw him which just happened to be then as he appeared and joined them in the hangar. Felix took them to the hangar control flight operations. Felix explained the system, "Basically, the ship's shield covers the stern completely, the hangar is open to space aft protected by the permeable barrier across the stern proper which maintains atmosphere; it can be hardened to main shield strength if needed. There is third standard gravity in the hangars during operations; at present it is at standard while we familiarise ourselves with the layout. Approach and departure lanes are controlled from here; the controllers render a path through the shields permeable and the craft flies a lighted passage into or out of the hangar. That's what I'm here for now. Watch." Felix moved to a chair at one of the positions and brought up the vids showing the space aft of the AAS and the hangar deck #3 which Felix had selected to be the active for this exercise. He then brought up a holo of the space aft of the AAS. "Vector control, Barge; request approach instructions" came Sally's voice over the com. "Barge Control, fly the tee, maintain plus twenty gravs." Felix replied. He turned to McCock, "They knew we were active when I lit up; a visual signal goes up on a LED panel and a holo is projected into the shield when they are active. Now, the LED panel shows a tee bar for approach line up. We are going to have to practice arriving and departing when underway. Once the craft is lined up, our 'puter takes over and brings it in. Piece of cake, really. The approach controller will change the permeable tunnel for each craft when we are operational to minimise risk of penetration by a random missile; approach controller can either be done manually as I am doing it now or 'puter. Main armament does similarly; just nanoseconds before the circuits complete gunnery control 'puter opens a virtual tunnel in the shields to allow the graser to fire and then in the same breath, as it were, closes. Firing triple rifle simultaneously is dangerous as it could cause a rent in the shields for several seconds so the 'puter spaces 'rounds' a half second apart. Can't wait to see full broadsides — will be spectacular. When Sally makes a go round, Evans can get some practice and then the Barge goes to Mountserrat for some task with Denny and Polack. I'm leaving Harryoh aboard to do the approach here when they get back. Sally and Evan have you organised for here overnight. Admiral's quarters, isn't Slow?" ------- Chapter 30 McCock was enjoying a post prandial relaxation time in the office attached to the sleeping quarters of the Admiral's Quarters with his Aide, Evan Evans and discussing the visits to the orbital warehouses and the dirtside warehouses and factories associated with GmBH on the morrow. The ladies had arrived and Sally had departed after dinner to see to their meal and to get them quartered; their plan for the morrow was to inspect several properties on the outskirts of Gorgiepest for their residence. Without knocking, Erin entered accompanied by a very modishly clothed, tall lady whose long yellow hair was restrained to a pony? horse? tail almost reaching to her waist. Erin performed the introductions of the now standing men, "Cerise, this is Hezbadiah "Aggy" McCock, soon to be Baron Montrose, and this is his aide, Evan Evans, third son of Curragh. Gentlemen, Cerise, Dowager Marchioness of Claigh Valley." The men's eyebrows were raised quizzically as neither had heard of the demise of the Marquis. Cerise shook their hand and stepped back to offer the explanation, "He was as drunk as a Lord, and slipped coming down the steps from a male brothel. Broke his neck; died instantly. Please, no condolences; you never met the man and I'm not sorry. The only good thing that came out of my so-called marriage was this one," nodding at Erin, "and Dorian; and on that note, Aggy, its about time you met your sons in person. They came down with us and are waiting in your conference room." Cerise waved him to the door and followed him to the conference room with Erin and a very puzzled Evans bringing up the rear. McCock entered the conference room to be met by the neutral gazes of five red headed boys ranged down the long side of the table; behind him to his left, Slow, 'Mina, Shelly and Trudie; to his left, Nan and Sally sat primly at a coffee table; standing just behind the left end of the table was a bookish looking man clutching a ledger; while to the right of the table sat two Ghorkhali women and to his right stood Gus Kowalski and Sabajhi Indira jr. "I am never so much as reminded of the tableau in a famous oil depicting a scene from the Enkland civil war some half millennium pre diaspora, where some bureaucrats are interrogating a boy who stands before them; asking him "and when did you last see your father?". This tableau, if it were ever recorded would be named, "and when did you first meet your sons?" I would be grateful for introductions and please name your mothers." The oldest boy rose from the end of the table nearest the ladies, bowed to them, and advanced to McCock with hand outstretched. As they shook hands, "I am James Donald Nancarrow, your oldest, son of Erin. Your next son is Dorian Graham, Marquis of Claigh Valley, son of Rein Cockson, adopted son of Cerise, whom, I see you've met." Dorian stood and shook hands across the table. "Your third son is Peter Colin McGraw, son of Sally." They shook hands in turn. Your fourth son is this scamp and general troublemaker, Walter Edward, Duke of Western Hove, son of Rein Cockson." The boy stood and reached across the table to shake his father's hand, "Don't believe him Sir; he picks on me because I'm smaller than him ... now" "And this little tearaway, your youngest is Matthew Samuel Nancarrow, son of Nan." Matthew had to come around the end of the table to shake his father's hand smiling mischievously, "So far!" McCock looked at him, as he released his hand and turned to stare at Nan's 'po' face. He turned back to catch a glimpse of a large bladed weapon sheathed at Matthew's back. His look at the women when he turned back the second time was tight and frowning. Trudie sighed heavily, "Don't go there; at least not yet." Sabajhi came over to McCock, grasped his hand and informed him, "This has gone off well, my mothers were worried what you would do, but they still had a snack for us in the War Room." And led him away. Gus corrected him, "Ward Room with a dee." Sabajhi just smiled at McCock, "Doesn't matter, I'm taking him there." McCock found James walking with him, "When did you find out I am your father?" "There was never a time when I did not know" James replied " I was always told who you were but I was told not to mention it to Nana Nan; but she knew very early. Well before Matthew was born. I think you were, how can I say this, I think you were selected by Nana Nan." "And Matthew's comment "so far"? You won't be surprised if I hold dark suspicions about your antecedent's scheming?" "Sir, as Mother Sally says you used to say "Above my pay scale" and as for scheming, it's inbred in us all, Sir, inbred. Now, can I get you Coffee or something stronger?" McCock gave him a decidedly jaundiced look, and James laughed "All part of the Nancarrow training, Sir. But if my mothers found that Dorian and I had had more than a small glass of Port after our dinner or the boys any, I don't think we would survive — it would be exile at least." Polack and Denny arrived then and made a great show of examining him, "Nothing obviously missing, I see" nodded Denny. Polack picked up his son and hugged him to the boy's obvious delight; Polack held him off and looked directly at him "Your mother hasn't got that thing off you." He turned to McCock "You know you have been dropped right in it, don't you? The families, and I use the term deliberately, have decided you will be the umpire in this weapons dispute. It is really the women's fault; they encouraged the boys to integrate with the Ghorkhali and the weapons are the down side of it." James and Dorian joined the discussion, James handing McCock a glass, "Marcel says you take Blaskowitz, one cube of ice to a double. Without our experience with the Ghorkhali tribe, we boys would have had great difficulty understanding the relationships of our parents and with the wider links between the Flock. Because of being with the Ghorkhali and seeing their attitudes towards family and marriage, Matthew and Walter have been able to adjust. The Shaman is a great help telling us about human nature and its drives. At A&M, I would not have been able to deal with the bullies and their jibes. Of course having such a great family of brothers helps and I won't admit this to mother, having Ghorkhali fighting methods was just a small help — especially when I put a Senior down." "Yes" snorted Dorian " and got gated for it." Denny looked at Polack, "Proves it's hereditary." "What?" asked Polack, "The snort or putting people on the mat." "Both of course." Trudie came over and slapped Polack on the buttock, "No more adult bonding, he's got to spend a few minutes with the young ones before their bed time." McCock did as he was told, he might have been the Cockeral with his Flock but there was no mistaking the flock's pecking order. McCock mixed and found that the two youngest were indeed into everything and guessed correctly that this was their way of ensuring that the olders did not forget them. As the boys departed to their beds, youngest first, the conversation became more adult dealing with the school and living details. It was after the oldest boys had bid him good night, that McCock met the Schoolmaster and was able to be appraised of the boy's scholastic prowess. Sabajhi outshone them all but he had not shown any particular interests yet and neither had Matthew. Gus-gus was into anything mechanical. James seemed to be leaning toward a career in Engineering — making things; Dorian and Walter were interested in agriculture and land management as could be expected from their being told of their responsibilities. Peter appeared multi talented. McCock and Sally were able to enlighten the strangers to what had been established on Gorgipest. There were no private schools but the educational system was very good with its three streams; although once again the naval was 119. The ladies drifted gradually off and the men talked 'shop' for a while, with McCock closing proceedings McCock entered the Admiral's Quarters to find Erin and Cerise talking quietly over what looked like some serious subject with strong alcoholic support. McCock spoke, "So far, everyone has avoided my question "So far?" and I really and truly to draw upon a childhood wish to be told; having five sons sprung upon me in the one night has made me a trifle twitchy." Erin smiled quietly at him, "You should have a seat, Aggy. Matthew is a scamp and does like to annoy his olders. Part of our baggage, today were three incubators and of course he just had to know what they were. Calm yourself now, Aggy, let your women worry about things like this and before you ask, yes you have three more sons. Nan and Sally both wanted another child to be company for the one they have. We don't have to be logical, dear, and we know intellectually that there are already four brothers. Seeing Nan and Sally are celebrating their second honeymoons with another boy, they thought it only fair that if I returned to you that I have a child with you. I never stopped loving you and it was only my fear of rejection which kept me away. Shelly told me of the advice Diana Halliday had given her and I took it. That now allows me to pass onto the next subject, Cerise. We Nancarrows are jealous bitches but we try to be fair in our own way. Sally had the shortest time with you and so in a way Nan and I don't begrudge her extra time with you but she now has a lock on you because of her work duties and because Nan and I can't do anything about it ... However, we have imposed upon Trudie for far too long and deprived her of special time with Gus. In the Gorgipest Residence, the Nancarrows are going to have two of us to be mothers for the tribe. With only the three of us, that would mean Sally would be exclusive and the three of us did not think that was fair. The Gaggle, that is the ladies of the Flock, considered the problem, and after much discussion we decided that you had to have a fourth woman. We further investigated and decided upon Cerise. She is raising your son, she has had a, as Slow described it, a letch for you ever since she found out who was Dorian's father and she has a very great desire to have your child. Think of it as an arranged marriage, all families do it. Just close your mouth, Aggy and come to bed." Both women rose, took a hand and led a totally shell shocked McCock into the sleeping quarters. A man could only take so much in a short time, and McCock was the first to admit that he would never understand women ------- Chapter 31 McCock was performing his ablutions, resolutely not thinking about the shocks of the previous day or of the night, when his com beeped. "Good morning, Henry." "Just a heads-up, Aggy. A Chencon courier just reached Harbouria. We went back over the records and it departed two days after the Senate meeting; our assessment is that they have had a plan in place waiting for an opportunity. It was just too quick for a considered response to the Senate motion. Very 'suss', very 'suss'. We are moving onto the base codes now and are on the right track for both C and H. But as you realise, plans are usually sent by hand and it's only the activation signal we might catch and of course, changes in activity levels. Chencon's is still high. There appear to be doubts appearing on Sol about the New Leige damage as more and more agents and representatives are checking in. Nothing in the Senate though. Harbourian news is unchanged." "Henry, there is something niggling at my brain and I can't grab it. I want a meeting of Intel and Captains in the Conference Room at eight morning. I'm to the Ward Room for breakfast, now. Clear." He saw Slow and Denny in the Ward Room and asked them to pass the word for an all Captains' meeting, Grendels and V&W and Hardman, to confer with Intel. He told Evan of his decision and that Slow and Denny had been told. In return, Evan said that Captain Arburthson was piloting the ladies dirtside where Angie Merton had arranged accommodation. "Why the rush?" McCock enquired. "The ladies wanted to get the incubators onto the planet asap; something about gravity, they said. Doc Splatt and Rosemary Peebles went with them. Seems the ladies have been setting this up for a while." Evan explained gleefully perhaps. McCock had been filling his plate at the sideboards and turned to stare suspiciously at his aide "Are you having a laugh at my expense, Evan?" "Me? Diety forbid, Sir, that I should perceive any thing humorous in my Commodore being chased across the galaxy by a horde of ... ah ... well ... beautiful women?" and then spoilt the effort with a very wide grin. "The boys went with them?" "Yes Sir; the mothers wish to arrange schooling asap. Mrs Indira is of a mind to keep Sabajhi with his playmates. Captain Arburthson is going to pass a problem up to you. The Ladies wish to retain their contacts with "The Residence" and Mrs Kowalsi was intimating that they would want the Barge." The men had seated themselves by this time and were eating as McCock considered this one, "Satan's canines; she doesn't want much. I can understand the wish to keep in touch even if only to support Shelly. But the Barge? And knowing that lot they'll want to pilot her themselves; and go haring all over the universe. Trudie has her ticket and Sally could handle her but, she is a 'crew' establishment and also cosmic space? I'm going to have to think about that. That raises a thought, where is the "Offspring"?" "The Avers have taken her as their personal runabout; she is generally parked in "Trader's" boat bay but you'll have a struggle trying to get her back as she is really worked." "Got it; thank you Evan, I've got my niggle sorted out. Get outside of your breakfast, we've got a conference. Hello, Felix, you heard? Good. Had breakfast? Even better, grab some coffee and let's go." The Captains had assembled and were having quiet desultory conversations. McCock was deep in thought about the ramifications concerning the Barge not least the safety of the Ladies in cosmic space. The Intell group scurried in and headed directly for the coffee urn. After filling their bulbs, they seated themselves. "Let's start with a briefing on what we are doing about gathering information, then what we have got to date and then an assessment of enemy intentions, long term and short term." Sam Costello pushed a holo generator onto the centre of the table. "My name is Sam Costello; I have been seconded to this group from Mounty DNI where I was CCI; chief of counter intelligence. My task is to spy on you for DNI. Seeing we are all in the same boat, or at least I think we are, there are no problems here. However the reason I think I was sent down here instead on a Naval Intelligence officer was because I was getting too close to a rat in the Admiralty. Technically not a traitor but some one who follows Brown Hollow still and seems to be prepared to see us destroyed just to bring down the government. That is why I send my information to the First Lord personally; and I haven't told him how we collect it." Costello activated the hologram which showed the distribution of the communication and listening posts, and went on, "Originally, the major receiving area was to be Settlement but, for whatever reason, things went decidedly out of shape and the listening centre is here. We listen in to all signals and are working on Naval codes as well, but the bulk of our information comes from public broadcasting which is remarkably uncensored but then they have no knowledge we are listening ... The 'Royal' links as I call them were planned and established before the break down in relations but are in deep code and we are instructed not to work on it. I am not sure we could break it anyway. Sir Henry?" "I am Henry Bollinger, once Royal Astronomer in Settlement, I am a mathematician by profession and it was because of the sorting out of questions raised by the placement of satellites placed above the layer that first involved me an then a prior life in RMN intelligence got my interest in what we are doing now. The information we have obtained to date gives us only a background to intentions which are the next speaker's task. What we actually have is..." and then recounted events on Harbouria and Old Earth, " ... with what looks like mobilisation and the arrival of that courier suggests the coming together of a long laid plan. Sung?" "Yin Sung, at your service. Chenologist at MUGC. Harbouria has because of it's political structure long sought conquest in the Perseus arm. The economics of trade in its region of hegemony almost requires it to control the Junction at best or to have a foothold on the Orion arm; Renmark would suit its purpose but Mountserrat would be its primary interest. Here Harbouria comes into conflict with my read of the long term goals of the Chenem Confederation. Chencon is an Old Earth land based nation occupying over the eastern coast of what was called the Asian continent from the Equator on the planet to the Arctic regions and considerably to the west until it meets Russiberia with whom it has a fairly constant border dispute and in the south where its westward spread is stopped physically by the mountain ranges of the middle of the continent. Persind in the south shelters behind that barrier to be a thorn literally in its side. The population of Chencon is about fifteen billion people out of a total of forty three on Old Earth; it is ruled by a self perpetuating commissariat of about three million who live in absolute luxury and the remainder who live at a level of about the twenty first century; the country has no internal markets for its goods and thus depends upon exports which spread across the Orion arm. The rather optimistically named Perseus and Orion Space Navigatiion is in fact fully owned by Chencon despite a fraud of being listed on stock exchanges throughout the galaxy. They have long desired access to the Perseus arm and its markets as the rest of the galaxy has been becoming more self sufficient and of course have the advantage of no shipping costs. The Junction presents a magnificent opportunity for them and they have been instrumental in precipitating disturbances in this part of the galaxy for a long time. I have long suspected Chencon as being at the bottom of the genetic slave trade and several days ago, I was given confirmation." Here Sung paused and gave a convulsive shudder which shook his whole frame; Sir Henry smiled serenely and Sam Costello held a neutral face. Sung went on, "Rosemary Peebles was allowed at that chap captured in Geneva and," here he grimaced, "persuaded him to talk." Sir Henry laughed, "You can't stop him; just say 'Rosemary asks' and you have to shut him up with direct questions to the point." Sung continued, "'Chewy' as she calls him served time on Sema as transport officer supervising the selection and shipment of the best specimens produced to the Chencon elite. The organisation allowed Chencon to have agents in this region and they have interfered greatly in events. That courier left Sol within thirty six hours of the Senate resolution; it was followed by a most intensive increase of activity in their orbital yards. We estimate that about four hundred major vessels are involved. That number cannot by any basis be justified as an investigatory expedition; being cynical about it, the courier was all that is needed. It really left too early to have received instructions for its crew to conduct an investigation; the number of personnel required to substantiate such an investigation could not be carried by a courier; there was not enough time for war plans of any sort to be developed. Our opinion is that the courier was either carrying such already existing war plans or is carrying the instruction to activate such plans. This brings us to Harbouria. To date, Harbouria has acted as if it had no ally. The No Quarter Act appears to have been an opportunistic effort to damage their President Forde and things got carried away or Chencon agents stirred it up. We don't believe that their new President has a CNO as yet, no one wants it, and so will have some difficulty augmenting policies involving naval operations but he could be expecting a replacement from a peripheral fleet. In any case, dispatches will have to be sent and that gives us some time. Well a couple of days." McCock looked around the table; all the faces carried an element of concern. "Junior first. Algy?" That young man gazed about the table to find every eye upon him — not antagonistically, not expectantly but almost respectfully of one among equals. Algy appreciated this and then just as quickly thought 'Yeh and some are more equal than others; oh well'. "Against that number of major elements our chances range between slim and nothing; we all know the true strength there is available to combat them. If Harbouria join up it will be worse. The only advantage we have is our knowledge of events elsewhere giving us a time advantage here to perhaps do something. At present we have listening posts in various places; that is not good enough as we can't immediately take advantage of it. We need humans with the capability to investigate events. I'm going to put my head above the parapet — "Vance" and "Victoria" are ready to move at two hours notice. Send them to Harbouria and shadow any couriers departing there. "Washton" and "Warburton" can move in twelve hours, they need to finish victualling, and send them to Sol." ------- Chapter 32 Keith Grant looked about the table and gave a barking laugh, "You know when it's the correct answer; even the junior knows. This will at least give us something to do and I for one don't want to lie down. I'm afraid we might have to just to survive or at least our families to survive, but..." McCock looked at them and gave his orders, "Henry, intel and assessment to Mountserrat. Evan, find Hugh; as many UVAs preferably 90s as we've got to be divided up between the ships; at least one armed cutter each — we've got them to spare. Tim Avers, hand over to your First and ship in "Victoria" to advise on Cosmic Space. Des, similarly "Washton"; Algy with Captain Denholt. Denny, in company with "Washton", go to Sol, and observe the Chencon fleets; use the U90s to get a planet wide idea of what the rest are doing. Felix with "Vance" in company with "Victoria" and to command that section. Felix, go to Harbouria and shadow any couriers by ship or U90s; leave a trail of U90s so you can get back to the base ship over Harbouria. If you think the destination important enough, leave a U90 with a NOB ie a USN S for satcom attached and N for beacon fitted. Denny, Felix, liase with Sir Henry regarding communications. Evan, after you track Hugh down and get him started, tell the Ladies they can't have the Barge; we will need "Shriek" and her for back up until the frigate comes on line. Get Angie to find a space yacht for the Ladies; I wan't them to have a bugout boat to get off Mountserrat if they have to. Polack, get that frigate on the line, yesterday; we are going to need her. Slow, similarly "Vector", I know I've got your COHAC and his deputy, you Algy in case you hadn't guessed, and just because you are off on a mission, you are not off your Crusher as I expect that to continue — all the officers on "Warburton" have passed their's ... Slow, get the "Shriek" trained people and give each of them an armed cutter to crew and train; they are going to be the nucleus of your HAC squadrons. Henry, Gnat squadrons as per your ideas. Get to it, people." McCock was back on "Trader" in his office reading the reports on the production of UVAs and Keys. He was interrupted by Evan who started by saying, "None of the Ladies or the children were injured; the party was ambushed while inspecting a residence but we lost a female Ghorkhali — head shot. We have two prisoners. Havildar is here to report." And directed a drawn faced Ghorkhali to the chair at the small table and then raided McCock's bar for a stiff one to the Havildar. "I'll have one of those, please Evan and something for yourself?" "I'll stay with the soda, if you don't mind, Boss". They both joined the Havildar, "Sushil, isn't it? Good, make your report. Take your time." "Sahib; we had been at the site for about an hour and a half with the party moving about inside; I had sent my Naiks in each direction to inspect the grounds and surrounds; the boys were bored and the bigger ones went with the Naiks; Master Gus and Master Sabahj had stayed with their mothers. Sir Lancelot and his assistant had been inspecting the out buildings. The Ladies, three body guards and I were waiting outside the main gate. A ground shuttle pulled suddenly into the drive way and a shuttle van pulled up behind it. The passenger in the ground shuttle fired through his window hitting Naik Paneru in the chest and knocking him to the ground; the van disgorged gunmen who began firing; the passenger fired at Sujani as he was getting out and hit her in the head killing her instantly. He then grabbed Memsahib Kowalski and put a garrotte about her neck and dragged her into the ground shuttle. I could not fire for fear of hitting her. The stupid kidnapper turned to push the Memsahib into the ground shuttle; Master Gus' kuhkri struck him behind the left ear and embedded into his brain and a split second later Master Sabajhi was there and cut the left arm off. That walking stick of Sir Lancelot's? It's a rifle stick and from about fifty metres he blew up the van's engine, killing the driver and blasting its passenger back out again as he was trying to get back in. The other guards had killed the four others. Masters James and Peter had sprinted to the ground shuttle and found Memsahib had the driver's head in a strangle hold. The driver was trying to pull her arms away and Master Peter leant through the hatch and chopped his arms off at the forearms. Miss Peebles had the blown out passenger restrained and says he was probably the leader. Masters Gus and Sabajhi were trying to retrieve the kuhkri from the fellow's skull. Miss Peebles gave them a hand, or rather a boot, to get it out. We called the Barge and returned; we brought Sujani with us. The Barge connected to No5, is it?, here and then went back to "Vector". Memsahib Trudie doesn't know what to do about Master Gus — whether to hug him or to smack him. The others appear to be calm, even Memsahib Cerise although she did seem perturbed at being the target of an attack until Memsahib Nan said that this was her second attack. We did not alert the authorities and we came back in blackout." "You will want to take Sujani back to the village?" "Please, Sahib." "Evan, make arrangements for the Barge to take Sujani home with such escort as Sushil requests. Thank you, Sushil, carry on, please." McCock lapsed into deep thought and then commed Sir Henry who was at his desk(?) in A tween. McCock joined him and they discussed the attack but agreed more information was needed. McCock noted that Sir Henry had a sleeping cabin organised in the tween deck and twitted him about it. Sir Henry laughed, "I get enough company at meals. I find the Ghorkhali's youth and exuberance equalises the almost dourness of the Avers, no not dourness, agedness. Now there's a word for you. By the by, we've broken the Chencon command codes. It's a machine generated variable date related. Would you believe an Idiot sent a long routine message dealing with personnel transfers and promotions and then another greater Idiot fully encrypted it. It's such a blunder that we wonder if it is a Trojan horse but so far our 'puter machine duplicate plays true on the face of the signals." "Don't bother to explain that, Henry. The antics that sigint gets up to makes my head hurt. When I want to know I'll ask and I'm sure when you think I need to know, you'll tell me." The gnome just smiled and waved as McCock departed to the dining hall. There he was joined by Cerise and Sally. They enjoyed the meal and retired to the Captain's Cabin where Sally showed Cerise around. The trio settled into the lounge and over an evening libation got to know one another until time to retire, which the trio did. Next morning, McCock was joined by Slow and Polack in the "Trader's" dining hall where McCock was sitting more or less moving the food around on his plate. "You seem preoccupied, Aggy?" Slow asked. "Two attacks in two months. Someone doesn't like us; but which one of us? And who? I wasn't there yesterday. Trudie wasn't at Chalmers Street. Splatt and Rosemary were at both but neither were directly targeted. Nan and Sally similarly. There appears to be no link between the two but both attacks were planned in that the forces involved were in place for the attack and that needs planning. A random attack on "us" doesn't make sense" as he made the quotation marks in the air. McCock passed over the news faxes he had read and turned to the daily intell report which brought nothing new. Harbourian congress was not in session and occasional news item suggested still no CNO appointment. Sol's news was not riveting but Mountserrat Embassy was playing to the max the reports of 'surfacing' agents and factors located in New Liege of minimal and only military damage. They heard the No5 hatch cycling and they saw Sir Lancelot and Rosemary move to the sideboards and help themselves to large breakfasts before joining McCock. Rosemary placed a note book beside her plate and between mouthfuls asked, "Who in the genetic slave trade have you upset, Aggy?" "I've never been involved except as being a supporter of the anti-slavery policy. Why?" "The raid yesterday was organised by Sema. An attack upon you and yours. We couldn't get a motive from him and I don't think he knows." Sir Lancelot looked at the lost looks about him, and remarked "Rosemary, you started at the end and are now in the middle. Get to the start and people might be able to follow you." "The lack of motive is still puzzling though. Yesterday, we captured two of the attackers. The one with both hands chopped off was useless in every way. A Sema employee but he drove ground shuttles. The second one was the attack leader and he was intact and as long as he plays right with me, he'll die intact. Don't look at me like that; you are the defacto rulers of this neck of the woods and attacks upon you and yours are by either traitors or spies and this lot come from Sema with specific instructions to do you harm." "How do you know that precisely, Rosemary?" asked Slow. "Because Denari told me; Sidney Denari is his name. I asked him and he told me." "There is something there that I'm missing." Polack shook his head. "It is really very simple. I promised him a quick bullet through the head if he played right with me after I got all I wanted from him." She looked around at the blank stares, "On the way up yesterday, I explained the facts of death to him and described how "Chewy" ended up and when we reached "Vector" — I approve of why you named her that, by the by — I took him down to the Interrogation Suite. I might add, DDD really did himself proud there. And I introduced him to "Chewy". Denari realised I was going to wring him dry and there was nothing he could do about it; it's so nice dealing with professionals, you know. We have had a good talk and I've left him in a cell chained to the wall. He was being fed when I left him and the Ghorkhali will hose him down after and then let him sleep — it has been a long day for the poor fellow." Polack looked at Rosemary, shook his head, and said, "I am very much going to regret asking this and I am sure when I get the answer, I know I didn't really want to know, but what is so impressive about "Chewy" that convinces prisoners to open their hearts to you, Rosemary?" Sir Lancelot laughed uproariously and so much he began hiccoughing. Rosemary glared at him, "Lancelot, it is a perfectly natural question; I see no humour in it." Which started the knight off again. While Sir Lancelot wiped tears from his eyes, Rosemary continued, "Chewy" is sitting on a tent peg on his pedestal in a corner of the Dungeon. He is perfectly smooth, no protuberances at all. He wasn't cooperating so I removed his genitals, his arms and legs, his ears and his nose and put him in front of a big mirror; and so he can see himself at all times I cut his eyelids off." Polack groaned and Slow made strangling noises. ------- Chapter 33 Slow pushed her breakfast plate away from her and Polack suddenly became not interested in eating. Cerise and Sally nodded firmly at each other — they had family involved and it is amazing how perspectives alter the closer events get to hearth and home. "Must bring Henry up to date" Rosemary said cheerfully and picking up her notebook departed in the direction of Officer Quarters access to A tween deck. Sir Lancelot looked at his companions, and said, "Allow me to tell you a morality tale. About a half century ago there was a teenage school teacher in Glasgeigh, full of the milk of human kindness and good will towards her fellow man who felt moved to bring the benefits of civilisation to the wilds of her planet. She volunteered for an aid organisation and was sent to foreign climes where religious strife ran riot and women were regarded as nothing more than chattels. She was teaching girls how to read and write and all those silly unimportant things like birth control which upset the local male heirachy. The males kidnapped her and sold her as a slave. The caravan she was in was captured by insurgents who used her as receptacle for their semen. She was repeatedly raped on a daily basis and being humorous fellows they negated her contraceptive nannites. To spice up the play over the course of several years they started to 'smooth' her body. She got pregnant twice; both times the babe's brains were dashed out before her eyes; the second time the babe was pulled from her body her uterus went with it. Several days later, a company of my old battalion overran the place and found her. They were going to leave her to die — thought she was a native — but a squaddy recognised her, literally a classmate from her primary school days. She ended up very quickly in my care in the Field Hospital and after a hell of a lot of work, she was fit enough to be transferred back to Enkland. The Battalions rotated through the region and some three years later I was back in the Hospital again. The Brigader got me in the ante room one day and asked me what I knew about a female who had very unofficially come out with a company to this region. It was the rescuing company and the Brig thought it was the school teacher. I didn't know anything about it and said so but the Brig was more interested in her mental state; again I expressed my ignorance. The brass were trying to track down the rumours — appears the supernumerary was camping rough and only made an appearance to the patrols and was a very forward scout. The platoon and company officers were all struck dumb when the brass asked questions and were always losing little pieces of equipment. The Brig wasn't that stupid — his casualty rates were the lowest the Brigade had sustained during the rotations and he knew why. So for about three weeks the Brig parked himself on a small hill with a com set overlooking the compound other than for his office time. He comes down, clears out the com office for about an hour and then calls an officer conference to announce that Ensign R. Peebles had joined the Brigade and was performing the duties of brigade scout. She would have a comset and the day's codes and units contacted were to give great credence to her words. When asked, the units were to maintain resupply of such things like batteries and rations. She rarely came in and usually only to the Hospital for aid equipment. She made my re-acquaintance and we used to have some interesting night time chats and she'd go before sunup. Needless to say she was decorated by the bucket load and was promoted quickly — more because of the politicians who grabbed her coattails. It all came to an end when she took over a company about to be ambushed by five hundred or so irregulars and fought them out of the ambush virtually destroying the ambushing forces. There was a Jazieral vid team embedded with the irregs and so a lot of the ambush went out real time until it became obvious that the irregs were being destroyed piecemeal. After the battle, vid teams rushed to the site and found carcasses strewn around the place. They found the camera man with his head bashed in and his telescopic lens shoved where the sun don't shine. Screams of outrage and horror, further claims of 'prisoners' shot down and wounded massacred — but when you looked closely at the vids there were always weapons evident and sometimes even to hand. Politicians bowed to extremist pressure and cut the Service budget and let it be known that there would be court martials etc. Finally Major Peebles was allowed to resign with full service pensions and disability entitlements. I resigned in disgust and worked at getting my Consultant in Aging and when I set up, Rosemary appeared declaring herself my receptionist and that was that. My wife, Sybil, while she was alive, used to have long laughing conversations with Rosemary. Rosemary helped me nurse my wife through her terminal cancers for which I owe her a great debt. You see, I believe Rosemary to be an exceptionally gentle lady, not quite sane you understand, but very gentle." Slow stared at Sir Lancelot with a mixed expression, "I can begin to understand somewhat how Rosemary is the way she is, but I am sorry to say I doubt your sanity if you regard her as gentle. Gentle? Like a pack of rabid canines gentle. If you will excuse me, gentlemen, I have a warship to prepare." "She does have a point, Lancelot" McCock quietly observed. "Of course she does" Sir Lancelot replied " but you have to remember I saw her when she was brought in, so I admit to bias; and she is going to put a bullet in Denari's head rather than take him apart." McCock just shook his head and excused himself. He was entering his Cabin when he heard cheerful laughter and saw it was coming from Sir Henry and Rosemary chatting as they came to enter the Radio Room and disappear. McCock shook his head in wonder — a gnome who wouldn't harm a fly and a milk maid who'd tear you apart. He heard Evan approach and they entered the Captain's Office. "Good morning, Boss. You slept well?" That one earned him a distinctly suspicious look. "I did as a matter of fact. Now, what interesting activities have Sally and you got lined up for me today?" "Hugh wants you to visit the orbital warehouses and discuss plans for the UVAs, Keys and Gnats. We'll use "Offspring". The Ladies are escorting Sujani in the Barge and the boys are on "Vector" in the hands of their tutor. Mrs Indira has decided she will remain at "The Residence" and Sabajhi will remain with the boys. Barati commed Sir Henry and Admiralty have decide to scrap the Gnat programme — they want to go with proven ideas and equipment. Do you want them? Barati claims that the pilots were all well into advanced space activities. Angie reported to Sally there is a space yacht available on Scapa — seems a Solly is recovering to Sol and has put his local assets on the market. He is of Indochen origin and Angie wondered if he got warned to get out." "Tell Angie to ask him; if he is really just a holiday maker he might well talk to a fellow business person. Remind me to talk with Sir Henry after our tour. Morning, Hugh, Theo. Where are Paul and George? Haven't seen them for a few days." "Morning, Aggy. They are up on the Frigate helping Polack. She should be out of the yard within a week and GEC fitted her out as work in progress; should only need ten or so days in Fergusons to place her energy mounts, Point Defence weapons and the couple of missile mounts she carries ... With that single Adama power plant and no bunkerage to speak of, there is space for two hundred or so missiles and I had external mounts added for two keys and four UVAs. She will be a handy commerce killer and scout for you." "Scout; we've not got enough hulls to be thinking about independent operations. We have a reasonably balanced force with what is a CVL, four destroyers as a screen, and a frigate and a hypercapable armed cutter. DDD's idea of those heavy gun mounts makes up for the lack of cruisers; but we need missiles otherwise we are just a gunnery force for local actions. Let's be off and you can give me your thoughts on the unmanned forces we've got." ------- Chapter 34 McCock listened while donning his skinsuit to Hugh Avers tale of woe with regard to the Navy's decision not to accept the past six month's production of UVAs and Keys giving as their reason that they wanted to concentrate on the newer missile pods and at present they claimed there were sufficient tractored missile controllers in inventory to cover needs for twelve months; Navy was pushing very hard to get as many HAC CV hulls into operation as they could. "I spoke to Admiral Rowan two days ago," explained Hugh, "and I could hear him tearing his hair out — not that he's got much anyway. He wouldn't criticise anyone but I got the impression that after Brown Hollow fell, some seat warmers got desks in Fourth Space Lord's department and if it isn't developed wholly within Navy, then its unproved until extensive trials and there isn't the time available for trials to be organised." McCock just looked at him disbelievingly, "Not even equipment developed directly under contracts?" "That's the problem Aggy, it was Milligan's verbal order to you to make those missile controllers mobile and there never was a paper trail despite HM's acceptance of those orders. We've UVAs filling one warehouse, about seven hundred of them and we can't use them, the U90s were always a speculative build by us and we've got twenty seven of them, and the Gnats were off the bulkhead and after we retrieve the fifty in Settlement there is an inventory of one hundred and seven. Now we have those locally produced fission pile coming on line at eighteen a month. Navy was still taking the Keys until a month ago and we've got fourteen of them with the small fission pile." McCock was deep in thought as the party entered "Offspring" for the orbital warehouses. Enroute McCock asked Hugh, "How are we off for UVAs and Keys in the fleet, Hugh?" "There is an armed cutter, one of the later models, in each boat bay of the destroyers plus a pinnace; we've crammed the smaller craft into every nook and cranny and we've got eighteen UVAs and twelve Keys in each; I've left the external davits free so as to give some latitude in planning. I've discussed it with Slow, "Vector" will mount by present estimates, three hundred HACs on the three decks. Any UVAs and Keys we want can go on the deck with the Barge and "Shriek", Slow thinks eighty, fifty UVAs and thirty Keys; and the hundred or so Gnats on the Marine deck" "Apopros of nothing, how is Sir Henry going with the remote controlling of the Gnats? I mean to drop in on him on "Vector"" "He put one of the BB 'puters in CIC to replace the 'kiddy' and the second in the Marine Sergeant's Mess Hall. He is setting up the remote pilots positions about the Mess Hall 'puter" Hugh informed him. "The Command 'puter is hooked up and Slow is satisfied — after she tore all the panels off to check for herself; distrusting lady that." "Yes" smiled McCock, "having your life depend upon it tends to make a person more careful." He was silent for the rest of the trip. When they arrived at the warehouse, McCock, with skin suit fully up, pulled himself over a UVA. With his multi tool, he opened the panels and propped them open while he clambered inside. He looked about and raised Hugh on the com, "Remind me; we made the Keys and the UVAs the same external size so as to have only the one production line for the bodies." "Yes" confirmed Hugh, "the Keys have to have that 'puter in them and a small quantity of imaging gear. Both have Period and Holeinspace. The enhanced imaging gear is much smaller than the 'puter." "And taking out more of this equipment leaves this a one big empty box" finished McCock. The next morning, the "Trader" dining hall was transformed into the GmBH Board Room. McCock called them to order and asked Sir Henry to lead off on any developments. "No movements around New Liege; that Chencon courier is still there. Navy signal volume unchanged. Nan and Sam think there is a twist in some of the news and vid reports from New Liege; as Congress is not sitting, it can only be coming from the President's Office. Prez Brooken is dropping hints that big things are a'coming in the war and plans are being drawn up. We haven't heard that the top naval command has been reconstituted so we don't know who is doing the planning. A tidbit, appears ex President Letitia Forde has suffered a breakdown and has been committed — poor thing. Sol. I want to emplace a UVA in geostationary orbit over Chencon major ports and orbital works. I want to look at them and see just what is taking place." "Henry," corrected McCock, "Chencon starts at 35 degrees north and you can't get geostationary at that latitude and you know that as well as I do; so what do you want — a "fly by"?" "Yes please, Aggy. Probably every three or four days should be enough." "Com Denny and sort it out with him; you should be able to use one of the 90s. Now, once again, missiles. Has anybody heard of anything? I'm hearing Fourth Space Lord's lot are playing duck and drakes still and not just with us. They want and I can't blame them, the new model missile with its inbuilt controller. Until the Battle of Home Space, Navy had a lot of ships of the line still using the Mark D Missile and that production line must have kept going for at least a week possibily two before the big brass woke up to it. Where were they made?" "Settlement, Griffen and Scapa were the main armouries" answered Sir Joshua. "Can you check, please, Joshua. As much as I would like the newest models that is not going to happen; but with our mobile Keys, MDMs are about ninety five percent as effective as the newer models. This goes onto my next point. We've got over six hundred powered UVAs sitting in warehouses which we are never going to use and the Navy doesn't want. That Chencon fleet, if our estimates are correct, is going to be of the order of about four hundred ships of the line. And that is a lot of hulls. That means a very long service train of lovely soft skinned 'merchies' and tankers and that fleet is a long way from home. Jane's shows that just about all the Chencon battle fleet needs reactor mass. Can we transform the UVAs into mobile bombs? Thoughts, please. Work force. When we came back from Settlement I was thinking there would be two or so thousand out of work spacers and that is why I wanted to go to Old Earth; get everyone out of the line of fire and into employment. Now, with the return of 119 in one form and another, we have soaked up our numbers. This still leaves the families. We have Chagos and Pachristmas yards on Old Earth on care and maintenance. I want to get them into production asap. But workforce? Thoughts please for next meeting. Leads to my next idle thought. Originally, I regarded "Vector" as our shuttle bus out of Mountserrat but now we have the nucleus of a task group. I have on my line or about to come on, an amphibious assault ship being a CVL, a frigate, a barge and "Shriek"; all of these vessels do not require bunkering for fifteen years or so at a time. I have also, tied to a source of reactor mass, the four DDs and two missile carriers. I have two missile carriers about to come off the ways to have engines fitted; Babcox and Wilkins type I believe? Yes, thank you Hugh. Sir Joshua, Angie and Hugh, please get your heads together and investigate the possibility of placing Adama Wurtzsilo Selzer Atomic power plants in those two hulls and if possible the two operational missile carriers. If that barge can be fitted with small twin Renmark packs, I can't see why we can't fit something similar into missile carriers. Angie, how are you going on the space yacht?" "Being inspected today, Aggy, and if satisfactory we'll sign tomorrow." "Thank you. Get back to the seller and chat him up for anything he might have heard about things going down out here and while you are at it ask about the Navy Arsenal; you know how to do that very well — I've heard you at it. Also to back up Sir Joshua, get MFH Settlement onto missiles for us. Space yacht still. Only Trudie can operate space vessels. The others will require training. I want them to be able to get out of Settlement when they want to and not have to get a pilot who probably will have taken the yacht for himself if this goes down. Angie, get MFH in Settlement onto this problem as a matter of urgency; it takes time to train a yacht operator and time as someone once said, is not something I can provide." "Napoleon Bonaparte, I think it was" offered Sir Lancelot Angie nodded and made an entry on her PDA. McCock continued, "Henry, bring me upto date on the Gnats." "We've got the Sergeant's Mess Hall 'puter up and running: Slow did the software modifications to the missile control programmes and we duplicated that programme and then did the mod; so there is both stand alone missile control and remote Gnat control programmes. We have modified a 'puter game controller as the master and there are nearly seventy fitted stations in the Mess Hall. Slow and Denny in their spare time are running up a programme to allow a helmet face plate HUD, uh, well really Denny is doing most of that, he says it stops him getting bored sitting over Old Earth just watching but he checks in with Slow frequently. Hah! Slow says it keeps her hand in as working up "Vector" means delegating to her juniors who are getting mightily annoyed at her sticking her nose in all the time — not that she is going to change that habit anytime in the near future." "Distrusting lady, that" smirked Hugh Avers. "Damned straight;" confirmed the lady herself, "the last lines for the HUD were finished last night. Those Gnats as missile destroyers at middle distance with the killer HACs further out might even negate having to have shields at all, not that I really want to go naked any time soon; I like the idea of as many protective layers as I can get." "Sounds reasonable, Slow, seeing my carcase is co-located with yours. Henry, pilot training?" "Surprisingly little, Aggy. Mainly approach and landing and of course coms. They all played on that 'puter game at the Residence. All that is missing is the experience in high traffic environments." "That's the first time I've heard a battle described as a 'high traffic environment'." McCock remarked. "What about the Gnats from Settlement." "Navy got sticky about them until I pointed out that Navy had not paid for them," Angie explained, "Slow sent R2 to get them and the pilots under training and they got here two days ago. Sir Henry has begun integrating them into his teams." "Good, thank you Angie. Slow, HAC crew training?" "Slow Aggy, I'm afraid. While we have a lot of "Shriek" trained crew, spreading that across fifteen HAC squadrons does not go far. "Shriek" basically gave us the captains but it's the reserve captains after that and the experienced spacers we need for crew which is putting a strain on things; we've got to have ship's crew as well. On the same theme, I've had an interesting time, still am actually, with "Vector's" main armament. None of our people have any experience with this type of weaponry. I have had to drag some gunnery Avers out of retirement to assist, 'teeth, to train forget about just assist. Fortunately, GEC provided manuals for the mechanics of the turrets so I can get the system working with the Mess Hall 'puter. You and the Flock are going to have to sit down sometime very soon to work out tactics on these things. Gunnery duels have not been a part of naval warfare for centuries and I can't see that changing." "Does anyone know just how good Solly detection gear is?" asked McCock. "Denny and I," said Polack, "were working on that just before he went off spying and it's only marginally better than Harbourian. We based that on the assessment and investigation using "Vector's" EW gear which GEC said was top line. So even allowing for the commercial stuff being marginally below major naval inventory equipment from the same firms, I'd be quite happy to run a test against Solly gear for real." "No. Not you. Not a major fleet component. At least not at first." McCock laid down. He cogitated for a minute or so. "If there is a major Chencom intrusion then we can undertake graduated exposure of our vessels and guage their reactions. I think UVA first, HAC next, "Shriek" next before the frigate. This question really determines our gunnery tactics, Slow." "Yeees, I can see that. Suits." "Anybody else, I seem to have monopolised this meeting." "Got a point for you, Aggy" rejoined Sir Lancelot "On board hospital. At present I am planning on running the OB service for the incubators on planet. You will need some more equipment and stores to bring it up to what it should be. Your previous manning did not require medical officers in hospitals but "Vector" is very much larger than anything you have had before. The equipment and stores are easy as they are here on planet but the staffing? Above my pay scale, Aggy." "Yes, I agree, Sir Lancelot," began McCock with an evil smile beginning, "But I can delegate and you're it, Lancelot. Go to it. Thank you people, next week." ------- Chapter 35 "Aggy" as Hugh Avers buttonholed McCock outside the Purser's Office the day after the Board Meeting, "on the matter of work force. I've been hearing that the Navy Yard here has been slowing down and has put out feelers for voluntary redundancies. I also had a word with the people on the farms who are basically surplus to requirement and there are some families who have expressed interest in removing the families from the war zone to somewhere neutral and who will look very seriously at it if there is work going with it but they don't wish to emigrate." "I've been giving that some thought too" replied McCock. "Looking at the political situation while I was there, it was evident that the two biggest players were Noramcon and Chencon with not much difference between them; I can't see either of them directly taking each other on but they are very likely testing the other through surrogates. While we were there, reports of small shooting wars were frequent, basically tribal, but the protagonists had to be getting a prodigious amount of consumables from somewhere. What say we get Nan to get a feel from Foreign Office because I would prefer to reopen Pachristmas, despite the dirtside facilities being primitive to say the least as the Island and the Yard is under the control of Noramcon and has been for centuries. Chagos Island has the better facilities but is under the jurisdiction of Enkland who is only a medium size power. I'll get Nan onto it now. Thanks by the way for the tour the other day." The men nodded at one another and McCock turned into the Purser's Office to instruct Sally. "Sally," McCock began "Would you ask Nan to question her Foreign Office contacts and perhaps even the Ambassador on Old Earth as to which Yard we should open first with our people who are wanting a safe haven." He went on to explain his thinking on this as he had to Hugh. "I'll see her when she gets away from Bollinger's Intel meeting; and Angie left an 'urgent' for you to com her asap — I was just going to raise you but your com isn't working again(?)." "No Sally, it is not switched to receive while I am on "Trader"; that's what I have you for. You can always com me when you want to." "I can? Well puhlease give me the secret handshake or whatever it is that I have to use or do I have to use a ball peen to attract your attention." "Sarcasm does not become you, Sally. You have always been able to com me. Give me your PDA and I'll demonstrate." Sally dutifully handed over her PDA to her boss who entered a code. Immediately, McCock's PDA began beeping, stopping when he closed the case. "Aggy" began Sally dangerously "that PDA was locked down and you have never given me any direct code to you." Her voice was rather tight with exasperation or was it downright annoyance. "Here, let me show you" and repeated the procedure allowing Sally to read the code while his PDA beeped. He closed Sally's PDA and said, "Here you try it". She did and it worked. "Someday, Aggy, such minor details might not slip your memory." "Yes Sally, like someone forgot to tell me about five sons and three on the way. Not that I regard such a thing as my family as being of minor import. Sally, that really hurt and I will have regrets for a long time — however on the positive side, Nan and you have given me my life back in more ways than one, so I will be able to enjoy their company, Diety willing, for a long time." "Aggy, the Nancarrows will have to have a 'mea culpa' meeting with you and tell you what happened. In the meantime we have to look after your welfare as your value to us has increased exponentially emotionally; we never thought we would be a part of your life and that was our problem. Anyway, enough soul searching; for now that is. Angie. Call her." "Yes boss." McCock extracted his PDA and from memory entered a code. "Aggy, you were looking for Mark D missiles? Of course you were; I've probably located some." "Very well done, Angie; but when are the gift horse's teeth going to fall out?" "You will have to explain that one day Aggy, but we don't have time for that. Evers Dakin have got several orbital armouries at Scapa and on Settlement full of the things blocking the flow of the cruise missile production. After months of bureaucratic nonsense, Fourth Space Lord's department has just authorised destruction of the inventory and as you would expect are adamant that they have to be destroyed within ten days knowing of course that it would take twice that for you to get a vessel up there to collect them. Can you get a delay so you can get them?" "Have you any numbers, Angie? No? Suits. Get the numbers and how they are packed; they should be in twelve missile nests, that was the last configuration from memory. I've got a few calls to make and the I'll call you." "Good morning, Admiralty House, how can I help you?" "Good morning, I am Commodore McCock, I require to speak with Sir Thomas Cassimatis urgently and no, I won't tell you what it is about." "Good morning, Sir Thomas, McCock. Evers Dakin have Mark Ds which have been ordered by Fourth to be destroyed to make way for cruise missiles. I can use them in the defence of the Realm but I'll need several days to organise things. Could you place a hold on the destruction order and instruct that the missiles be not interfered with." "I can't see why you can't have them. I'll check with higher and let you know if you can't. I'll then talk with Evers' MD. Same com code, Aggy?" "Yes Sir Thomas. I'll start things moving on my side." "Hugh, we've got a chance at acquiring a large number of MDMs. What is the status of the missile carriers?" "Aggy, there are only anchor watches on the two operational, There are the two about to move to the fitting out yards to receive their power plants and then they will be ready for acceptance trials; they are actually in the process of leaving the construction docks as we speak; they'll take about four weeks before they will be ready." "Hugh, remind me; the MCs are complete when they leave the construction docks and only require the power plant fitted. We decided that all the power runs etcetera would be a works in progress." "Correct, and why do you ask?" "Also, Hugh, they are now under tow to the power plant fitting out yard." "Yes, Aggy, get on with it; this is getting painful." "So a slight detour wont matter too much?" "Aggy, what are you planning and where are you sending them?" "Settlement and Scapa through cosmic space." "Satan's canines, you don't want to do much, do you. Passive tow. Not prepared for hyper let alone hard space. And we've never done a passive tow through the layer." "Here is what I plan, Hugh. Everybody and I mean everybody except anchor watches, move to the missile carriers from the docks and check for everything so they can go through the layer. Unload the half MC and then I want the two operational MCs with R2 carrying every warm body we can spare to proceed to Evars Dakin in Settlement and load MDMs. While they are loading, I'll arrange for R1 to tow the non powered MCs to Scapa and R2 can take the loading teams down to Scapa to load them and everyone returns here. I need to get my captains back here. Sally, ask Sir Thomas to com the VWs and warn Masters Tim and Des Avers, Commander Arburthson and Lieutenant Hardman. I am sending "Shriek" to return them here." McCock produced his PDA and commed Slow, "Slow, detail a crew for "Shriek" to collect Tim and Des and Felix and Algy. I've got Sally tasking Sir Henry with their warning order now. What's the rush? We are getting a bucket load of MDMs and Hugh is organising an all out effort to get the MCs ready for cosmic and then sortie to Settlement and Scapa to retrieve them. Suit? Good. Clear." ------- Chapter 36 McCock, Evan and Sally were relaxing the next day with Des Avers and Algy Hardman in the Purser's Office with Angie playing hostess. They heard a vessel come alongside No5 hatch and the hatch cycle. "Good evening, gentlemen. Let's have lunch and I'll attempt to fill you in" McCock addressed the two last of his returning captains, " if you aren't too tired?" "No," Felix replied," we were able to get our rest time in the cubbys on "Shriek". A bit strange being a passenger with Slow as captain, though." "I hadn't heard the bit about Slow taking "Shriek" herself." "She did mention it;" Sally informed the group, "saying she'd detailed Peter Lowell to look after things; said she need some time back in command seeing Harryfor was working the frigate with Polack and she needed some time in cosmic and was going to take the opportunity with Algy's old crew." "Yes, I'm sure there were perfectly good intentions behind her moves," was McCock's sceptical reply, "let's get lunch." During the meal, McCock, aided by Sally and Evan, brought the men up to date. Both the Riders' masters were relaxed about their First Officers getting the command experience while they shuttled back to the farm to spend some time with the families. They admitted that if they stayed orbital they'd be tempted to 'see how things were proceeding'; so not to give in to temptation... Felix and Algy decided they didn't really want to load missile nests, so they went looking for Sir Henry to discuss HAC simulator training. McCock joined them. They found Sir Henry in the 'puter area in A tween deck. He was sitting with ear bugs inserted listening intently as he watched a screen full of sinusoidal curves. Algy coughed and Sir Henry startled. He turned to see who had disturbed him and beamed at the intruders, "Welcome to the voids of space. Listen to this." He reached forward to operate a toggle switch on the panel and the speakers he had placed about the tween deck sprang to life with a sibilant whispering hiss. "The roar or space; isn't it wonderful." He looked from face to face and sighed, "it's an acquired taste, I suppose. I can listen to it for hours. Well, what brings you to my domain?" "Something mundane, I'm afraid. Algy and I wanted to discuss the use of the 'puter on "Vector" for HAC training." Sir Henry looked at him over his half glasses and sighed even deeper than before, "You could have at least had an interesting thought." He got up and walked towards a shelf, at least that had been his intention until his ear bug leash pulled him up short. With a disgusted sound, he pulled his ear buds out and placed them on the control panel of the 'puter where he had been sitting and then returned to the shelf from whence he retrieved a 'puter tape — it wasn't a tape, actually, it was that a traditional usage of the term had persisted over the millennia of recording; it was a thumb sized 'puter insert more properly called a 'chip' of very large storage. "Pop yourselves down at one of the stations." His listeners did so to see the screen in front of them illuminate and hear a feminine voice from the speakers beside each screen tell them of the specifications of the HACs presently in service with 119 (Reformed). McCock got up and sat beside his associate, "I'm not sure I approve of the 'reformed', my friend." Which friend smiled seraphically at him. "While they are assessing your programme, give me your estimate of the numbers of missile nests we will be able to control from "Vector" requested McCock. "About five thousand a salvo" was the immediate reply. "That was quick;" replied McCock, "explain the working out just to satisfy me you have not just plucked a number from the depths of your convoluted thought processes." "Aggy, you will have to learn to trust your subordinates more. The whole purpose of your recent thinking has been basically to obtain missiles. That led me to the next logical step; control of said missiles in a conflict environment. Unless you intend using them as decorations for your ships? No? See, we are thinking on the same page. Let me start basically from the middle where Mountserrat introduced the Keys. Each Key was tractored to the controlling vessel; each Key could, with the resources of that vessel's 'puter control sixty nests per salvo. The longer the range the fewer the salvos as calculations took time and there wasn't much 'puter capacity available anyway. Let me explain that as it appears to puzzle you. In each warship is a 'puter which is used to manage and control automatically all the mundane but necessary tasks necessary to maintain life inside a sealed box in an extremely hostile environment, space. It automatically controls the power plant so that such things as oxygen, water, light and warmth are available; it takes care of the hotel tasks such as waste disposal, supply of food, and bedding; oh! there is human intervention there but only to twiddle about the edges. It controls the actual amount of power supplied on demand to move the warship around and to meet its own demands. All of that occupies just on half of the 'puter capacity. Another quarter, say, is used in the EW, coms and maintenance roles once the warship moves into its role. The nav and tactical calculations fit in there somewhere too. That basically leaves about a quarter of the 'puter for weapons control whether its main or secondary armament, point defence or what. And that is just enough to control in a conflict environment one hundred and twenty nests fired at one target. In the wet navy days, some bright young gentleman with nothing better to do, calculated the number of projectiles actually fired that damaged a target remembering that a near miss could do more damage than a direct hit. 4%. I kid you not; 4%. That is why about one hundred and twenty salvos were carried. Nowadays, accuracy is much greater but so is the antimissile defence and I would guess that in even this day and age only 4% of fired missiles get close enough to damage their target. If you take into consideration the accompanying inert, from warhead point of view, EW missiles that get fired, there has to be a lot of missiles fired to take out a large warship. Sorry, I digressed, but you need probably about sixty warhead missiles to hit a large warship to destroy it. That's eight mixed missile MDM nests to actually strike, that is two hundred to be fired at that target; and if you don't succeed, you start all over again. I do get carried away, sorry. We have a 'puter in each Keyhac. It is a primitive thing compared to this battleship 'puter but accompanying the nests or waiting for them over the target, from what I've trialled with Polack, it can flit from a hundred nest group to another group and exercise control over five hundred nests, enough to probably overcome a DN's defences. Allowing the quarter of the 'battle puter for two Keyhacs and emplacing this 'puter in "Vector", there is control of eighteen Keyhacs for you; particularly if we can get at least two U90s to give me better real time access to the nests. What I mean by that is usually control is exercised up the rear of the missile from the firing ship and that makes for communication problems. We put Keyhacs with the nests or better yet quote above unquote the nests and the U90s above them, I'll guarantee five thousand at least with a theoretical maximum of nine thousand per salvo; and our control vehicles are reusable not like the latest generation in RMN. One salvo goes in and we're ready for the next. And to make things very interesting, those four hundred kilotonne Vulcan class MCs of ours can carry a fleet load and a half of nests — one million nests. When you calculate that, two hundred salvos at the low end and one hundred ten at the upper end. This all presumes that both the control vessel, "Vector" and the missile carrier stay well out of the conflict environment and with the available UVAs, I think you can do just that." "That does lead to a major rethink of tactics doesn't it?" suggested McCock, "Not that I haven't been thinking along those lines for a while." "I know," smiled Sir Henry, "I read your paper, did some calculations, played some games and I agree; the big ship is gone, but provided you have 'eyes' out to see them. Come to think on it, the latest RMN missiles are really developments towards this concept and the Lady did just that at Home Space to destroy Chen's fleet and convince the others to surrender. But somehow I don't think RMN have learnt the lesson." "And where," Felix joined the conversation, "do HACS come? Good programme, Sir Henry, by the way." McCock answered that, "In our task group, they will be the fleet's screen and you will project UVAs beyond them to cover a rather large sphere of space and allow the core group of "Vector" and the MCs time to manoeuvre. Also there will have to be an inner defence screen just in case an enemy does get by our outer screen. The management of these screens will be critical as we will have to be constantly rotating them. The UVAs can stay out there forever, well almost, but the armed cutters have to rotate every two days and three hundred aren't going to go that far. In fact, availability of armed cutters from "Vector" is going to determine our sphere of projected power. At present, our MDM powered range is well inside what I calculate as our sphere of observation. Suit! For the next two or so days, I want you three to play the sphere of power game on this 'puter and tell me and of course, Captain Gort, what you envisage we can do. Henry, it just struck me; you included this third 'puter in your calculations. What do you know that I don't?" "Trudie allowed to me," Sir Henry informed him, "that she was looking at bringing her 'puter and setting up the listening watch down here. She seem to agree that Settlement might be a dangerous place to be." That evening, McCock erupted fully awake in his bed seriously disturbing his bedmate who not unreasonably requested an explanation for her rude awakening. "My parents do not know about the boys and they will be rather cross about not being told as they have been at me for decades for grandchildren to spoil" explained McCock to a now wide awake Sally. "Oh!" was all she could say. ------- Chapter 37 "Aggy" commed Slow, "Navy local have just informed me that the covering BC squadron has gone off to the southwest investigating reports of some marauding force taking out merchies. Gorgipest is uncovered and they request we send out our VWs as scouts. I didn't tell them they were tasked and out of the area." "We could send out some UVAs but you have already thought of that, haven't you;" replied McCock, "you want to sortie in "Vector". What is the status of that third 'puter?" "It's physically in the Sergeants' Mess Hall on "Vector"; Sir Henry, Polack and I were in the process of making the connections when I got the call. Probably another six maybe eight hours should see it connected. Meantime we have one fully dedicated to "Vector" so we can go in about two hours and complete connecting on patrol." "Suits. Get as many HACs, UVAs and Keyhacs as you can while I see what missiles we can get, if any. Wait out." "Sally where is Hugh and "Offspring?" McCock spoke into his intercom. "Both are at Fergusons getting the MCs sorted out" came Sally's response. "Get him for me please, on PDA; and warn Evan we are sortieing on "Vector" stat and to get me organized." "Evan already has you organized in the Admiral's Quarters. I'll raise Hugh for you stat." "Thanks Sally. Clear. Slow, send something to pick me up at "Trader" No5. I'm in process of raising Hugh who is at Fergusons working on the MCs. Suit?" "I'll send one of the incoming HACs; that will be easier than using "Shriek"." "Suits. McCock clear." "Hello, Evan, you heard?" as that worthy entered the Captain's Office. "Yes, boss; there is already a set of Sally's, your and my gear in the Admiral's Quarters. Sally insisted her stores be included when I put your stuff there. Pushy bit; but I somehow didn't think you'd mind seeing your past history." "Actually, I'd rather she be as far away as I could get her if I had my druthers but there is no way I'd win that argument. No, Evan, well done. Hello, Hugh" into his beeping PDA, "can we have any missiles? We are sortieing in "Vector" in about two hours." The HAC attached and the hatch was heard cycling. McCock waved Evan out and they proceeded to the waiting vessel as McCock continued the conversation. Sally was already aboard. "I can have cruise nests for you to tractor as "Vector" passes by, but that's your lot, I'm afraid. The MC from Settlement are just departing there with full load and two additional barge loads. R1 reports safe arrival at Scapa and R2 is enroute with the extra bodies. So, it will be at least two days before I can get one of the MCs for you with any sort of load and I know you'll take a partial load. Bye the bye, Sir Joshua has just got off the com telling me he has located a job lot of freighter 'Atomics' power plant. A yard bought them on 'spec' but not enough shipowners wanted so called untried technology. You are such a stuffy lot, Aggy. All we have to do is collect them. I'll get which ever of the Riders completes first with some shuttles to pick them up. Angie reports that Navy have coughed up for the last contracts so we are flush again when Sir Joshua transfers the funds to GMBH." By this time, the passengers were in the HAC enroute to "Vector". "My goodness, that's a bundle of news. All good for a change. Thank you, Hugh. McCock clear." "I had all that for you here" Sally offered rather defensively. "I'd have been surprised if you hadn't," reassured her boss, "but it's good to have all people informed." He turned to the HAC Captain, "Commodore McCock" introducing himself. "I'll have a small bet you are wondering what you did wrong to get this duty?" "P.O .2 Albert Avers, Sir, and that would be a sucker bet so I'll pass." PO Avers quickly introduced his crew and then readied himself for approach to "Vector" ""Vector" HAC zero one zero four, for full stop, with information Quebec." "Zero one zero four, turn right to zero four zero stern wards to join circuit, you are number three, call turning final." "Zero four zero, call final, zero four." The HAC passed down the port side beyond the stern to a point in space, "Helm come left ninety degrees and decrease to twenty gravities." With its momentum, the HAC described a semicircle through space. "Turnover, three hundred gravities for ten seconds." The HAC spun end over end and the power came up decelerating her relative to "Vector". When PO Avers was satisfied, he ordered, "Helm, turnover, fly the lights. Ten gravs. Check harness everyone." "Zero four, final" Zero four, you are clear to land." "Helm, stop main engines, reverse thrust through the barrier and then stop." McCock could see shadowy movement through the permeable barrier ahead which seemed to grip the HAC as it passed through. Tractor beams moved the HAC to its parking bay, hatches joined and then cycled. "Thank you, Mr Avers. A pleasure to fly with you." McCock passed through the hatch to be greeted by the Deck Officer who pointed them to the bulkhead hatch. They made their way to the bridge to greet Slow, "An interesting way to join," smiled McCock, "how are things?" "We were just waiting for you to join. Peter, take us out to Fergusons, please. Now, Aggy, we have fifty Gnats; ninety seven HACs which Felix and Algy are organizing now; all twenty seven ninetys; the fourteen Keyhacs with the small fission piles and seventy odd UVAs. We will continue taking on HACs as we move to Fergusons. We've got a scratch crew but Hugh assures me that the Settlement MCs are due in about four hours and I can have my crew back about the time I've got the 'cruises' tractored. Peter fortunately has experience in an RMN BB tractoring missile barges for which I am truly grateful as I have no experience tractoring at all." "Nothing to it, Ma'am" laughed Slow's XO, "all you have to remember is to lock the tractor before you move off, otherwise it does get interestin' with the nests swishing about. The really important thing is to have experienced spacers manning the tractor control and they'll make you look good every time." "Now, why does that sound familiar" smirked Sally. "Off my bridge you lot. Begone to the Admiral's bridge and stop poking fun at us officers" Slow waved them off and McCock duly went. Polack greeted them, "Sir Henry chased me off; said he could finish quicker without my ham hands in the way." Evan had to explain the laughs that caused. A familiar voice broke in, "Will the Commodore be wanting refreshments?" "Trojan, I am not going to ask how you got here" laughed McCock, "I am just going to luxuriate in the pleasure. A light lunch, for all, please. Polack, go and snarl at Sir Henry and tell him he is to come and have lunch." Trojan looked crestfallen at the mention of Sir Henry. Over lunch, Sir Henry brought the Staff, Slow had joined them, up to date on the overwatch activities. "Your Chencon fleet train is developing, Aggy, and it is looking rather large. Using Jane's, we've identified at least one heavy repair vessel, with two other possibly slightly smaller; at least two squadrons of ammunition ships; there are nineteen fleet underway tankers identified and some hundred of other general purpose vessels. We have visual lock on over two hundred capital ships, DNs and BBs. About the same number of screen vessels. Chencon doesn't seem to favour BCs. There are still a lot in the yards being worked on but Denny has the impression they are all going to come out in the next week or so. Take two to three weeks to shake down and victual if that hasn't already been done in the yards as we didn't notice the crews leaving and we are running out of time for whatever is going down. But with that size fleet it ain't gonna be any good for Mountserrat." "Has Sam passed the word up?" "Yesterday, Aggy. He thinks Cassimatis is getting worried. Methinks I don't blame him and I would like to point out, we are in the same bucket of gloop." "Henry, thank you for that reminder; it's almost enough to put a man off his food except that the thought has been exercising my brain ever since I acquired "Vector". Before her, I could in all conscience cut and run but now... ?" Slow and Polack looked at one another and simultaneously made derisory noises. "Vector" recovered her nominal ship's crew and another sixty HACs flew on, in a complete scramble while the cruise nests were being tractored to the vessel. In all eighty nests were 'attached'; a low number but "Vector" was not designed to tractor nests. While Slow cruised "Vector" about the northeast of Gorgipest, McCock with the able assistance of Sir Henry Bollinger, Polack Kowalski and that part of the main battle computer dedicated to ship's weaponry, planned the patrol paths of the HACs reinforced by the UVAs. Not having the large sector of a sphere behind them to patrol made things easier but left McCock rather uneasy. He decided to screen the planet away from the northeast using the U90s with the Gnats; this put a strain on the Ghorkhali manpower as the ninetys were 'puter controlled but the Gnats had a human pilot sitting at a station in the Sergeants' Mess Hall. It was one of the U90s which detected the hyper footprint far out to the south west. The source of the footprint continued inbound to the planet at four eighty gravs and was identified shortly after as a short squadron of Harbourian BBs with a three light cruiser screen. After five minutes, McCock called a staff conference while Slow turned "Vector", working up to full velocity, towards the threat. The screening in the northeast was left in place behind them. The assessment of enemy intentions was a hit and run high velocity missile attack past the planet. Working on that basis, "Vector" had to reach and destroy them before they fired. McCock designated the four BBs for the missiles and the cruisers for "Vector's" grasers; he ordered four Keyhacs off. The Keyhacs accelerated towards their target; the Missiles under Sir Henry's control (actually the 'puter, but let's not quibble) were spread to give them a look at their targets. McCock recalled the Gnats to immediately cover "Vector" — and they then waited as Slow maneuvered "Vector" to meet the cruisers. With time to spare, "Vector" was sent to action stations and the departments briefed on events. Main armament began tracking the cruisers who were still out of range. "Where are the other CLs and the other BB?" muttered Slow on the command net. "Possibly to the southeast with our BCs after them?" opined her XO. "Hold that thought, Peter, but have Period go to continuous, please, just in case." "Aggy, BBs are approaching the critical point" Sir Henry informed him. This was the point from the planet where firing cruise missiles would intercept the Harbourian vessels which would still be out of their missile range of the planet. It wasn't point blank range for the cruise missiles, but missile tracking time would be of the order of minutes. Sir Henry anticipated the targets would defensively yaw to present shields towards the firing vessel and the approaching missiles. But Sir Henry had Keyhacs almost level with the targets and intended to put a twist into the missile tracks. The BBs were at high acceleration towards "Vector" and that acceleration would then begin to drive them in whatever direction they yawed. This would take them off the 'direct' track towards "Vector" which suited Sir Henry just fine. Although the cruise missiles were not 'dog fight' maneuverable, they were enough to bend a track up the stern of the targets, particularly as Sir Henry had kept some acceleration in hand for the spurt towards the departing target's stern. Once a yaw maneuver began it was as difficult to stop the momentum of the turn as it was to stop the momentum of the forward velocity. At the firing point, the cruise missiles lit off and McCock told Slow, ""Vector" you are free to maneuver." The absolute black of space was rent by the blue green flash of an after turret firing at a hapless cruiser which itself spectacularly exploded in a momentary burst of white light. The other two CLs fired their missiles at "Vector" as they turned away moving to their highest acceleration. During another hard turn closing the range, a forward turret took out the lead CL. The third CL was out of range and was departing rapidly towards the north. The yawing BB's sterns were unprotected and the cruise missiles rippled into the hammerheads leaving glowing metal remnants remaining. "Release the Gnats onto those missiles. Felix see if you can get some HACs up to ambush that CL" While Felix was acknowledging his order, the Gnats stooped upon the missiles like a flock of vultures upon a carcase tearing them apart. Sir Henry was heard to mutter the old gunner's prayer "For what we are about to receive..." What was finally received was a fizzer as only two missiles remained to explode against the screen. The CL was haring across the north of the planet to be struck by two glaring beams of light and be sent cartwheeling away only to be met by a trio of beams causing total disintergration of the hulk. ------- Chapter 38 Another day passed before the word was received that the RMN BC squadron was returning having found no enemy out to the southeast. At that point, "Vector" began recovering her assets preparatory to returning to the fitting out yard. The only mishap was a Gnat which missed the lights and richocheted off the hull. The Gnat controller was quite shaken; the Havildar tartly remarked that perhaps next time, if ever his grounding was rescinded, he might attend to his craft rather than the female beside him. The young man spent a long time on fresher duties before being returned to the village for further counseling from the Shaman. After berthing of "Vector", McCock called a conference to discuss the recent operation. As junior, Commander Peter Lowell led, "How did those CLs acquire us. We took out the first CL and almost immediately the other two were sending missile right at us?" "The screens," explained Polack "specifically the defensive screens, showed a humongous surge of energy when the turrets fired. It was almost certainly detectable on every passive receiver in the near galaxy. If they were at action stations, and events say they were, their 'puter would have locked us in immediately and somebody only had to pull the trigger. I gamed this on the way home and I don't have a good solution. We can fire with only holeinspace deployed with a very little chance of being detected; but, before you ask, it takes thirty nine seconds from 'cold' and eighteen seconds from 'standby' to activate the defensive shields. Just as an extra, it takes five seconds to raise holeinspace. Those are long time frames for the defensive shield activation in a conflict environment. Looking further, our armour is far better than a CA's but not quite up to a BC's and that is because of the plate used in this hull. Powered missiles are detectable from time of light-off; ballistic missiles are virtually undetectable, not because they are stealthed but because they are small. The hull would probably not be damaged by any thing from a CA or smaller. There is however, as Evan Cochrane used to delight in informing us, the chance of the "Golden Bee Bee" or as our beloved leader oft remarks, Murphy delivers." "Thank you for that, Polack," snorted Slow, "you just made my job that much harder." "Apologies, dear Lady" replied that gentleman, "but always remember, my body is not far enough away from yours for me not to take an interest in such boring matters as survival while I supply you deck types with power to allow you to play with your toys." "Felix?" "Algy says he could do with some more hands during busy times and I find I need two extra operators in flight ops." "Gnat deck might spare two techs," offered Slow "from the Barge crew." "That could be a problem," objected McCock, "that's my asset you are playing with and I had a mind for the Barge as a reccy asset." "I can accept that, Aggy" Slow returned, "but in a conflict environment, that barge should be tucked up in its corner out of it." "True. Suits, Felix double them up and we'll see how it goes down." "Henry?" "Just an observation without any specific relevance I can think of; that Harbourian force had to have departed from somewhere after the resignation of their CNO and before the Chencon courier arrived. I want a lot more evidence of disintegration of command before I'd seriously postulate that but I would point out that there has been no Naval activity at all, not even couriers, out of New Liege since that resignation. Fascinating, really. By the way, Rosemary reports "Chewy" was inquisitive about the recent surge of activity." "Ask Rosemary to work her two prisoners a bit more; there is still the motive behind Chencon's possible actions. They don't fit with just an expansion of trade for P'nO; and where is Sema in this?" Sir Henry nodded and made an entry in his PDA. "Polack?" "Nothing, Aggy. Engines performed to specs. Maintenance up to date. If you plan a very extended op, say of longer than five years, I want to top up my reactor mass." "Slow?" "I need to work with my fly boys to tighten things up. Henry, how lucky were we with only a hundred nests?" "Ah! An interesting question," replied Sir Henry, "one which exercised my mind on the trip back. On the one hand there was no luck in it at all and on the other extremely lucky to get out of it unscathed. One hundred nests in a conflict environment is urinating into the wind as the enemy is alert and every thing is in readiness. In a successful ambush, just enough to do the job we did. Any larger enemy force and the planet would have been in trouble as we would have had to have allowed them further into the ambush and thus probably within range of the planet; we would have had to detail off the Gnats to deal with those missiles and we would have found out how efficient our shields were against two broadsides of CL missiles. If Murphy had put in an appearance, it would have got very messy indeed. In future, if you want to have a future, do not deploy without a missile carrier." "Henry," Slow returned, "I never knew how happy I was in GmBH just tinkering with my toys. For the same unknown reason I joined the Navy, I always wanted to be in space, even to perhaps command a small ship; and now that I seem to have achieved my ambitions, I harbour fond thoughts of being back at GmBH. You got anything, Aggy? No. Felix, let's have a word together. The meeting broke up leaving Sir Henry and McCock at the table. "Now, Aggy, one for you. What's your ambition? It's just for my intel assessments, mind, as I've no intention of seeking safer climes, if only because I'm on the cutting edge of cosmic space investigations; but it is better if friendly intentions are factored into the assessments." "You do walk convoluted paths, don't you, Henry? But it is a valid question. When I withdrew my services from the Crown, I did not withdraw my loyalty. But I admit that I have placed my loyalty to 'my own', however that is defined, before that to the Crown. From the first, after presenting "The Queen's Own" to the Queen, and especially after New Liege, I felt I was not fully trusted. It was as if the government did not wish to be beholden to a mere mercenary. My first thought after resigning, was to evacuate my people out of any conflict environment, as you so delicately phrase it, to a place of safety and the purpose of our trip to "Old Earth" was to find employment for them and a source of income to enable this to be done. My reaction to acquiring that behemoth was that I had a shuttle bus to lift my people out. My realization of my extended responsibilities makes me doubt that I can succeed fully. Certainly an orderly evacuation of personnel and equipment is just not feasible even with my present assets. I think we could manage a hurried evacuation of personnel but I would be decks awash and praying for good weather. Our explorations into hard space have made such a task feasible. I am still investigating, as you know, relocation of assets to the yards and I am awaiting word from Sir Joshua et al before making the first moves. If I am to evacuate families, I will need a dirtside base and that will not be easy to obtain. Prime dirt is at a premium on "Old Earth". Because events, probably actually precipitated by my action in raiding New Liege, have seriously overtaken me, I don't think there is enough time for a complete withdrawal of all the assets so I am exploring options of getting the non combatants out and defending the assets. I actually think I am pipe dreaming but if so I haven't woken up yet. Without any firm plans in place, I want all my people here in Gorgipest where I can get them onto my ships and bugout if I have to; and to defend what I can. It really depends upon the Chencons; if they come east of the Sol — Mountserrat line, we are obviously in their immediate sights; if they move direct then we have some more time before we have to make a move; and if they move west, we have more time but their intentions become hazier. There you are, Henry, I am not setting up an empire here; I just want my people out of it. When you get my intentions clarified, do let me know, please, I can do with all help I can get." McCock departed "Vector" for "Trader" accompanied by his personal staff on board the barge. With gravity, it was a more comfortable trip back than it had been in the HAC. The Avers were waiting for them and led them into dinner. Angie later joined them. The conversation was desultory. McCock et al were invited to join the Avers in the Warrants' Mess for an after dinner drink. McCock et al had no objection and were soon comfortably ensconced clutching a chosen glass of whatever. Angie regaled them with the story of Sir Thomas Cassimatis dealing with a Treasury minion at Evars Dakin who got sticky about the disposal of the MDMs and was only satisfied when Sir Thomas assured him that Navy would certify that the missiles had been safely disposed of. Hugh mentioned that he would like to keep the limited armoury of cruise missiles for the frigate and explained that with four MCs loaded with MDMs, mixing loads could lead to some confusion unless a source of the later models could be obtained for a full loading. Also all cruise in the frigate with her UVAs and Keys did give her a punch way above her class. "There is some convoluted thinking there I appear to be missing" observed McCock. "No, you are not, Hugh, and that's final!" Angie growled at Hugh. McCock looked from Hugh to Angie and back again and decided he didn't want to learn too much; so he announced he was off to his bunk. "Good night all, and thank you for the drink" waving the others back into their seats. He departed accompanied by Sally and made their way to Officer Country. McCock was just stretching out in his chair in his own lounge / office to be disturbed by the unusual beeping of his PDA. He recognized the sound as originating from the 'Royal' net. He was not familiar with the identifier signal.'. "Commodore McCock, how can I help you?" "Ah, Aggy," came the clipped Renmark accent, "my experts tell me it is just into the first watch there. I thought I'd bring you up to date. This tricky little device of yours enables me to speak directly with my Senator in USW. I had long theoretical discussions with my electronic whiz kids and Foxy and I have been experimenting through the com links. It's a bit devious but it works. I got curious when Elizabeth mentioned her direct contact with Westlake and thought 'why not'. I've passed the method onto Gus with whom I can directly talk now. As a matter courtesy, we inform each other of every direct com. Must say I am impressed by von Reiperbahn. How are things over your way?" "Quiet really. We saw off a raid a couple of days ago; my intel think they left Harbouria before the Chencon courier arrived. I have acquired some MDMs to give me a credible defence now with what is a task group. I am still investigating getting my people to re open my yards on Old Earth and should make some moves shortly. Our Sol listening watch is painting a very blurred picture but at least it is some sort of picture. My intel are running U90 fly bys every so often but apart from actual ship identification, which we could guess at anyway, it only confirms that a large fleet is being assembled. Have you any definite plans?" "Yes, that is one of the reasons for this call, apart from a chance to surprise you" replied the Lord Protector. "You have certainly done that; I had not fully investigated the possibilities of working the net links" admitted McCock "I thought you'd be a bit preoccupied," laughed the Lord Protector, "I have ordered the orbitals to be unlocked and have designated vessels to move them at six hours notice to hide in hyper. My capital is on notice to evacuate on twenty four hours notice and it will be cleared in three days. Everyone of my subjects has affiliations on the holdings and we can spread thinly over the planet; we are a quiet dispersed population in any event. I admit I am gambling that Chencon doesn't intend to use planet busters, in which case it wont matter anyway. I just don't like the situation and I don't trust the Chenconmen. We will survive as a society but it will be a struggle for a while." "One advantage of being an autocrat, Your Grace, but I have to herd cats here and there is already a, aahh, a reluctance exhibited to migration." "Always a problem, Aggy. Have a good night." The link went down. Sally looked enquiringly at him. "Renmark is preparing for the worst. Total evacuation of the capital and taking the orbitals into hyper. I haven't enough shipping available to be able to move the yards here and if I tried it would be at the expense of personnel. Back to local happenings. What's with Hugh and Angie?" "Oh, Aggy, you are slow at times." ------- Chapter 39 The next morning McCock bit the bullet and commed Erin at "The Residence". "Erin. Good Morning. When are you intending to return to Gorgipest?" "Probably tomorrow. Shelly wants to complete her yacht training and then space down in the yacht. We are using the Barge and Trudie, Nan and I will crew her under supervision of Alan and his people. Shelly will christen "Vector" for us and then return here; she doesn't want to leave her work. She feels happier at WepDev. Now, what do you want me to do for you?" "Well, I was talking with Sally a couple of days ago and realized my parents don't know about the boys; they have been at me for decades about grandchildren and I was wondering... ?" At this stage the gurglings he had heard broke out into outright laughter. When she settled down, Erin brought him up to date, "I heard about that so called talk. You can be slow at times, Aggy. Sally got straight onto it and commed Nan and I. I admit I almost squibbed it but Sally and Trudie spoke rather harshly to me, I thought, and I accompanied Nan to meet them. They were absolutely charming and put us at our ease. They were absolutely fascinated by your seraglio; well, your mother was, your father seemed rather bemused. Your mother appears to believe your name is "stupid boy". However, they both drooled over the vids of the boys. So, their having grandchildren is solved. All of us are coming down. Your parents have a Manor House there. It was part of Bollard Lines but was hived off just after you were born; in fact, you spent your first few years there before the pressure of managing Bollard got too much to do at arm's length; that was before Marcel became more fully involved. The House has been on care and maintenance. So accommodation is solved. The property abuts the south boundary of MUGC and the boys can attend the university school. Your grandparents or whoever conditionally granted MUGC their land and one of the conditions was to provide education for the family. You upset the scheme of things by insisting on A & M. So education of the boys is solved. The company had a full security system in place because of the government in exile thing and that has been maintained. So security is as solved as that is possible to be. Anything else you want us to do?" asked Erin sweetly "While we are at solving your domestic problems for you." (The Settlement party did not get down for another three days because of some last minute financial dealings going down.) McCock checked that Sally was up to date and was not surprised to find her on her com discussing events with Nan; he considered she was, so he just waved at her in passing on his way to GmBH's office and control cabin through the now permanently open No 4 hatch. He found Hugh at the desk and George and Paul in the cabin. "Where's Theo?" McCock asked Hugh who put down his PDA to reply "In the dock; we do still work this place, you know. Galbraiths have a barge in for repairs; funny, that's how this all started, wasn't it?" "Just about; what are you up to?" "The frigate is loading cruise missiles and running that 'kiddy 'puter'; the MCs are being loaded with Mark Ds, and we'll have another almost full load remaining; R2 is over Old Earth heavy lift loading those "dam wartz" power packs for the MCs; we will have the first two operational in four day's time and the other packs replaced in eight. I'm not starting the replacements until the placements are operational, I had a word with Henry who was not pleased about only one hundred nests even if they were 'cruises'. Just about everything done so I'm working on workforce for the earth yards and provided you don't want the workers to emigrate, I can man the Chagos and get the Pacristmas working sort off and when the frigate commissions I'm her First Lieutenant." McCock had only been half listening until the last pulled his mind back hard. He turned to look at his old friend and they exchanged totally po-faced stares. Not a word was exchanged and the silence from the control cabin where George and Paul stood in the entrance was deafening. "Angie approve?" McCock finally broke the silence. "No." came the equally informative reply. "Your problem" and turned to walk back to "Trader". "Yes" Hugh terminated the conversation. "Aggy," commed Sir Joshua, "GEC's man wants to know when their care and maintenance are going to be replaced; he was concerned rather than irritated but it has been some months since the takeover." "Hugh is working on that now. R2 is down there loading those power packs." "Perhaps they could drop some crew off?" "Rather not, Joshua. They are ships' crew not dockyard." "Well, we can start the Chagos yard anytime you want; I've got indications of two definite orders for small freighters from outer worlds who are way down on the order books of the Sol yards — money up front in trust held by us at GMBH as soon as you accept the order but to play fair, we must have staff there to accept materials." "Suits Joshua, I'll walk over and see Hugh now." McCock retraced his steps towards GmBH to see Hugh in the dining hall with the others. McCock got a meal and joined them as other Avers, "Trader" residents all, filtered in around them. McCock mentioned manning Chagos and after the meal, the ways and means were thrashed out. A lot of Avers had been ruminating about the matter and casual discussions had been numerous. There appeared to have been a meeting of the minds. Shuttle in shuttle out, using some of the Riders' assault shuttles which were being less utilized recently as the HACs were coming on line to do the running around. Some would still be needed for heavy lift on Gorgipest but some were 'spare'. Some crew already experienced in the Harbourian shuttles to type train the older Avers already experienced in RMN types and some familiarization in cosmic space with crews already familiar with it and work crews from the "Trader's" establishment could transfer almost immediately; not much different from what was happening now except a doubling of travel time in a much larger shuttle; be more comfortable too; has gravity. George and Paul to manage Chagos, Theo, the oldest, who detested traveling but put up with it because it kept him working, to continue here. Wayne Burton-Avers assisted by Angie Merton-Avers (Oh, you hadn't heard — secretly about a month ago just after she got back from Sol) to oversee Fergusons, Fitting-out Yard and the GEC yard and to keep an eye on Sol. The Flock's report on the facilities on Chagos was favourable. Establish 'Gold' and 'Blue' crews and don't worry about a thing; it's all organized, and Sally did you get all that for a report to the boss. McCock had another experience of being overtaken by events or was it left behind... ? Rosemary Peebles poked her head in the open doorway, "Got a spare moment, Aggy?" and on being waved to a seat entered accompanied by Sir Henry, "I've been chatting with Denari and it seems that he arrived in a small cargo vessel; he doesn't know anything about her other than she is small. He says they were taken off in the dark in a 'tainer and when they were let out were taken to a safe house; been over it and nothing, as expected. His controller came ashore with them but did not go on the attack so apparently there is a second safe house around. But that's not what I've got. Denari landed fifty two days before the attack. His team used that time to study the town and to reinforce the maps they had studied while enroute from Sema. The training specifically for this op had begun about three months prior to boarding. The team existed from the beginning of the special training so planning had to have begun before that. You are starting to look at some serious assets involved and that brings me to that freighter. I have the cooperation of the Harbourmaster, who sends his regards by the way, he thinks you lot only walk on water so you can keep the dust off your shoes. His records show the "Dowager Lady" was the only visitor during that time frame and departed after loading scrap metal from Fergusons. She is registered at Lloyds, A2, owned by surprise, surprise P'nO, registered at Panamen. I am just a bit surprised that P'nO are so closely involved but sometimes these big fellows get a bit arrogant. The interesting point is that a sister ship, "Widow Lady", is due in tomorrow. For the past year or so, there has been a service run shipping out scrap to the Warrels but no cargo in and that is not economic and P'nO is not known for its good works." "Being the trusting soul that I am" remarked Sir Henry, " I agree with Rosemary that a closer look might benefit. Studying the strategic elements in the time scale of the raid, someone, probably on Sema, has had you in their sights for a while. Liu Chen aka 'Chewy' got instructions, probably not much before we arrived, but somebody was alert to your arrival. As I am as sure as I can be that security on the trip was tight and closely held and the time was too short for trans-galactic communications, my developing feeling is that there is a general alert out on events that at least peripherally concern you. Add in the known interest of Sema and the suspected interest of Chencon and the plot is so thick I can't even put a spoon in it let alone stir it. First things first though. I'm going to put up some UVAs over the harbour and surrounds. I have enough Ghorkhali to deploy a small team if I have to. If she runs to past events "Widow Lady" will be in port for four days. I think I'll cover her from the time she enters n space. We've got the assets and you can call me suspicious." "Denari has probably no more to offer," Rosemary gave as her opinion, "but something might come up after the 'Widow' I might want to discuss with him. As a mere idle thought, Chewy could well be far more senior than meets the eye and the only thing I have is a thought that wont go away; his socks and foot wear. They were absolutely top quality — suit, made to appear ordinary but quality none the less. It just doesn't fit with even a top level Embassy wallah. I think I'll do a bit of research and then have a quiet word with him again. Come on Henry, I need your skills at arcane searches. Bye, Aggy, thanks for listening, you are always good for an idea." She departed in her usual fussy manner followed by an obedient Sir Henry Bollinger who smiled and shrugged at McCock before passing out of sight. McCock mentally reviewed the conversation and realized he hadn't actually said a word. ------- Chapter 40 The actual official launching and christening ceremony for "Vector" was attended by members of the "451 Wives & Widows Association", the crew of "Vector" but not attached personnel, and GmBH executive. Denny had hitched a ride back on R2 for a well earned leave and also to be present at the ceremony. The event was real time shown over Tabes and to the GmBH yards. Part of the ceremony was the unveiling of a plaque made from some debris found in the harbour some time after the 'Death Ride' which scientific analysis had shown was probably from a V & W class vessel. It had been worked on by the ERAs of the present name holder who had been with her on the ride and they had made pendants presented to Shelly Indira and the other widows from what had been left over. The pendants were small and only pieces of scrap metal, but... The lower deck's celebratory party held in the Marines' Mess Hall was rather riotous resulting in a lot of polished metal in some obscure places found by the Regulating POs. McCock and his Flock with Felix and Sally participating with Evan Evans taking the notes held a Promotion Board in the Admiral's Office. He set out his proposals and then opened the group to discussion. The discussion regarding the "Sprightly" frigate brought forth a derisory grunt from Polack, "That frigate out masses "Vance" and come to think on it out weapons her by a wide margin and outruns her as well." Slow's question of "Angie?" produced a grunt from McCock. The division of the group into a fast and a slow squadron caused some discussion about the proposed deployment of the MC "Darling" with the slow squadron but on balance the decision to give it some teeth and thus have two strike forces which had trained together outweighed the counter argument keeping all the MCs together and deploying ad hoc. The transfer from each DD of six UVAs and four Keys to each MC raised objections from Slow and Denny that whilst the MC 'puters were barely adequate, the com gear was not. McCock grinned wolfishly back at them and as the centi credit dropped, Denny moaned, "We'll get onto it. Slow, start proceedings will you and I'll take over after I hand over to Chris. Suits?" Nod from all. Posting Tim and Des Avers to warships was dismissed with expressed regrets when McCock informed the group that he had made the offer to be gently declined. Both officers considered that they were operating at the upper level of their pay scales now and pointed out they had been only PO 2s in RMN expecting to make Chief Warrants on retirement. The longest discussion arose over how to manage "Shriek" and the Admiral's Barge. Finally "Shriek" was made part of COHAC's assets but at first call by the Commodore for scouting; crews from the wing as required. Alan and Colin Avers made CWOs and posted to Commodore's staff with the Barge and maintenance by the wing support squadron. The Board made its decisions to be promulgated immediately: 119 (Reformed) Task Group. Commodore HMS McCock; Commodore's Staff — Denholt, Kowalski, Bollinger, McGraw, Evans, Alan Avers, Colin Avers, Trojan; First squadron: Commodore: Captain LA Gort; "Vector" CVL, Captain LA Gort, XO Cdr Peter Lowell, HAC Ops Cdr F Arburthson. COHAC Lt Cdr A Hardman; "Sprightly" Frigate, Capt(jg) Harryfor Avers, 1st Lt LtCdr Hugh Avers; "Devon" MC, Lt Cdr Alistair Dinmore, section leader; "Derwent" MC, Lt Shirley Wacol; "Derby" MC, Lt Michael Bathurst; and "Darling" detached to Second Squadron. Second Squadron: "Victoria" DD, Captain Keith Grant (Captain D); "Vance" DD, Cdr Tony Pearson; "Washton" DD, Cdr W. (Bill) Williamson, "Warburton" DD, Lt Cdr Christine Dinmore Attached to 2nd "Darling" MC, Lt Carly Sefton FURS: "R1", Master and 'Commodore' Timothy Avers; and "R2" Master Desmond Avers. The Commodore and his staff except for Sir Henry repaired to "Trader" which was regarded as the HQ base for the 119 (Reformed). Sir Henry wanted to stay close to his sigint 'puter, at least until Trudie could get established to which Slow remarked to no one in particular, "When Trudie 'takes over' he'll use the thing to study the cosmos and just happen to keep a listening ear on the day's sig take." Angie at least allowed McCock to settle in his office with a mug of Kahawa blend before striding in, dropping into a seat and with one of the grimmest faces McCock could ever remembering seeing, demanding "Why?" McCock studied her for several moments before returning to the coffee pot to pass a mug to her and returned to his desk to face her. After a further minute or so to allow some of the tension to bleed out of her, he began quietly, "Hugh Avers swallowed the anchor after fifty eight years of continuous service in RMN. He was highly regarded by all ranks, upper and lower decks. Milligan had been prepared to directly commission him to retain him. Hugh thought he was blocking a younger Avers somewhere so he went. Milligan and Rowan with the connivance of the Second Space Lord pointed Hugh at me in GmBH. Basically, I suppose he started as a Leading Hand rapidly moving to virtual Works Manager. When I went missing and later flitted off to Paracelcus for four years, he became CEO of GmBH and oversaw its major expansion. His role expanded during the Gorgipest recovery to cover the planet and when I went off again with The Queen's Own, he stepped up to the crease.i He has been instrumental in commissioning the CVL, the frigate and the MCs. He has organized the opening of the yards on Sol and now that is done things have slowed down and he probably feels that he should allow his own wants and desires to influence his actions. Throughout all these events, he has always regarded himself at heart as being 'Navy'; it's a difficult concept to explain to an outsider but there are people who wish to serve their country which I suppose is another way of saying a company in a military uniform; the Avers are a family of them. Hugh has demonstrated remarkable talents and undertaken responsibilities far outside his previous experience; characteristics of a good commander. He is short of practical tactical experience and he will gain that in this posting and later promotions with more extended duties. I have in 119 (Reformed) great need of such talent and I owe him. He has asked for the posting, I have need of someone in that post and his previous duties are covered. He is First Lieutenant of "Sprightly"." Angie put down her mug and walked out. McCock was reading the intel summaries for the past month trying to see if any pattern was emerging. Dissatisfied, he commed Sir Henry, "Henry, these summaries don't really tell me anything?" "You know Sung says the same thing" was the reply, "but I don't recommend reading the raw take like he is, there aren't enough hours in the day; well, not for you. Any way, Trudie has spent the past two days getting her listening post on line with Nan's and Sam's assistance. When that happens, Sung will only have to walk through the Uni's back perimeter to meet with the Committee. Bye the bye, I'd suggest the quote command unquote structure be left as it is — nebulous with smoke and mirrors with Elizabeth, Uncle Gus and Bollard all contributing. I would suggest however having Sung become the liason man to Renmark; keep the Lord Protector happy." "I can see the value in that; I want to stay in touch for strategic reasons but I can do that at my convenience. I'll com him now and bring him up to date." McCock broke the link and sat back trying to dredge another valiant neuronal effort to the surface of his brain. Abruptly the circuit closed and the light flashed to full brilliance. He dived for his PDA and went searching. He was frustrated by the relative lack of memory in the thing so, in frustration, he again commed Sir Henry who sounded quite irritable as he answered, "Aggy, what bee have you got in your bonnet this time?" There was a soft female giggle in the background which caused McCock's neurons to whir up to top speed making a wise decision to pretend he had not heard it. "Believe it or not, it is important but I suppose it could have waited; but now you are awake anyway. I've been trolling through 'Jane's' following a vagrant thought. All Sol's navies are star system ships whereas most of the merchant marine is intergalactic. But I can't find definite confirmation of that. We need to widen the search to the trade magazines and so forth. The advertisements are always relatively less security conscious and the articles always gush on about endurances and velocities. My PDA can't cover that without having to subscribe to the journals and I certainly don't want to leave any paper trail. Can you put your 'puter onto it?" "Damme!" exclaimed Sir Henry "I didn't think of that; I have become used to the concept of warships' endurance in this local space being the same as that of our freighters and our adoption of the 'damn wartzes' pushed it right out of our minds here. I doubt my 'puters can get that type of intel without a paper trail — it needs humint and discrete at that. I think I know the chap to ask. I'll get back to you; I should have an answer in a couple of days. Now go away, Aggy, I need my beauty sleep." McCock had a vague recollection of Henry claiming he didn't sleep much; he decided that there were certain paths a commander should not tread. i The Ancient and Noble game of Cricket is played on Mountserrat — hence stepping up to the crease. In the less appreciative lands of the finer things in life baseball is played — hence stepping up to the plate. ------- Chapter 41 Sally presented at the Captain's Cabin followed by Evan who began shutting down the equipment and filing the few documents on McCock's desk. Trojan entered carrying a small portmanteau containing McCock's toiletries. Sally handed McCock his tunic and forage cap signaling that he put them on. Rather bemusedly McCock did as he was told and as he was doing so heard a vessel join and cycle hatches. Evan took a last look around and nodded to Sally who then took McCock by the arm and led him to the waiting Barge. Enroute to the Manor House, McCock was informed that he was to be like all other executives; leave home in the morning, do his day's work and return to the bosom of his family in the evening. All his senior subordinates had his PDA number. Polack and Denny, also present in the Barge, just smirked at him. The Barge came down in grounds adjacent to the MUG Campus on the drive way to a modest discretely grand mansion. It landed in a hover taxi and then settled to the ground to taxi clear of its dust storm. The Havildar came down the steps as the Barge came to a stop, saluted as the hatch cycled, and as McCock returned the salute murmured, "Thank you for Sajani, Sahib" and then in normal voice as Sally joined McCock, "the familyis gathered in the Waiting Room." Trudie appeared at the entranceway to welcome Polack and 'Mina welcomed Denny. Sally guided McCock to the opened doorway and led him in. They walked over to stand in front of the well dressed slender man standing beside a portrait of an apparent ancestor. "Good evening, father" smiled McCock, "I never knew of this place." "'evening, Samuel," returned his father, "we didn't have need for it while you were boarding at A & M and it slipped our memories as we got more deeply involved in things at Settlement" McCock felt a gentle tug on his sleeve and looked down to see Matthew offering him a small glass of golden liquid. "Granda says you are old enough to..." Matthew turned to James standing at his shoulder for assistance. "To try an adult's tipple" prompted James. "To try and dult's tipple" rushed Matthew triumphantly. McCock took the glass and sampled the brew appreciatively, "Nice" smiled McCock to Matthew who returned a grin and dashed off to join his siblings and friends. "What is it?" of his father. "Madeira. Your mother was given the cask on graduation from Grenoble Military Academy by her grandparents and she carried the thing about the galaxy with her until she deposited it here in the cellar awaiting an occasion. It has kept remarkably well. Your mother dispatched the boys and me to find it even before we settled in. Must say I spent an enjoyable time messing about down there with the boys." Sally wandered off with James to greet the ladies who were standing in a huddle(?) talking about something or other; McCock noticed that from time to time one of the ladies would cast a supervisory eye over the boys' huddle. His father caught his glance at the ladies and asked, "How do you manage four of them, Samuel, I cannot control one?" McCock looked incredulously at his father, "Manage? Control? Father, I just get told how I am going to do what it was the ladies decided I needed to do and I do it. Unfortunately for my independence, they are invariably correct. I am still too dazed by the advent of a fully developed family at present to even dream of standing on my fatherhood." "Perhaps you are not stupid after all, Samuel" said his mother, offering her cheek for the ritual buss, "important things as raising a family and running the home leave to the women of the family, we leave stupid things like politics and war to the menfolk." Mr McCock strangled on his drink, protesting "That's a bit strong coming from you, Maddie, I seem to recollect first meeting you on a rescue mission off the old "Valiant"." The potential for discussion was headed off by the Havildar's announcement that "Dinner is served." Followed immediately by Mrs McCock marshalling the troops, "Matthius, escort Cerise, boys attend your parents, Subajhi attend Samuel and I" and led them off to the Dining Room where Walter, Matthew, GusGus and Subajhi were settled in the alcove whilst the others were seated at the main table. During the course of the conversation, McCock learnt that: Mina and Denny were to reside in her unit in Gorgipest; Trudie and Polack were living in the attached mews here; The attic here was to house the listening watch; The 'listening' Ghorkhali were quartered in the Servants Quarters; The house servants / bodyguards were spread about the Manor House; External servants / bodyguards were housed above the old stables; McCock was to make a decision regarding the boys' khukris; Western Hove and Claigh Valley assets in Settlement were being liquidated, All families' surplus funds were being transferred to Old Earth; The boys were enrolled at the University School; Dorian and Walter were interested in agronomy; The Barge was now McCock's personal flivver and the crew room was above the garage; Sam Costello was balking at being part of the family, McCock to sort him out; Sir Henry Bollinger and Rosemary Peebles were such a wonderful couple; Evan had a small suite near the Master Suite; and His parents were using the Butler's Suite. The younger boys bade the olders a good night and the older boys excused themselves to study. The Denholts and Kowalskis took their leave and the older McCocks retired. McCock was lead off to be shown his sleeping arrangements. Next morning, Evan found McCock breakfasting and receiving the Havildar's report. Evan placed his faxes and reports beside McCock and served himself from the sideboards. McCock passed the daily news faxes pointing out several articles of interest and in return Evan pointed McCock at the report indicating the Chencon courier had departed New Liege and that Keith Grant had placed one of "Victoria's" U90s to track him. McCock was informed that Sir Henry had passed that intel onto the 'Royals' for discussion and decision and a conference call was being arranged. McCock offered his opinion that the Lord Protector or Uncle Gus might get him included. Evan had informed Sam. A ground shuttle arrived and disgorged a contented looking Denny. Sally joined the menfolk as the Barge hovered to the entrance of the Manor House. Polack hurried down the steps to enter the Barge with them. The hatch cycled and the Barge lifted for the fitting out yards. Denny asked for transport back to "Warburton", he was offered and accepted "Shriek". The tannoy announced approach to "Vector" and belts were tightened. The tractor beams moved the Barge alongside the hatch and the party moved into the companionway and headed for their various destinations. McCock found Sir Henry in his CIC talking with Sam Costello and Rosemary Peebles. Sam had slept on board the previous evening; McCock intimated to Sam that he was part of the extended tribe now centered upon the Manor House where his place of work now was and if he didn't wish to use his rooms there then he could discuss the matter with Trudie; that is, if he cared so to do. Sam accepted the inevitable and then informed the group that the 'Royals' had decided not to interfere with the courier purely because it was only the Allies' paranoia that led them to suspect dark things about Chencon and taking out a courier was virtually an act of war. McCock had not been asked for his opinion as he was considered an affiliate of Mountserrat. McCock admitted to ambivalence about the survival of the courier, "It could be that he carries information likely to trigger events but on the other hand that crew has been in New Liege for several weeks and must know the truth about the damage." Sir Henry nodded agreement, and after Sam had departed for the Manor House, "I had a bedtime chat with one of the analysts at Jane's; one of my contacts referred me. He agreed with your recollection. The earth navies are designed for combat in the Solar system and bunkering provisions are built in accordingly. We, out here, including the Harbourians, on the other hand, fight in the interstellar space of the galaxy and bunker accordingly. My analyst reports antagonism towards fission because of the early experiences, high capital cost, fears of going critical; basically no port wanted one of them near it. Not logical in view of fusion plant disasters but most of them were off Old Earth apparently. My contact thinks that Wartzsilo are regretting taking Adama over because the division has not been pulling its weight for a long time. Pure prejudice, really as we know from our studies of the machinery." "Henry, you do stimulate the thought processes" McCock said, "you do give me ideas", producing his PDA and making a link after accessing a menu. "Wayne, good morning to you. What is the status of the Sol yards?" "Morning Aggy, Hugh had the team members allocated to their accommodation on the yards from the available plans. The assault shuttle training is in hand and should be finished by tomorrow afternoon with the test flights being made to Sol at that time with the teams. Maintenance heavy for Pacristmas. Joshua has given the naval architects the green light to begin ordering plate etcetera for work in Chagos to begin next week. I'll have to visit Pac to assess how much work we have to do there. We are looking good. All Hugh's good work. You know he is wasted as a mere First Lieutenant, Aggy, he should be here at GmBH, running the place." "I agree with you but things are slowing down and it's not as if you are not ready for the promotion. The other areas have been provided for and Hugh has done an excellent job of bringing on the talent needed. It is what he wanted and unfortunately for GmBH, there is a need for naval experience in the task group at that level. "Vector" has distorted the manning structures because of her very size requiring broadening of the manning. Its done, Wayne." "Yes" was the reply "but, Aggy, you don't have to work with Angie." "There is that; but you, at least, will survive the experience. Clear." McCock shook his head as he made another link, "Joshua, good morning. A bit of intel came Henry's way. Questions about the Adama 'tomics division of Wartzsilo. Even with the advantages of hard space, I'm blowed if I can call it 'cosmic' space but I keep trying; anyway virtually bunkerless vessels of large size does sound an attractive proposition particularly with only occasional infusions of reaction mass keeping the power plants operational for centuries amortising the capital costs of initial outlay. Can you have your finance people look at the proposition for merchantmen, and make a few enquires?" "Thanks, Aggy; you know you have become a bit of a pain since you learnt to delegate so well; but this is in my department so I shouldn't complain too loudly. I hadn't heard anything but being out here, we don't get the Sol's local gossip. I'll get back to you. Suit?" "Suits" replied McCock and broke the link. ------- Chapter 42 Sir Henry began again, "Another thing while I've got you; the overheads of the 'Widow' show that there was a period of electronic interference broadcast about the time a 'tainer was discharged from the vessel out of usual hours. We got the feeds from the overheads and have identified the safe house being used. I put in some Ghorkhali teams to follow the people inside buildings and I am seeing an interesting mesh being made. Sidney has been most helpful, he has identified one of the agents and says the last he had seen of his friend he was in CI; so they are either reaching the bottom of the barrel for Mountserrat or they are looking for penetration of their network. The type of person being contacted does not suggest a field team but rather information gatherers. Now I know who to look for, I've done a review of the tapes and see that Sidney's safe house has been kept under surveillance. The attack upon the ladies was not widely covered in the media other than as a gangland shooting which does not make sense; this leads me to think there is some deep penetration of the media at some level to twist and play down the story. But why the effort in what is now a backwater of the Kingdom?" Aggy looked at his friend, "Henry, perhaps they haven't brought their departments into line with the new reality here since the Harbourian raid, whoever 'they' are." "Oh, Sema, without a doubt" stated Sir Henry, "Chencon penetration here has never been more than Trade Attache visits and those rarely. No, its Sema who is interested. Probably since that raid and that brings it back to you again. I'll just have to keep looking" and, shaking his head, turned back to the CIC 'puter as McCock departed for the Admiral's Quarters to replenish his caffeine blood levels. Slow knocked and entered the Conference Room which doubled as the office, looked at McCock as he waved his mug at the coffee supply and waited as she took the place on the other end of the small work table. Slow took a deep taste before starting, ""Vector" is ready for work up now and "Sprightly" sometime next week. Your deciding to re-engine the MCs has put them back three weeks and that only because Wayne has pulled all the crews to help. Changing ships' crew into yard hands and back doesn't help in the short term, either, but I admit it does in the long term by cross training. Your decision to put UVAs and Keys on the MCs, not that I can argue against it, mind, has meant an even greater demand upon experienced technicians and their training. I need to get my squadron together and training as a group and that was yesterday. Today, I am drawing to your attention that our manning levels are bordering on being inadequate. I've just got off the com to Harryfor and he is, if you'll pardon the pun, in the same boat; sustained action stations and we'll rapidly lose efficiency. He says that he will have problems deploying the cut..."; here she was interrupted by the persistent screech of her PDA. She extracted the offending instrument from her belt pouch (which did nothing for her silhouette) and muttered, "An urgent from Harryfor? Excuse me, Aggie. Harryfor, I'm with Aggie. What's so important?" Slow's eyes widened as she listened to the excited voice on the other end and her face broke into an ever widening grin and she started jiggling in her chair. "I'll kiss you next time I see you ... well I'll kiss him too. Where are all of them? Wait. Aggy, don't ask now, but can we have the Barge to collect Harryfor and a few others for a conference here asap? Thank you. Harryfor, the Barge is on its way. Clear. Aggie, you are a sweetheart." And dashed out only to skid in the doorway to sheepishly ask, "Ah, would you ask the Barge to wait for me? and where is she? In the lower hangar? Don't go away, we'll be back as quick as we can." McCock shook his head and commed Alan to warn him of the descending hurricane heading his way and was told, "Thought she'd want to come; I've advised fly-ops we are moving and I'm starting her up now; if you'll excuse me, Aggie?" "McCock clear." McCock's turning to his reports again was disturbed by the entry of Sally and Evan who smiled in greeting as they went into the Pantry to talk with Trojan who came to stand in his hatchway and ask behind him, "How many?" to which there was an unintelligible reply and Trojan went on "have to be in ... Marines' Mess." And his head disappeared but not his voice and then the trio departed with the information from Trojan, "Commodore, I'm going to make arrangements for the conference." McCock's bewilderment must have showed because Sally reassured him, "Just staff work, nothing for you to worry about; we'll handle it." McCock reminded himself that 'action stations' had not sounded and turned to his reports which chips told him what Slow had imparted in two minutes without the urgency. He turned to the intell reports and learned : The Chencon battle fleet was continuing to grow and was dispersing to the smaller bases; The Chencon supply fleet was assuming huge proportions including all their VLRCs (very large reactor-mass carriers) and it too was forming into groups and dispersing; The Chencon courier had passed Mountserrat in hyper and was expected to reach Sol in the next ten days or so; Nothing fron Chencon sigint, commercial or media; Harbouria was positively boring — nothing; and "Dowager Lady" was moving to the Ferguson's berth to top up scrap and Sir Henry had moved into Ferguson's control room and made a few additions. McCock extracted the chip, replaced the PDA into its pouch, leaned back in his chair, clasped his hands on his head and contemplated the universe. He was going to have to bring the V&Ws back to Gorgipest to begin shaking them down as a squadron again and get them exercising with "Darling". When Trudie established her listening watch, Sir Henry could act as 119's backup there and the overwatch would have to take second place to shaking down the Task Group. It was fortunate that the VWs were his most experienced warships albeit the weakest. But he could put the recall off until the MCs had completed trials and that was probably a month away. Whilst having the HACs as force multipliers was satisfying, it could not be at the expense of the raison d'etre of the task group which was to deliver missiles on a target which also demanded experienced personnel; he placed the HACs as just a tad more important in the scheme of things than "Vector's" artillery; on second thoughts, a lot more important because of their scouting ability; without the HACs the UVA sphere shrank exponentially. The task group in hyper and n space were restricted to the velocity of the VWs; even the MCs were faster and didn't require bunkering. It did, if nothing else, give him a protection of his FURS but that negated the offensive and scouting potential of the VWs. That immediately brought on a hurried scratching through his PDA to reassure himself that the 'Riders' had been fitted with Holeinspace and Period detection. They had, but it had slipped his memory cogs. He further explored and found that the Assault Shuttles had not been so fitted and the problem was multifactorial; Denny had decided that as it was extremely unlikely the Assault Shuttles would ever be in an environment where that level of protection was needed ... Always a compromise, thought McCock. Time to kill some punching bags, McCock decided and headed for "Vector's" gym. He gave himself a vigorous and satisfying workout in which he allowed his mind to flow with the exercises. He freshened up, redressed and rearmed himself and ambled down to the CIC to be told by the watch officer that Sir Henry was in the Marine Sergeants' Mess working on the Gnats' programme. As this had been on McCock's mind, he retraced his steps past the Gym to the Marines'Halls. He found Sir Henry conducting what looked like an orchestra. Sir Henry was seated 'behind' the 'puter at the control positions. On the other side oh the 'puter was projected a holographic simulation of space aft of "Vector". Between the hologram and the 'puter were seated six Ghorkhali at control screens watching the hologram. All about this central area were the individual Gnat pilots in their cabin mock ups with vid helmets hiding their identities. Sir Henry acknowledged McCock and in reply to the interrogatory nod at the hologram, explained, "There is nothing new in this world, Aggy. I am trialling a system used prediaspora for defence of an island against attack from the atmosphere. I have divided the space about the ship into sectors and appointed a sector chief. At present, I control the Gnats and as I perceive threats, I release assets to the sector chief who then directs the individual asset toward a threat. The pilot of the asset, read Gnat, decides which weapon he uses, either laser or missile of which he has ten only; he does have virtually unlimited laser bursts. With the missile there is some capacity to manoeuvre and thus an off bore capability, but limited by missile load. My command has one hundred and seven Gnats. I have at present six controllers and fifty pilots; I can rest my pilots by flying the Gnats from the 'puter in formation with the ship but in practice, I think I prefer to return the Gnat to the ship where I can shut down the Gnat and physically get the pilots into their bunks. Complete control from the 'puter is possible for an anti missile defence but a puter can be 'spoofed' whereas my pilots have augmented vision from the Gnat's sensors which they can report to their sector chiefs. None of us however can detect an inert missile. Now watch." Sir Henry made some entries onto his panel and a blur appeared at an edge of the hologram. He handed McCock a headset through which a voice reported unidentified threat approaching. An ovoid shape appeared within the hologram divided into numbered wedge segments with the apices towards the 'puter. A number also appeared above each sector station and the chief of the affected sector spoke into her headset indicating approach of the threat. Sir Henry spoke, "Scramble Eight Squadron to sector five." Ten of the Ghorkhali began moving in their seats and small blue numbers appeared at the wedges' apex and moved into the wedge marked five. The incoming blur began splitting into individual red icons. The Sector Chief donned a helmet and began speaking into her boom mic. Sir Henry explained, "The Sector Chief's helmet gives her the detailed view of her sector and allows her to concentrate on her responsibility without distracting the other chiefs too much. From here I can alter the size of each sector as I need to. I'm now going to spread and expand the threat. I want to push them into simulations I hope we will never be in." More threat icons appeared and more assets were scrambled. After a while, McCock removed his headset, waved at Sir Henry who distractedly returned it, and departed. ------- Chapter 43 It was well into the afternoon by the time McCock was asked to attend a meeting in the Marines' Mess Hall. He had in the meantime read all his reports and then wandered around "Vector" looking at things and generally getting in people's way. He finally gave up his meanderings after being, ever so politely, told to go somewhere else by a grizzled Master Chief in the engine room because he was a distraction. He retired to his quarters, booted up the small 'puter and began gaming some scenarios about possible enemy intentions. He was getting thoroughly annoyed because he could not envisage an enemy intent which did not result in some sort of friendly disaster unless the enemy proved not to be an enemy and he snorted disbelievingly when that thought popped up into his tired brain. So it was with relief that he entered the Hall to be met by the shuffling of some hundreds of feet as the occupants stood. Slow waved him to join her at a raised dais which somebody (he later learned it was his personal staff) has put at one end of the Hall. He noted the activity in the serving area and spotted his personal staff flitting about down there probably preparing food. McCock waved them to sit, "As you were." At the top table on the dais were Slow, Harryfor Avers and Hugh Avers with Avers Alan, Colin, Tim and Des sitting against the side wall. McCock took the indicated seat and looked out over his audience. They were NAVY — in capital letters — of all ages except of the very young. He didn't think there was a newbie amongst the lot; there were — three - and each one of those was almost a super expert in his field of EW and Coms. Slow began, "Our new crew members, Commodore. They are mostly Mountserrat Avers with some of their friends who had heard of what was going down They are on the beach involuntarily as RMN just haven't the hulls to use them. When the ladies took Sujani back to the High Country, Alan and Colin visited their relatives. The Avers crew of "Shriek" on that Helena trip had kept in touch with them and over the past few months since we put in our own coms through the UVAs the contacts have deepened. The Mounty people had been muttering about things and considering coming down but didn't know how to go about it. Alan and Colin showing up got things going. Alan told Hugh who really went for it, basically made the plans while he was in GmBH and then put it to Harryfor who contacted me. I spun R2 off with us and collected this lot. All you have to do is to welcome them and then we will put them through a couple of days intensive indoctrination and then out to the ships." "Welcome" started McCock "as you can see, I am well under the thumb of my subordinates and always do as I'm told. Seriously, 119 (Reformed) has great need of your services. However, I must make quite clear to you, what you are getting into. Legally, 119 (Reformed) is a privateer fleet sailing under letters of marque. I am Commodore and your loyalty is to me personally — you are my household troops. My first loyalty is to 'mine' as I from time to time define it; but if you swear to me you are part of 'mine'. "Mine' extends to your families. It also covers various enterprises which I control but do not fully own; ownership is shared among what basically now forms 'mine'. You will be outside that ownership until we, the owners, decide otherwise. You could be defined as mercenaries. To my mind if you prove yourselves, and I have no idea how that might happen, I would look at bringing you in closer but that is not totally in my hands. We are a fighting force and you will be expected to engage in combat. Subject to my previous comments, I am still loyal to the Mountserrat Crown, note, the Crown, not the nation. I cannot envisage a scenario where 119 will act against either the nation or the Crown but we are an independent force whose first loyalty is to 'mine'. So if you can agree to those rather confusing terms; which I suppose simply translates into my house motto, "Mind your friends"; welcome aboard!" Over the next few days, things were rather hectic with documentation, Sir Lancelot checking on 'jabs 'n stabs', briefings, kitting out etc. The material seamer's breaking down didn't help the kitting but fortunately, the new spacers mostly had brought their personal skinsuits. McCock wanted all of them in the stronger dark gray materials and over the next several weeks that was achieved. An assumption that all of them were medically 'fit' was made and proved to be the case as each personal chip attested to at least their discharge medicals from RMN. McCock was called upon to give an overview of the threat environment starting with the events of TQO's Harbourian raid. There were shocked and tight faces as he detailed subsequent events which were not known to his audience. The assessment of worst case enemy intention was heard in stunned silence. At the end of the indoctrination period, Slow reported no person withdrew; she said it was summed up by a grizzled Master Chief Warrant Officer who said, "I'd rather be in RMN, but I'm not. We know the Commodore's reputation and record and here we will be able to make our contribution to the defence of the Realm. In the last analysis, I don't think McCock will run and if he does it will be because it is hopeless and he wants to look out for his own. I can live with that." "Vector" and "Sprightly" completed their shake down sorties and began exercising as a squadron with HACs and UVAs deployed in both n and hyper space. Sorties had been made during the shakedown period into cosmic space to give the crews the 'feel' of it and the officers and bridge staff experience in navigation. Sir Henry made a decided nuisance of himself but was tolerated, just, because his scientific expertise at mapping, all knew, would make such voyages that much safer in the future. Harryfor admitted he sometimes knew how that ancient mariner, Christopher Columbus, must have felt when setting out on that voyage into the unknown. At least, here, the distant lands could be seen; the problem was the definition of 'distant'. The Adama engine packs were finally in the MCs who moved into their trials. Murphy made appearances galore in the release mechanisms of the missile nests from the MC hulls. The fault was finally traced to the new power packs. The generators for the ship's power supply was marginally less powerful than the supply coming from locally made vessels. This led to the realisation that Sol design in that area was based on a different principle to that used in local space. Wayne Burton-Avers spent a harrowing several days examining the systems both physically and theoretically. "Vector's" and "Sprightly's" systems and 'puter were Sol based and so no problems were encountered. The Barge was Sol based. The VWs, "Shriek" and the HACs were locally based. Denny (with assistance from Slow's brain as she didn't have spare time) examined the fitting of Holeinspace and Period in the Sol based vessels and was satisfied there was no problem. Logistics was made not that much more difficult but it was something else to be aware of in this diverse fleet. McCock reluctantly recalled the V & Ws. They rebunkered and then joined to exercise as a squadron. Keith Grant made the statement at a Captains' meeting that he would rather exercise in cosmic space as he didn't have to worry too much about bunkering but it was pointed out that battles were fought where the enemy was. Each squadron worked up as a squadron and then were joined by the MCs. Periodically, the Captains and bridge staffs joined McCock and his staff to conduct exercises using the full capacity of the second battle 'puter on "Vector". Particular attention was paid to the role of the main armament on "Vector". The consensus was that in a general fleet action, it would never be brought into play as the envisaged role of "Vector" was as a controller of missiles' delivery to be kept well away from the direct conflict environment. It was possible that the MCs would advance far ahead of "Vector", deploy their missiles and then be abandoned by their crews in their HACs which were basically the MC's lifeboats — powerful lifeboats, but lifeboats none the less. This was not a first choice as the MCs were reusable and therefore valuable assets. Fleet exercises were somewhat frustrating as not knowing enemy intentions, specific training was impossible. Polack snidely remarked at McCock's expressed frustration, "Plans survive only until contact is made with the enemy who might then allow you to see just what he is going to do so you can then amend your plans." During this time, Trudie had established her listening post and her committee freely passed information to the Royals and to 119. McCock found his domestication resulted in being exposed to a more than necessary spread of intel from Trudie each evening; there was an advantage as the Royals used Trudie as the repository of information and thus he had access to the information from the Ambassadors on Old Earth. These gentlemen had become aware of a growing disquiet with Chencon exhibited by the major players. The information about New Liege was filtering through but attempts by minor parties in the USW Senate to reopen the debate had been vetoed by Chencon. Nothing was being said about the extent of Chencon mobilisation but it was the elephant in the drawing room; everyone knew it was there but no one mentioned it — in public. McCock also found that being at home most evenings, he was able to spend more time with the boys and found himself drawn into discussions on politics and history. Probing minds, even if inexperienced, kept him thinking and reading to stay ahead. He noticed that Evan Evans mingled better with the boys and seemed more settled in himself of late. ------- Chapter 44 "Hello, Aggy" greeted Sir Henry as McCock entered "Vector's" CIC, "to what do I owe this pleasure?" "Your report this morning made the point "Dowager Lady" is expected. Why should we be interested in a small freighter tramping about local space? Apart from the fact they are connected with an attack upon my ladies." "After "Widow Lady" departed, I had a good look at the vids from Fergusons and went over Lloyds register; ran some figures through the 'puter and made a couple of holos." Sir Henry fiddled about the 'puter control panel making his selection and two holos appeared above his station. He rotated the images towards them, explaining "This is a reconstruction from the vids and this one is from my estimates based on the information in Lloyds and you can see that there doesn't appear to be a difference. Now, "Dowager" is a sister ship and according to Lloyds identical. Here is a vid from the general harbour berth which shows "Dowager's" No3 hold and you can see the tween deck is significantly smaller. That doesn't necessarily mean anything but Sidney says his team and the handler did not mix with the crew having their own quarters. He doesn't know his way about a ship so wasn't helpful where he was quartered. He does say that his briefing material was in the 'puter in those quarters. The handler is still loose on Gorgipest without a team and should in the scheme of things be recalled if only for debriefing. I've got an itch to look at that room but the itch isn't intense enough to make me want to mount a raid — but something might come out of left field to make me change my mind. I want to put up the surveillance again and see what presents. Suit?" McCock thought about the news, "Well, it will give you something to do while we wait for events. I have to admit I am getting more and more worried by the inactivity from Harbouria. For Diety's sake, we are at war with them and for months they have done nothing and we are not in a position to do other than sit on the defensive awaiting events; events that aren't happening." "Aggy, it might just be the combination of the destruction of their home fleet and the coup d'etat by now President Brooken has paralysed government. There has been no reports, mentions or anything about either a new Secretary for their navy or CNO's appointment. What mention is that their Octagon is not doing much. No indication of any navy coming to replace home fleet and that I find very interesting. We know of their R&D base but not where it is and we know of the outlying strengths — well best educated guesses. That Harbourian squadron turning up here. My only explanation is paralysis at the top but at present I have no evidence to support that supposition but it is the only wag I've got. Endure, Aggy, endure." "Silas, it is truly good to see you again. Trojan, Kahawa for Admiral Rowan." McCock had returned to "Trader" to meet the distinguished visitor from the Navy Yard. "How are the others?" enquired Rowan. "Working hard" smiled McCock "may I com them to come over? I would never be forgiven if I did not ask them to see you. Our friendship goes back a long way, Silas and we do not forget our friends." "Please do, I was hoping to touch base with them" replied an almost relieved Silas " and Sally, if I could." McCock touched the desktop com and spoke, "Sally, can you come up to the Captain's Cabin. A visitor has arrived to see us." He then extracted his PDA and made a com link, "Silas has come down and wants to see us. We are in "Trader" now. Thank you." McCock waved Silas to the side table and joined him. Both took an appreciative taste of the coffee, "Marcel still good I see" commented Silas. McCock acknowledged. Sally came through the door like an unrestrained whirlwind but halted uncertainly to look at Silas trying to judge her welcome. Silas solved her dilemma by rising and moving to her with a warm smile spreading over his features and his hand outstretched. Sally flung her arms about his neck and fiercely hugged him without saying a word. She stood back and looked at his face, "You need a holiday, you are looking tired." Rowan laughed, "I have needed a holiday ever since I first came in contact with Aggy." "He can be a strain, at times" Sally agreed taking a filled mug from Trojan and sitting herself beside McCock, became practical, and asked "and what is the reason for this visitation? You might just fool him, but remember I worked in that Puzzle Palace for a decade and I know how it works." "The Crypt is gathering and I'll hold explanations until they arrive, please you. In the meantime, I have been asked to pass these onto you." Rowan had extracted two chips from their containers, passing them to each of them as he spoke. The recipients inserted the chips into their PDAs. Sally's face broke out into a broad grin as she read whereas the features of McCock's face became ever more neutral as he read. Sally completed her task first and sat back with a very satisfied expression on her face. McCock continued his reading to the end of the document, put his PDA onto the table in front of him and gazed thoughtfully into nothingness. No5 hatch cycled and moments later came the sound of booted feet hurrying up the stairwell. Slow led the way barely giving Rowan a chance to get to his feet before embracing him; the men were no less pleased to see him but were a little less demonstrative than their female companion — they just shook his hand until it threatened to drop off. Trojan meanwhile had acquired seating and just as mysteriously produced filled mugs for all on the side table. Sally passed her PDA to Slow while the menfolk were greeting Rowan and her face cracked into a wide grin; Slow passed it onto the men whose eyebrows went up; They all looked at McCock who still stared into nothingness. Sally told them, "He hasn't read it yet. He got another chip from Silas to read and he hasn't said a word yet." That comment seemed to bring McCock back to reality. He passed the PDA to Slow and the men on either side of her read over her shoulder. While they read, Sally retrieved her PDA and passed it to McCock who quickly digested the shorter message. "I like the ones for Hugh and Joshua but for Angie?" "That's a bit irrelevant now", and to Rowan's raised eyebrow, "Hugh and Angie are married so her honour status is moot but I think a bit of female solidarity is called for — so she earned it." "I think it might all be irrelevant" replied McCock, turning to Rowan "you need another six to nine months as I see it from our observations." "We don't have it. Baron Westlake used the link of which I have only just been made aware and I am the only one outside the Palace in the Kingdom who is now aware of it. HM has been informed that humint resources on Sol say Chencon fleet will depart within, allowing for the time it took for me to travel, two to three weeks." McCock waited until the Flock had finished the report and retrieved his PDA to make a com while the Flock developed indigestion from their read. "Henry, Sol humint says Chencon fleet will move within two or so weeks. Suits?" "Definitely suits" Sir Henry replied, "I'm just reporting now that the dockyard activity has just about stopped except for some of the smaller elements. All merchant activity has ceased — they are all in four locations and look as if they are shaking down into a convoy pattern. The battle fleet seems to be doing the same but I cant be as sure about them as there is still a fluidity there. Totals roughly — supply train holds about two thousand ships with a bucket load of VLRCs; that lot will be like herding cats and is going to slow progress tremendously, probably double a slow freighters transit time and give the commander ulcers; ships of the line about five hundred and forty of which I'd say over half are their latest but the rest are not older than twenty years; there is about double that in screening vessels. None of the line are purely missile armed, more like our older types of DNs which however Jane's credits with large capability to tractor but not what they tractor. Considering we started tractoring nests over a decade ago I doubt they haven't picked that up. I'll send this draft up now, Aggy. Bollinger clear." McCocks PDA continued to buzz and McCock inserted a blank chip, downloaded the draft report and handed it to Rowan with the comment, "I can send this up direct now, if you want?" Rowan looked up from his reading and nodded. McCock inserted his keystick and made the com. When the link was made "Silas Rowan has just informed me of the humint. I checked with Sir Henry who is working on this draft as we speak. Ready to receive? Stand by." And sent the report. "No, not yet, I have only just finished that appreciation while the Flock came over. Thank you." McCock looked at Rowan who finished his report. Silas said "To be precise, I am an emissary of the Admiralty; Sir Thomas sent me but when HM heard of it she called me in, swore me to secrecy, and brought me up to date; I have to admit I am amazed at what you have done but not surprised. Just before departure I had a deep and meaningful discussion with Shelly but there is something she is not telling me. It ties in, I think, with the time frames involved which do not 'pute. If HM knows, and I think she must, she did not tell me so I am curious but recognise 'need to know' when it hits me over the head. Sir Thomas' question is can RMN rely upon 119 again and just what have you got. I've got a hodge podge of information, facts but not how you have put it together nor how you intend to us it and under what circumstances?" "Slow, brief Silas on what we have and then Polack and Denny can fill in any gaps they see" McCock instructed. Slow did that and then Polack made a few observations on bunkering and endurance followed by Denny who explained the status of the fleet's EW capabilities and how it had developed from the Harbourian raid. Surprisingly it was Sally who rounded off the dissertation with the declaration "I think I can speak for literally all hands who are in any way involved here; we follow our liege lord, Marquis McCock of Montrose" and then spoilt it with a little giggle, "Not that all hands know about the peerage." "HM has deeded you and yours land about the High Country" Rowan informed them, "but that brings us to the nubbin of the question, what do you intend to do with this task squadron of yours?" McCock basically served up the speech he had given the Mountserrat draft and Rowan had given him back the MCWO's comment "I can live with that." "I am not going to uncover Gorgipest until I know what is going to actually happen." McCock further explained. "My present thought is that you have run out of time and wont have enough assets to even make a dent against an alert enemy force of that size and I cant at present envisage any way we can pull off an ambush. While I remain in this area, I retain the option of being able to evacuate my people and yes, I do think the Chencons are going to destroy rather than conquer. But I have no evidence to support such a proposition. I have no evidence and nor does anyone else have any evidence as to Chencon intentions. All we have at this point is their apparent response to a directive from the UWS Senate." "That response" countered Rowan " is way out of proportion with a mere investigation, and that is the real concern." "True" replied McCock. The rest of the time was spent reminiscing over past events and bringing an almost horrified Rowan up to date on McCock's Gaggle. Slow was nearly having hysterics as the men gleefully regaled Rowan with the details while Sally blushed. ------- Chapter 45 In the weeks after Rowan's departure, 119(Reformed) began forming up as an integrated unit. It was noted that the RMN screening forces of the BC squadron were taking a little more interest in their activities than usual, not enough to be a nuisance but they were there. McCock managed to be regularly at home letting his subordinates scurry about which some of them gleefully did. Sir Henry paid some of his attention to the "Dowager Lady" when she berthed. He watched real time as a 'tainer was transported to a farming property some hundred klicks south of Gorgipest and others which were emptied on the docks of normal appearing cargo moved to businesses about the city. The cargo which went to previously identified contacts was more closely examined unknown to its putative owners and to no one's great surprise military equipment was found; com sets, personal armour, weapons and explosive; not enough to start a revolution but enough to equip several assault teams. The teams however did not appear. The close watch on the farm house was a trifle difficult because of proximity alarms in place which of itself raised Sir Henry's eyebrows; he substituted remote vids. Eventually, much concentration was required when an unmanned drone flew off in what proved to be trial run with control signals emanating from "Dowager Lady". A UVA was moved into lower n space to over watch the farm as speculation ran riot over the purpose of the drone — reconnaissance or flying bomb? Or both? At this point McCock was informed. His response was to call a staff meeting on "Vector". It was time to take a greater interest in "Dowager Lady". "Shriek" was brought up to two hours notice and an armoured boarding party briefed. Hopefully, the boarding would happen in hyper out of view of the local authorities. Events worked out just as planned. "Dowager Lady" duly sailed fully laden. As she travelled to the hyper, she began sending signals which appeared to cause the drone to fly off. The UVA destroyed it with a self defence rocket with a secondary explosion which must have given the area's insect population a severe headache — the farm occupants were not taking any further interest in things. The signals ceased and the "Dowager Lady" translated into hyper where her nodes were burnt off by "Shriek". The boarding party was resisted and no prisoners could be taken. It was a complete shame that the operation yielded absolutely nothing. Sir Henry enjoyed himself. James and Dorian sent their mothers into near hysterics by informing them the boys were applying for the Naval College at Greenwich in Enkland as cadets who were called midshipmen; they considered that attending Mountserrat would lead to more problems than they cared for. The mothers were barely mollified by the knowledge that this would not happen for two years. Cerise had decided to carry her pregnancy rather than tube the boy. Nan, Sally and Erin understood her need to undergo a live birth even though all three had vehemently advised against it. Cerise however expressed great faith in Sir Lancelot and Rosemary. That last name had resulted in a very rapid blankening of the listeners' features. A very uninspiring gentleman of McCock's stature wearing a suit of excellent quality but which looked as if it had been slept in frequently slipped into the chair beside McCock at his table in "The Green Man". "Crypian McDermid, thank you for meeting me so informally" offering his hand. "I am intrigued at the request" said McCock completing the gesture. "Evan Cochrane asks to be remembered to you. He has been recalled to 'Plans' and it is his whisper to me that leads me to seek you out. Seems that if hostilities expand, I am to place my BC squadron at your command. Evan was very careful when he said that and very specific. But I could not get an explanation and yesterday I receive sealed orders to be opened in the event of an escalation of the war. I feel like a starving mushroom, I haven't even been fed the bullshit. I dislike operating in a vacuum and I've no doubt you have the same desire to know what is going on. So I swallowed my RMN pride and come asking for some reason as to why it might be likely that I place my command under, and I'm sure you are honest enough to realise you are a novice at command, and also why I should, apart from obeying a lawful command." McCock regard the speaker for a moment or two, "Please join me in our suite for a meal. I'll have them send it up." The men rose, placed their orders with the bartender and walked up to the Flock's suite. McCock ushered his guest to a deep armchair, making a drink to his request, making one for himself, passing his drink and then sat himself down in the other chair. Both men ritually appreciated their tipples, placed them on the small table between them and settled back into the chairs. McCock started off, "Now I think on it most if not all of the information I have is held tight and from what you say, I doubt if Admiralty knows of it or at least they haven't sent out the intelligence reports and I don't think that it is the Admiralty which is playing games; come to think further on it, I don't think anyone else is either. If I am right in this, the lights in the Round Tower are burning bright and long. Decisions here are being made at the highest political level and mere Rear Admirals get left out in the cold." "That may be so" rejoined the Rear Admiral, "but that makes it even more frustrating for me. Without offence, you are a jumped up privateer commodore. Against that, while there are idiots in the Admiralty, Evan Cochrane is not one of them." "How much do you know of the destruction of Harbourian Home Fleet?" "Only very frustrating comments in Old Earth's news faxes — like many serving officers I subscribe to selected news monthlies. Very little mention of the fleet but a certain amount about alleged damage to the Capitol itself with a directive from their Senate for Chancon to investigate. There are a few rumours, but very few, in Andrew- which in itself is surprising. I know nothing of Sol's politics and only what I can glean from Jane's and other like publications about the war potential which is a concern." ""Naseby"?" That brought a definite gleam to Sir Crypian's eyes, "If those rumours are true, I'll sell my mother's soul to get it. I've heard officially that 81 has been fitted with new EW equipment and more is coming, ho ho, soon. But no explanation as to just what it does." The meals arrived at this moment. Sir Crypian requested of the waiter if someone would take some food out to his ground shuttle for the three occupants who were waiting for him. In answer to McCock's raised eyebrow, Sir Crypian explained "My Chief of staff, my Flag Captain and my coxswain." McCock made a decision, and told Sir Crypian, "Com them to join us" and turned to the waiter "give them directions and take their orders, please." He then extracted his PDA and made a link, "Slow, good morning, I'm sure I am interrupting something vitally important?" "Not for me at present, the day is given over to section training and I'm catching up on some admin. Why?" "Do you know where the Flock and my staff are?" McCock didn't answer directly. "Yes, and I can lay my hand on them in about ten minutes." "Good, gather them. I'm sending the Barge. Evan Cochrane has pointed some assets at us who know nowt and I think they should be brought up to snuff; however we'll keep it simple and not cover the hard stuff. We are in "The Green Man". McCock clear." He despatched the Barge to collect his people and then joined his guest at the table. They were joined by the Naval personnel, the food was brought up and appreciated. At one point, Sir Crypian commed the Administrator's Palace to make his excuses for not being able to attend the garden party. 'Something that needed his personal attention.' The dinner party was partaking of after dinner coffee not exactly to McCock's satisfaction when the group from 119(Reformed) arrived. Having been prewarned they each carried a chair from downstairs. Introductions were made. McCock then began the briefing describing the raid on New Liege and the damage done. An overview of tactics there was all that was necessary as the RMN people were aware of the Cruise Missile capabilities. Sir Henry Bollinger followed by recounting the reactions from Harbouria and the USW Senate making the point about the doubts of the extent of actual damage. He then told them of the assessment of long term Chencon intentions. He then went on to report on the massing of Chencon forces and finished by informing them of the latest information from their own Ambassador of the likely departure date of that fleet. "Six weeks?" asked the Flag Captain, Cheryl Forbes. "More like twelve to fifteen. That supply train is going to be difficult to manage and will be lucky to make a hundred and fifty gravs" estimated Sir Henry. Forbes nodded acknowledgment of the point. Slow described 119 (Reformed) and its capabilities. Polack briefly emphasised the endurance capabilities of the new builds. Denny briefed them on Holeinspace and Period. To the expressed disbelief of Capt(jg) Harwood, Denny recounted the experiments made here in Gorgipest and suggested they have a word with Joe Higgins. The RMN personnel looked pensive and Sir Crypian doubtfully said, "I can't see how we will fit with you and without orders, we can't exercise to find out. I would like to get my staff and yours to brain storm this because as Sir Henry pointed out, the likelihood is that the bucket is not just going to be tipped over, the contents are going to be thrown over us and at very short notice I'm going to find myself under your command. If its all the same to you, I'd rather both of us know some thing of what we are about beforehand. At first blush, I can see us escorting the MCs forward while you hang back to exercise control over the missiles" and with a perfectly neutral expression on his face, he went on, "and to do that properly, we'll need to be fitted and of course experienced in the use of Holeinspace and Period." McCock and the Flock broke up as they remembered Bert Fillister's reaction. McCock made the explanation; he then turned to Denny, "Equipment?" "More than enough of both; R1 has been working on them as well as the factory dirtside for the locally made small craft; and last I checked, after we fitted the MCs, we had a good inventory. Give me a day or so, and I'll have a training course with the kit set up. "Trader" dining hall. Say Admiral's staff, captains, EW officers and spacers and the techies." McCock made the arrangements and the meeting broke up. The Barge returned the "Vector" party and McCock commed up a ground shuttle from the Manor House. McCock for some reason couldn't understand just why he felt satisfied. ------- Chapter 46 Wally at "The Green Man" was informed of the planned course with the day's notice and after looking thoughtfully at McCock, turn his gaze skywards, "And, why is it that I suspect the Navy yard brass will turn up. It might just have something to do with the fact that when we rubbed Joe Higgin's nose in it, we never gave him or his a demo. A little bird told me that Joe and his tech officers were a bit miffed and even more so when Wepdev put the thing under a blanket. Let me ask around, but you had better warn Captain Denholt, there'll be standing room only. That fission pile start up only interested the greasers and the yardies; this is the sparkies and the command structures and the yardies, you mark my words." Wally was spot on but was prepared for the mob. He had coffee and some light munchys to settle the morning hunger pains. After the lectures and demos started he provided more coffee and a bit of chewables to provide blood sugar to keep them alert. Lunch was smorgasbord around lighter cuts of meat and fish with fresh salad or crisp vegetables and more coffee. For the afternoon cheese and dry biscuits and of course more coffee. The mob was broken up into tech and tactical. After the introduction to the little black Holeinspace box Mk2, the techs were moved to the gym where Denny led them through the procedures for securing the box in place and the test procedures. Despite there being no reported failures, (Denny pointed out that in fact there were only about twenty of the boxes in warships as opposed to in boats, and of those, ten, no eleven! Bender still had his in "Mountserrat", were in RMN), the possible failure points were ... and then discussed the first actions on breakdown. Over the previous months R1 sparkies had compiled a manual for users, ship board repairers and workshop level repair and the chip was available for copying. The electrical engineers, and some of them had hidden their expertise to get into space, required more detailed information which, as developer, Denny was able to provide. In the dining hall, Slow was lecturing on the tactical procedures and pointed out that velocities above three fifty using the equipment had not been trialled. She covered the operations in which Holeinspace had been used and except for the Helena sortie in a smaller vessel, all the velocities had been at fast convoy velocity. This led to a short discussion on "Shriek". The hit on the first "Vector" and its subsequent loss here were dissected critically. This led naturally onto a plan put forward by Cheryl Forbes and discussed by all ranks present to divide the BCs into two groups to explore the parameters using fast heavy ships of the line. Denny was told he would be the expert on the flagship and Slow actually volunteered to accompany the op force. Similarly the afternoon was spent working on Period. Being the typical pessimists all spacers are, there was some fairly intensive whining requests for spare sets. Slow and Denny had predicted this but made the beggars work for them. Arrangements were made for Slow and Denny to join their vessels at first light the next day. As Sir Crypian explained "Joe Higgins had just over an hour's warning of that raid here; so I want to be at one hour's notice to be able to do something more than Joe could do, and by Diety, I will be even if I have to stand over my techos with a lash all night." This cracked grins over the techos faces. They were in the same boat so there was no need for encouragement. In fact, the sets were in place and testing and experimenting had gone on all through the night watches. Upon return to "Vector", Slow warned her Boat Bay of the detail to take Captain Denholt and herself across to HMSs "Illustrious" and "Invincible". As latrine rumours are wont to do on ships, the word flitted around reaching the ears of fly ops by the end of last dog. By middle First Felix and Algy were having a very polite argument as to who was going to captain "Shriek". By end of First, Admiral commanding 3rd BC Squadron found himself about to be involved in a rather larger exercise than initially envisaged with "Shriek" under Cdr F Arburthson and twenty one HACs under Lt (prov LtCdr) A Hardman joining in the fun(?). Captain (jg) Harold Harwood, RMN, 3rd BC Sqdn's hard worked Chief of staff, never worked harder than he did between end of First and just into Morning to develop the planned scenarios to test the parameters of the equipment. As the exercises were getting underway at first nautical twilight, Harwood was gratefully collapsing into his bunk. Had a battle been in the offing, he would have been still on his feet to serve his Admiral; but as it was a planned lock step gavotte of extended length, his Admiral accepted that Harwood could catch up on the results by studying the after action reports. Because of the intensiveness of the scrutiny Harwood had to apply to his studies, he became one of the experts in the use of the equipment for the Squadron. The clearest result was that at high velocities, the larger vessels were capable of being detected at energy ranges by highly trained personnel who were familiar with the concept of looking for a hole and not just looking at a hole. Down at convoy velocities the ranges for detection decreased- so the sneaky beaky — low and slow — still held. EW personnel creamed themselves at the results with Period. 3rd's staff developed a technique which promised to be highly effective; when in any sort of formation, each vessel could scan intermittently spreading the source of emissions and the scan result would be data transmitted to its sister ships by tight beam com in real time. The Admiral decided that his staff and selected officers and spacers really didn't have enough to do and to occupy their abundant spare time, he despatched them to "Vector" where they could exercise their skills in war game scenarios. Black and gray personnel got downright frustrated at the antics of the three little mice who would sabotage their well laid plans by presenting yet another highly improbable "what if?" and then depart, chortling away, to sample more of the coffee blends in the Admiral's Quarters on "Vector". One totally brassed EW CWO stated that if it wasn't for the coffee, she wouldn't be bothered attending this bovines' excreta; rather surprising really because she had a real talent for Period. There was still a use found for standard fit active detection — it was joyfully used as a "gotcha" during ship exercises. By almost a process of osmosis, ships of 119 (Reformed) had worked their way into the exercises until the squadrons were capable of full integration. 3rd had not previously worked with HACs but had assiduously digested the RMN publications; similarly they were not 'nest' designed and so not familiar with the practical control of them nor of Keys. A very clever little jg in "Invincible" had timidly approached his Executive Officer with an idea he had worked on and handed over a chip as he hesitantly explained his idea to combine the 'surplus' capacity of the individual BC 'puters to control a larger numbers of Keys more effectively. Within two hours, he found himself in front of the Admiral and his staff, outlining his idea. He was dismissed to relax(?) in the Ward Room for another two or three hours. He was called back to find his inquisitors had been added to by four men and a very black woman all clad in the gray of 119. The big blond man and the black lady put him on the griddle about the technical aspects; the elderly gnome with the silver hair tufts turned up the burner with questions of data flow; the blacksmith prodded and probed about power needs forcing the jg to admit that he saw this as the flaw in his scheme. The jg almost flinched when the little sandy haired man looked pensively at him; each time he had interjected a question, the idea had almost crashed and burned but surprisingly the other four greys had assisted in the answer. The little man and the blacksmith exchanged looks, nodded at each other and the little man said, "We can use a Gorgipest pile." The gnome looked at the Admiral and said, "You know this is a bright lad but he really needs to be brought on. I could take him under my wing and turn him into something really useful ... Ouch! Slow, that hurt." The black lady, who had struck the gnome on the back of the head, unrepentantly said, "It was meant to, Henry." In response to disgusted sounds from his grey clad associates, the gnome grinned "Well, it was worth a try. The lad is a bloody genius and I don't see why he is in the navy." The big blond said "Same as you are, Henry, there is a war on, in case you hadn't noticed" The little man spoke to the Admiral, "The big problem is that your ships use just about all the power your engines can put out. I read about this class while we were at Wepdev; to get them built Buships had to accept a smaller power pack to economise and satisfy the politicians. We have been building fission piles on Gorgipest; somewhat smaller than Renmark's which are no longer available but more than adequate for this. Might even give you a boost when you are not actually combining 'puters. Denny, can we come up with Keys?" "From memory we have about four months output on hand with the small packs; yes, more than enough although that depends what you are going to use the BCs for" answered the big blond. The little man turned to the Admiral, "Presently, I have four MCs each with about a million MDM nests. One is attached to my slow squadron. I could give you an MC and make you into a missile armed squadron. You will need to work up with her. This all supposes you come under my command but in any event, we'll give you the Keys and if you bring "Illustrious" around to Fergusons as soon as you like, we will mount the pile for you. We could open you up to put it in the engine room but would put you out of action for weeks. Think about the Boat Bay or even externally. Think about it and let me know." He stood, smiled at the RMN officers and shook the jg's hand saying, "Well done, but I don't know how Diana missed you" and the grey clad party departed. The Admiral turned to his Chief of staff, "Harold, transfer Mr Younger to our staff wef this morning as Lieutenant, temporary Lt Commander as Electronic Warfare Staff Officer; see who he wants to help him and get this working yesterday. I am certainly going to take up the Commodore's offer of the additional power and the Keys. We'll exercise with his MC and hopefully I can take her under my independent command" he gave a deep sigh "but I can see why Evan gave me the 'heads up' and why I wont like what I think my orders will say." ------- Chapter 47 "Commodore, Crypian McDermid. I have just received signal orders to report to the Admiralty with my staff for discussions regarding possible operations in this area. There is a memo from Evan Cochrane personally asking you attend quote as an observer unquote. A nice touch, that, I thought. When would it be convenient for you to travel?" "Let me mull this over for a bit ... Crypian, I'm going to try something. I'll com you back. Clear." McCock extracted his PDA and entered a com link. "Admiralty, to whom do you wish to speak? "Evan Cochrane, I don't know his present rank but he is now in 'Plans'; I am Commodore McCock, 119 (Reformed)." "Please hold, Commodore; I'll see if he is available ... I'll connect you now Sir, please be aware you are on an unsecure com." "Aggy, Evan Cochrane. Why is it that I feel I should be counting my fingers?) "Because you have a low and suspicious mind? Good day, Evan, I see a bit of sanity prevails in the halls of the Puzzle Palace with you in Plans. A mutual acquaintance says you wrote asking me to drop by with him. I would like to bring the Flock with me." "Aggy, that would be splendid. I haven't seen you since 119 DD broke up. I'm sorry about Cowboy but at least he got recognition for his part. One day you will have to tell me the story of what has happened since we last met. How soon can you come up? Sir Thomas wants to be involved." "Please don't ask any questions, but are you free for the rest of the week?" "Why do I feel I'm about to land in a bucket? Yes, I am to be ready any time." "Good, I'll com and give two hours notice; I'll need the Admiralty pad. How long do you expect the conference to take?" "The full day, Aggy. Sir Thomas wants a full brief and expects to discuss eventualities" "Without asking questions, Evan, can you be ready in sixteen hours, eight morning?" There was a shocked silence from Gold Roper for almost a minute, "If it was anybody else ... Yes, I can turn it on for tomorrow morning." "Thank you, Evan, expect all of us then. McCock clear." And broke the com. "Evan, the Barge at three morning for my staff to Admiralty via "Illustrious" and then cosmic. Go to it. Sally warn my staff for three morning tomorrow in the Barge for day long conference at Admiralty and advise the Manor House I'm overnighting, such as it is, on "Vector". Go to it. Oh and McDermid et al will be with us." McCock closed the intercom and connected to Tabes to raise "Illustrious" and be put through to Admiral McDermid. "Good morning, Admiral's Quarters, CWO Stapleton, how may I help you?" "Good morning Mr Stapelton, Commodore McCock for Sir Crypian." "Commodore, Admiral McDermid." "Admiral, I shall explain tomorrow. I have arranged for that conference to be held at eight morning, tomorrow, at the Admiralty. I'll come by in me Barge shortly after three morning to collect your party. Suit?" "McCock, ... yes we can be in the Boat Bay but I for one will require a hell of a lot of answers. Suits." "McCock, clear." And McCock couldn't stop the chuckles starting. "Illustrious control, Vector Barge, request docking instructions. Over." "Barge, clear to join No3." "No3." Felix manoeuvred the Barge to the designated hatch, joined and cycled. Lt Cdr Younger led the party aboard with Rear Admiral last. McCock waved them to seat themselves and waited until the crew chief indicated 'hatch closed' and the Barge broke contact. "In two and a half hours we will be landing at the Admiralty," and grinned as he saw the determined non reaction of the RMN personnel each with an exactly neutral expression on their faces. He went on, "For some time, we have been conducting operations above the hyper layer in hard space or as Sir Henry has called it, 'cosmic space'. In that space, using thrusters, which are the only mode which functions, the trip to Mounserrat will take about an hour and a quarter. Movement through the layer which is about eleven kay klicks thick does induce nausea and we give you seal bags for personal use. Algy, wave at the passengers, please." Algy Hardman turned to look back from the copilot's seat, waved his right arm with a wide grin on his face. "Algy commanded "Shriek" on the first passage through the layer; he was violently ill but as you can see he survived; since then we have developed our techniques and the effects are markedly diminished. We are about to translate into hyper so I'll wait." The barge translated and continued outwards levelling off just beneath the layer, coming to a halt. McCock had continued his lecture and had the screen in the cabin show U97 hovering just below the layer and then disappearing as Felix put the Barge through the layer, shuddering to a stop on the other side with U96 showing on the screen. As Felix powered up the thrusters, McCock explained the spread of the UVAs and gave a brief summary of their activities. The silence of the RMN personal was stubborn and determined. Slow couldn't help herself as she looked from one neutral non expression to the next, she started giggling and then broke out into full fledged laughter with tears running down her face. "She has a rather unusual sense of humour" ruefully admitted McCock. "Dammit, McCock," Sir Crypian exploded, "why hasn't this been made known?" "At first, because it was initially set up for Royals' communication under that seal. We began exploring and the need for the listening watches developed and that too came under seal. To date, only elements of 119(Reformed) have travelled cosmic. I think "Sprightly" is the only hull which hasn't." "Two days ago" interrupted Denny, "Harryfor took her up for shakedown. No trouble; slid through." "Good; that's probably on the 'fast' report, Slow?" and when she nodded, he went on, "this capacity gives us the ability to undetectably shadow any vessel which travels in space; technical problems make it somewhat more difficult for n space. Finding somebody is constrained by the limits of our detection equipment in the layers; we haven't been able to fully assess that capacity in hard space. For that, I accept the responsibility as I have had to work up my squadrons. I think in retrospect, my positioning of the VWs over Sol and Harbouria was an over reaction but the ships did gain experience in operations there." "If you don't have ships there then how do the connections work?" asked Cdr Younger. "Ah, that is the function of the UVAs; we powered up the standard UVAs and added additional com gear and attached a satellite capsule. We put the U90s outside the layer but found problems with diffraction limiting the, ah, cylinder of downward space we could tap onto. When we deployed the SC directly beneath the U90 it picks up every thing in its range horizontally and vertically and then rebroadcasts it directly to U90 by tight beam with no scatter through the layer. Its com set is not as powerful as that of the U90 but it is state of the art com and vid gear; thus we can detect any signal from the planet and operationally throughout adjacent n and hyper space. They are physically and electronically minute and very difficult to detect. Basically we need only the U90 to watch over the planet but the SC expands our horizontal detection capability. We aren't yet sure of the operational range of the U90s, but we can use U96 over Gorgipest and U93 over Mountserrat as navigational aids in our local space and that's what we are doing now. We are homing in on U93." The Flock noted that McCock did not mention the SCs Period and Holeinspace or the U90s' Navigational Omnidirectional Beacons. The discussion got more general for the remainder of the journey until the braking was felt. U93 was seen on the screens just before the Barge sliced through the layer at low forward velocity and configured to sails once through. A rapid drop through hyper and translating into n space bringing up the impellors left a few wishing they had stuck to coffee only for breakfast but no one had to use the seal bags. "Mountserrat control, Vector Barge, for the Admiralty pad, with echo, request clearance." "Vector Barge, you are cleared direct to the Admiralty, maintain two hundred gravs, contact Harbour control on 5934 in six minutes." "Vector Barge, two hundred call harbour on 5934 in six." "Harbour Control, Vector Barge." "Vector Barge, continue approach, contact Admiralty on 5761 at the inner marker." "Vector Barge, Admiralty 5761 at the inner." "Admiralty, Vector Barge for full stop and park, request clearance." "Vector Barge, decrease to fifty gravs, turn to zero seven six, and descend to ten thousand feet, call when passing through twenty thousand." "Vector barge, fifty gravs, descend to ten thousand, zero seven six and call at twenty thousand." The barge began encountering atmospheric turbulence as she descended and details of the harbour began to be picked out on the vid screens. "Admiralty, Vector Barge, twenty thousand." "Vector Barge, decrease to ten gravs, turn to one seven zero, direct approach and you are cleared to land, call ground on 5675 at full stop." "Vector Barge, ten gravs, one seven zero, ground on 5675." Felix brought the Barge to the parking pad and shut down. The crew chief cycled the hatch and the party exited to be met by a slender Lt Cdr wearing the aiguillettes of an ADC on her left shoulder; she saluted, "Admiral McDermid, will you please follow me; the Board is in the Conference Room." She led the party with Felix and Algy hustling to catch up as they struggled into uniform blouses with caps askew. The path turned into a well remembered corridor bringing faint smiles to the lips of McCock and his Flock. A sentry opened the double doors and the ADC announced, "Admiral McDermid and party." ------- Chapter 48 Sir Thomas Cassimatis shook the hands of RearAdmiral McDermid and Commodore McCock, "Thank you all for coming, and so quickly too. I would desire an explanation for the rapidity of the journey. Be seated please." McCock noted that on the Admiralty side, the four Space Lords were accompanied by Rear Admirals Rowan and Cochrane. He also noted there were no recorders. "No recording, Sir Thomas?" "No, Aggy, this is to be a truly 'caps in the corner' conference. The sole purpose of this discussion is to determine our recommendations to the Government of their options working on the assumption that the Chencon fleet is going to attack Mountserrat. They of course, are looking at the other possible intentions which will not require any action on our part. Aggy, what have you got on the enemy force?" "I'll pass that to my intel officer, Sir Henry Bollinger; Henry?" "Gentlemen and Ladies, I have been in charge of gathering information on this subject for 119 (Reformed);" began Sir Henry, "I have used an upgraded UVA of the U90 class with SatCom attached. The U90 sits outside the hyper in hard space directly above the Solar system and its SC sits inside it in the outer hyper band..." This announcement caused some hard looks from the Admiralty personnel with a few short notes made on the pads in front of them. Sir Henry continued " ... gathering both electronic and visual signals from Old Earth. Recently, I was able to organise over a three week period planetary fly-bys using a UVA of the U40 class. As of two days ago, I can confidently state that the Chencon have assembled a battle fleet of five hundred or so DNs, BBs and BCs, escorted by a similar number of CAs, CLs and DDs. Here is the report I gave to the Commodore yesterday. On it is also the details of the supply train which is somewhat more advanced in preparation. It consists of about two thousand vessels. As far as I can see, it is dividing into four elements based around repair vessels. The heaviest repair ship is the core of one division and the other lighter repair vessels are fairly evenly divided into three. Numerically speaking, there are more VLRCs in each of the three elements than in the heavy lift division. From this and the way the warships seem to be setting themselves up, I think the battle fleet will form three divisions each with a supply train designated with the heavy element as a stand alone; I would presume that there will be covering elements for the supply trains. It is possible that the war fleet wont shake down until in hyper. This would deny intra system observers information on the battle formations. I have been examining the resources available in view of having to shadow that fleet. Aggy, we are stretched on U90s but have buckets of U40s so logistically, there should be no problem even if they widely split into the four divisions. I don't believe they will split. I think the present arrangement is for convenience of internal administration with only minimal physical separation of the fleets. They will remain interdependent. Battle plans! Even with my two and a half GEC battle computers, I cannot war game against five hundred ships of the line. I can war game against two hundred ships of the line or I can game against three fleets. The scenario has to be a meeting engagement; you cannot ambush a moving alert fleet with full shields which they will have to deploy to be able to spread sails. The ships are vulnerable with sail spread but at first whiff of trouble can switch to full defensive shields and their shields are very good, marginally better than we encounter on Harbourian vessels. I can envisage that 119 (Reformed) could destroy a division's line of battle but while it is totally involved in that, the screen vessels of the division will swarm and swamp us. I have examined the Battle of Home Space. Admiral Cunningham was able to destroy seventy five enemy line of battle of the second arrivals with her thirty eight line of battle, that is the equivalent of the power from ten battle 'puters. She was able to convince nearly two hundred ships of the line to surrender but there were few undamaged ships left and all the screening vessels had been swept away. Her battle line would have been virtually unscathed against any combination of screen vessels. 119 has only six lightly skinned small warships. We cannot stand in a fleet engagement. The result at Harbouria was a very successful ambush of stood down vessels. Put the full strength of the Chencon fleet together, and I believe they will fight as one force, and, no matter which way I cut it, our combinations are destroyed. Even when I include full Amaranti and Renmark fleets with us, all that happens is Chencon casualties are much greater but we are all destroyed. Aggy, you and I were looking at the Spanish Armada which is nearest in relative strengths to this situation." "Henry, those were wind sail driven vessels and the winds were adverse. Storm and starvation was what really did the job. Warships now come with their own power supply. However, all the enemy warships are designed for the Solar system whereas all the supply train except the repair ships and the reactor mass carriers, RCs, are designed for intergalactic commerce and provision is made for appropriate bunkerage. Even so, those vessels are designed to travel from harbour to harbour where they can rebunker. All those vessels, particularly the warships, are dependent upon reactor mass supply, and frequently. That is, as I see it, their only weak spot. Gentlemen?" "What's this about your rapid transit time from Gorgipest, Aggy?" asked Gold Roper. McCock gave details of the initial experiments in setting up the 'Royal's' com links. "Well, that explains some of HM's recent comments about developments among our allies" interjected Sir Thomas. McCock continued with the details of the Harbourian and the Sol emplacements. "And that explains the real time information HM was giving us which until this instant, I, personally, accepted with grave doubts. I suppose that you continued to supply HM with this most up to date information?" Sir Thomas asked. "Yes, we have a liason officer of her's assisting in assessment of the information we actually receive;" McCock replied, "you'll appreciate that our uptake is voluminous even though we do select the public sources from which we take it." Sir Thomas nodded and then went on, "Aggy, help us here, please, we have to advise the Government on their options." "Sir Thomas, our, that is, the Navy option is to mount hit run attacks on the supply train and wear them down that way. But that will mean that Mountserrat, almost certainly and Renmark, probably, will have to absorb whatever the Chencons care to dish out. If the supply train is taken out, I cannot see that fleet attempting the journey across the Orion — Perseus gap. I presume that the Junction will be denied them — somehow." "That might not happen" offered Dame Diana Halliday "there will be considerable resistance from commercial interests." "You don't incapacitate the Junction, you put that enemy fleet into the Perseus arm as soon as it arrives here" retorted McCock. "What sort of damage are you looking at Chencons inflicting on us?" asked Sir Lucien. "I think I can give an idea of that" began Sir Henry, "we have a fairly high level prisoner who some days ago decided to co-operate and Yin Sung has been talking with him." "Whatever made him change his mind" asked Algy. "You shouldn't have asked that, Algy" moaned Slow while Denny and Polack shook their heads. Sir Henry turned a bland face towards Algy, "He made a deal with Rosemary; he would fully co-operate if she put him out of his misery. Appears that Sidney was taunting him about their futures and Chewy finally cracked." "Oh" was Algy's comment. "Sidney? Chewy" asked Sir Lucien. "Do not answer that, Henry; not now, not ever" snarled Slow sitting bolt upright, "nobody has a need to know." "Land. Its about land. It wouldn't have mattered if the Harbourian home fleet was destroyed or not. The Chencons within the next decade were going to mount an operation out here where mankind has already spread and take the planets already in development. They did not intend developing new frontiers; they intended to conquer, enslave survivors but while keeping as much infrastructure as possible particularly agricultural assets, kill off the major portion of the populations which are parasitic on the agricultural assets. They are not concerned about industry as they can build their own. My appreciation on Chewy's ramblings is that the orbitals and the population centres will be destroyed; I don't know the definition of population centre but I do not think that rural estates or villages will be targeted. If the Junction is denied them, then their extending their operations into the Perseus arm will be fraught with problems for them even with the VLRCs they have. They will need reactor mass refills from this region and again in the Perseus arm and here again on the way back. I suspect that if the Junction is denied them, they will concentrate on the Kingdom and probably Renmark's binary, Damasa; and if they do that then we cannot do a blessed thing about it. Apart from your HACs all your ships also need reactor mass. Knowing Aggy's mind on this, 119 will evacuate Gorgipest to Sol where we now have facilities up and running. Only the DDs of 119 need reactor mass, everything else is fission pile powered and wont need 'rebunkering' for another twelve years at the earliest and that is "Shriek"." "Diana," Sir Lucien asked "what more will be available in say three months?" "Four MCs. If there is six months then there will be six completed CVAs to use; they might have completed trials but probably not. More MCs, about five, I think. The cruise missile programmes will be in full swing in another seven weeks. From what Aggy says, we aren't going to have the time to have the new builds available. We will have four repaired CVAs back in the fleet but the crews have to work up." "So, what we have now is it," summarised Sir Thomas "cosmic space gives us some tactical advantage but not much as the battle is where the target is and the enemy strikes; the target is the planet and the enemy will strike there. The consensus appears that even if the enemy is attacked in hyper, he will not be stopped and we run the risk of our forces being destroyed. If we destrioy the fleet train, the enemy fleet can still function long enough to destroy Mountserrat and probably Renmark. Leaving the Junction available will allow them instant access to the Perseus arm and its resources but disabling it means they can concentrate their full attention on us. Oh! Joy!!" ------- Chapter 49 There wasn't much conversation aboard "Shriek" on the return voyage, but McCock asked the question, "Why wasn't Admiral Cunningham at that meeting?" "She had already expressed her view according to Sam Costello" advised Sir Henry "and it was extremely depressing according to the reports he's getting." "What would you advise Commodore?" enquired Captain Harwood. "As soon as that Chencon fleet gets into hyper, destroy that fourth supply train in a hit run engagement and at every favourable put a barrage of missiles into the trains at every opportunity I got; create as much havoc as I could safely make being very careful of my assets. Perhaps there might be enough damage to the trains to force a re-think about the operation but I'd not count on that." "Mountserrat would still be attacked" stated Harwood. "And destroyed" McCock continued, "I didn't say I'd win but that is the only chance of limiting the damage that fleet will do in our area. The loss of Mountserrat will be a major blow to the capacity to deal with this and other attacks and it will probably end with a disadvantageous peace with Harbouria. Renmark would probably be absorbed by Harbouria but Amaranti would remain untouched. Gustavus and his people don't know the meaning of the word defeat and would make it extremely costly for an attacker to take them down; probably far more than the attacker would be prepared to pay. At present Amaranti has the strongest fleet among the Allies and I know for a fact they have absorbed and integrated the lessons from Home Space and Harbouria. There would be a bitter price to pay for Amaranti but the Chencon fleet could pay it. Whether they will or not depends upon the Junction." "Can you defend Gorgipest?" Harwood persisted. "Never in the face of a combined Chencon fleet; I doubt if I could even delay it, but I would have time as my reccy elements will tell me immediately in which direction the Chencons go. I can hold back their faster screening elements if they are sent in advance; that supply train is the brake on speed of advance — it just depends how they plan on moving. Time to evacuate my people is all I need. However, I believe that Chencon fleet can be defeated, but, to achieve this, the Allies will have to absorb a tremendous amount of planetary damage and the Navy must be preserved to continue the war. It is going to be an interesting time for Mountserrat's government and all the more because to this point, Chencon intentions are pure conjecture." What McCock did not impart was the Lord Protector's scheme to hide his fleets, towing his orbitals, in hyper and to disperse the population of his capitol into the steadings. In McCock's opinion, this scheme had a very good chance of success because of the very much smaller population base of Renmark compared to Mountserrat. The long term success would depend upon the Chencon presence remaining in the Orion Arm; if Chencon concentrated on the Perseus Arm (using the Junction) then Renmark would probably remain independent. An interesting question was Chencon's intentions towards Harbouria. The question was rather academic in view of the prevailing opinion that Mountserrat would be 'dealt with' first. As "Shriek" moved through n space towards "Illustrious", Sir Crypian joined McCock, "May I offer my congratulations on your peerage, Your Grace, mightily earned." "Thank you, Sir." "I have had some time to think over this whole schemozzle and I am like Sir Henry, I can't see any good way about it. I have a really bad feeling about it. I would ask you take Harwood and Younger on attachment to your staff on my verbal orders." McCock raised an eyebrow towards the Admiral who went on "RMN is going to need officers of exceptional ability to rebuild no matter what happens. Firstly if things go pear shaped with the Chencons, they will survive and secondly, they will gain experience on a vertically integrated naval service — from R & D, development, production, trials and service on admittedly a smaller scale than RMN but of such a size that the whole picture can be absorbed. In RMN that comes by the time an officer reaches flag rank. If things go as you predict then flag officers are going to be thin on the ground afterwards. Will you take them?" "Are they agreeable?" "Agreeable but reluctant" replied the Admiral. McCock waved the two officers to join them, "I have an important reservation and you will have to make your decision quickly. To whom will your loyalty attend, if the Queen orders the Navy to surrender?" The three RMN officers were shocked at the possibility. McCock continued "If it is the only way to save her people, Elizabeth might consider it necessary. You need to think upon this as I am not bound by the Queen's orders; I am a privateer with a mercenary fleet presently lightly attaching myself to her coattails. While I do not see myself against her, my ultimate loyalty is to my people and their preservation. It could eventuate that as a condition of surrender, RMN come under command of the Chencons. To join me, I require your loyalty and your trust. Let me know if you are agreeable." A very quiet RMN party disembarked into "Illustrious" and "Shriek" moved onto "Vector". McCock explained to his staff. Only Sir Henry showed enthusiasm at the idea. McCock spent the next several days in absorbing the intelligence updates. The Chencon battle fleet was shaking itself down into three divisions. Chencon's neighbours were taking a very definite interest in their preparations; they were probably just as worried about Chencon intentions as was Mountserrat. New Liege intercepts were strange in that there was no pattern in them, no RHN elements had appeared over New Liege from outlying fleets and no Navy Secretary nor CNO had been officially appointed. Their congress was due to sit soon but there was no raised media interest being shown. Meanwhile Slow had her fast squadron shaking down and Keith Grant was working the slow squadron equally hard even with the disparate units involved. Exercises in the simulators went on for the 119's command staff with the captains joining by vid link. There had been occasions for combined exercises with 3rd BC to every one's benefit as the BCs were rapidly gaining proficiency using Holeinspace and Period; 3rd had not yet begun to utilise the UVAs and Keys as MC "Darby" was still working up. McCock's domestic life was untroubled. He was able to spend time with the boys who seemed to save all their 'interesting' question for him. His women spent an inordinate amount of time working the coms and McCock was grateful that the Old Earth network costs were a business cost and that he 'owned' the hard space link. The Gaggle seemed to be in almost constant coms with contacts made during the visit. Not much specific intell was gathered but reports of ruling attitudes showed some apprehension about the concentration of Chencon forces which could not be totally concealed. Doubts about the need for an investigation of New Liege, well sown by Baron Westlake and fertilised by comments from the Gaggle, were beginning to appear in public statements of anonymous government sources; not enough however to force a revocation of the Senate motion. That could change with time but McCock didn't think there would be enough time before Chencon dispatched its fleet and without FTL... Sir Lancelot reported the foetuses were developing normally and were responding to their mother's and 'aunts'' voices. The Gaggle usually spent their relaxing time in the nursery which was used as a school room by the tutor on the few times he had them now that they were attending University School. McCock was in "Trader" working out in the gym and sparring with his Ghorkhali enjoying himself. Evan interrupted McCock's exertions, presenting McCock's PDA to him, "Queen Elizabeth." McCock looked at Evan as if seeking an augury, "Ma'am, McCock." "Your Grace, my government has carefully considered the problem we face and we have decided to instruct Baron Westlake to open negotiations with Chencon. I have informed the Lord Protector and the Emperor who have expressed understanding of our position. They very significantly did not express agreement. Where do you stand?" "I actually agree with you. But I am a devious fellow, and I reserve the right to withdraw from negotiations at any point. Personally, with the information from our informant, I am very dubious of any success but strange things happen in diplomacy, I'm told; that's what its there for. Two things though; how are you sending Abe's instructions? And I would want to be forewarned of events on that front as we do not as a matter of policy eavesdrop upon your conversations." "Abe's instructions are in a courier as I speak; we have so little advantage anywhere, the government want to keep the knowledge of hard space tight held." "Ask them to reconsider using cosmic space. That fleet is close to sailing." "Thank you, Your Grace, I think I will do that and I will keep you informed. Clear." "The Chencon fleet will have departed before negotiations start" Sam Costello stated dogmatically to the gathering in the Admiral's Conference Room. McCock raised an eyebrow at him for elucidation of his statement. Sam obliged "That fleet is literally days away from departure for the hyper; each day I expect to see then in hyper. Even if Westlake receives his instructions today, it will be at least two days before he will see his Chencon counterpart. It will take another two days for the Chencon to formulate a message to his Masters after closely quizzing Westlake who will probably have to ask for further instructions. Then the Chencon government has to consider the proposal whatever it is and there is at least six to eight days. While that is going down, the Chencon fleet continues and from what Chewy says, that lot have no intention of not coming. I suspect the Chencon will draw out negotiations until just before they are due to hit us and you can call me suspicious if you like." McCock simply nodded as did most of the others, "Sally, publish a warning order putting everybody on three days notice to move, explaining the impending departure of the enemy fleet and the need for early preparations. Those three days could be very tight indeed." ------- Chapter 50 The take from Sol included a press conference held by Baron Westlake informing the Old Earth population of his announcement in the Senate of the United Solarian Worlds that Mountserrat wished to negotiate with Chencon and the USW. The reasons for negotiations were not clarified but the experienced reporters who had been following events knew the elephant was in the room and somebody was going to get trampled. Official announcements from the Chencon capital expressed puzzlement at the request for negotiations as Chencon did not know of any cause for dispute. Similar statements from USW spokespersons only heightened speculation. Baron Westlake's publication of the recent Chencon dockyard activity was met with blank stares and statements that ships required routine maintenance. Naval affairs talking head experts pointed out that navies, particularly in peacetime, worked on a five year minor maintenance cycle, a ten year major maintenance cycle and a twenty year upgrade cycle. Talking heads who collected such minutiae dredged up the past records of Chencon Navy maintenance cycles to support statements that such a simultaneous surge was unprecedented. The USW just watched but behind the scenes their navies were all playing catchup; the major difference was that supply trains were not being gathered. McCock considered that the failure not to play up the supply train factor was a major mistake as that was the one factor that supported an extra solar operation. Westlake reported that several quiet approaches had been made to rather junior officers in his legation about the source and accuracy of the Chencon status and he was instructed not to comment. Sir Henry Bollinger maintained his shadowy contacts supplying them with detailed reports without sources but supported with appropriate fly by vids which tended to confirm the reports. Sir Henry made no bones about Mounty apprehensions when exchanging information; several of his contacts reported similar apprehensions held by their governments regarding Chencon intentions. The Solly apprehensions were that an Earth nation was the target. Sir Henry developed the feel that his Earth bound contacts would be relieved if Chencon went adventuring in the galaxy. The consensus of 119's Intel committee was that no assistance would be forthcoming from any Earth nation. The opportunity might be taken by an Earth nation to benefit by damage to the Chencon fleet but that would not extend to operations outside the Solar system. Mountserrat and her Allies were on their own facing Chencon and Harbouria. The take from Harbouria informed the listeners of significant absences from the parliamentary line up. Several worlds had not sent their delegates nor apologies; the commentators pointed out that most of the absentees were from systems which had no naval presence. U95 visual surveillance showed an increasing flow of cargo vessels which had not been seen by the linking chain of U40s; there had been virtually no traffic for Harbouria through the Junction so the committee came to the conclusion the traffic was from subservient worlds. The vessels were using secondary orbitals to dock as the New Liege docks were not operational at this point although work was progressing repairing them. Work was progressing on repairs to the infrastructure but almost no work was being done on the purely military assets. Interviews with politicians were uninformative, that is, even more uninformative than usual. None of them had any opinion on anything. Vids of the naval bases and command centres were devoid of activity. Without taking a position, the Intel Committee floated the peaceful disintegration of the Harbourian hegemony which produced sceptical looks from the listeners with the reply of shrugged shoulders. Sir Henry got permission to use additional U40s now that the missile crisis was resolved. He forgot to tell the committee that he was taking ninety of them. He sent them in an advancing line on either side of the Harbourian linking chain scouring information from every world they passed over. He built up a picture which seemed to confirm a disintegration of central Harbourian command and this appeared particularly so with naval elements standing in planetary defensive positions. Trade intercoursed but warships did not. McCock's personal contacts with the Royals gained the information that the Emperor intended to destroy the Grigor Junction if Mountserrat was attacked; the Lord Protector's plans to disperse his orbitals and population were progressing and he had informed his Steadholders and Commons of the potential for invasion and or bombardment. Renmark population was busy camouflaging everything which could not be placed in caves and cutting back on power usage so that infrared signatures would be insignificant; population centres too large to hide were being made look even larger and the power usage increased to simulate a larger population centre; plans for the dispersal of the population into the outlying villages country side were drawn up and disseminated. Good maps of Renmark were only of recent production, and not widely disseminated outside the local space as that was where their trade mostly was. Some fission piles had been exported outside the local space but investigation had shown that the shipments had not been direct so the Renmarks were guardedly hopeful that their efforts might bear fruit. Mountserrat was not preparing for anything; the government had not made any decisions other than to negotiate. McCock had advised the Subedar Major of the threat and suggested he evacuate all but essential people and to inform the Shaman. McCock couldn't get any commitment from Shelly as to her intentions so he told the Subedar Major that, if necessary, he was to throw the memsahib into the yacht and bugout for the High Mountains. Marcel had made non-committal noises. Knowledge of the potential threat was still tightly held and people in the know were behaving 'normally'; they apparently had more faith in negations than McCock and his committee did. 3rd BC squadron was recalled to Mountserrat and replaced with a CL squadron and a DD squadron, all of which were not much younger than 119's VWs. Harwood and Younger stayed with their ship. The new RMN Commodore contacted McCock because he was ordered so to do but was not hesitant in expressing reservations about contact with legalised pirates. 119 (Reformed) worked up as a unit. However it exercised with itself. Commodore Sir Dennis Rattray, Bt, RMN declined invitations for combined exercises and undertook none himself; his ships simply set up patrols about the star system. Sir Henry Bollinger, when he first studied the tapes of those patrols, was reduced to furious incoherent gobbling. After quietening his Staff Intel Officer down and obtaining an explanation, McCock was not much better himself. The RMN was patrolling the whole star system with eight ships when the only habitable planet in the system was Gorgipest. The gaps in Gorgipest's defence perimeter led Sir Henry to state that the entire Chencon order of battle could pass through the patrols undetected. Out of concern for the planet, McCock made known to Admiral Joe Higgins his disquiet and the reason for it. Nothing came of it but several weeks later the Avers heard the rumours of monumental arguments in the Navy base command chain. McCock decided that 119 might as well take the opportunity to exercise his assets using RMN as the enemy. The predictability of the patrols soon caused this to pall so eventually 119 was reduced to task group evolutions, 'puter simulations and occasional attack runs on the RMN vessels who most times were not even aware of their simulated destruction. Some eight months after the USW Senate resolution, McCock took an extended leave leaving Denny and Polack sharing the acting Commodore's duties. They did this by using a day on day off pattern, working up their skills and experience. Toward the end of his leave, Sir Henry arrived exhibiting some excitement. He had obtained news of the Chencon fleet formations. "Aggy, The Chencon fleet just shook down into divisions and frankly now that they have done this, it puts the frighteners into me more than ever." "Understandable" murmured McCock, "what are they like?" "Well, the order of battle breaks down into three divisions with a very much smaller fourth; the fourth however contains something about twice the size of our DNs, escorted by twenty BBs, screened by twenty four DDs and accompanied by an ultra large reaction mass carrier; that ULRC, according to Jane's is capable of a max of three forty gravs with an economic cruise of two fifty gravs. At a guess, this is the command HQ; I have no idea what the SDN can do. Jane's hasn't a reference. Each of the three battle divisions contain one oh five DNs, escorted by eighty BBs and BCs; the screen is provided by thirty two CAs, forty CLs and thirty two DDs. The DNs are slightly bigger than ours and carry two thousand six hundred missiles, that is one thirty salvos of twenty; these missiles are as powerful as ours but have only half the range. The BBs and BCs carry one thousand eight hundred missiles, that is one twenty salvos of fifteen; these missiles are slightly less powerful than ours with about half the range. The CAs are more like pocket battleships but have energy mounts and torpedos. CLs are comparable but the DDs in the divisions are more like DEs. All of them have an endurance of thirty days at cruise which for the ships of the line is three eighty gravs, the CAs four thirty gravs, CLs four eighty but the DE only four hundred. I think the DEs were designed as convoy escorts. The ethos of these ships as I see it, is the same as we had before we went into pure missile battles; salvos of missiles rather than the storm that is used out here. These ships were designed for the Solar System. They are all more heavily armoured than ours, or Harbourian for that matter but their endurance is poor." "True, Henry, but we have never fought a battle which lasted more than two days" commented McCock "so if they can arrive then they can fight you. RMN and our ships are comparably faster except for the VWs which are definitely at risk. Shields?" "Haven't a clue, Aggy, they use a different nomenclature which I have not been able to resolve. We still haven't tested "Vector's" yet, either." "Thank you, Henry, for reminding me of that." ------- Chapter 51 "You want to do what?" said Slow in horrified tones. "I want to put an MDM into "Vector" to test the defensive shield" repeated McCock. "That's not what you said before, you said you wanted to fire a missile into "Vector"" Slow accused him. "The shields are part of "Vector", aren't they?" McCock rejoined. "They are, if they are raised," Slow was not letting McCock off the hook for giving her that fright, "and if they aren't raised, a missile will strike the ship." "I think I'll start again." McCock said, "We, that is, "Vector", has been struck by two CL missiles without untoward effect but we weren't guarding the flux monitors at the time. I want to determine the strength of "Vector's" defensive shields. To do this, I intend to have a Gnat fire, first, an inert FNF missile and then a live missile. We will then calculate the energy exerted against the shield and the efficiency of its dispersion. An inert missile from an armed cutter will be tried, assessed and then a live HAC missile. If everything is ticketyboo, we will repeat using "Shriek". Assuming no problems, then "Sprightly" will load MDMs to fire at us and if that does no damage we will move onto cruise missiles. We will be monitoring the shield flux values for each individual test. We know the energy output of each of our missiles and running the information through the 'puters we will ascertain what energy output the shield will withstand and thus be able to make some sense out of the Solarian grading system — we are talking pomegranates to walnuts at present, I then want to open a tunnel in the shield and allow a "Shriek" missile into it and then close down the tunnel and see what happens to the missile. I then want to explode a "Shriek" in the mouth of a tunnel and see what happens with the 'gel' between the shields." "Why didn't you say so before" demanded Slow with just a touch of smugness. "Here," sliding a chip across to him, "it's laid on for day after tomorrow; I've been working on it for the past nine days." McCock put the chip into his PDA and scanned the headings. Slow was way ahead of him. She had included investigation of the after barrier and also the effect of energy weapons. He also saw that Denny and Polack were supervising the shield monitors and Sir Henry was to provide the 'puter back up in real time. It was a well thought out plan stretching the envelopes with safety provisions incorporated. "It has been circulating for past two days and briefing is tomorrow eight morning. You are invited, of course" Slow gurgled at McCock. Left behind again; still good staff are always a step ahead of the chief. Algy Hardman, being the careful soul that he was, had the first Gnat flown off loaded with blue painted SQR missiles only and had the Gnat firing circuit for the lasers disabled just in case the Gnat pilot got carried away. That postulate earned him a truly murderous stare from the Ghorkhali pilot at the briefing. It, however, resulted in the Ghorkhali pilot, Naik Bahadur Thapa, after flying his Gnat back on, rapidly moving from his control seat to the Hangar Deck and making a nuisance of himself until his Gnat's laser firing circuit was enabled. The Naik was also a trusting soul. The practice missile was held in the outer shield and was used as an aiming point for the second Gnat's white painted SIM. The explosion dislodged the inert missile from the shield and transformed it into very small fragments. However the screen flux indicators didn't move. The Gnat did a laser attack which caused a glow at the point of impact. To spread the experience around, Algy had detailed a number of Gnats to make firing runs, each increasing the fired pulses. The last Gnat fired ten fast pulses into the same point of the screen and the effect was not discernably different from the first single pulse. Denny, Polack and Slow joined McCock, all making calculations on their PDAs and nodding appreciatively. The HAC and "Shriek" missile attacks were no more damaging; the graser / laser blasts did cause the shields to momentarily glow at impact point. "Sprightly" fired an MDM and on a second run, a cruise missile. As these were basically the same missile, the effects were basically similar — a glow lasting over several seconds spread over a twenty metre circle. The flux monitors did move off the base line but barely. Whilst Denny and Polack expressed satisfaction, Sir Henry stated that the results did not enable him to calculate the peak energy loads the shield was capable of withstanding. McCock was intrigued by the effect of the intra shield matrix; it appeared to dissipate most if not all of the energy impacting the outer shield. The outer shield itself appeared to be flexible to a limited degree and absorbed part of the energy of the impacting forces and withstanding the residual energy. To satisfy his curiousity, he spent some time in conversation with the inventors who were extremely interested in his results. The laboratory itself had not been able to test the composite wall; it had all been theoretical except that the shields each could withstand the latest Solarian missiles which unleashed energy equivalent to the latest Mounty missile class of Mark Ds. What results had McCock had with the automatic point defence system on the behemoth, and had he tried the decoy system yet? The shield developer had not been involved in their development but had come in contact with the installation and had been fascinated by them. He had even gone so far as to get copies of the manufacturer's and developer's directions and the initial user manuals. McCock requested copies of the documents as they had not been provided and he was not sure if his people were maximally utilising the systems. That did not create a problem as his new found friend in the Old Earth laboratory was as intrigued as McCock as to how effective the systems were. The chip downloaded as they were chatting generally about the shields and McCock closed the conversation with a promise to pass on the results and general comments about "Gigantic". McCock appeared preoccupied as he boarded the Barge for the journey home and responded abstractedly to attempts at conversation by Polack and Denny. He did put away his PDA during the meal and join the conversation around the table. He learned that David Murchien, Slow's peripatetic friend had relocated to Gorgipest and was co-habiting with Slow; he was now a junior partner with Sir Joshua with responsibility for the GMBH funds and the Trust accounts of GmBH. His monthly audited reports to the Trustees were carefully examined by the Avers and by MFH in Gorgipest for the Flock and he was managing the funds well with diverse investments outside GmBH Holdings. Matthius McCock expressed his satisfaction at the results; he had appointed himself unofficial assistant to David while they were in Settlement just to give himself something to do in semi retirement. McCock called a Staff conference as soon as he boarded "Vector" the next moring. He instructed Sir Henry to find everything he had on the 'kiddy' 'puter and have it with him. He then commed Captain Harryfor Avers and requested his and his First Lieutenant's presence at the conference. Trojan distributed the coffee and munchies having been told that this was to be a brain storming meeting rather than to an agenda for which he usually provided nothing until afterwards. After opening the meeting, McCock started it by innocently asking Denny about progress on "Vector's" decoy system. "I don't think anymore that it has one" Denny replied; "for the first couple of weeks, I researched everything we had on chip or on the 'kiddy' 'puter. I even snuck down to Chagos while I was down there sitting in cosmic to hunt around the dock — nothing." "Point defence?" asked McCock of no one in particular. "Hasn't got any" said Slow and Polack nodded in agreement. "I took the opportunity to walk over the hull..." which statement cause chuckles from her listeners which Slow chose to ignore, "and there aren't any or if there are I couldn't find them and I looked. There are a number of radar and laser antennae mounted over the hull that seem to be more than necessary but I followed the connections and they are all joined to the detection bus bar. So, no; I think DDD was reliant upon those shields: remember he wasn't navy and probably didn't comprehend the possible need behind his shields." "That's a point," conceded McCock, "but GEC are naval vessel builders and they would be a trifle hesitant to rely on experimental shields. Henry, have you anything?" "Nothing, but I catch a whiff of a dead rodent, Aggy. You are being too innocent here; you are up to something. But I have always wondered about the original layout of the bridge. When we had the smaller 'puter, there were only two relatively small consoles in that huge space. The larger was the after just in front of the Captain's console and it had six screens across it, Tac, Nav, Com, EW, Enviro, and Engine with two end positions of which the starboard one was the shields; I cannot find out what the port position did. Forward of that console was a three position console with an overwatch position just aft. This appears to be the main artillery control, but why the overwatch position if there is only one function. I ran down the connections when we installed the Battle 'puter and found that the original connections to the small 'puter were to the RAM with harness runs off to main guns. BUT! And this is so frustrating, I keep going back to it every so often, there are more harness runs leaving the 'puter than end up at the turrets. Now that you are playing smarty pants, Aggy, I'll wager that is where the extras run to but no one knows where the end equipment is located. What we did when we replaced the 'puters, was to take the port console and the triple position screens and place them in the new console on the bridge. The forward open area is now used for holographic projections by command. The programmes off the original 'puter are all in the Battle 'puter so nothing is lost and you, Aggy, can now lead us to the bridge and reveal to us where the decoy system and the PDs are." "Trojan, organise a meal for us on the Bridge please about forenoon eight, please," ordered McCock as he led the group to the Bridge. As they entered the Bridge, the watch sprang to their feet and the Quartermaster calling, "Captain on the Bridge." This was Slow's territory; McCock and the others were her guests, "Carry on, please," Slow commanded, but she chuckled, " relax if you can with this lot here" and smiled at her companions. Sir Henry took the floor, "As you can see there is a twelve screen console in an open horseshoe with the OW's overwatch console aft. On the port is Engines, No2 is Enviro, Nos 3 and 4 are Coms, No5 is Nav, No6 is Tac, No7 is EW, No8 is Shields, No9 is the original port screen, Nos 10, 11, and 12 are the weapons screens as original. Eight to twelve are the original screens with connections intact. The Fly-ops screen is in the hangars but connected to the Battle 'puter. Second and third battle 'puters are missile, Keys and UVA controllers through Coms and Tac here. There it is, Aggy, now enlighten us; I, for one, am all agog." "Henry, how did you power up the 'kiddy' 'puter?" "We didn't, Aggy. It was already up when we took her over. Remember the Chagos people were testing systems getting her ready for acceptance trials. So we left well enough alone. When we changed 'puters, we put both of them onto external power so we didn't have to shut down; and, now I think on it, we kept the 'kiddy' on external power when we shipped her over to "Sprightly"". "Yes," confirmed Polack "we used battery packs until in "Sprighly" and could put it onto auxillary power. Thinking on it, we only come down to standby on both of them rather than shut them down completely. But, that is standard procedure on all warships anyway except when in overhaul docking." "Eleven is main guns; nine is the portside console, ten and twelve are not known either" McCock began his explanation. "I was talking with the shield people yesterday and seems the developer was often on "Gigantic" in company with other subcontractors and he got interested in the weaponry and the decoy which according to him are fitted..." "I wish he'd tell us" complained Slow. "We run the confounded ship now and as Captain, I'm just a bit bloody minded about the idea of having capabilities I know nothing about." "I concede the point, Slow" benignly smiled McCock at her and sat at the eleven screen. The red LED glowed on the top right of the panel. He thought for a moment and then turned to Slow, "Captain Gort," he asked formally, " I request your permission to test the ship's weapons." "Granted, Commodore McCock," and turning to her OW, "Officer of the Watch, warn the ship please." "Ah, confirm testing and not firing, Ma'am?" requested a rather worried lieutenant. Slow looked at McCock, who answered, "Definitely not firing!" The OW nodded and nodded at the Quartermaster who worked a toggle on his console and spoke into his boom mic over the tannoy, "Do you hear there, do you hear there, weapons to be activated but not fired in five minutes for indefinite time, all hands stand clear" And repeated the message. McCock had extracted his PDA and re read the relevant parts, explaining to his listeners, "After power up to active, a code has to be entered into the keyboard to bring the screen and console on line. Because this was a new build and hadn't been handed over, they kept it simple; shields is 1, engines is 2, enviro is 3, EW is 4, Com is 5, Nav is 6, Tac is 7, the unknown port screen is 8, the weapons console is 9 with 91, guns 92 and the last is 93." McCock reached over and pressed each red LED on the four positions in front of him, and the lights flashed for three seconds, changed colour to amber for one second and then steadily glowed green. The console screen remained dark, but not as deeply black as previously. McCock continued, "The port position is eight and I enter that number and what happens? Yes the screen lights up, right hand weapons is 91 and thus; main guns is already up and I enter 93 into the left position and so!" The previously unlighted screens were cycling through test programmes. "Tommy and the rest of you" ordered Slow, "you'd better have a look at this too." The Bridge crew gathered around the others. "By you leave, Slow? Thank you. Denny on position nine, I think that is the decoy control. Tommy, on ten, which I think is point defence. Slow and Polack, on twelve please and I don't know what that is. Henry, observe, please. Now, let's make a tremendous assumption and believe that the initial screens are basically the same for each and the menus similar." All the screen menus were identical and McCock and Sir Henry led the others through the lines. It was only in the sub menus that the differences came to light. In the main menu on 'view' the screen dissolved into an outline of "Vector" with positions marked. On the main guns screen the turrets were marked. Slow snuck a look at point defence, "From memory, those are the positions of the superfluous antennae." "Making a jump from main guns with virtual rifles, I'd say PD has the same with or without the pop-up turrets. More efficient with pop-up turrets." Decoy screen showed nothing but was on line. Denny considered it, "Perhaps the decoy has to be deployed. I think there might be a choice of decoys and perhaps a number at a time. To be safe with this, I want to be out in space alone before we start throwing images around." Slow agreed and also suggested a UVA fly by for both Decoy and PD. Harryfor wondered aloud to Hugh, ""Sprightly" was built by the same company, GEC, and about the same time. Hugh, I think we too are going to play some games." Hugh was looking intently at twelve, "Polack, go through those menus. There might be a plan view of just what it is." Polack obliged, and under a heading of "View Status" there appeared a diagram of "Vector" with large spaces drawn and narrow connections between them and a series of connection leading to the bows. Polack cogitated, "In my wanderings about this vessel, I had thoughts of compartments not being used and from where they were, and are on this diagram, I think they are bunkers from an original plan for conventional engines. If I remember right, DDD decided on the Adama power packs well into construction. But why a position on a weapon's ... cons ... Oh the sneaky sod! The slimy underhanded sod! We, boys and girls, are looking at a nest battleship. It's a larger version of "Sprightly". The spaces are missile magazines and the tubes to the bows are missile tubes. That double dealing piece of excreta, he fooled the lot of them." ------- Chapter 52 The Board meeting in "Trader" several days later was a restrained affair. McCock and the Flock were exhausted. For the past three days, "Vector" was a veritable madhouse. Slow had taken her out to the northeast PRD area and McCock had the Harbourmaster issue a Notam for three days activation of the zone. Denny had fully explored his decoy system and had been somewhat disappointed to find that there was only the one choice of decoy, a single electronic hologram of "Vector" which he could manoeuvre about space as if it was the real thing and he could cloak it in whatever degree of stealth he selected; his favourite was 'the lame duck' which was a somewhat distorted electronic signal of a damaged "Vector" with intermittently operating shields. The UVA fly-by (and one accidental fly through) both visually and electronically faithfully recorded a 'fully functioning' warship. Slow and Denny burrowed deep into the programme which originated the simulacrum and were, very carefully, examining it with the stated intention of improving it. For Sir Henry's peace of mind, the pair had lifted a copy of the programme off the main 'puter onto the 'black' 'puter which had been retrieved from "Trader". Sir Henry had to pointedly remind Slow that she was a warship's captain with other responsibilities and she needed her sleep time. This actually worked out better because while Denny did the 'donkey' work, Slow's intellect was available for review and suggestions. The situation also turned up Spacer Peregrin Avers, of Mountserrat, one of the three young recruits and who was almost on the verge of termination of enlistment because of his ineptness. However, metaphorically lock Master Peregrin in an electronic clean room, keep others away and he turned into an electronic genius. Denny was awed by the lad and there was considerable progress on the venture. Another of the young spacers, William Avers, was co-opted for com skills as the signal emanating from the projector was to say the least complex. Denny and Slow were able to stand back a bit and take an over view and came to form an opinion that it had been the limitations of the com side of the system which had and did limit the full utilisation where adequate power was available, as was the case in "Vector". The only problem encountered occurred when a UVA passed through he signal from the projector. The simulacrum took several minutes to restore and the UVA 'puter had a nervous breakdown and went into automatic reboot. McCock and Polack spent the three days crawling through the magazines and tubes getting gloriously covered in lube. DDD or the subcontractors must have had very good contacts in Mountserrat because the weapon system was made for MDMs and was similar to that which existed at the time of Blue Hill's attack which had resulted in the first armistice. It was a pre nest system design but considering that about half the local galaxy's warships were that design, neither of the two men was disappointed. And the fit of the intrinsic weapon system into "Vector" widened the operational envelope considerably. The news at the Board meeting was almost equally heartening. Sir Joshua had acquired Adama Atomics and its manufactury which was an orbital platform at the Azores station and was now being towed across to Chagos. Chagos was up and running with several intergalactic freighters on its books already, with conventional fusion power packs. McCock was of a mind to keep the Adamas for his own builds as several of Bollard line vessels were approaching their replacements dates. Pachristmas was rapidly being brought up to production status. There were tentative enquiries being made of vessels from that orbital dock. Nothing confirmed, but... Sir Joshua had obtained dirtside facilities in the northern hemisphere in Scotchlan at Montrose, would you believe; there were a few smirks around the table at that information. Bollard was keeping well in the black and was establishing routes off to the new Mountserrat territories well away from the war zones. The subsequent intelligence briefing was less heartening, but not grim. The Chancon fleet was exercising and was momentarlly expected to translate into hyper. Otherwise the situation was unchanged. The U40 sweep across the Harbourian hegemony had not made any major discoveries, the 'local' RHN were all at a high level of alert and deployed defensively about their local planet. No indication as yet of a major R & D facility and dockyards. Politically, President Brooken gave the impression his regime was on an extended holiday. Nothing new from Sema and the "Dowager Lady" had been reported missing. Gus and Sabjhi were in trouble again. Some of the less intelligent students at the University School had taken it upon themselves to attempt to put the two into their proper place which was considered to be the bottom of the heap. Said idiots were put out by the singular lack of attention paid to them by the duo. The Ghorkhali bodyguards, upon the very strong representations made to them by Gus and Sabajhi, separated from them at the School entrance and took up posts about the grounds. On this particular day, the idiots had decides to teach the duo to pay proper attention to their betters. The ignorance of the self appointed teachers was clearly demonstrated by their choice of ambush site, the freshers, and then allowing the duo to retreat in good order into a corner where the attackers could not develop their superiority. The Crown Attorney gazed at the collection of well dressed irate fathers and furious mothers gathered in his office. He listened to their demands and then with great patience made his position known. "There are now in existence at least three copies of the security vid from the school fresher; one is on continuous loop in the Police Academy gymnasium and is used as a teaching aid by the instructors there. You should perhaps have your legal representatives obtain a copy from the Crown Solicitor who holds the original chip — how she got involved, I don't know, but she is. It shows that the duo entered the fresher and were attending to their ablutions when they were attacked by a number of larger youths who burst through the fresher entrance. The vids clearly show the duo were indeed armed with a largish cutting weapon in a sheath in the small of their backs. At that point, they apparently chose not to use the weapons, retreated into a corner and defended themselves physically. The smaller youth sustained a flattened nose, a fractured cheek bone and multiple bruises and contusions to the front of his body; the older boy has two black eyes, a partially torn off ear, fractures to his hand bones, a cracked jaw and pelvis plus multiple sundry bruises and contusions. The attackers are considerably less well off. One youth will never father children and another will talk in a whisper for the rest of his life; there are several fractured arms and legs and one dislocated shoulder. The most serious injury is the youth whose hands were found around a metal pipe on the floor several feet away from the rest of his body and if the bodyguards had not arrived in time the amputee would have bled out. Before you protest too much, Madam Wilson, be advised that the vid shows William Wilson the third entering the affray swinging that pipe; he actually broke the jaw of one of his associates. It was at this point that the attackees produced their weapons and in a synchronised way, each removed a hand from a wrist. Needless to say, the affray magically stopped and those still able departed the scene except for an unfortunate couple who got bagged by the bodyguards and found themselves being held upright by knife point under their chins. I am informed that the hands have been reattached and will function near normally in the fullness of time. If you are foolish enough to press charges against..." here the Attorney referred to the screen on his desk... "Augustus Gregory Kowalski and Sabajhi Indira jr, I, for one, will watch the proceedings with great interest. Apart from the vid evidence, be advised Sabajhi is a Viscount of the realm and the son of a hero who died in the defence of Gorgipest and Augustus is a lineal descendent of the Emperor Augustus of Amiranti. Whilst I would never dream of implying that high rank grants immunity from prosecution for crimes, I would point out that the talent available to investigate the matter and represent the duo would far exceed the resources available to this department. Oh, before you depart Mr and Madam Wilson, be advised this department is charging William Wilson III with assault and causing grievous bodily harm; his fellow attacker is the victim. Good morrow to you." The Attorney was a competent fellow and did not allow his features to show his emotions but his eyes were smugly smiling. Trudie sought counselling to overcome the frustration caused by the conflict of emotions she was experiencing — smack or kiss Gus. Each of the hospitalised and the ambulant attackers was visited by a beaming group of fellow students, James, Dorian, Walter, Peter and Matthew, who politely wished them well and passed on the information that the five red heads regarded Gus and Sabajhi as part of their sub clan and the clan was the Ghorkhali; you know, those slender chappies who accompany us everywhere. McCock was told to have 'words' with the boys. He watched the vid, debriefed the two and said his words, "You did well." ------- Chapter 53 Somebody attacked the Azores Orbital Station and four hours later the entire Chencon fleet translated into hyper. Within seconds of the missiles striking the Station, Sir Henry was throwing the covers off his companion as he leapt to silence the alarm for the 'puter. She checked to see that Sir Henry was unharmed, pulled the covers back and returned to sleep; she was a graduate of a hard school which taught to be comfortable and sleep when you can because there are times when the opposite environment will be present. Sir Henry checked the vids to ascertain if a threat to any of his assets existed; when satisfied there did not, he went back over the vids and found the source of the missiles was a Flower class Chencon CL which had dropped into n space just long enough to release the apparently preprogrammed missiles and equally quickly return to hyper and return to the Sopac fleet. Sir Henry recorded its signature. The diversion resulted in the observation satellites being moved around and the Norpac region was almost denuded; those which remained were mysteriously blinded by light pulses in the infra red. As this was being done the Chencon fleet began to move towards the North Pole and from that position translated as one through to hyper. Sir Henry had to admire the co-ordination of the translation and hoped that such discipline would relax in the weeks to come as the fleet and its train journeyed to wherever it was going. Sir Henry was ready and had laid his plans weeks previously. He sent the signal which turned his fly-by U90 into a trailing U90 with its SC deployed beneath the layer; he also ordered four of the reserve U40s to position themselves about the perimeter of the combined fleet. When things were to his satisfaction, he returned to his bed to be sleepily berated, "Ye c'ld a least ha put yer slippers on, mon; yer feet are bloody frozen." The departure of the Chencons was naturally first on the agenda of the Intel Committee. The raw takes were forwarded to the 'Royals' to draw their own conclusions none of which differed much from the other. Mountserrat continued, a bit more intently, with attempts at negotiation. Renmark had a series of exercises designed to prove the evacuation of the capital and the translation of the orbitals; the orbital forts were automated to fire at anything that moved when so activated and mines were seeded at the hyper points. Amiranti surveyed the Junction at Grigor and the Fleet conducted intensive exercises. 119 (Reformed) continued to exercise as a unit often breaking down into the fast and the slow squadrons. Keith Grant and his captains did TEWTs (Tactical Exercises Without Troops) using the simulators (instead of the sand tables of their ancestors) and included scenarios involving "Darling's" missiles using the Keyhacs and the UVAs. Both squadrons practised evolutions using the MDMs (electronically for exercise only). Slow and Harryfor Avers trained with Lt Cdr Alistair Dennison and his captains. Cdr Arburthson and his COHAC, Lt Cdr Algy Hardmann trained HACs both as independent forces and integrated with both the fast and the slow squadrons. Polack with Slow breathing over his shoulder, fully investigated the 'inhouse' missile system, supervised the loading of MDM missiles (two thousand four hundred and forty of them) and then trained the spacers and junior officers to work the system; in the course of his physical explorations of the magazines with McCock, he had realised that missiles from different parts of two magazines could be selected as well as each magazine being selected. Thus by attending to the loading of the missiles, the CEW missiles, the nuclear missiles and the beam missiles could be loaded in a known part of a magazine and the composition of the salvo varied. The third of the Mountserrat Avers youngsters, Saul Avers, was a Missileman in the same sort of way that saying that legend, Caruso, was a singer. Previously well concealed, twenty four missile tubes were located and readied for use by Saul Avers who if not easily found could be found visually inspecting the interior of the tubes. Denny with Slow breathing over his shoulder, breathed over the shoulders of Master Chief Specialists Peregrin and William Avers. By diligent searching, Denny had located four projectors at the instigation of Slow who made the point that having only one projector did not 'pute; the Specialists had developed several decoys in addition to the simple one of "Vector"; a shower of missiles, a DN, and an amorphous cloud of electromagnetism which did unkind things to electronics. Additional Spacers had to be trained as operators for the command console. Certain command decisions were made to have specialist officers supervising positions on the Command Console. Engine and Enviroment were grouped and an Engineer Watch Officer position created; Coms had two positions and a Coms Watch Officer position was created. Tactical and Nav officers already had their own Spacers but to bring it into line, additional chairs were positioned. EW, Shields and Decoy were grouped under an EW Watch officer and PD and Main Guns were grouped under the Gunner. "Vector's" in house missiles were finally left as ship's weapons but a Missile Watch Officer was appointed. MC missiles, Keys, UVAs and HACs came under the Commodore and his staff whose Action Stations locations were in the Marine Sergeant's Mess Hall at the second battle 'puter. Lt Cdr Sir Henry Bollinger was the Gnats' Watch Officer and had in place his own command table; he was semi independent in this role but came under Slow's command as his was a defensive role. The new arrangements caused some confusion but this quickly settled as the experienced crew of "Vector" saw the advantages and practised both in the simulators and in company with the unit's ships. The reports of the Chencon fleet's progress pointed to a shortest track to Mountserrat. The progress was however slowed to the velocity of the Ultra Large Repair Vessel in the smallest division of the train, 180 gravs. The fleet division screens seemed to take every opportunity to prance about the fleets at high gravs. Sir Henry had a hologram projected over the Gnat's command table of the local galaxy showing the progress. He was developing symbology for smaller and smaller sized subunits as the UVAs covering the progress reported. He was able, shortly before the Chencons were in the Kingdom, to zoom down onto any part of the armada and obtain the detailed composition. The Flock's assessment was that frustration must be running high among the battle fleets' officers at the slow rate of progress. They remembered their experiences on convoy duty in the old 119 DD in Paracelsus bumbling along at two forty even in DDs which at absolute flatout with the cosmic winds behind them could just reach four forty gravs. McCock certainly hoped that the commanders were becoming frustrated because he was hoping that errors would result and he could take advantage. He opined that the Ultra Large Reaction mass Carriers in the HQ element and in the ULRV supply division should be capable of a sustained three hundred grav high cruise and the Heavy Lift RVs should match it; it was the ULRC that slowed everything down. Polack looked at the holo and put in his centicredit, "From what I see of that composition, the only thing the ULRV is good for is to repair that large DN in the command element and from the size of it, I can't see anything we could throw at it, hurting it; they must be afraid of it breaking down." "However," McCock explained, "we literally can do nothing until Chencon intentions become known", he paused for a moment, and then said sadly, "but we can get into a better position. Captain Gort, signal the task group that we move in forty hours into hard space to take up a shadowing position over that armada. I'll inform the Royals. Go to it." McCock settled into his favourite lift chair in his quarters on "Vector" with Evan and Sally opposite. He extracted his PDA and made the link. After courteous preliminaries, the Royals were all connected. McCock informed them, "In about forty hours, I intend to move from Gorgipest into cosmic space to take up a position shadowing that armada. I have at this point no plans to do anything other to be in a position that I can take any advantage if events go pear shaped. Your Majesty, I would suggest that you get your fleet out of the local space to somewhere it wont be immediately involved. It has to survive." The Queen's reply was not directed at McCock ; "Your Grace and Your Majesty, the Mountserrat government has decided, over the bitter protests of the First Lord and the whole Admiralty Board, to lay up Home Fleet in ordinary in the naval anchorage and that is being done as we speak. They considered that to do otherwise could be provocative. A destroyer squadron is to be sent to challenge the Chencons at the borders of the Kingdom and to repeat our position that we wish to negotiate. The Ambassador to USW is instructed to continue to push for negotiations; to date he has received only an acknowledgement of the request. We have let it be known subtly that persons resident in Settlement with relatives or friends in rural areas should visit them. But we are a concentrated population and industry. I have ordered the heirs out of Settlement into the High Country; the Consort refuses to go, the dear man." "Tester help you, Your Majesty. My prayers are with you," the Lord Protector said. "Thank you, Your Grace. Aggy, thank you for your efforts and don't blame yourself for this disaster if it proves to be so; my Intel people have assessed the Chencon reactions and state this has been planned for a long time. I shall be in touch, Gentlemen. Elizabeth, clear." McCock looked sadly at his PDA and then put it in its holder. "Evan, call up the Barge, please. We are going to the Mansion until it is time to sail." ------- Chapter 54 "Captain Gort, get underway to Cosmic space, please." "Aye, aye, Commodore. Coms, to all ships, conform to my movements. Officer of the watch, when coms report all acknowledged, move to the hyper at the northwest at one hundred gravs." "Aye aye, Ma'am. Quartermaster make ready; Engines prepare to answer bells." "Quartermaster, aye." "Engine room answers ready, sir." There was the quiet buzz of conversation emanating from the com positions and then, "All acknowledged, Ma'am." The OW received a nod from his Captain, "Quartermaster, ring one hundred gravs at standard acceleration, come to two nine five, zero seven five." "One hundred gravs, two ninah five, zero seven five, Sir." "Vector" began her journey to the hyper limit trailed by the rest of the task group with the VWs and the MCs each in a flat box formation. "Fly ops, deploy "Shriek" to reccy the hyper" ordered Slow into her boom mic. There was no perceptible response but some five minutes later the forward screens showed "Shriek" accelerating for the hyper limit. She was a mere speck when there was a flare indicating turnover preparatory to the low velocity translation into hyper. Some minutes later, the report came back, ""Vector" "Shriek". Hyper clear at the lower levels to the range of Period. Over" ""Shriek, remain in place to observe. "Vector" clear" Slow ordered and she remarked to McCock, "having those Satcoms makes it easier for all concerned; she doesn't have to bounce about like a yo-yo as we did in the past." McCock nodded agreement. The task group translated without incident through to hyper rising up the levels with all movement ceasing just beneath the layer. The order was passed to prepare ships for hard space and when all confirmed ready, McCock passed the order for individual movement and for each vessel when through to bring up shields to protect against cosmic rays and to move to an RV point one kay klick toward U93. McCock was being careful as the layer did throw vessels about during passage as a function of passage velocity and formation passage was untried. It required over an hour for the task group to pass through the layer. However there was an incident — R1, the second last vessel through, was thrown some hundred klicks up. Investigation into the incident did not find that R1 had acted differently and R2 using identical parameters passing after R1 had experienced no problems. Sir Henry suggested transient localised turbulence and set about examining the records of the layer as obtained by every vessel that had transitioned since first passage; this kept him entertained during those boring time frames when nothing was happening on the overwatch. The group formed up on "Vector" and moved in close formation toward U93 monitoring the beams fromU92 and U96. McCock ordered a screen of UVAs (U40s) toward the southwest to locate U99, as the 'fly-by' was now designated, which was tagging the Chencon fleet. The U40 leading the Chencon covering screen was detected and the group turned west of south to intercept. McCock ordered the group to cross ahead of the Chencon's direction of travel, which was still direct track Sol-Mountserrat, and then to turn to locate the Chencon armada from overhead forming up with U99 in the centre of the group. The expanded UVA screen was distributed hemispherically about the group allowing Sir Henry to research cosmic space a further ten kay klicks out from the layer. Presently, the group was spread parallel to the layer some fifty klicks off. Denny and Polack assisted by Peregrin and William began calibrating instrumentation for use in hard space using the Chencon rate of advance of one eighty gravs as the gold standard. Use of the third 'puter allowed the quartet to more accurately calculate distances against signal returns. U93, U96 and as the distance decreased, U92, signal strengths and signal returns from "Vector's" Period began to harden up the results to the point where the quartet was confident of velocities and distances using ship's instruments in hard space. Sir Henry was detached from his studies of the layer to double check the results. When Rosemary finally got his attention and emphasised McCock's assertion of the importance of the data, the knight had stared blankly at her for some moments, said "Oh" and turned his full attention to the matter. After half a day of deep concentration, Sir Henry expressed his satisfaction with the results but did point out that using Einsteinian maths would have given a slightly more accurate result than the Newtonian maths which were used. Denny accused Sir Henry of being a "bloody egghead" and pointed out "Einstein maths would have improved the accuracy by about one tenth of a percent and would have taken us another five weeks to achieve the results." "True" Sir Henry acknowledged "and when we get some time we can run the figures through and get the better results." (Sir Henry did calculate the Einsteinian results eventually; spacers were satisfied with Newton while puttering about the galaxy but in universal terms an inaccuracy of one light year each thousand light years could put the spacer in the middle of nowhere without a road sign to be seen.) Both fleets above and below the layer were not performing any evolutions. 119 was taking the opportunity to get in some 'make and mend' time to ease tensions after a heavy and prolonged working up and group evolutions. Minor maintenance was brought up to date and refurbishments done as needed. The crews were kept busy but not exerted; watches were routine with only the occasional practice alert to keep up skills. Captains caught up on their administrative tasks and joined the Commodore's staff by vid for daily briefings. The newscasts from Sol, Harbouria and Mountserrat were perhaps more closely digested with more time available and time was spent, as Sir Henry described it, reading the entrails; the auguries were just as forthcoming. There was one section not taking thing easy, flight operations. LtCdr Hardmann had very quickly discovered that things did not look the same in cosmic space as they did within the galaxial disc and halo. Cdr Felix Arburthson studied the phenomenon and considered this to be analogous with the perceptions caused by altitude on planets. Whatever the analogy, there was a problem which was not resolved until the quartet provided their data. Denny entered it into the battle 'puters and then downloaded it into the HACs' 'puters. An additional line was entered into the bootup programmes of the HACS which required an input; ships' instruments were linked to their 'puters and the switchover was initiated from the bridge by the Officer of the Watch who was responsible for the check lists on translation and on transition. The default position was n space as this was the only level in which the ship would normally shut down the engine spaces. The HAC crews conducted arrival and departure procedure until Felix was satisfied the crews could be certified for cosmic space. Slow had not the time to properly train spacers other than her bridge crew to back up the new discoveries of PDs, missiles and decoys. She had to rely upon the 'puters. That had not stopped her more senior NCOs from poking their inquisitive minds into the new capabilities. Several very unofficial EVAs had been conducted to explore the external aspects of the weaponry and to guide gunners and torpedomen (an almost outmoded trade but tradition dies hard in navies) to the actual mounts and tubes internally. Once the locations were known, a further search of the data bases disclosed the location of the broadsides and more of the data base associated revealed care and maintence. The EVAs had to bring the Chief of the Boat, Chief Warrant Officer Oscar Avers, into the activities which he was fully aware of despite the attempts of his underlings to be discrete; because it was to the benefit of the ship, CWO Avers had viewed proceedings with a benevolent blind eye — until EVAs were planned at which point he made his interest definitively known. The accumulated data was recorded on various chips and recordings held by a considerable number of the Petty Officers' Mess. That is, until the Chief of the Boat called and chaired an NCOs' meeting which left a few of the younger POs wondering how the COB knew of the explorations. The COB organised the collation of the material and when asked who would sensibly put the lot onto the record, grinned evilly and detailed the Master at Arms to bring Leading Machinist's Mate Peter Wison from No3 HAC flight to the Mess. Wison was heard approaching from a long way away as he was dragged volubly describing the manners, conduct, parentage and occupations of various of the ship's Warrant Officers. "Petey boy, you haven't lost your way with words" greeted the COB, to which 'Petey boy' responded by casting aspersions upon the COB's genetic makeup to the admiration of his listeners. "Peter, that is not nice" rejoined the COB "and to make reparations you are sentenced permanently to shuffle 'paper work' in my office. You thought, you miserable specimen, that you could hide with the fly boys and indulge your hobby and not use your considerable talent on admin." "Alright, you ape, what do you want me to do" sighed Wison. "Allow me to introduce you; this little cretin is Peter Wison; before Brown Hollow, he was Senior Chief Yeoman in Second Space Lord's department and he didn't go back; instead he worked on his hobby, machinery. This kind fellow will now volunteer to collate, compile and publish your information for the benefit of we thirsters for knowledge. I'll get the XO to transfer you stat, Peter, and now let me explain what I want you to do." Thus it was just before the Chencon decided to change its routine, the XO was informed by the COB of the existence of user manuals for care and maintenance of the new found capabilities on the 'puter database and his crew had been rearranged to cover the new responsibilities and not to be surprised by the appearance of crew in some unusual areas. The XO was invited to join the COB and the Engineer Officer in a 'round table' conference to bring them up to date with the new damage control procedures. Polack somehow heard of the meet and joined it to bring the Commodore's staff up to date. ------- Chapter 55 "Commodore, U99 has located a Mounty destroyer squadron approaching the Chencon fleets from dead ahead" "Thank you Tommy, keep me informed." Turning to Sir Henry, "So, it begins." McCock leaned back into his chair, clasped his hands behind his head, gazed vacantly at nowhere thinking. "Henry! What is the local time in Settlement?" Looking at the wall mounted chronometer set at Gorgipest time (and 119's time) Sir Henry did some quick calculations, "Oh six thirty three. Why?" McCock extracted his PDA and made a link. "The Residence" Barati is speaking. Can I help you?" "Barati, Commodore McCock, you can certainly help me. You will put two of your largest women to guard Memsahib Indira; you will close the Residence, and all of your people AND you will immediately relocate to the village. The Chencons are on the border now. Tell the Memsahib, I have ordered the evacuation. Suit?" "We do have some time to pack our belongings, sahib?" "Yes you do, but if I allow Shelly time she will bolt. Get her out of Settlement now and you can pack up after her, but be out of there by sundown today. Suit?" "Suits sahib." "McCock clear." McCock broke the link and made another one, "Silas? Aggy! Shelly won't be in to work for the next while. Barati is taking her up to the High Country. It's time you left too. The Chencons are on the Border now." "Yes, I heard. The Home Secretary has ordered all children with their mothers to report to their schools for evacuation; he had been secretly making plans and arrangements for months and if we have two days he can do it." "The Chencons could get there in thirty six hours but they have been dragging the chains and I don't think they will speed up too much but to be safe I'd say no more than two days." "My family went out as soon as the Chencon sailed; so did Milligan's. I'll stay for as long as I can be useful and then I'll go. I'll put Shelly on indefinite leave just for the record. Thanks for all the back channels, I've been able to make some sense out of things. Also just for the record, Aggy, it has been both a pleasure to know and work with you. Be off with you and Diety Bless." "Diety Bless Silas, McCock, clear." "Do you think you will see them again, Aggy?" enquired Sir Henry. "Problematical, Henry, problematical. That abortion out there can sweep the local galaxy clean if it so desires and we can't prevent it happening. Whatever it wants to do it will; even if the supply train were to magically disappear, it has enough endurance to flatten everything from Settlement to Gorgipest and still return to Old Earth. I can't even start anything until I know for sure what are its intentions. If it fires on those destroyers, my hands will then be free and I'll start hit run raids on the train as a priority taking out any escorts first; I don't wish to commit suicide. The main war, however, will be fought in the halls of government on Old Earth but that will take too long to be of any benefit to us and particularly Mountserrat. I do hope I am wrong, but I believe Settlement is doomed and you have no idea how relieved I was to hear that the Mounty Home Sec had enough courage to plan for evacuation." "They'll take out the orbitals too?" asked Sir Henry "I'd be surprised if they didn't, and with the city and the orbital industries gone, Mountserrat will not be capable of defending itself even if Home Fleet survives. Let me think ... Henry, could we drop some UVAs down into n space to establish a picture of Settlement?" "Don't see why not, Aggy. In fact, I'm sure we can; if we can fly by in n space? Yes. Come with me back to my den and tell me as we go what you plan." McCock and Sir Henry made their way to the Marine Sergeants' Mess Hall with McCock advising the Intel officer, "Whatever is going down will be at Settlement. I want to establish a watch over the city to cover it completely to keep a record of events and ... yes ... hook it into U93 for transmission to U91, 92 and 94. Suit?" "Don't know yet, Aggy," laughed Sir Henry, "I don't even know if I have the UVAs ready. Have a seat while I play." Sir Henry took his place at his console and worked the menu until he found what he wanted, "I can use four U90s with satcoms and that will really give visual coverage; I'll get one of them to drag along another SC to put under U93. Excuse me for a minute, Aggy." He put on his head set and toggled a connection to the fifth hangar, "Wilkins, Bollinger here; we are going to deploy four of the U90s and I want two satcoms on one of them and one on each of the others. Yes, that's it. Thank you." He turned to McCock, "Now we wait." Some ten, twelve minutes later, four points of light began flashing on Sir Henry's screen. He tapped in instructions, waited for a moment and then tapped in some more instructions. He toggled another connection, "Officer of the Watch, any reason we can't deploy four UVAs? Thank you, we'll deploy in five minutes from now. Mark. Bollinger, clear." He tapped another key and a timer began it's count down; and more instructions were typed in. He sat back, "I haven't set up transmission sub programme yet; I'll do that when I have the assets in place. I've designated our original Settlement UVA U930 and the others 931 through 934; 931 has the extra SC." "I've just had a worrying thought; can U930 handle all the extra traffic? Its got link to all the other UVAs either direct or indirect and now this vid load." "Stop worrying, Aggy. Remember they were given the same coms as the Keys and the Keys can handle sixty nests in a conflict environment; all you are asking 930 to do is to handle a single stream of information and send it four ways. I presume you want a link here. Good, thought so. Oh, here we go, they are flying off now. They will go out through the after screen orifice and then over the top of our screens until they reach 930 and I'll deploy them down. Go away, Aggy, and find something to do. I'll let you know when I've put them down and you can twiddle then." McCock returned to his quarters to engross himself in the newly issued manuals. About an hour later, McCock noted a change in vibration in the deck; his earbud chirped. McCock had availed himself of an ear mounted head piece with a bud in his external ear canal and an attached thin boom microphone rather than a hand piece clipped to his upper garment. McCock acknowledged the call from the OW who went on, "Sir, the Chencon has executed a turnover of the whole shebang. There were some small collisions but nothing major. 'puter estimates they will heave to just outside Mountserrat borders. Ah, latest news — the Mounty DDs have turned over on their side of the border." McCock acknowledged the communication and for a very short time pondered the significance of the events. The Mounty action was simple — they did not wish to precipitate a border incident. The Chencon was a little more puzzling but the only reason McCock could think of to halt the progress was for orders. McCock tilted his head as he ran some figures through his brain and then straightened to make a com link, "Henry, has a courier or anything that fast left Sol in the past day or so?" "I'm looking, Aggy; you think 'orders'?" "I can't see any other reason; a Navy should be able to underway replenish and I'd use this halt to replenish; vacuum in tanks is about the most useless thing there is for a ship." "Hmmm, Aggy, I've got a sniff of something nine days ago. Let me look at it and I'll get back to you. Suit?" "Suits, McCock clear." Sally and Evan joined McCock for luncheon. "What have you been doing with yourselves? You aren't in Quarters much this past few days. I know Evan has been getting hours in "Shriek". Sally?" "Peter Wison" continuing in respone to a raised eyebrow "he was in the dungeons at Second; very good at it, too, but absolutely hated it. I lost track of him after Brown Hollow until I spotted him in number five hangar working on the Barge. I didn't say anything but the COB got onto him; I'll swear the COB plugs himself into the battle 'puter to tell it what has been going on in this ship. Oscar decided the knowledge privately gathered from the unofficial sorties into odd spaces on "Vector" should become official and to cover for his troops, decided to do it out of his office and wonder of wonders there was little Petey Wison wasting his time mucking about in machinery when he could be so much better employed. I saw Peter working on the manuals and I'm giving him a hand, also makes me painlessly up to date on "Vector". Evan has been doing his catching up instead of sleeping; Algy wont let him go out during the stand down watches as Algy wants his crews given rest time. Oh! And Algy wants me to have a quiet word with you about Wison. Oscar conned the XO to transfer Peter out of the wings. Algy is a trifle annoyed, he wasn't consulted and he is truly brassed at losing his best mechanic and wants him back. Algy however doesn't want to take on the COB if he can avoid it, but he says he will if he doesn't get Wison back. Algy's solution is for Peter to set up the procedure and let Oscar's writers do the donkey work with Peter doing an hour in COB's office supervising. Its not that Algy isn't a little weasel either; he wants to promote Peter to Chief Machinist to supervise the HAC and fifth hangars and then hit Peter with writing up the manuals for the wing's workshops as part of his duties." "Politics — its even infested "Vector"" moaned McCock "how long will it take to get those manuals set up?" "Another day should do it; but Oscar is going to be pissed to lose Peter." "Bosun, fancy seeing you in the forward tubes. I intended to seek your advice about a small problem that has arisen." McCock said to the COB. Oscar Avers turned a sceptical face upon his Commodore, "Wison? Thought so. I've heard the deal and I'm suited with it." "Oscar, that is far too fast; you have an ulterior motive here. More, please" ordered McCock. CWO Avers parked his rear end on a missile tube and regarded his Commodore for a long moment, "Boss, Peter is the best writer in the RMN and one of the best mechanics; he should never have been a writer but as a recruit he told somebody he could speed enter data and he got dragged off into admin. He self taught himself engines and has trade and university qualifications in them which fact was ignored by his superiors when he requested transfers. He is the only spacer who praises Brown Hollow. He disappeared to Gorgipest and got his Engineering degree at MUGC just so he could understand what he was doing. He was doing what he wanted to do on "Vector" but he was wasted. I needed those records formalised and that is bread and butter to Peter. So I grabbed him. Wing now wakes up to what they had and are now prepared to recognise his talents and I get those manuals done properly. Peter gets an overdue recognition and promotion and "Vector" gets its manuals." "Oscar, you are a devious piece of solid bovine excreta" observed McCock. "From you, Boss, I'll take the compliment" the Bosun laughed. McCock remained thoughtful for a minute and Oscar Avers later swore he had seen the neurones flashing, "An engineer degree at MUGC; they are as good as the Academy in that and they always had a navy bias even then. Algy thinks so highly, he is prepared to take the XO and the COB on to get him back. Polack is good on ship's plant and is up to scratch on the Adamas but to get up there he has had to let the Renmark piles slide a bit and he is no better there than I am now. I don't have a senior engineer in the wing. Oscar, how upset will Peter be, if I make him Senior Engineer as say, Lieutenant Commander, in the Wing?" "And you call me devious, Boss. Peter will be livid; he isn't going to like it one little bit except that it will get him out of Admin and back into a Machine Shop. But can he do the job? I would really be surprised if he couldn't. He fancies himself with tools but his true strength is as a thinking engineer — you see, I listen to what the POs say about him — and an organiser. In that role I'll have no trouble saluting him and calling him "Sir"." "Good. In ten minutes have him in my quarters. I'll get the others." McCock used his PDA while returning to his quarters to inform Slow and her XO about certain facts and invite them to a commissioning board. Peter Wison looked bewildered as he was formally marched in by a smirking COB and left at attention before his Commodore, Captain and XO. The three of them were examining a chip in the reader before then, making muttered comments and drawing each others' attention to matters of interest. They looked at each other, wordlessly nodded at each other and all turned to face Wison who felt like a goldfish. "Ah! Leading Machinist's Mate Wison, Good Morrow to you. We have been reading your personal file. No, not the inadequate one with which you entered my service. This one has been raised by Commander McGraw with information drawn from Lt Cdr Hardmann and Professor Duchene at MUGC. Peter, if I catch you with a tool in your hand just demonstrating its use or with a drop of lube anywhere on you, I'll have you cleaning bilges as commanding officer of a party of one. Mr Wison. You are appointed Senior Engineer, Wing, of 119 Reformed with the rank and privileges of Lieutenant Commander. Algy, get Peter kitted out and settled into his duties please and both of you be advised there is some urgency about this. Carry on please. Before you go Bosun; a word." McCock waited until all but Evan had departed, "Bosun, next time you have a problem like this, have a word with me first." "But then I wouldn't have gotten my manuals done, Boss." McCock looked at the COB from under lowered eyebrows "Oscar, get out of here!" ------- Chapter 56 "Aggy, I followed up that sniff and I think it is a Chencon courier who snuck out via the South Pole where we don't have cover. And nor does any body else. I have no idea where he went to but if he is coming our way he should be here within three or four days." "Thank you, Henry. Do you think we need to put cover over the other ends of the planets we watch?" Sir Henry answered thoughtfully, "All things considered, Aggy, no, I don't. Originally, we placed the UVAs for sigint purposes and because of the Sollies' need to cover the planet with their newscasts, our uni-polar watch has proved adequate. The Chencons have attempted to keep their movements secret by moving into hyper via the poles — that is expensive in terms of increased energy costs and they are prepared to pay it for the secrecy they feel they can achieve vis-a-vis their Solarian neighbours. The Chencon fleet has departed; we know where it is; no other nation appears to be massing their assets although most of them are still undertaking major refits even though they must know the Chencons have departed somewhere. That courier going Antarctic polar is unusual but not rare for Old Earth. Considering that anything we are interested in will come here anyway, I don't think the major hassle of establishing a southern overwatch is now worth the effort." "Suits. How far Earthwards does our cover extend from here?" "Not far, Aggy; only out to the full range of the satcom's Period. The UVA cover is severely restricted by the effects of refraction and the distance from the layer our UVAs sit restricts their direct cover to a very small cone indeed especially in hyper. And before you suggest placing a UVA at a much greater distance out, allow me to remind you we have no experience of conditions further out. I have noticed that the UVAs we do have deployed outside the layer are suffering from exposure to cosmic radiation and while the power packs, coms and EW equipment are shielded the antennae are not. The UVAs were designed for work inside the galaxy and you didn't put defensive shields on them because of the small size. I am going to raise the matter with Denny and Polack because I, too, was considering UVAs further out into the cosmic tides." "Follow up the idea for UVA shielding, please, Henry. We will eventually move out into cosmic and I would prefer to be able to reliably deploy a UVA screen around vessels that go there. Give some thought to the shielding of the UVA itself and the effects it might have on its functions as well as life span. What's the latest on the Chencon?" "There seems to be a protocol for rebunkering as it is very structured. I'm tagging the various signatures for future reference. The tankers are easily identifiable as are the heavylift vessels. I've used Jane's to identify some FURS and the others being visited by shuttles from the warships which I'm guessing are general purpose merchies with victuals. There is a small cluster of ships in each supply division which are keeping out on the edges of their divisions and I'm tagging them separately — they could possibly be explosive carriers, missile replenishment or some such. It's all in the next summary for you." "Thanks, Henry. McCock clear." McCock stretched and decided to kill some training 'bots before lunch. At the meal, he was joined by Sally and Evan who informed him that Polack and Denny had their heads stuck inside 'puter's entrails and missile firing machinery under Slow's directions. Sir Henry was working the battle 'puter end of the system and Peter Wison had dragged the information off the discs and directed his writer minions to collate it into readable format for mere humans. Sir Henry was also exercising his Gnat command table on the simulators and both Sally and Evan had been gaining experience in the Gnats and were nearly checked out in them. McCock's moans that he didn't have time for fun anymore fell on unsympathetic ears as both of his listeners reminded him that aboard "Vector", their roles were constrained and anyway, McCock hadn't read the GmBH report which had been sitting on his desk all morning. Sally brought him up to date on the home front. Cerise was definitely showing and her morning sickness had stopped; the foetuses were doing very well and Sir Lancelot was happily fussing about and studying the genetic information from the incubators' fluid tests; Sir Lancelot had obtained tissue scrapes from all the McCock children and their grandparents and had some long chats with Rosemary; Angie had tubed her daughter and Sir Lancelot was very pleased to have a female in his care; Cerise was, surprise, surprise carrying a boy and his genetic material had gone into Lancelot's study; Sally and Evan thanked Trojan and departed on their carefree ways leaving a grumbling McCock to read the reports. McCock assistants were not as carefree as they pretended. Sally made her rounds each morning of the Ward room to catch up on the gossip, Sir Henry for recent developments and his thoughts on thing which had not appeared in the summaries, Rosemary to check that Sir Henry hadn't forgotten anything and on the status of Sidney Denari, the Officers of the Watch on the Bridge and in the Engine rooms and lastly of COB followed by a stroll through a different part of the ship each day except for Fly ops which she left to Evan. Evan used his insomnia (which had improved) to catch up on the report chips giving Sally a summary in the mornings, her nights being otherwise occupied. Evan had also established back channel links to the XOs and First Lieutenants of the group who kept him informed of things generally. McCock pretended he did not know of his assistants' forays but utilised it to the full. He ruefully admitted to himself that Peter Wison had slipped through his 'net' but was content that Oscar had caught it — still, that was part of Oscar's unwritten job description. "Aggy," Sir Henry asked the next day, "what do you want me to do with the overwatch vids of Settlement; I can link them either for private coms or put them onto a public 'cast?" "Public, Henry. What I'll do is contact the player under the UVA and let them decide what is to be done with the information." "Good; the stream is on channel 3705 international classification and is going out now. Suit?" "Suits. Well done Henry. Clear." "Baron Westlake, Commodore McCock, how are you this day?" "Aggy, it's zero two thirty here; what's so important that it can't wait til daybreak?" "I'm on Georgie time here on shipboard and we don't keep Sol or Mounty times in my quarters. Sorry, Abe. Comming to let you know there is a streaming vid of Settlement established and coming to you on 3705 international." "Why? What's behind this, Aggy?" "Ah umm; have you been briefed on the possible scenarios?" "Aggy, I think Elizabeth has deliberately played down possible outcomes not to distract me from trying to get the confounded Chens to negotiate without fully understanding what it is I am to negotiate about." "How successful have you been, Abe?" The Ambassador made a very rude noise. "Oh. Well they know what we want to negotiate about as it is their intentions which concern us." "Aggy, why?" "I have developed a worst case outcome based on the very flimsiest of evidence. I believe that the Chencons intend to destroy Mountserrat orbitals, probably Settlement and possibly other population centres." There was a stunned silence on the com link, until Westlake asked in a perfectly flat voice, "And what is the evidence upon which you base this outcome, Your Grace?" "The response of the Chens to the initial authorisation to investigate was too quick not to have had plans in place. Secondly, the size of the investigating party; there are five hundred and forty warships of the line ranging from DNs to BCs plus appropriate screening vessels, all supported by two thousand or so ships in the supply train from heavy lift repair ships, tankers and general purpose merchantmen..." "That's just about their total merchant fleet" interposed Baron Westlake. McCock went on " ... while they were refitting their armada, a courier of theirs went to New Liege, waited for a week or so and then returned to the Chencon and lastly, the armada sailed three days after the courier returned. Put that together with the information we got from a high middle official of Chencon's that they have had envious eyes on this part of the galaxy for a long time because of its available developed land and the junction here opening up the Perseus arm and you will see the strands." "Where are you now?" "I am in "Vector" shadowing the armada which has halted on the Kingdom's borders for some reason." "Does Elizabeth know of your thoughts and where you are?" came the same neutral voice. "Yes. I have been advising all the Royals of my thoughts and my actions" McCock advised. "Do you know what she intends?" "No, Abe. I do not; that is apart from trying to negotiate." "Why have you set up the streaming vid, Aggy? I can guess, but humour me, please." "The armada is halted half a day's passage at say a BBs cruise velocity from Settlement. You are the only person on Old Earth who knows that. It has taken my people nearly a day to establish the links. If things went pear shaped we'd be too busy to set up the streaming vid and that would mean there would be only third party witnesses. If it does go down you might be able to get out real time broadcasts of any disaster. It might be possible for you to set up an interested netcaster to do some preliminary work for when things start to happen. There will be a problem convincing people this is real time but even so they might still be interested even if they believe this is an exclusive recording which has just come into your hands." "Can't you do anything, Aggy?" "Abe, I am a through deck cruiser, a modern frigate, four outdated DDs, two captured FURS and four missile carriers. I attempt anything against five hundred alert warships of the line and I am destroyed for little result. As it is, I can't even consider any action whatsoever until the Chencons make an overt hostile act. I don't even know exactly what that armada is going to do; nobody does, that is, on our side of the argument, discussion dispute or whatever this matter is." "Thank you, Your Grace, for your frankness. I have some contacts I can trust in the vid media and I will contact them in the morning. Will you advise me when the Chens move?" "Certainly, Abe; we think in the next day or so as we believe a courier was sent ten days ago. Suit?" "Suits. Westlake clear here." "McCock clear." The messages to the two Royals were short updates on the new facilities. ------- Chapter 57 Sir Henry knocked at the open door of the Admiral's Quarters on "Vector" and entered as McCock waved him in to a seat. McCock extracted the chip and placed it into the box file on the table in front of him and then looked enquiringly at his Intel Officer. "A courier headed for the Chens from the direction of Old Earth is two hours out and coming fast. I waited for five minutes to be sure of it. He certainly knows exactly where he wants to go and that means a prior set up RV — last minute orders, my guess." "A new chapter begins" nodded McCock, placed his head set and made a link to the bridge, "Good day to you Peter, you have heard? I find it amazing how quickly bad news travels in a warship. Send out a general notice to all of the group and have everybody on ten minutes notice to move. McCock clear." "Henry, put the view up onto the bulkhead." Sir Henry went to the desk com set, made several entries and the stood back as the overview of the Chencon armada was projected. The courier made a splash of light in the lower part of the projection. Sir Henry noted, "He is in the epsilon band and the fleet is in the delta so the vertical separation must also have been prearranged." "Agree ... Henry, I don't want the vid of Settlement playing into my ships. Shut down the new vid link from U93 to U99. I don't want my crews in a state of shock just at the time I need them to go to action stations. I'll make announcements as necessary." McCock thought for a few minutes running things rather fruitlessly through his neurones because of ignorance of enemy intentions. He spoke into his mic "Felix, scramble "Shriek". I want her to take that courier on its way back. Put "Shriek" out at extreme Period range from here in the epsilon layer in direct path back to Old Earth and ready to match velocities with the courier. Plan on disabling his nodes and boarding him with armoured EVA suits. Get "Shriek" to tow a UVA and park it in cosmic over her in case we need to com; I don't want "Shriek's" beam pointing any where near that fleet." "That constitutes a hostile act, Sir; just for the record." "Noted, Felix" laughed McCock "but at that range only we will know about it." "True, I'll get onto it. Fly ops clear." Sir Henry was the user of interrogatory looks this time. "If we get lucky and get something it might help us formulate some plans. Can you get Yin Sung over to Trudie at the Mansion so we can link with him. He can be put up there for as long as we need him on standby. I'll join you in CIC; I'll take the tac-nav-com position. Trojan, you heard? Good, some eats in a couple of hours." McCock disabled the projection as he passed the com set. McCock watched his screens showing a small tanker alongside the courier as it lay alongside the apparent Chencon flagship. The courier had expeditiously moved into the immobile fleet and joined hatches. Sir Henry remarked, "That's a bit odd; why not use the Boat Bay?" "He's not intending to stay long?" suggested McCock. "Yes, probably; I expect couriers just drop off their message and move on." "That's the other thing; you'd expect just a simple exchange of messages and then away or into the Boat Bay." Several suited figures moved from the tanker to the hull of the courier working around the fuel line and connections. "Curiouser and curiouser. That process is automatic unless there has been a breakdown which is decidedly rare and usually the line either doesn't lock into place or the reaction mass doesn't pump." They watched in silence for another ninety minutes during which the fuel line was disconnected and the EVAs remained for a further quarter hour before rejoining their tanker which then returned to its supply division. The tube from the courier was withdrawn and after some minutes the thrusters were seen to be warming up. McCock toggled a com link to "Shriek", ""Shriek" Commodore, the couriers thrusters are coming on line." "Thank you Commodore, I've got the same picture," said Algy Hardman "while I was waiting, I did a bit of fiddling to pass the time. Over." ""Shriek", Algy, why am I not surprised to hear you? McCock clear" and broke the link; "Henry, I didn't think "Shriek's" 'puter could do that. Have you got at it?" "Not me, Aggy. Felix and Algy. Your original programme couldn't but when the 'kiddy' 'puter became available, they upgraded. Remember, the so called 'kiddy' 'puter was only deficient on the offensive side of things and it was rather a small size, for a ship of the line, that is. I gather Felix and Algy both have a 'thing' about "Shriek"?" "A bit like Slow has for EVA. I had to stop her from personally making a physical inspection of the missile tube covers; sneaky bit was going out in second watch thinking no one would be onto her but I'd seen her on the bridge at eight last dog and recognised the signs. You know she gets a quiver when she's excited?" "Can't say I've noticed, Aggy. I'll pay more attention nex ... hello movement." The courier used thrusters to clear the delta into epsilon where he raised sail and accelerated towards Sol. They watched the image diminish, flipped to Period using a wedge sweep to follow it. "Shriek" wasn't showing on U99's Period but the vid from the extra UVA showed her and the approaching sails of the courier. "Shriek" had spread her sails and was accelerating so as to match velocities. Both watchers expressed shock as the courier exploded nearly beneath the 'spare' UVA. McCock and Aggy watched as "Shriek" did a skew turn over manoeuvre to reverse direction while retaining some momentum toward the debris. "Ooh. That is clever" Sir Henry remarked. "That one is not in the book" McCock confirmed. They watched as "Shriek" raced back the way she had come from, making another conventional turn over to halt her close to one side of the separating fragments and using her thrusters to close on the larger pieces. Two EVAs emerged to clamber over the cutter and lash the pieces to the hull. They re-entered the hull and "Shriek" moved through the layer. Once through Algy commed ""Vector" "Shriek" has two survivors in pods from the courier and what looks like the 'puter. The people are inside an escape pod and a cubby which has sealed off. Over." ""Shriek" Fly ops, you are No1 on direct approach. Hold when you are inside and we'll get the bits off you before you tractor to your berth. Over." "No 1, direct approach and hover." McCock toggled the com, "Felix, keep the survivors apart and if possible in their pods. I'll get Major Peebles to handle them. Suit?" "Suits, Aggy. I can concentrate on "Shriek"." "McCock clear." He turned to Sir Henry, "Raise Rosemary and get her to take care of the prisoners. Brief her on events and tell her I don't think that explosion was accidental. It would have been just detectable by the guard DE at the Solarian end of the fleet but he didn't move. Even just out of boredom, that DE would have followed the courier on his screens and that explosion would have attracted his attention. No! Something smells and it isn't Suisse cheese." "Rosemary, Henry. Go down to fly ops immediately. Where are you? Have you got anything more out of them? Fill me in later. Courier left Chencon fleet after refuelling and got a half hour out and exploded. No response from Chencons and that explosion at that distance must have registered on the warships' detectors. "Shriek" has two survivors in separate containers and a damaged 'puter. Aggy wants you to handle them." "Henry, I'm almost to Fly ops now. Hmmm. We are not at war with Chencon. We have rescued two mariners from a wrecked ship. Of course, we will have to keep them separate but that does not violate their rights or our duties as the rescuer. They will have to be kept in isolation so they can be medically checked especially for radiation injury. Yes, I can arrange things. Thank you, dear, I'll get back to you but it will be a while. You get onto that 'puter. Bye." "Sweet thing, isn't she" remarked McCock. "Go play with your whatever it is you play with, Aggy, I've got to see about that 'puter. Thank you Trojan, just what I needed." Sir Henry grabbed some food from the tray, stuffed it into a voluminous pocket to the dismay of the bearer of the tray, poured some of the contents of the insulated container into a bulb which had mysteriously appeared in the knight's hand and then scurried out of the Mess Hall. McCock shut down the screens and then helped himself to the remnants on the tray, turning Trojan, still bearing the tray, back to the admiral's Quarters. Slow, her XO, Peter Lowell, her Fly ops, Felix Arburthson and her COHAC, Algy Hardmann had presented at the Admiral's Quarters just as the last dog meal was being served. They were followed by several of the Ward Room stewards bearing gifts for Trojan to serve the extras. The seating got hastily rearranged with Denny, Polack, Sir Henry and Rosemary on one side and the "Vectors" on the other. Sally and Evan sat at the other end to McCock. Evan assisted Trojan to serve up as the stewards had dropped and ran. "Slow, I am aware how much you desire the benefits of my intellect, but why now invite yourself to my table?" Slow made a rude noise, "Rosemary has been working on those two prisoners for a day and a half. The armada is shaking down into an escorted convoy including the flagship's personal tow barge and tanker. The battle fleet is trimmed down and forming into a tight formation. Whatever it is, is going down and I have taken the opportunity to get first hand information as it is provided. You'd call a staff meet to consider the data so I'm ahead of the curve." "I sometimes wish you lot weren't so pushy; I might get to make an occasional decision for myself" moaned McCock. "So, executive decision, we eat, tidy up and then we talk." "There, feel better now Aggy?" rejoined Slow not letting him have the last word. "Rosemary?" Rosemary nodded in reply to McCock, "Let me state for the record the persons in the detention centre are not prisoners, I have kept them in isolation for their own benefit because I have to check for radiation sickness; there is no war and they have been rescued from a shipwreck. For reasons, I will later explain, I have informed the male that he is under arrest for rape. When I told him this, he attempted to escape by attacking me and in the course of restraining him both his forearms were broken. These people are a middle aged male and a female of full age. He was locked inside a cubby which remained intact and was very short of air when he was delivered to me. He had used nearly the whole air inside the cubby which was not designed as an escape pod. His blood alcohol level was extremely high indicating a solid intake in the immediate past. Otherwise he is healthy. The female is a senior spacer who locked herself inside the escape pod some two days before the courier's arrival at the fleet. She claims that the surviving male, who is not a crew member, was raping her, beginning shortly after departure from Chencon. None of her crewmates came to her assistance because the male is an important official on the Peoples' Committee. She was thrown out of his cubby as the courier approached the fleet. She seized a box of chips from a shelf, fled to the escape pod and sealed herself in. The oxygen supply on the pod was approaching twenty five percent supporting her claim of being in there for that time frame. She would not come out until I showed myself in the view port and gave her a three sixty view of where she was to reassure her, she was in a sick bay. Her clothing was in tatters and I have taken the liberty of clothing her as I would a ship wrecked mariner. I have obtained specimens for genetic study and have secured the clothing. She has surrendered the chip box and Henry and Yin Sung have been studying them. She has not been able to shed any light upon matters of policy. I believe she is what she claims she is, a leading hand spacer of the Chencon navy. The male is another story entirely." ------- Chapter 58 "The male" Rosemary informed 119 (Reformed)'s staff, "is a high officer of the Chencon government. He claimed to be a spacer who was accidentally locked in his cubby shortly after departure from the fleet. Chewy, who is being very cooperative now I have promised him I'll shoot him when we are finished with this operation, identified him as Sat Yun Lei and places him just below the Committee itself. Any message he carried has the full weight of the ruling junta behind it. Armed with this information, I returned to Sat and asked him a few questions; he declined most impolitely. After asking him several times to change his mind, I introduced him to Chewy. Chewy greeted Sat like a long lost brother in Chen which I don't speak. Sung however was on the other end of the listening devices scattered about and said Chewy was informing Sat how he had ended up the way he now is just because he wouldn't cooperate with the dragon lady. I return with Sat to the sick bay, where I asked him to cooperate. He declined yet again. So I convinced him to cooperate and he is now babbling like a brook. Chencon has been planning for a long time on colonising this part of the galaxy. P'nO have been used for exploration. The decision has been made to take over the Kingdom of Mountserrat with the junction and spread out over an area from Raffles -Paracelsus — Harbouria — Sema — Bhute — Gorgipest. Renmark and Damasa are to be neutralised because they are a significant force within the area. The Harbourian hegemony is to be taken over. The surviving populations are to be reduced to not quite slavery as their agricultural ability is needed even if the industries are not. Chencon regarded our war as a blessing from heaven and the home fleets' destructions on both sides as a gift from the gods. They have decided that because of the ethnic similarities with Amaranti, that they will seek treaties with the Emperor. The access to Paracelsus's commodities through Raffles is sufficient to satisfy them. The present operation is to take control of the Junction, pass a fleet division through to Raffles and move out to Paracelsus to take out any opposition. A second division is to take out Renmark Damasa and then move out to the southeast to destroy the outlying provinces. The third division is to use the Junction to reach Maureen's Moon in the Perseus arm and move against Harbouria. The supply train follows the main fleet departing a day later giving the armada time to control the Junction and the two divisions to pass across to the Perseus arm; the supply trains follow their battle fleet divisions through the junction and the last division and its train deal with Renmark Damasa and then down to Gorgipest. The courier was to have reported to the Committee and a colonising fleet was to join the armada in Mountserrat. And if you believe that I have some bottom land in Glasgeigh you can buy cheaply from me. He has just enough truth in that to make it convincing. There are two gaping holes in that story. One — we know there are not enough hulls left in Chencon to even guard their own n space and two — the destruction of the courier; it was never meant to return. My assessment was that he partied hard on the flagship and his hosts got him drunk while they sabotaged the courier probably during bunkering. I think the background about intentions is correct; I have doubts about the tactical details and about the alleged colonising fleet. Sat doesn't believe me when I tell him he was meant to die in that explosion and that is one reason why he is being cagey. I have asked Sung to study the box of chips and send a summary asap. Meantime, I'll continue talking to our shipwrecked mariners. I am not happy with my enquiries to date but thought you should hear the results." "Thanks, Rosemary" McCock said, "there are gaping inconsistencies in that tale but the long term plans have been put by two of the enemy, now. Meantime you are all aware of the more evident separation of the armada divisions? Good. Henry, pass the assessments onto the other captains and ask them to keep the crews informed. Nothing else? Suits; go to it, people." Some hours later a solitary Chencon DE made its way to the galactic south at a low cruise velocity, actively pinging as he went. He hove to amidst the debris of the courier and appeared to closely inspect the larger pieces of debris. Apparently satisfied, he returned to the armada. McCock had the holo projected above his office desk and had watch the progress of the DE. McCock's neurones sped up again as he tried to make sense of the Chencon intentions and then gave it up as a 'bad job' — there were just too many unknowns. Sally and McCock had been asleep and it was well into second watch when Evan knocked on the cabin door. A grumbling McCock asked, "Yes?" "CIC reports the Chencon combat elements except for what appears to be a convoy protection force have departed," came Evan's voice, "least time course to Settlement and ETA there eleven hours and forty minutes; they are cruising at four hundred gravs." "Pass the word for my staff to assemble at the third 'puter in thirty minutes." McCock heard Evan's acknowledgement and turned to smack Sally's posterior, "Up! Staff meet in thirty minutes." "Are the Captains on coms? Henry?" "Aggy at three second, the major part of the Chencon battle fleets moved and crossed the border some twenty minutes later. The Mounty destroyers moved also; two departing at max towards Mountserrat and the other two in a forward shadowing position. The divisions settled into a triangle formation with two up and one trailing; the command element was in the centre. The command element consists of that super DN, four BB squadrons and they have retained their six DD squadrons. The divisions have as their core, the seventeen squadrons of DNs and eight squadrons of BBs; six squadrons of BCs lead the core and four squadrons of those CAs and eight squadrons of CLs are the screen. That's one hundred and seventy ships of the line times three plus twenty one. There are no supply vessels in that armada; every last one is outside the border. The convoy escort is two squadrons of BBs, four squadrons of BCs, twelve squadrons of those pocket battleships, six of CLs and all ninety six DEs. The supply train are roughly in the three divisions." "Enemy intentions, Henry, you are junior." "Aggy, the armada is going to do whatever it plans to do and then call up the supply train. What they are going to do? Worst case — destroy Mountserrat, Griffen and Styx; best case — accept Elizabeth's surrender. They are not going on a state visit. The war has begun." "Polack?" "Basically the same, Aggy except I think Rosemary's information might be correct. They have not made any move towards Griffen or Styx and Griffen is the same distance from here; Styx is ahead and over. Moves against them will require added manoeuvres they don't need to make. I think Settlement is gone at least but after that ... Basically it's still wait and see. Too hard to guess and we'll know in twelve hours." "Denny? Harryfor? Keith? Slow? Suits. My centicredit says much the same." McCock paused to assemble his thoughts, "That Chencon armada has one vulnerability and they have exposed it. Those warships are star system conflict designed. That means they can do what they like in this star system without resupply and return to Sol. If they want to do much outside it and if they then want to come back, they HAVE to resupply. The supply train escort will be at a high state of alert and all screens will be up; not like Harbouria. However, we have more 'puter power and a bucket more of missiles and firepower. My intention is to destroy the escort the instant a hostile action is made by the armada and then turn the supply train one twenty degrees right and accelerate it up to three hundred gravs for two days. They heave to and their crews abandon to board those two hospital ships I noticed. The hospital ships are escorted out towards Gorgipest and when they are out of the way, the supply train is put up into hard space, shut down and anchored together. I want the slow squadron to escort the convoy with "Darling". Fast squadron will move towards Settlement in cosmic and see what we can do to assist Settlement. Henry, advise the Royals and Westlake of events. As far as that convoy is concerned, a disobedient vessel is to be destroyed and make sure they are at least told that several times at the beginning, and DO IT. I want a plan for destruction, and I repeat, the destruction of the escort of the supply train, ready for discussion in six hours. Go to it!" "Who is spokesman? Slow? Speaking as Flag Captain? Good; tell me how I am going to do this in ... five hours time" McCock requested. Captain L.A. Gort, "Vector", began: "We took as our starting point, Sir Henry's work that it takes sixty missile hits to destroy a ship of the wall and thirty for a screen vessel; four percent efficiency against modern shields and PD, we need to put two hundred nests into each 'waller' and one hundred into a 'screener'. The DEs will take one nest and they are scattered all over. The escort is spread to cover the supply train which is formed up as a rounded pyramid with the base towards galactic north, that is Mountserrat. The heaviest concentration of escorts is at the base with two BB, three BC, four CA and three CL squadrons. Each side of the pyramid is covered by four CA and a single CL squadron; the tail is covered by a single BC squadron and a single CL squadron. The DEs are predominantly in the front We have recommended using only the MC missiles keeping the ship board weapons in reserve. We can't see any other way but to divide our ships to allow time on target strikes, that is, the missiles all light off at the same instant and impact within ten seconds of each other. The escort has been divided into four sections and reflect the asset we use to cover each. "Vector" with "Devon" will cover the front. "Washton" with "Warburton" in company with "Derby" will take the galactic east escort. "Victoria" with "Vance" in company and "Derwent" will cover the west, and "Sprightly" with "Darling" will cover the tail. The 'puter has plotted the tracks for the MCs to lay the nests and how many at each point. "Devon" has the most to lay and Alistair says he can finish the task in just over two hours. So we are suited there. The major problem is turning and moving the supply train or rather herding it. If our HACs were hypercapable there would be no problem but they can only work on thrusters in hyper using humungous amounts of power. We recommend, and this will take advantage of the element of shock to not give them time to plot, the crews of the supply train abandon their ships immediately and move to the hospital ships which are escorted out by "Shriek". We then move the supply train up into hard space here." "If the armada comes back immediately, that leaves little time to achieve anything" McCock objected. Slow dealt with that; "We thought about that and we can't see the armada as a whole coming back immediately. As soon as the escorts are destroyed, the supply crews begin abandoning, our crews drawn from the VWs and the FURS move in and take them up into hyper; the 'salvage' crews move into a FURS which has gone through the layer with the first elements and the FURS brings those crews back while the other FURS does the same for the next group. We've got Tim and Des working on it now as they are not involved in the combat side of things; the shuttles function in cosmic so they can be used to retrieve crews in cosmic. "Vector" and "Sprightly" with "Devon" and "Darling" will have to stand sentry while this is going down. "Shriek" will have a roving patrol down to the south." McCock accepted the calculated risk, "Algy takes "Shriek"; emphasise that any and I mean every vessel which attempts to do other than exactly, exactly as we order is destroyed out of hand. We are not in a position to take prisoners in the true sense of that word; we are stuffing those enemy crew members into one of their own vessels and moving them out in hyper under their own power down to the galactic south west. I accept your plan. Put it into operation. The order to engage will be given by me and only by me." ------- Chapter 59 While the others had been planning, Sir Henry, after supplying the Staff with the details of the escort, turned immediately to organising signatures of the escorts which he then rapidly transmitted to the other 119 vessels. The MC captains had been on the planning net and had their own planning under way as the master was being drawn up. They took the planned tracks onto their 'puters and moved immediately McCock approved. Still in cosmic they positioned themselves about the supply train and on the command from "Devon" they moved through the layer. Once through, they activated Holeinspace, raised their sails and at low velocities moved along their appointed tracks discharging nests, each nest holding the signature of its target. Upon completion of the nest laying, each MC moved away to just outside energy range from the supply train pyramid. With the nest laying complete, Slow gave the order for the fighting ships to move through the layer and take up their assigned positions. Once there, the nests were brought under their control and the whole process was again checked. This activity kept the weapons and bridge staffs occupied; the rest of the ships' companies did, as matelots and spacers had done for time immemorial, relaxed as best they could at their action stations. McCock had nothing to do but observe the process from a distance. He did not watch the progress of the armada as he could have done. Earlier, McCock had used Tabes to brief his crews on events and explained the trigger he was waiting for. McCock watched as the holo in the CIC filled out with information and was then decreased to cover "Vector's" area of operations and just a little beyond. McCock then moved with his staff to the Marine Sergeants Mess Hall taking up positions on the third 'puter in front of which Denny formed a holo of the total operational area. Major Rosemary Peebles, gray skin suit instead of her usual blouse and skirt, took one of the com positions, having been delegated by McCock to follow the progress of the armada. 119 had finished its preparations and were waiting as were apparently the supply train with its escort. "The armada has just translated into n space and there is a message going out on the guard that the Mountserrat government has declared Settlement an open city. Elizabeth is now on guard saying her government will accept whatever terms are offered and that the navy is laid up in ordinary in the harbour" Rosemary reported, "what's the significance of 'laid up in ordinary'?" "The ships are shut down and only skeleton crews are aboard just to keep the environment systems functioning" McCock answered. "I'm picking up the vid. Its coming from U94; where's that?" Rosemary asked them. "That's the UVA over Sol" Denny answered her; "how come?" "Westlake was given a heads up about events" McCock answered him "and he said he had a few favours owed him." "Well, one lot have certainly taken him up on it" Rosemary informed them "they have the Shipping Manager from Bollard identifying the harbour and an executive from Jane's identifying the warships; here is Westlake now, repeating the broadcasts from Settlement. Hello, here is another newsfax interviewing a Chencon official at what looks like the USW Senate and he is denying all knowledge of everything. He looks absolutely terrified, he's sweating buckets. Couldn't they find anyone else as their spokesman?" Silence reigned for another eleven minutes, "Oh shit!... Diety preserve them." Major Peebles turned to face Commodore McCock as he sat in his command chair, and in flat formal tones, reported, "Commodore, the Chencon armada has just passed overhead the metropolis of Settlement and dischared their energy broadsides into the metropolis and surrounds; the area appears to be oblitered. Sir." "Thank you, Major" McCock answered just as flatly and formally, "Denny, put me on all ships' Tabes. Do ye hear there? Do ye hear there. This is Commodore McCock. The enemy armada has opened fire upon Settlement. Ready all firing circuits and on my mark," and he paused for half a minute, "five four three two one fire!" There was surprisingly little to see at first; just a canopy of small bursts of light surrounding the pyramid of ships. This increased to multiple streaks of flame as thousand of missiles accelerated towards their designated targets. The missiles did not have time to work up to full velocity because of the short ranges but still managed a gratifying seventy percent of maximum velocity. All struck their targets roughly at the same instant. The escort did not have time to bring their CEW and point defence weaponry on line and their defensive shields constituted their only defence; but in the face of the massive missile load fired at each vessel, overall, it was not enough. The periphery of the pyramid exploded into multiple bursts of light briefly illuminating the surrounded supply train. It was not perfect. On the tail, one battlecruiser was unscathed and Harryfor was targeting it with his frigate's missiles when it dropped its shields in the traditional signal of surrender. "What the Diety do I do with her, she outmasses me twenty fold?" "Order them to abandon immediately?" offered his First. "Hugh, you are a genius. Simon, guard frequency, please. On? Good." Captain Harryfor Avers spoke into his boom mic "Do you hear there in Chencon battlecruiser, you will immediately abandon ship. You will leave the ship intact. You will in no way sabotage her. You will lie off in your lifeboats to your starboard side in a very tight cluster under my guns. You will leave your executive officer behind to meet my prize crew in your boat bay. If anything untoward occurs I will destroy you, ship and crew, surrendered or no. You have five minutes. Clear." Harryfor turned to Hugh Avers, "Not a bad promotion rate, Hugh; from retiree to BC captain in four months. Get twenty ERAs and the Master at arms to issue sidearms. Pinnace asap and I'll get another twenty odds and sods over to you on a return trip. Get to it. I don't want them wakening up." The sides of the pyramid went to plan. Two of the galactic disc side DEs had been damaged and were moving away only to run into "Shriek" who fired into them with the one point five graser. Only the debris slowly moved afterwards. It was at the base of the pyramid with the largest number of targets that thing went a bit more awry. Two BBs were damaged but able to power up and begin moving and one whole squadron of CAs was unscathed. The command frequency controlling the nests targeting those CAs malfunctioned and the missiles veered off into the corner of the supply train destroying thirty one ships. Slow was ready for leakers. She had her missiles programmed but decided that the main armament would be sufficient. "Vector's" turrets extruded out of the hull, the barrels formed and staggered salvos slammed into the open bows of the BBs rapidly reducing them to shattered hulks in a matter of seconds. The salvos had served to illuminate "Vector". The CA commander decided he wanted to live a bit longer and as the turrets swung to cover his squadron, the shields dropped and reverse thrust took the way off the CAs. McCock informed Slow he would organise the surrender and went onto guard frequency. McCock spoke slowly in international dialect, "Do ye hear there? Your fleet has opened fire on Settlement which had been declared an open city. You will all abandon your ships immediately. The warships will not in any way be sabotaged. Merchant crews will move immediately to the hospital ships. Naval crews will remain in their lifeboats on this side of your vessels. I will destroy anyone who deviates from my orders. There will be no mercy whatsoever. You have only one chance to survive and this is it. Clear." McCock changed to internal coms, "Felix, get the HAC crews into the Barge and take those CAs under command. Com me when they are and I'll let the crews go to the hospital ships. Suit?" "On to it stat, Boss. Suits. Arburthson clear." There was chaos in the supply train as crews departed their vessels and headed for the relative sanctuary offered by the hospital ships. The stimulus of the destroyed merchantmen really concentrated their efforts to survive but some people just didn't get the message. Denny had been checking with Sir Henry and reported "Aggy, that ultra large heavy lift and two merchies have not abandoned. There and there." Denny changed the colour of those vessels to stand out in the holo. "Denny, are they dropping towards the disc?" "That heavy lift certainly is." "Put "Shriek" in and destroy her and then the other two." Denny turned and looked at the uncompromising stare of McCock and then nodded to himself, ""Shriek" 119, destroy designated target and report when done. There will be two other targets. Over" ""Shriek" target identified and on the way. Standby." The Staff watched the holo as the blue icon threaded it way into the supply train and saw the light streak to the HLRV icon which flared and disappeared. ""Shriek", target destroyed. Over." The shields of the other two vessels began flashing and voices came over the guard frequency in heavily accented international dialect informing the local space the recalcitrant crews were abandoning. Which they did in short order. "I am tempted to destroy those hospital ships" McCock remarked. His Staff turned to look at him with varying expressions on their faces. It was left to Rosemary to express the unvoiced opinion of the others, "Commodore, while Chencon has no jus in bellum, that is, it has no acceptable justification for the use of armed force and is answerable for waging an aggressive war to an interplanetary tribunal, it is not jus in bello for you to disregard the rules of war with regards to non combatants. Those merchant crew are non-combatant in the strict sense of the term; they have complied with your orders. Even the Naval personnel have not acted specifically against anyone although their being in a fleet which has gone on to destroy an open city does indicate complicity; but they have surrendered. Apart from humanity's reasoning, you have no legal justification for any such action, Sir." "Thank you, Rosemary. Now, what is happening in Mountserrat?" Rosemary turned to her screen and put her headset in place to press the ear bud closer. "Yes, Henry, I've just returned to it. I was advising the Commodore on international law. Wait while I connect again to the raw intake. Commodore, Henry has re connected the U93 -99 link and wants permission to run the take to all ships. So far, Henry says, the Mountserrat Avers' farms are intact. It is only the city which has been obliterated" "Tell him to put it on all stations. Denny warn all ships' bridges what is going on and have them specifically warn watch personnel to keep their minds on the job as we are still liable to attack by that Chencon fleet. Rosemary, I'll join in this conversation. Henry, what's the damage?" "Commodore, the city of Settlement is missing; that is the only way to describe it. There doesn't look as if there is one brick left on top of another. There is a quite clear line of damage — outside the rough circle and not a thing is touched, inside — not a thing exists or stands. The armada is hove to, off to the north of the planet. There are shuttles scurrying about the old harbour. Why, I can't fathom..." "Westlake just supplied the answer" Rosemary interrupted "he was discussing that same thing with the Bollard commodore. They are looking for the Junction. Ten years ago, the Junction was at the old harbour; it shifts back and forth over the decades. It was in the new harbour alongside the Navy base and it was probably mistaken for part of the base. Westlake said that the last map series was eleven years ago and the issued NOTAMs up date the position. He says they couldn't have had the NOTAMs. They destroyed the Junction; the prize is gone." "Not permanently, dear," Sir Henry advised "that storm in the intragalactic gap eighty or so years ago, ripped our end away but it reformed after six or seven years and I expect it will reform again. I'll have a look at it when I have time. Any way, that fleet is just sitting there; they are not making any attempt to put troops or whatever on the planet." "So, we still wait and see" finished McCock. ------- Chapter 60 "Bernard, did you... ?" "Yes, my lord of Montrose, I saw the whole thing on vid as did my planet. It has done one thing for sure and answered any doubters. My capitol is virtually deserted and I haven't given the order to evacuate. The U93 feed seems to be expanded, Aggy. Did you do that?" "Yes, Bernard; I put four U40s down into n space and joined them into the feed from U93." "Would you do the same for U94 if that armada heads this way. I want a full evidence book when I bring them to justice and Tester grant, I'll spend as long as I have got to do that. Any word on Elizabeth?" "I've not tried to raise anyone there. I am confident that my coms can't be broken but while that lot sit there, I am stuck out here spectating. I suspect she didn't survive but I'd be surprised if she didn't send the heir out of the city. I don't know how far the evacuation got but I was talking with Silas Rowan about four days ago now and their Home Secretary had not followed the party line of sweetness and light and had full blown plans for an evacuation which he had started. If the monarchy survives, I'll put him up for a peerage. I'll have to go, Your Grace, my people tell me things are moving here. Clear." After a day, during which the supply train was passed through the layer, tethered together and a U40 beacon attached to reinforce U99, the Chencon shuttles were all returning to their ships. Shields which had been at half strength were coming up to full strength . McCock was content with the state of affairs existing in his group. Denny and Polack had spent their time exploring the BC and CAs and had prevailed upon McCock to retain one of the smaller tankers for reaction mass for the BC, CAs and the VWs. The Large Reaction-mass Carrier was now with the FURS in the slow squadron. Denny had created chaos on R1 and R2, collecting Holeinspace and Period equipment, whilst Tim and Des were shuttling prize crews up and down the layer. With his three Master Specialists, Denny had equipped the captured warships with the sets, tested them and then turned them over to Commander Hugh Avers with instructions 'not to bend our new ships'. Hugh's reply was not recorded but there was not a chance the captured vessels could be used in operations because to 119 they were completely new and desperately undermanned. McCock wasn't sure what he wanted to do with them at this point, so he let his neurones subside on that question. The hospital ships were on their way south in the delta band and their ETA Old Earth was in thirteen days time. McCock had informed Ambassador Abe Lindsay of the capture of the supply train and the dispatch of the Chencon hospital ships home. With a bitter grimness in his voice, Abe Lindsay assured they would be met and well cared for. The major players were coming out of their holes as they realised how little of the Chencon Navy was still in home space and censure motions in the Senate were only just being held off because of lack of independent evidence for the destruction of Settlement. "A trifle late for five million Mounties" remarked McCock. "Your Grace, to be truthful, I didn't fully believe that a civilised nation would behave in this way so therefore I, personally, cannot condemn others' lack of action. I believed that, at worst, the Chencons would take Elizabeth's surrender and the actions of the Chencons here, over the past days, led me to believe this to be the case. I didn't like it, but surrender was preferable to destruction. Now I am a government in exile trying to obtain justice. I have very strong support from Enkland and Scotchland, and Noramcon and Canal are on side as well. Eurocon appears to lean towards us as well. We will care for those poor shipwrecked mariners and if I have my way I'll dance on their gibbets." Another brief exchange of pleasantries ended the com. The Chencon armada was undergoing another regrouping as it got under way to the north. A pair of destroyers from the command group broke off to the south to where the supply train had been and could possibly be regarded as still being. One of the original divisions split into halves with one half veering to the starboard onto a least time course for Renmark and the other half division spreading itself among the other two original divisions which were heading on a least time track for Harbouria. The armada went into hyper making rapid velocities towards their destinations. "I think they are doomed" McCock crowed " and the further they travel northwards, the more certain that will be. Say twelve hours for those destroyers to get here. A couple of hours to deal with them. Up into Cosmic over Settlement to find out what is going down there. Then onto Renmark to assist them with that lot. The Chencons will take five or so days in hyper to reach Renmark so I've got time. Henry, fly off another pair of UVAs to shadow them, please." "Already done, Aggy; I've simply reprogrammed two of the four 'watchers' over Settlement and taken them out of the 93 -94 link. You might want to give some thought to making a direct link rather than as it now is via Gorgipest's U96. We have quite a few spare UVAs still; I've had a word with Theo and he has them sitting in n space ready to go at your command." "Suits, Henry; go to it, please." The knight fiddled with his PDA and then nodded to McCock. McCock looked about the conference table, "Slow, I'm getting greedy. Drop in between those destroyers, line your turrets up, drop the Holeinspace, give them a couple of active pings and give them thirty seconds to surrender and heave to. If they surrender, secure the crews in R1 and R2 and put on prize crews you can get from Felix; you might like to send Denny and his minions to put our good gear in them; Denny could command them? Suit. Good. If they don't surrender within that thirty seconds, destroy them. Get to it. Meantime, I'll let Renmark know." If warships inside defensive shields could be said to blanch, the Chencon destroyers did. Faced with a behemoth which had them cold, the captains surrendered and more strain was put onto the group to provide crews. The group moved into cosmic and thrusted to Settlement, heaving to over the top. McCock took the Barge dirtside. Sir Henry insisted on accompanying him to study the damaged Junction; he got the Barge to fly over head making records as they traversed the old harbour. McCock meantime had used his PDA to raise the Winsor's PDA. He was informed by a tired sounding Sergeant Whittle that the King was now in the High Country and wanted a briefing on the Kingdom's status if it was possible. McCock gave the King what information he had and thought it safe for the King to tour his planet. "Major Logan?" asked McCock. "He stayed with the Queen at the Palace" was the King's flat reply. "Thank you, Your Majesty. My condolences on your loss. McCock clear." McCock commed Barati who sounded most relieved to hear McCock's voice. Shelly was safe but Marcel had stayed in Settlement. When Sir Henry had completed his observations, McCock ordered Alan to go to the Blue Hills estates and to land. The manor house was deserted and it was only after McCock had disembarked and was looking about that a ground shuttle came out of the far timber line heading rapidly towards him. Earl Blue Hills was the only occupant. They shook hands and walked side by side up the paved drive towards the house. McCock briefed Blue Hills on his recent events and was pleased to learn that the Home Secretary's plan had worked to perfection for the civil population. Elizabeth had ordered the personnel off the warships out of the city and ordered Blue Hills to accompany them. Most of the peers had returned to their estates but the Commons had stayed with their electorates. About four fifths of the population had got out of Settlement; food was not going to be a problem but diets were going to be basic. One good thing had come out of this disaster and that was that Brown Hollow and his supporters hadn't believed the warnings, regarding them as an attempted coup by Elizabeth. "The star shines on one side of every cloud. We've got the civil service but nothing to service except survival and the Admiralty but no ships or dockyards" was Blue Hill's assessment. McCock disagreed, "I forgot about Griffin and Styx and remarkably so did the Chencon" laughed McCock, "the yards and orbitals there are untouched. They must have been thrown by the realisation they had literally blown up the Junction which I might add Sir Henry Bollinger thinks will re-establish itself in seven years." "I'd like confirmation of that." Blue Hills answered. "Come on, he is in the Barge doing some calculations." They increased their pace back to the Barge and interrupted Sir Henry, "Bollinger," greeted Blue Hills "you are looking well. What's this about the Junction?" Sir Henry just glared at Blue Hills for a moment, looking up from his PDA, "Be open in five to six years" and waved them away as he returned to his work. Blue Hills diplomatically retreated outside, "As curmudgeonly as ever, I see" Blue Hill remarked "before I go, is there a way for us to be in contact; we only have limited coms on Mountserrat and nothing at all off planet." "Not quite true; the King has off planet coms but I think you were meaning more from me to you. Yes? Wait please." McCock called to his pilots, "By any chance have you got a spare 119 PDA? No? Then I'll have yours, please Colin and I'll replace it back on board." McCock gave the instrument to Blue Hills telling him that McCock could reach him any time and the reverse was likely but necessarily not always. They bade farewell and entered their respective craft. As the Barge lifted off towards the Avers' farms, their next destination, a thought exploded across McCock's brain and as he appreciated it, he grinned and commed Blue Hills, "I'm not really testing this; I have a serious question. How quickly could you man a fleet?" "Yesterday" came the prompt reply "there are eighty or so formed crews instantly available. You give me the ships and I'll have a Royal Mountserrat Navy the same day." "Thank you. McCock clear." The barge landed at the Aver's landing pad to be met by an increasing crowd of people. ------- Chapter 61 McCock's PDA beeped as he was disembarking from the Barge, "Montrose? Virginia sends her compliments" came Blue Hills' voice "and she says the four RMN missile carriers are down in Scapa under Warmaranti, loading cruise missiles." "Thank her for that information, Sir. I could have a use for them. McCock clear." McCock faced the crowd clustering around, "There have been no casualties from combat; however I did hear a rumour that an Aver broke his arm falling from his bunk." "Probably young Caleb" snorted a grandmotherly women near the front of the crowd. "Need any recruits, Commodore? You might say that recent events have changed some minds around the villages" rumbled a giant in the front of the crowd to the accompaniment of nods from many of the people about him. "I have to admit that item was on my mind when I decided to inform you of the state of your relatives' health. Yes, I do have need for more spacers and the more experienced the better. We have captured a Chencon BC, four pocket battleships and two destroyers which presently have only prize crews aboard as I cannot spare any more from my other vessels. But before you rush to join, know my terms of service..." McCock delivered his standard offer and basically got the standard Avers' reply -'we can live with that'. An hour later a very heavily loaded and cramped Barge, which was based on assault shuttle design, lifted off for 119; McCock escaped the crush by retreating to the third seat in the cockpit. Denny, as Commodore of the new fleet, suggested the more commodious BC boat bay for disembarking etc. Hugh Avers had requested transfer out of the BC to Denny's flag captain in a CA citing his lack of combat experience. The need for experienced officers with recent experience threw a strain upon the resources of 119 and because of McCock's direction that the combat effectiveness of 119 be not weakened, consequently the greatest effect was felt in the VWs. Surprisingly none of the VW or MC captains were interested in a promotion transfer. As Polack suggested, "The VWs sort of grow on you." Polack declined a command staying as Fleet Engineer on Commodore's staff. Denny wasn't even given a choice. Peter Lowell moved to the BC as Captain jg. Felix and Algy metaphorically threw temper tantrums at the suggestion of leaving HACs but Felix got bumped to XO of "Vector" and Algy to Flight Operations as their alternatives. Commodore's staff meeting decided to leave Denny and his new acquisitions over Settlement and 119 (Reformed) without additives moved to cosmic for the journey to Renmark. With the reinforcement of 119 and precise knowledge of the decreased size of the Chencon fleet Renmark was facing, the Lord Protector decided to defend his planet. He still proceeded with the evacuation of his capitol, Morrisberg. Sir Henry provided the signatures and formation of the approaching Chencons. The forts had been fully stocked and were totally automated in expectation of the previously anticipated assault. The High Admiral twisted his Ruler's arm to agree the enemy would be allowed to fire upon the capitol. It wasn't that the High Admiral detested the capitol or even that there was no official state of war between Renmark and Chencon; he wanted them deep into his ambush before he triggered it. 119 wasn't used. They watched over the orbitals parked up in hyper. The High Admiral and his staff watched with grim satisfaction at the information provided by the trailing UVA as they completed their preparations. There wasn't much difference between the sizes of the fleets, about a hundred or so 'wallers' each but there were more lighter screen elements in the Renmark fleet. The major difference was in the tactics. The RSN had digested the Home Fleet campaigns of both sides, accepted that the 'waller' was a thing of the past and that the missile control vessel was the pride of the fleet. The Chencon had not even been exposed to the concept. Knowing the almost exact time the Chencons would appear allowed the High Admiral to rest his crews. The RSN went to action stations as the Chencons came out of hyper. The progress of the Chencons was carefully assessed and calculated with the High Admiral needing only to make a few minor adjustments to his preparations. Renmark harbour control transmitted the expected challenges which were ignored anyway. The massed Chencon fleet moved over Morrisberg and opened fire on the two nearest forts and the city. "Sloppy" was the only remark as the High Admiral gave the signal to engage the intruders. With thirty seconds of flame trails across the black of space, the Chencon fleet literally disintegrated. The missile load was of the swatting an insect with a sledgehammer variety. It was calculated to not give the Chencons a chance and the RSN personnel did not have a qualm about the overkill as the burnt image of Settlement was branded upon their memories. Meanwhile the Chencon armada had enveloped their twin planet of Damasa obliterating all population centres. The Mounty infantry division which was the occupying / peacekeeping force had been well forewarned and had dug in and camouflaged in the mountains. The offers of sanctuary had been scorned as a trick by the Damasan bigots but many of the women and children had accepted. The post conflict wash up comments by Captain Simon Webster, RSN, seemed to say it all: the errors of the Chencon were the result of a mix of lack of recent combat experience and the arrogance arising from the massive fleet at their command. McCock had attended the Thanksgiving Service in Morrisberg's Cathedral and joined the Lord Protector in his study to discuss events. McCock put an idea to him, "You should take Damasa over. Far be it for me to call your home poisonous, but I think you should colonise Damasa where you can live without fear of the place killing you. Your population is moved away from the usual homes, the orbitals are in transit to somewhere, the planet is in a state of tumult, your Keys, now in session, is unsettled; just pack up and go." The Lord Protector looked thoughtful for a long moment before turning to his Palace Security Captain standing beside him, "Quickly, Foxy, your first response." "I'd like my children to grow up on a 'normal' planet" 'Foxy' Hound answered. "So do I" the Lord Protector agreed, "but I'd probably live here, my home, be it ever so poisonous. It is my home. But I can send my children. And perhaps, Commodore McCock, we can interest you in a steading on our new planet. We do have a habit of using off worlders to agitate us to do better." Captain Hound could only make strangled noises. "Henry, organise an overwatch of Harbouria similar to that we had over Settlement." McCock had just wandered into the Marine Sergeants' Mess Hall where Sir Henry was exercising his Fleet Defence procedures using the simulations of the second 'puter. 119 (Reformed) was itself in overwatch of the massive Chencon armada cruising towards Harbouria some six days after it attacked Damasa. "Why, Commodore; what nefarious scheme have you in mind now?" was Sir Henry's rejoinder "I shall comply with your every wish but it is nice for the Intel and CICOfficer to be able to place things in a context." "You just have an insatiable curiosity which, one day, will lead you into disaster." "True; and how would you describe what we have gone through and appear to be going into?" Sir Henry enquired. "A disaster — but not for us. Political, Henry. Pure Old Earth politics. We have caused doubt on Sol about Chencon and when that Eurocon destroyer squadron reports back from Settlement with their vids showing exactly as our transmissions exposed, with the testimony of the survivors, there is going to be a rising outrage. We, or, at least the Mounty Ambassador have been claiming that Harbouria is still largely intact after our raid supported by individual reports from New Liege and returning mariners. If vids are transmitted now, the authors of those reports will confirm the appearances and will be a bit more believable. Also, Sat, to date, has been exactly correct about Chencon's intentions and his prediction is that Harbouria is the next target. If so, then another real time newsfax showing Harbouria being attacked by a putative ally will be even more damaging. The USW might even feel obliged to act against Chencon to bring it under some sort of control." "I can see the point, but, Commodore, I have another. Should not we be doing something, anything, to prevent further injury to anyone?" "Sir Henry, if you can arrange such, you have my authorisation to warn Harbouria of what might befall them. Short of diverting actual ships under my command, you are free to utilise any of our resources. As far as directly intervening, I remind you that I have under my command, six war ships, none of which can stand in a battle line, against a remaining enemy force of approximately four hundred and sixty ships of the line supported by nearly three hundred screening warships. And, if, by some miracle, that armada surrendered to me, who would be in whose power? There are very close to a million and a half Chencons in that lot against, say, two thousand of us and even with the Diety on our side, I don't think we could manage even the logistics of it." After holding Sir Henry's gaze for a moment further, McCock turned back to wards his quarters. "Commodore, Bollinger, I have the U40s in overwatch over Harbouria concentrating on New Liege and the signals are linked back to U94; the signals from U93 are still linked back to 94 — do you want them left in place?" "Yes, leave them, but I've been thinking about the sound links. We are carrying a much increased signal load back from Harbouria now with the vids which are the now more important. I'll examine the full situation from the third 'puter and see what is needed. I'll have to have a word with Trudie and Sam Costello. McCock clear." McCock went into his private quarters and fossicked in the retina scanner protected safe. He extracted a key stick which he strung on a keychain about his neck, closed the safe and walked to the third 'puter, sitting at the com station. He brought the 'puter fully on line from its standby mode. As it came fully to life, McCock sought out the links to the U90s over the capitols and their attendant chains of rebroadcasting U40s. He connected a headset and toggled a link, "Trudie, Aggy. Everything is going well, everybody is uninjured. In fact, we have suffered no casualties mainly because we haven't been fired upon." "Keep it that way, Aggy. This sounds official; Polack coms me all the time but none of the rest of you. Give, Aggy, and tell me why I'm not going to like it?" "Trudie you have a dark and suspicious mind. We are sending vid back from Harbouria to Sol for propaganda reasons and it is putting a load on the systems coms. I want to disconnect the sound from Harbouria — we don't need the broadcasts. Have you got any objection?" "Aggy, what's the real reason?" "I told you, the links are at their limits and the vids are the more important. The sound take is no longer of relevance. The whole scenario has been turned on its head and the original purpose for the sound take from Harbouria is no longer valid. I want to disconnect it." "You aren't telling me the real reason and I know you aren't going to tell me but I have to agree there is no need for a link of any kind now from there. I want to keep track of Old Earth events so we can offer advice to the King who is taking our reports. I'll have Sam pass on the message. The more I come in contact with you Aggy, the more I believe Shelly and the hat pin. She is here by the way and is reconnecting with Sabajhi. Sabajhi is still reserved because he is afraid she will go away again. That wasn't the way I wanted to say that. When you get back you might want to have a chat with them. Sabajhi had come to a conclusion that Shelly was not living in her mind and despite being physically present wasn't alive mentally. I'm not explaining it well, but Shelly has come back home in her mind and her son is frightened she will leave again." "Thank you, Trudie" McCock softly answered "I'll have to ask 'Mina and you to handle Shelly until the Flock can get together again. Shell died in her mind when Cowboy died and I didn't think she was coming back — it has been a long time to grieve. That pendant was the start of it, I think, but I wasn't too hopeful. Do the best you can, and get Erin to help; Shelly developed an affinity with her during the Paracelsus years. McCock clear." McCock was overjoyed at the news of Shelly but no more than a gentle smile showed. He brought his mind back to the matter at hand. The schematic of the deployed UVAs was depicted on the com screen in front of him. He toggled com links to each of the U90s to confirm their transmissions and then progressed down the linking chains of U40s. He inserted his keystick into the lock on the panel, punched a certain code into the key pad and pressed his thumb onto the pad when requested. He entered another combination and a menu dropped down. He selected the UVAs he wanted and, by a combination of menus and choices, deleted the rebroadcast capabilities leaving the Period capability and other UVA command programmes intact. He then locked the board. After checking the results, McCock returned the third 'puter to standby. McCock used his PDA to com Sir Henry, "Henry, I've disconnected the rebroadcast of the deployed UVAs on the Harbourian side of Settlement. Don't replace them and don't make known what has been done. Suit." "I wish to record my disagreement, Commodore, but I will comply." "Noted. McCock clear." There was a look of quiet satisfaction on McCock's features as he returned to his quarters. "Ambassador, McCock. There is now an overwatch over Harbouria and the diminished watch at Settlement continues." "Thank you, Montrose. I am trying to get the King to meet the Eurocons but there are logistic problems to be overcome so it might have to be vidcom. I'll get my friends onto the Harbourian vids — they are a lot more interested now. USW Senate is becoming more unsettled and I am aware of a very anti Chencon movement forming — now more consolidated than previous. A shame you couldn't get vids from Renmark." "Political decision, Abe. We didn't want any one showing sympathy for the Chencons" "Agree. Westlake clear." Whose decision was not clarified. ------- Chapter 62 McCock held his weekly full staff conference with the outriding captains joined by tight vidcom links. The Chencon were a day out from the Harbourian system and were making a change in their formation. Sir Henry led the discussion setting out the Chencon formation in more detail but the basic change was a shaking down into four divisions with the command group more fully integrated into a group. The meeting's consensus was another enveloping manoeuvre and a possible planetary cleansing. Keith Grant made the point that the Damasa operation, in retrospect, had appeared tentative with some last minute shuffling about of the heavy cruisers. Rosemary informed the meeting that Sat was talking a bit more freely and she was forming the opinion that the Grand Admiral's explanation had been an attempt to get Sat 'on side' and when he appeared to disagree, the plan was laughed off. Sat, believing that the plan was not for real, had felt justified in using it to obfuscate matters. Sat had not been kept up to date on events and still didn't believe the courier was probably sabotaged. Sir Henry reported on his efforts to warn the Harbourians of their possible fate, "The politicians I manage to speak to do not believe me and the media think my warnings are a ruse. I've shown the vids of Settlement and I have been complimented on the excellence of the fakes. The media types who talk with me rather than laugh, tell me that the courier had been sent by the USW Senate to report upon the damage to the capitol and to make arrangements for the arrival of reinforcements to the RHSN to defend the city. That probably explains why we haven't seen their navy return. Future enemy intentions after arriving at New Liege are unknown and I am not going to hazard a guess because there is literally nothing upon which to base one." Rosemary suggested "Sema?" Sir Henry simply shrugged. The discussion settled down to the nuts and bolts of the group which tried not to impinge upon the prerogatives of the First Officers' matters. McCock then threw his thought onto the table; "Why not return to Mountserrat? There is nothing we can do out here and back there we can exercise with those Mounty MCs and plan a defence of Orion arm if they come back that way. Those cruise missiles would enable us to make the Chencons pay a heavy price if they do and the lesser star systems are now critical to Mountserrat's restoration." "Aggy, what Mounty MCs?" Keith Grant demanded. "Didn't I tell you? Sorry, people, I forgot. When I was recruiting the second lot of Avers, Blue Hills passed on a message from Admiral Cunningham that the Mounty MCs were down at Scapa loading cruise. Aubrey Waramanti commands them." The comments from his staff were not polite; not insubordinate, but not polite. Slow's observation "We probably didn't need to come out here in the first place." Was not let pass by McCock "Yes we did, we had to come to Renmark's assistance." No one disagreed with that proposition. The vidcom links were broken down and the meeting broke up with Slow to coordinate the change of course and the inner staff to begin planning exercises with RMN MCs. Sir Henry and Rosemary remained seated longer than the other participants and both carefully scrutinised McCock's face before departing. 119 (Reformed) held in cosmic in a loose formation about U93 over Mountserrat and watched the vids from the extended take of U95 over Harbouria. Two Chencon divisions passed over New Liege and the harbour orbitals which 119 in another life had put out of operation. The other two divisions had diverged well to either side of the capitol city. Even knowing what was likely to happen did not prevent the feelings of profound shock that was felt by all when the Chencon fleets utterly destroyed all the accumulations of residences on the globe. Sir Henry observed "Nothing should surprise us when we consider the past history of mankind; there is record of a warlord in Old Earth's prediaspora times who destroyed everything in his path." McCock said it for them all, "It is difficult to think of them as the enemy at this point. Diety take and preserve their souls." Not surprisingly, that was the same attitude maintained by the Royals who were also watching the vid take. The protagonists in the war in this region had, even at the worst period of the Harbourian dictatorship, fought in accordance with the rules of war and respected the Geneva Conventions; there had been breaches, but they were only notable because of the very infrequency of such actions. A grim determined sadness settled over the Allies. The return of 119 (Reformed) was greeted formally with appropriate honours for the return of a detached force. 119's captains were a trifle tardy in returning the compliments and the tardiness was received by the double flash of riding lights signifying the space equivalent of the 'raspberry'. McCock quickly made arrangements to inspect his most recent acquisition and was gratified but not too surprised at the progress the crews had made towards forming a coherent company. Denny gave full marks to Peter Lowell and Hugh Avers. The only cause for tension was Commander Hugh Aver's frustration at being referred to as "The Laird" and called "Baron" when spoken to directly. The Mounty Avers took great delight in the practice and had told Commodore Viscount Denholt that the ennobling of Aver was a new thing; they had prided themselves on being lower deck but could see that in these most unusual circumstances, ability had been rewarded. And, by Diety, it would be recognised. Hugh's more repeatable explanation was that they were taking the 'mick'. McCock took "Shriek" to Scapa as he didn't want to be mistaken for whatever the MCs would be on the look out for. Being most cautious, "Shriek" lowered one of its capsules beneath the layer and McCock called on the guard frequency, "Warmaranti, this is McCock, do you read. Over" McCock had to make three broadcasts at minute intervals before "Unknown station, identify yourself and your intentions. Over" McCock recognised the voice, "Aubrey, Aggy, I'm in "Shriek" and I intend to translate over the magazines in ten minutes. I would be grateful if I didn't have to dodge a salvo of cruise. Over." "Shriek, come alone. Proceed. Clear." McCock looked at the CWO, "Take us down, please, and wait for the ten minute mark." The CWO grinned acknowledgement and directed his crew to do just that. McCock realised as they translated into n space that it was the translation which caused him the most discomfort of the two boundaries. "Shriek" was met by an armed cutter which joined hatches and a Senior Warrant Officer pulled herself through the hatches to hold herself in front of McCock. She looked hard at him before saluting and asking to use their com, "Warmer, Brent. Confirm the Commodore. Over." "Brent, bring him over. Clear" She turned to the CWO, "411 will disconnect and follow us." "Suits. Jeff, close and secure the hatch; and now where to, Warrant?" "Come back to two nine zero and there will be an asteroid dead ahead. That's us." "Shriek" got underway and Period immediately detected the asteroid. The SWO turned to McCock, "The commander sent me because I was on "Vector" in TQO with you and would recognise you. I stayed because my husband is a Mounty Chief ERA." "I can understand that" McCock smiled " my wives are all Mounties." The widened eyes of the RMN spacer caused wide grins on the 119 spacers' faces as one of the favourite topics of discussion in their mess hall was the McCock seraglio. The asteroid proved to be four joined MCs covered by metallic mesh. SWO Brent directed "Shriek" to a 'fold' in the surface which was a hatch to the bridge of an MC. Aubrey Warmaranti looked even smaller and certainly more careworn. "Commodore" and saluted. McCock returned the compliment, "I suspect you and your crews want to know what has been going down while you have been out here." Warmaranti acknowledged to observation, "We have only the very sketchiest idea of what has happened. We've got a set up in the ward room on Tabes; I use it to keep the crews informed. Its all cable — no transmissions. I have never felt so helpless — here we cower with six million nests and we are defenceless and totally ignorant of any detail of what has been happening. Pat, get the Commodore coffee. Sir, sit there. There's the mic." McCock made himself comfortable, "Where do I start?" 'The last we were aware of, before the Lady ordered me down here" Warmaranti advised "was that a large Chencon fleet was heading our way and the Queen was negotiating." "Riiighht! Steel yourselves. A Chencon fleet of five hundred of the line attacked Settlement without any declaration of war. The city had been declared 'open' and the navy was laid up in ordinary in the new harbour. They just came over and literally burnt Settlement out of existence. The Home Sec had got the women and children out and most of the adults. The Queen and her Commons remained behind; actually the parliamentarians elected to remain with their electorates so there are a few of the Commons alive. About half of the lords have survived as they evacuated to their estates to handle the evacuees and to manage the farms to feed them About a million perished. The orbitals are gone. You are the only RMN vessels left in the kingdom and the only other forces are the detachment in the new territories under Admiral Fernvale and I don't know if she was informed of what was going down. The King is safe in the High Mountains and is directing the organising for food and protection, ah, from the elements, that is. The Chencon fleet moved on and a detachment of a hundred or so wallers headed for Renmark which destroyed them. The Chencon plastered Damasa on the way through to New Liege which they totally destroyed, the whole planet. The Chencons are still out in the Perseus arm heading galactic west — we think for Sema but perhaps Bhute. 119 (Reformed) consists of a CVL, a frigate, my four VWs and a couple of captured Chencon ships — we got lucky. My CVL has a rather large 'puter over supply and with your nests, I think we can make the Chencons pay a very high price if they come back this way." McCock and Warmaranti made the arrangements for the MCs to proceed to Settlement in hyper when the asteroid was disassembled. Allow five days and the MCs would be reporting to whoever was now in charge of the RMN. ------- Chapter 63 "Shriek" returned to Mountserrat via cosmic. McCock used the Barge to call upon Blue Hills. That family had moved back into their mansion and had begun the task of increasing agricultural production so as to gainfully utilise the evacuees. Coming down, McCock had seen what appeared to be surveyor parties in several widely separated areas laying out grids. McCock mentioned this to Blue Hills who enlightened him, "The late Queen ordered my brother to accompany the Crown Prince into the hills and made the deliberate point to take the City Engineering Department with him. Since the Destruction, Willie has organised the laying out of cities in which the population will reside. His Majesty has managed to establish communications with most of the Manors and has sent out contact parties to those He knows of that he hasn't been able to raise. The Lords in their Manors have become the local foci of governance and the King is gathering them in to once again form a government. There has been a surprising degree of cooperation with his ideas. My cynical senior wife puts that down to the presence of the armed forces scattered about who have remained loyal to the Crown. When the fleet was laid up, the Admiralty simply ordered the crews to separate areas of the continent with dependents; the Space Lords got the cooperation of that peerage who have lands to accept ships' companies. What has happened now is that each ship's company is in the process of construction of a town according to a single plan supplied by the Chief City Engineer; there is already a chain of command in place so organising it is not so difficult. For the rest, King Harold is using the half pay captains as the focus of government and all serving and ex service personnel are to contact the Senior Naval Person to be organised into a pseudo ship's company." Blue Hills laughed, "Harold already has to settle disputes — several villages and towns want the same name. I've got King William, Naseby and Mountserrat on my lands and there are another two to come" Blue Hills sighed, "it is going to be hard times but with luck, the Kingdom can survive as such; provided that no external element intervenes." Here Blue Hills looked directly at McCock. McCock returned the 'look', "Andrew, I've got one CVL, five light warships, four of which are museum pieces, and four MCs loaded with older generation MDMs, plus a captured BB, four CAs and two DDs. The captured ships are just manned and are capable of manoeuvring in company but the crews are still not conversant with the weapons systems. The lot of them are pre-nest designs with little emphasis given to missile combat — the things are probably designed for population suppression rather than fleet actions. I can't protect myself let alone a planet with what I've got in the face of what's left of the Chencon fleet. It is now down to about four hundred and fifty of the line. The full Renmark Space Navy took out a hundred of the enemy when the Chencons hived off that small, by their standards, task force. I've contacted Wamaranti, that's why I'm here, to tell you that his four loaded MCs will be here in about five days; he has to take his camouflage down. Ha! He disguised the squadron as an asteroid by covering himself in metallic mesh. Damned effective, I can tell you; "Shriek" didn't sound any alarm and, even knowing what I was looking at with Period, I still couldn't see anything but an asteroid. Has anyone contacted Fernvale?" "No. Harold decided that her force wouldn't make any difference and by leaving her out in the New Territories, we have access to processed materials. I don't know, come to think on it, if she is up to date on events. We, the Admiralty, that is, would have been dispatching routine intelligence updates but that has stopped. Satan's canines, there is so much to think about. You have to meet with Harold and get things sorted out. You are the one person in this part of the galaxy who has any idea of what is going on. Virginia is serving as his Naval Adviser; I'm better at managing my lands so I stay here and Virginia commutes using atmospheric craft." "Suit. I'll com him and make arrangements. I'll keep you informed." The men shook hands and McCock made his way back to the Barge aware of clusters of people in the distance who appeared to be looking towards the Barge. A thought sprung to the front of McCock's brain and he extracted his PDA and commed Blue Hills who promptly answered "Aggy, what have you forgotten?" "Do you have a planetary newsfax left?" "No. We have local media but with the orbitals gone, we lost all that. Why? If you can help there, it would be of great benefit all round." "I'll have a word with my people and get back to you. McCock clear." McCock commed Sir Henry, "Henry, it slipped my mind. Mountserrat has no planet wide coms." "Commodore, it slipped mine as well. And before you ask, yes I can re-establish a simple net and can put in a com network as well. It will be primitive and a bit like the party line facilities of yore. I'll have a plan for you to discuss when you return." "My ETA "Vector" is thirty five minutes, Henry." "Not a problem, Commodore. I'll have it." "Good. McCock clear." Sir Henry was as good as his word. He was waiting for McCock in the Admiral's conference room. "Commodore, here is what I suggest." McCock looked at the holo as he helped himself to coffee. He took a taste, savoured it and saw Trojan's face in the serving hatch. In response to McCock's raised eyebrow, Trojan explained, "Jamaican Blue." McCock tilted his head interrogatingly, and Trojan continued, "Commander Thoreau had a warehouse up in the High Mountains in what is now your lands as Marquis Montrose. It contains all sorts of high end... , well, ... ah, luxuries ... which he used to provide to the upper end of the Settlement market and there is a part of it containing your special coffee. After the break up of "The Queen's Own", the Commander employed me to work there. When the Commander heard about your new fleet, he sent me back to look after you. Baroness Merton-Avers has contacted me and the Commander appointed her and me as trustees of the corporation he established for your children which is his importing business and his assets which are in Crediton Suisse in Geneva. So if you want your coffee, you will have to be nice to me; with respect, Commodore. I do need to make a trip down there sometime to get some more and to make contact with Bill Watson who is the manager." "Trojan, that is blackmail of the lowest kind." "Of course it is" Trojan smirked. "I'll put your request on my things to do list. Now, Henry?" "Commodore, I will need six UVAs in mobile orbit about the planet; I can give vid and voice media both local and planetary and I can replace the telephonic system that had been in place pre Destruction. Commodore Gort tells me that Griffen and Styx can be linked into the telephonic system; we think their newsfax media systems are untouched." "How quickly can you get this in place?" "I consulted with Commodore Denholt's dungeon dwellers and they will need a day and a half to set up the UVAs — they will simply use the previously allocated frequencies; and about a day to put the UVAs into orbit. So three days, commodore, should see it up and running." "Get to it, Henry. Be warned, there will have to be a conference with... 'teeth whatever it is that now rules Mountserrat. I suppose they are under Martial Law or something like that. An absolute monarchy? I don't know but I will have to find out. Thank you, Henry." Sir Henry scurried and McCock sat, enjoying his coffee, looking through the holo of Mountserrat and its circling comsats. Sally and Evan found him still seated there holding the long emptied mug. "Daily reports, Aggy; and I need a personal flivver to make my rounds of the group" Sally announced. "I was thinking of "Offspring" and Algy agrees that we should have a standard life boat in "Shriek" rather than a one off. It would bring "Shriek" a bit more into his logistics chain." "What does Polack think about that idea?" "That's right, I forgot about that, Aggy. GmBH bought her though. No, I wont bother Polack about such a trifle; just your authorisation and Algy will arrange." "Approved Sally. What have you got for me, Evan?" "Harold, first of that name, of Mountserrat and their Dominions across the Galaxy, King, commands their House of Lords to meet at etcetera. The day is now five days distant ... I have got to love this man, he has a sense of humour or history... "in the meadow that is called Runnymede". The coordinates are given and it is actually just outside The Village and where the Ghorkhali hold their tribal gatherings." "How did we get the message? I saw Blue Hills this morning and he did not mention it." "Harold used his connection to Trudie and she made a general message to all and then went 'all Trudie': those holding feudal alliegence to the Marquis of Montrose are to wear Grenoble Gray uniform, forage caps for the males and gray felt ladies hats to pattern SKU 11334; cherry red facings for the military, old gold for the financial sector and royal blue for the services to the community; cap and collar badges are those of the wearer's house. And she details rank badges for the level of peerage." "Diety! What is she about?" McCock questioned. Sally answered that, "She wants to rub their noses in it, Aggy. Trudie comes from a lineage which prided itself on giving just reward — being royalty, of course, they didn't always but that was the idea — and she thinks Polack and the rest of you got the rough end of the pineapple; so..." "There are some who hold me responsible for what has happened" McCock pointed out, "if I hadn't undertaken that raid this might never have occurred; and there is some truth in that position." "And if you hadn't taken out the fleet at New Liege, how long would it have been before Harbouria was knocking on Settlement's door? You know the strength of the RMN after the battle of Home Space. There was virtually nothing left and it was only the threat of the cruise missiles that kept them at bay until they could collect a fleet the size of the Chencons; and RHSN was into nest DNs too. The fault was Brown Hollow's, fairly and squarely, and I, for one, am not apologetic about his death." McCock let Sally's comments 'lie on the table', instead directing Evan, "Evan, call a staff meeting for tomorrow four of the morning watch and get a link to all our peers plus Trudie. I don't have any idea about this and I would like some ideas. Meantime, we are setting up com satellites for Mountserrat in the next few days and I should let the ruling body know about it." McCock extracted his PDA and commed 'the palace' "Commodore, Good afternoon to you. Captain Whittle. How may I help you?" "Congratulations, Captain. I would speak with His Majesty." "Hold for a moment, please sir." The link went dead for a short minute before a tired voice spoke, "Yes Commodore; can I be of service." "The other way about, Your Majesty. My communication people will be putting communication satellites into orbit about Mountserrat in about three days. They will be utilising the old frequencies so the surviving nets will be able to reach further. The national nets will also be there if somebody can hook onto them. The telephonic net will be up as well. My advisers say it will be a bit primitive but effective. Links to Griffen and Styx might also be in place, but there is some question about that. I have received your summons but not an agenda. Is there one?" "Not as yet; but now I have planetary coms, I can make an address to the nation. This will light a fire under my advisers to draw one up. Can Baron Granville speak with your expert?" "Sir Henry Bollinger will com him tomorrow, say eight in morning watch, using this link. Also, be advised, Your Majesty, I have six Harbourian assault shuttles at your service as shuttle buses for the meet." "Commodore, my gratitude; you give me much to think upon. Harold, clear." ------- Chapter 64 McCock called his staff meeting to order. The layout was unusual in that McCock sat at the middle of one long side of the table with his people crammed closely together along that side and nobody sat on the other side; that side was occupied by the two tiers of projections of the full staffs of 119, GmBH, GMBH, Bollard Line and those from The Manor House on Gorgipest. McCock welcomed them and asked Sir Henry Bollinger to present the intell update of events. Sir Henry started his summary at the arrival of the Chencon fleet at the southern border of the Kingdom. The stark recitation of events still caused reactions of shock and sadness among the listeners. The end was a bit more up beat as it covered the progress to that point on Mountserrat and ended with a report on the coms, "I contacted Baron Granville i a w Commodore's instructions and there will be comsats in place mid first watch today; we will spend until eight middle watch testing and checking and the plan is that at eight morning watch every com and screen which has still got power even if it is not powered up will start an alarm signal. There will be a recorded message from the Palace announcing that at midday, King Harold will address his Kingdom. The good Baron and I agree that the net will not be opened for public use until after the message and the King will make that announcement and warn users the net will probably be jammed by users. Granville wants to get local authorities to compile a list of their populations so he can collate it and then publish it; they do have some 'puter capability some of which is the smaller sized equipment from the government departments which were told to bug out. The Commodore will now allow some questions. Please identify yourself and then ask the question." "Trudie Kowalski, Sir Henry, what are the Chencons aims? To date, it just seems like senseless destruction." "Not quite, Your Highness; The damage to Mountserrat and Damasa was strictly limited to the major population centre. In both cases the expenditure of energy burned both capitols down to bedrock but nothing else was targeted. We don't know about Morrisberg on Renmark as only a Chencon task force was dispatched there and the Lord Protector's fleets destroyed it. Harbouria on the other hand has been destroyed as a planet and that was deliberate. Speculation only but as the jus ad bellum for the Chencon expedition was the alleged damage to New Liege which we know was minimal, the Chencons decided to present a totally destroyed planet as evidence of a Mounty war crime. The selectivity of the damage would indicate a plan but the reason behind the plan is unguessable. Ah, Sung, you've got something?" That vid showed a very haggard Yin Sung almost hidden by a large vid screen, "Yin Sung, Chenologist, MUGC. I have been examining the material from the destroyed courier and I've got a strong feeling that the Chencon Grand Admiral has gone rogue. The 'puter files and the chips give me the impression that their Committee wanted their fleet to stop on the border while the Committee negotiated with Elizabeth from a position of strength. There is mention of long term plans having to be moved up in time. I had Rosemary question some captured Chencons about the Grand Admiral and she formed a picture of an ascetic descendent of a long dead Chen dynasty. The overall picture is terribly incomplete but I think the Armada has gone rogue." "Sung, Rosemary Peebles, I'll have another meaningful talk with Sat; I've felt he is not dealing straight with me" spoken in a flat emotionless accentless tone which caused Slow Gort, for one, to gently shudder. "Joshua Galbraith, where are the Chencons now?" "My Lord, they are heading galactic west away from Harbouria still in the Perseus arm, destination unknown. They have detached two DDs as of this morning which are heading galactic south east presumably expecting to link up with either the Renmark detachment or the supply train. We have a UVA tracking them." "GmBH?" asked McCock after no further questions to Sir Henry. Theo Avers presented a one minute update on the yards and manufacturies of Gorgipest followed by a similar report from Paul Avers on Chagos who reported a full order book for the dock but as yet no client, except Bollard Lines, was interested in Adama power plants. Baron Galbraith of Gorgipest presented the financial report for the conglomerate which showed a small positive growth overall with all financial institutions consolidating after the tumult of the past several years. The discussion on the royal summons was desultory and largely ineffectual in forming any coherent policy in the absence of an agenda. Trudie made two points; firstly her impression was the King was seeking support for his House and a form of government and secondly, those holding Montrose as their liege lord were to wear the uniform prescribed and attend the House of Lords as attendants of Montrose; a procedure sheet was available on Trudie's PDA general page for all to peruse; she would be garbed in the Amaranti colours and would be on the arm of Viscount Washton. McCock had the Chencon DDs shadowed by a U90 with its sitcom deployed beneath the layer. This had caused a small hassle as Sir Henry had originally dispatched a U40 for the task as the 90 inventory was being worked hard; with his Commodore's consent, Sir Henry recalled U99 from its tagging role with the supply train and dispatched a second 40 to reinforce the remaining UVA. Sir Henry reported the supply train had drifted somewhat in the cosmic winds but not significantly enough to be other than a scientific note. Sir Henry did make the Commodore sit up when he mentioned the deleterious effect of cosmic radiation upon the vessels of the supply train as they were hove to without shields. Sir Henry regretted mentioning the matter which was of scientific interest only as he then had to satisfy the Commodore that the life of the vessels most exposed was diminished by nearly two minutes for every day so exposed; McCock had sufficient maths from his engineering to comprehend the Astronomer's explanation and made him 'sweat' alleviating his Commodore's concern. After some thought, McCock detailed Polack to take a crew in "Shriek" to power up and recover another medium sized tanker (an LRC - large reaction-mass carrier) from the supply train, pointing out that the captured Chencon warships were fusion powered with comparatively short endurance. The Harbourian shuttles had been 'dusted off', fuelled and readied for use and King Harold's staff liased with Commodore Tim Avers on the itinerary planning. The Sovereign's Address appeared to bring the Kingdom to a standstill. King Harold stated his claim to the throne claiming the loyalty of his subjects, proclaimed the law "extant", appointing the "Lords of the Realm" as the governors of their lands until such time as a Commons could be elected to advise the Sovereign, authorising the 'governors' to appoint judges and sheriffs giving preference to those who had held such positions previously and ordering his defence force personnel to assist the civil powers in maintaining law and order — as Angie noted; a neat way of proclaiming Martial Law without actually saying it. All surviving Lords were to assemble in the Meadow called Runnymede in three days time for the purpose of organising governance of the Kingdom. The com net would be used to issue a special summons to the greater Lords but if this did not succeed, then the Sovereign apologised and asked they accept the general summons to attend. All lords were requested to contact the com link of the Heralds' Office to give their locations and to arrange transport if needed. As Trudie observed "He's trying to pacify the prima donnas; hopefully only until he can establish his power base. He can't afford dissent but he must have cooperation or the Kingdom dies." Evan, in his role of McCock's PA, commed the Heralds' Office, finally getting through, "Heralds'Office, I am Cornet Turner, please state the name of the senior peer and the number of his subordinates." "I am not sure who is senior, I don't know if we should go by command structure or by peer ranking" replied Evan. "What is the problem, Sir?" queried the tired voice of a person having dealt with prickly egos all morning. "I am Evan Evans, Personal Assistant to Commodore H M S McCock, Marquis of Montrose, commanding 119 (Reformed) Task Group. One of his sons and the boy's mother outrank him as peers..." "Evan Evans of Curragh?" interrupted the Cornet to the sound of 'puter clicking "Not absolutely correct" replied Evan who was used to dealing with the punctilious correctness of the Heralds, "I am the third son." "Please hold, my lord" and the com went dead, to return with the rich tones of a man long used to making public announcements, "My lord, Austen Neville, Herald King-at-arms. It is my sad duty to inform you that your family did not survive the Destruction and you succeed to the Earldom of Curragh. May I offer my condolences." "Thank you Sir Austen; like many others I did not know of the fate of my family. I expected to hear of them during the Session. Let me catch my breath..." "My lord, I take it you will be attending the levee before the convening of the House." "Sir Austen, I know nothing about a levee and this is all news to me. However, I shall attend in the entourage of Montrose and I return to the point I was discussing with Mr Turner; the order of precedence." "Ah, yes" came the Herald's chortle, "this had been pointed out to me by the Prime Minister; I had time to consider the matter. The family will enter in familial order and the attendants in order of precedence. I take it you will be returning to your fleet at each day's end? Good, now the numbers please?" Evan did some quick mental rearrangements, "Fifteen peers, three staff and seven men-at-arms." "Mmm, your own transport?" "Yes" Evan confirmed " we will be using the Admiral's Barge." "Runnymede Control is 5675 and please call fifty klicks out. Also be advised that seating is on a first come first served basis as we cannot, in the present state of affairs, allocate precedence and also peers will not be announced." "That makes sense" observed Evan. "You have no idea how much that simplifies my task. I am hoping the King will adopt the system permanently." "Thank you Sir Austen. Curragh clear." Evan formally used his title for the first time and didn't just know how he felt about it. ------- Chapter 65 "Information alpha for Runnymede control. Temperature is sixteen degrees Celsius and pressure is one zero one ninah. Wind is from the planetary south west at twelve knots gusting to eighteen. Shuttles for full stop are to use the western pad to a hover and then follow the marshal to the parking area. Call control on 5675 at fifty klicks... Information alpha..." Alan Avers switched to guard and continued the descent through the atmosphere. Colin Avers remarked "Approaching fifty, Alan. Buckle up, Commodore." McCock, on the third seat in the cockpit, turned his attention back from the black scar just discernable with its smoke smudge on the northeastern horizon, tightened his harness, "Tight." Alan selected com 1, which was set on 5675, and spoke into his mic "Runnymede control, "Vector" Barge with Montrose, at eighteen thousand at the fifty with alpha." "Barge, identified, continue approach, call tower on 4564 at twelve thousand." "Tower, 4564, at twelve thousand, Barge." Alan observed to the others, "Not much traffic about; so far I've only seen the Riders' shuttles." "Yeh, but look at that parking area, everything from a Model "A" yacht to a cattle carrier" replied Colin "looks like they are using whatever they ended up with." "Or perhaps combining farm work with the summons" suggested McCock. Both pilots acknowledged the idea. Colin retuned com1 to 4564, "On tower, Alan." "Thanks Colin." And pressed the PTT (Press-to-talk), "Tower, Barge at twelve thousand." "Barge, you are number one, straight in approach to the western pad to hover; vacate pad to your right and follow the Marshall." "Western pad and right to the Marshall." Alan descended to the mountain pad catching the Barge in the ground effect and then followed the Marshall on his single seat runabout to the park; with Colin watching the starboard side, Alan put the Barge down and shut down the power plant. "Cheated death, yet again Aggy. You'd better join the throng; don't worry, we'll look after the victuals" said Colin. McCock just fixed him with a look to which Colin Avers just grinned. McCock and his party moved along the well trodden grass towards the large marquee. As the group moved out of the parking area, the six Harbourian shuttles landed and parked beside their pad discharging their passengers and shutting down. "We look as if we are the last to arrive. Good." said Trudie. McCock looked at her and she continued cryptically, "appearances and timing, Aggy. You men, relieve the Ghorkhali on the trolley." And answering McCock's questioning look, she explained "The Ghorkhali are bodyguards so let them guard — a matter of priorities, any one can push a trolley." McCock did not let his confusion show. The Ghorkhali moved about the party with Major Peebles at point. Two men in RMN black waited for them and Major Peebles, after a hard look at them, passed them in. McCock greeted them "Gold Roper, Sir Crypian?" shaking their proffered hands. "Baronet" explained Sir Crypian " Me ancestors had the title before first fleet." "We wish to sit with your party, Aggy." "Pleased to have you." The group entered the marquee to find Trudie directing the men in tipping the trolley upside down after removing the folding desks and erecting them as parliamentary cross benches. The trolley became a dais behind the front seats and seats were placed upon it. The end result was a tight presentation of a power block with McCock as the centre piece with his wives and heirs behind him supported by his vassals and protected by his men-at-arms. Trudie got the extra seats for Gold Roper and McDermid and then studied her handiwork, nodded in satisfaction and then sat at the left side of the group with Polack on her right - very evidently a Montrose vassal. There was an increased volume of muttering from the assembled lords on either side of the marquee at this blatant demonstration of independence. Trudie's face remained emotionless. After several minutes, there was a stirring at the southern end and Sir Austen Neville, in full regalia and accoutrements of the Winsor Herald King-at-arms, entered to stand before the raised solid 'throne' facing the Lords, "His Majesty King Harold the first." And then turned to face the throne upon which Harold seated himself. The Peerage had risen in homage and took their seats on the royal command. The Herald bowed. Harold addressed His Lords; "Welcome, my lords to this extraordinary session of the House and our thanks for your attendance. We make the great presumption of your allegiance. We need that allegiance for the task ahead. First; Herald, there is a stranger in our midst. Introduce her." Sir Austen marched down the centre of the seated lords and approached Trudie, who rose. Sir Austen offered his left arm and escorted her to stand before Harold, "Gertrude, Princess of Amaranti." The grin which spread across Polack's face nearly met around the back of his head; he knew how much she hated her forename. Her son exchanged looks with his father. "Your Majesty, my Emperor Augustus of Amaranti presents his compliments and commands me to act as his plenipotentiary to your Kingdom. My credentials." And passed the scroll to Sir Austen who tendered it to Harold. McCock looked at Gus-gus, :Your mother has been a busy little bee." "You have no idea, Uncle Aggy, she has been a bit hard to live with for a while." Polack patted his son's forearm in sympathy. Meanwhile the pantomime was played out. "Our thanks to the Emperor and you are welcome. Please take your place." Trudie returned to her seat and then muttered to Aggy across her husband and son, "Now let the bastards try to undermine him." The vehemence and the choice of words truly shocked the listeners, she continued "There have been some mutterings and I am ever so glad Brown Hollow has been incinerated." Harold vacated his throne ordering his lords to remain seated and stood on the level ground, "Second. Montrose? How stand you?" Every lord present understood the significance of the request; McCock commanded the only force remaining to the Kingdom and it was a small fleet loyal to McCock personally. McCock stood and advanced several steps to reply in a quiet voice which in the absolute silence carried to all, "Your Majesty, my allegiance is to my own. My loyalty is to the Throne." Harold stood still for a long moment regarding McCock with a level gaze, before decisively nodding and returning to his throne. The King had the fleet's support but not to the death. It was enough. "My Lords, we intend to restore a long lost tradition. Because of the circumstances, it is just not feasible to have regular sittings of the full House. We ask that you elect twenty five of your wisest, who will meet regularly to advise us as our diwan. Thereafter, for some time, until a Commons can be assembled, we expect those Lords to meet the citizenry in durbars so as to keep us informed of our subjects' wants and needs. We now adjourn this gathering for a luncheon to regather in three hours. Be advised we have appointed the Baron Granville as our prime minister, not to be one of the twenty five." A broad smile spread across the King's face, "That should be enough time for the haggling. My Lords." All stood as the King departed followed by his Herald. The Dowager Duchess of Western Hove moved in front of the cross benches and announced in a clear contralto voice "The House of Montrose stands apart." McCock invited Cochrane and McDermid to join the Montrose for luncheon in the Barge. The shuttle crews were called to attention as McCock passed; he returned the salute and the crews returned to relaxing in the shade of their shuttles finishing their lunch. Evan Cochrane and Crypian McDermid made a point of sitting near McCock for the lunch which was a smorgasbord spread over some of the seats. McDermid looked a little startled initially at the presence of the ghorkhali mingling with the party and then joining the boys in the Barge's shade while the olders sat about inside. McDermid mentioned the boy's weapons causing the Amaramti Plenipotentiary to make a most unlady like noise while the rest of the Montrose chortled. "A sore point, Crypian" McCock advised. Crypian raised his eyebrows at Evan Cochrane who nodded back at him, "Aggy, I've got 3rd BC on my lands and I was thinking that perhaps I should throw my hat in the ring for the 'diwan'. I seek your counsel and advice — for a change." McCock contemplated Cochrane for several minutes, and then explained "No, I don't think any navy should be one of the twenty five; you should keep apart. There is a very outside chance a rabbit might jump out of a hat but mean time..." McCock entered a com link in his PDA, "Wayne, McCock. Where are you? Coincidence. Could the dock be shifted to Mountserrat? How long would it take to ready? Yes, we could do that as we have the metal at Gorgipest. I'll have Denny talk it out with you. McCock clear. Evan, I have two yards, or at least, GmBH, has two orbital yards on Old Earth and we recently acquired an orbital factory making a somewhat revolutionary ships' power packs; 119 has them in all its new vessels; I can't get them into the VWs. Whatever, I am going to relocate the dock at Pachristmas to Settlement and the Adama plant to Gorgipest. There is no point bringing the Adama plant here as you don't have the necessary metal in enough quantities. The orbital dock could go into the hands of whatever Buships is going to be. GmBH will hang onto the Adama plant with first preference for Admiralty. I think I also need a word with Admiral Cunningham; I very much doubt she will not be notional commander Home Fleet. I am now going to put my feet up and rest before returning to that lion's den." The election of the twenty five proved surprisingly difficult. Harold had made the point that he needed some of the landed peerage for his diwan and these were the most reluctant not having been active in the House of Lords previously. Blue Hills was genuinely reluctant to move back into politics but as his sponsor pointed out he had the experience as both a civil lord and a naval commander plus the knowledge of his great estates. The remaining hours were spent discussing the coordination of education, health and public works. The comments were constructive and the consensus was for survival of the nation. The durbars were to be held weekly and the King's Diwan monthly with weekly com net conferences for the twenty five. The Prime Minister was to remain in the 'Palace' directing the Heralds' Office who were to act as the civil service — to Sir Austen's obvious disgust. The House stood adjourned until recalled or four months whichever occurred first. ------- Chapter 66 Somehow Lt Cdr Younger, RMN, had joined the Barge on its return to 119. McCock joined them as they tried to huddle inconspicuously in the aft of the passenger compartment of the Barge. The group consisted of Sir Henry, the Flock and Younger. "Tell me" McCock requested in his sweetest voice "what conspiracy are you hatching today?" "Cliff, don't pay any attention to grumbles there, he is just the Boss" Polack advised whereas Slow fronted McCock "Stop frightening the lad, Aggy, and besides it's for our benefit." "So? As I have heard you say, give!" Denny made the explanation, "I had a good look at the captured ships' 'puters to see if Younger's work could be applied. It probably can. With the arrival of the RMN missile carriers, 119 doesn't have enough surplus 'puter power; we can run our own four and possibly one or two of the "Vulcans" but not four and that is only possible because the "Vulcans" are loaded with cruise. The 'puter surplus of the Chencons will run two of the "Vulcans" provided there are enough Keys in inventory; Hugh says there should be as that production line was not shut down. What I was going to suggest was we top up our MCs from "Darling", send her back to Gorgipest, unload the MDMs and reload with that half load of cruise, pick up a bucket load of Keys, return via Scapa and fill up with cruise which are still in production there. Should take about four days. Meantime we introduce the "Vulcans" to the Chen ships." "And where, pray, are you putting "Darling" now loaded with cruise?" "With the slow squadron again so as not to mix loads" explained Denny piously. McCock considered the proposition; certainly having an MC of cruise was attractive, "Approved. Go to it." "Can we introduce the 'Dungeon Dwellers' to Younger?" requested Sir Henry. "Only if they promise not to blow up my ship's 'puters, and keep them, all of them, under control. Slow. Denny. Polack. I still have occasional nightmares about some of the things that happened with the Crypt." "Hey!" Polack expostulated "you were part of that." "True" admitted McCock "and now there is Henry Bollinger." Looks of realisation spread over faces as the Flock stared at the gnome. A life boat tentatively came out of hyper to lead the "Vulcans" back to home base. "Diety, that man's paranoid" muttered Felix who had "Vector's" bridge at that watch and then passed the information onto Slow; "Direct them over to Denny, Felix." "They are already in com, Ma'am." Over the next several days, there was much boat movement in the Chen squadron. "Darling" made her appearance two days later like a porcupine in an electrical storm as Polack described her. The Keys which gave her that appearance were gradually detached by the 'Chens' EW techs as part of the training exercises. The Chen squadron deployed out to the PRD — more habit than need — to exercise together and the slow squadron deployed to the New Harbour area for their exercises. McCock sortied in the "Sprightly" frigate with "Shriek" in company. Captain Kowalski retrieved the LRC and fifteen ERAs and ten ABs under Ensign Holly Wilson joined "Sprightly" from Chen DD 1. Ensign Wilson was a trifle apprehensive about being detailed to attend upon the Commodore but her seniors were just confused without the concern. McCock enlightened Wilson as "Sprightly" translated into hyper, "Over a week ago, two DDs were detached from the armada heading galactic south east presumably to find either the fleet which was sent to Renmark or the supply train. I suspect the supply train as the armada hovered over Harbouria long enough. About a third of the way back across the Orion — Perseus gap, one DD was abandoned and the second without shields has continued on its way. We are retrieving the DD. We should be alongside in five hours or so. You will detail an EVA to inspect the DD and if safe, we will join hatches, maintaining airlock integrity, and the rest of your party in hard suits will bunker it from the LRC. Captain Kowalski will join you to power up main power plant and bring up 'enviro'. If everything goes, then we'll send some victuals over and the DD will move in company back to 119. Hopefully we should be back about eight first watch. When we get back, your party will have to stay on it for some time on care and maintenance as I can't crew her. Needless to say, you will have to put up with a lot of people delving into the 'puter. Any questions?" "No sir; I really don't know enough about the operation to even know where to start with questions." McCock smiled at her, "Brief your people and make sure your suit coms all function." Polack struck the first snag, "Harryfor, can you run some power lines over? The power plant was not shut down; they emptied the bunkers with the plant still running and I'll have to purge the fuel lines." Holly Wilson found the second, "Captain, the enviro master breaker has burnt out — must have happened when the plant surged from fuel depletion." A conference decided to run the power plant and if the DD would move under her own power, to recover it to 119 with crew in hard suits. It was uncomfortable and it was six middle watch by the time the DD joined with R1 whose techs quickly replaced the burnt out breaker. A somewhat tired Ensign felt the first warmings of enviro as she dossed down, still in her hard suit, on the bridge of the DD. What McCock had failed to make known was that the armada was still proceeding galactic east but without shields. The destination appeared to be Sema and its planetary bunkering facilities. After the salvage of the Chen DD, Yin Sung come up from Gorgipest to metaphorically rip the 'puter apart. Ensign Wilson was not happy about the 'metaphorical' part of the description and made sure she was hovering over Sung's shoulder — she had a taste of a 'cold' ship and did not wish to ever experience it again; she swore she would never get the sensation out of her bones of the cold lifelessness of near absolute zero (it was never that cold as the insulation built into the hull retained some heat — Kelvin, that is, not Celsius). While Wilson worried about the enviro on 'her' DD, McCock revised his knowledge of planetary bunkering using his links to both Gorgipest and Old Earth resources. Provision of reaction mass required a star of certain type whose body could be accessed to provide nuclear material which could be physically treated to become bunkerable / tankerable reaction mass. It was a major engineering undertaking to tap into the star, extract a stream of nuclear material and hold it in stasis until moved on for treatment. The power to hold the stream in stasis came from the nuclear material powering a plant co-located with the bunkering facility. There were only three or four companies in the galaxy who could tap the star and set up the stasis. If the stasis went down, the nuclear stream retracted to the star and the whole lengthy process began again. There would be one advantage and that was knowing that bunkerable material was present. A considerable downside was the length of time before the nuclear material could be streamed, even if the stasis plant was in situ as the work began. At the completion of his studies, McCock smiled grimly to himself and sauntered off to CIC to talk with Sir Henry. "Good morrow, Commodore; to what do I owe the pleasure of your company this day? You have that po-faced look about you that warns me you have a scheme ricocheting about your cranium." "Henry, you have a dark and suspicious mind." "No; I simply make logical deductions from available facts and then let my neurones enjoy some fantastical nightmares and viola, there is your scheme. Seriously, Your Grace, I don't know what is on your mind but I know intuitively I am not going to like it." "Becoming formal, Sir Henry?" "Yes, Sir. It is my defence mechanism to preserve my sanity." "Very well, Sir Henry. Where are the Chencons and your assessment of their intentions?" "I need one more straw, Commodore. What is your assessment of their fuel status?" "In full? Suit. The armada consists of star system design warships with an endurance suitable for that but seriously inadequate for galactial work. The armada rebunkered at Mountserrat's southern border. I believe that was a precaution not a necessity as I have formed the opinion the Chencons had information that the bunkering facilities at New Liege were still intact but didn't appreciate that it relied on tankers from distant stars to provide the reaction mass. 119 didn't bother to take out the fueling station for that reason. Be that as it may, the armada moved to Harbouria at economical cruise velocity and managed their shields en route so as to minimise fuel usage. They discover the mistake. There must have been some frantic calculation undertaken on that flagship. Retracing their steps back towards an approaching supply train would leave the armada four days out of fuel before they meet up. Remember, they have the experience of managing the supply train from Sol to Mountserrat and that must have been a worry. The arrogance of the Grand Admiral in moving without obtaining confirmation his supply train was intact let alone moving, leaves me questioning his thought processes let alone his command experience. The Grand Admiral could have remained hove to over Harbouria and my estimate is that he could survive if he moved everybody onto the smallest number of hulls and stripped the abandoned vessels' fuel to keep his populated vessels quote alive unquote. The extra requirements placed on enviro for a full ship compared to an empty ship are insignificant. He has taken a poorly calculated risk in turning galactic east along the Perseus arm He was running on half and intermittent shields and now shieldless. Either his fuel supply is critical or he has finally realised that with the size of his armada he doesn't need shields constantly up. Outside Sol, there was only one system which could field a fleet to match the armada and that was Harbouria prior to the battles of the home spaces — a putative ally. I don't think his fuel is critical just yet; had he been running at full shields, yes. Sir Henry?" "Agree, Commodore. It fits. I think he has to bunker at Sema to be able to complete the round trip to Sol. Perhaps he was counting on using the Junction which would certainly have made his situation far better. The armada is six — seven days out of Sema and you can get there in a day." "Sir Henry, I do believe it is time to run some Mounties through the Chencon ships." ------- Chapter 67 "Andrew, Aggy. I want to run some RMN personnel through the 'Chens' to keep their skills up to at least 'Reserve' status. The 'Chens' basicly have only a permanent cadre recruited from the Mounty Avers with a core of 119 trained officers as stiffener. Suit?" "I'll have to have a word with higher, Aggy, but I doubt we'll say "no". What were you thinking of taking?" "Personnel for a raiding force, top heavy with gold braid. Admiral Cunningham and staff in the BC with Crypian McDermid as flag and the crew from "Illustrious", 81 BC in its entirety for the four pocket battleships and two DD crews. I've got three DDs but there is less space to spare in them. There is an LRC for support and if you want it, I could throw in a HLRV but I haven't got any crew in her to guide you. The four "Vulcans" have been exercising with the Chens and it might be an idea to spread Cunningham's staff into them. My shuttles can do the transport and the Riders can go in support. All the ships are fusion powered so logistics is simple." "Aggy, if I don't get Harold's permission, I'll have to cadge a bed off you for the next year or so. How long were you thinking of for a group." "Minimum of two perhaps three weeks; nowhere near enough but you have a lot of spacers dirtside; unless Virginia wants to run longer." "Suits, Aggy, on my authority, start the scheme." "Thank you Andrew. McCock clear. You all heard that? Denny, you'll have to spread the DD crews out thinner. I suspect that gold braid will come out of the woods like deer chased by wolves so officer country is going to be crowded — poor things. Polack, get some crews together and recover a HLRV and Henry, go with him to examine any information on a victuals carrier. From what we saw on the ships we got, their victualling is of high standard. If I can help it, I'd prefer that planetary resources not be used for the fleet Slow, if our friends desire, would you be 'opfor'? Thank you. 81 and 3 BC are conversant with Holeinspace and Period so that is not a problem. Denny, how far along are you with Younger's scheme?" "Done Aggy. McDermid, at least and his bright boys were full bottle on it before the Destruction and I don't think they will have forgotten. I suggest we leave Younger on the BC as adviser." "Suits. What are you doing with the Dungeon Dwellers?" "They are on the VWs bringing their 'puters up to date." "Will Younger's scheme work in them?" "Not sure but we won't know until we try." "Get to it, people" McCock closed the meeting. The organising of the RMN dirtside took some time to get organised much to the frustration of the flag officers but there was one who used the delay to advantage. "Captain Cochrane? Last I saw of you, you were Rear Admiral in plans" McCock greeted his old commander as they sauntered back from "Vector's" hangar deck. McCock had met him there when Algy sent him a heads up that the Barge had a hitchhiker on board. "Crypian mentioned you had a couple of DDs to play with and I took a peek at the rosters. Seeing no provision had been made for a Captain D, I hitched a ride on your Barge and just before I departed I sent a com fax to Blue Hills volunteering for the post. Pity he can't recall me. Knowing your lot, Aggy, there will be the odd chip or two lying about on the capabilities so I thought I'd steal a march." "You know Bollinger? Good. He is CICO for "Vector" and my intel officer. He copied the 'puters of all the Chens. Come along and I'll hand you over to him." McCock did just that and left the two of them intently studying screen full of DD information and examining the DD holo projected over the Gnat Defence desks. The RMN training was just getting underway as the "Sprightly" frigate departed for cosmic. Harryfor Avers headed her for the U90 shadowing the armada. They made good speed with "Sprightly" going to full reverse thrust and still over running the UVA to Harryfor's chagrin. "Don't fesh yourself, laddy" McCock assuaged him "nobody has got enough experience out here to get manoeuvring just so. Besides, its all to the good as we need to heave to over Sema; so just swing about in an arc and it will look like a planned evolution." "Yeah? With that lot taking it all in?" Harryfor complained, nodding at his grinning bridge watch. In the event, Harryfor did make a neat evolution of it, heaving to over Sema's north pole. A UVA was deployed beneath the layer and signals from it were integrated with those from the shadowing UVA. Information about the fuel facility was entered into "Sprightly's" 'puter and ten cruise missiles were warmed up and programmed. They stood on the bridge together watching the holo of the approaching armada It was shaking down into the bombardment formation with the difference that the CLs were being massed in the van. "Take "Sprightly" down to n space, smartly now." McCock ordered. "Sprightly" transitioned through the layer, deployed holeinspace shields, spread sails to drop through hyper, retrieved the UVA enroute and then translated into n space just as the CLs accelerated away from the armada. "Destroy the fuel terminal, Captain Avers." "Commodore. Guns, missiles to the target stat." "Aye aye Captain." And pressed the firing toggle. A slight tremble was felt as the missile leapt away. "Sprightly" held position until the missiles had impacted. The watchers saw the terminal disappear into fragments and the ephemeral trail of the nuclear stream reversing itself back to its star. "Time to go, Harryfor." Harryfor's watch had been forewarned and quickly translated up into hyper as the CLs came out of it. "Sprightly" sailed away from the approaching armada to reach the layer and just as efficiently transitioned into cosmic space, reversing heading once through and retracing its track to Mountserrat. "Now I can see what you were planning, Aggy." "Wrong, Harryfor. I didn't plan a damned thing. I hoped to restrict the operational capability of the armada. I'll grant you that but I didn't have a clue as to how I could achieve it. The only thing I had going for me was the limited endurance of the Chencon warships. I hoped the Grand Admiral would make a mistake I could take advantage of. But I still cannot believe the series of blunders he made. There wasn't a hope in hades, I could alter whatever Chencon wanted to do to Mountserrat but I didn't believe they would destroy Settlement even though I had logically to believe that is what they would do. Renmark? I still find it incomprehensible how the Grand Admiral blundered there but I send paeans of praise to the Deity each even. I cannot shed tears over Harbouria yet I regret the loss of innocent life but I will keen my joy to the heavens if that evil empire at Sema is destroyed. Harryfor. I truly didna plan a thing; until now. The armada has to head for Runpath or Helena which are both on our side of the Orion-Perseus gap. His fuel status I now assess as critical. To survive, he must pack a few ships with people and fuel and run for it. If he does that, he can return to Sol with his people if I let him — and I wont. Settlement is burned too deeply to allow me to be merciful. If he attempts to sail on with all his ships he dies anyway and we acquire all his ships without firing a missile. And I have a bucket load of spacers to space them back to Mountserrat." The RMN exercises extended for three weeks to McCocks annoyance. He wanted as many spacers through with recent spacing experience; he didn't need refreshed combat skills — not yet anyway. The retraining was into its third group when McCock and his staff exploded into a frenzy of activity. The augmented crews who had passed through the LRC and the HLRV were ordered to pick up points and to their horror were transitioed through the layer with little warning; they didn't have time to protest before they appreciated they had survived the event and there, on the external screens, was a collection of merchant ships in one place, the size of which no one had ever seen before. Unbeknownst to them, Captain Kowalski had fired up the power plants of selected vessels and left a care and maintence crew in LRCs and Victualling vessels which had been identified by Sir Henry Bollinger. The RMN crews, already grouped, joined their 'new' ships. Under Captain Kowalski's command, the ships with their nearly normal crewing now moved out of the mass of shipping and followed the shuttles back to Mountserrat where they sat while their betters argued about the safety of passage in cosmic space. The warship crews were jammed into all available space and stayed there while their officers raised all sorts of protests about proceeding into cosmic. Eventually Commodore Cochrane, who had never been in cosmic, but had digested every thing Sir Henry Bollinger had on it, chip and personal experience, said some very rude words over Tabes, and took the DD squadron into cosmic without mishap except for losing his breakfast as he had allowed himself to get too tense before transition. His vomit discoloured face on the vids shamed the doubters and the small fleet transitioned, and, in the hands of 119 officers, as pilots who had experience in cosmic, followed the shuttles guiding them to the cooling Chencon armada whose momentum was taking it toward Helena. McCock had watched the Armada heading en masse across the gap. Over a two day time frame, he saw the accelerations drop and the vessels continue with their momentum. He saw the infrared images slowly go down. After a further two days, he ordered the recovery operation. His staff had done the planning and the details were passed to the crushed pack. (One matelot later recounted that every time he scratched himself his companion said "Thanks".) The tankers went in first accompanied by selected crew in hard suits. The ERAs went straight to the fuel lines and where needed, purged the lines using power from the still pumping LRCs. The Sparky on the team checked the masters and the breaker panels. It was only rarely that a call had to be made for an additional breaker or board (The Chencon repair vessels had not come with the salvaging fleet but they had been searched for bits 'n pieces thought 'useful to have'.) When enviro was on line, the remainder of the skeleton crews were transferred; 'on line' did not exactly equate with comfortable to the oft recounted complaining tales of those in skinnies. Those in the hard suits stayed in them for another six or so hours. The victuals were passed in and the bagged bodies were passed out and stacked on the merchantmen's decks. The way was taken off the armada. Cadet Cunningham, in the flagship, gazed over the holo of her new command and considered the reports of her 'captains' (often SWOs). She expressed concern to Cadet McCock about the return passage with her under strength crews. Cadet McCock offered a solution — leave care and maintence crews on her vessels and put the 'extras' in others sufficient to have a spacing crew; take on the 119 pilots and return the better manned ships to Mountserrat where hopefully Blue Hills as (once again) First Lord would have parking for them. The 119 shuttles would return the 'extras' back to the armada and the process would be repeated until the armada was at Mountserrat. The scheme allowed for rotation of 'extras' and C&M elements. Blue Hills, having been advised of events by McCock, did indeed have 'parking' arranged. The last vessel of the Armada was the flagship whose Captain kissed McCock soundly on his cheek and then flung herself onto her husband sobbing in joy and relief that the Kingdom could once again be defended. ------- Chapter 68 King Harold granted the indulgence of Commodore McCock and granted the boon of an audience when the King's duties allowed him to be in the Admiral's Quarters on "Vector" at say four in the forenoon watch which was in an hour's time and the King would honour the Commodore by travelling in the Barge. After all the verbiage, Sir Austen explained it, "Your Grace, Harry wants to speak with you urgently. Would you send the Barge and he is ready now." "Herald King at arms" laughed McCock " wrap this up in male bovine solid waste as you like, the Barge is on its way as soon as I can order it." "Thank you, Aggy." McCock commed Algy and ordered the Barge away to the Palace. "I'm driving with Felix as co-pilot, boss. Alan and Colin are on compulsory rest time. They went way over the limits as did the shuttles for the recovery operation." "Didn't I hear you and Felix in the shuttles yesterday?" "Who? Us? You need to get your hearing checked, Sir. Got a Barge to space. Hardmann clear." "Vector, Barge; joining sternwards with delta; be advised Harry Winsor requests no honours. Over." "Barge, you are number one; fly the lights, be advised The McCock will be in the Hangar; for diety's sake Algy don't hit him or we'll never see daylight over the 'puter work." "Brian, you are just scared of Miss Peebles." "Fly the bloody shuttle, Algy." ... clicked the speaker. "Aggy, thank you for allowing me to visit. We do have a few things to discuss." "Welcome aboard, Harold. I have some Jamaican Blue you must sample." They shook hands and McCock guided his visitor to his office where Trojan had set out the coffee pot, mugs and accessories. Trojan poured the first samples and then excused himself claiming there was a re-run of a favourite vid he had to see. They enjoyed the brew exchanging inane comments about the weather, farm production on the planet until Harold took a deep breath, "Aggy, who owns and or commands that armada?" "Well Harold, they do say possession is nine points of the law." "The navy doesn't possess them as you imply while the ships lie under your guns; my people couldn't fight that armada out of a sunshower and you know it. Manning level is at C&M although, I suspect, that you were attempting to get more through your courses; and your shuttles are needed to transport any more crew up. I ask again, who owns them?" "Have you perchance got a hundred credit note on you? No? Sorry, I forgot it's tradition for kings not to actually carry money. Never mind." McCock toggled the desk intercom, "Rosemary, have you a hundred credits you can lend me? Bring it to my office now, please." A patient McCock and a puzzled Harold took the opportunity to refresh their coffee and McCock obtained another mug which he filled and placed on the working table between the seated men. "Have a seat, Rosemary; coffee's poured. Got that hundred?" Rosemary produced a very old fashioned coin purse from which she handed McCock five bright coins, "Mind, I want that back sometime." McCock nodded and passed the coins to Harold who sat bemused at the proceedings. McCock smiled at him, "Harold, I make you an unconditional loan, interest free, to be repaid at your convenience. It just so happens that I have a motley collection of second hand foreign warships, suitable for scrap. I remind you that the original 119 was once condemned for scrap. I offer you these condemned ships (while you were not looking, I declared them as surplus to my requirements and condemned them) for the admittedly bargain price of one hundred credits, as is where is. The warships only; the support vessels are 119's; we can do a deal at commercial rates for leasing some of the tankers." "Seein' tha's meh hundred, cun ah ha a piece a' tha?" broke in Rosemary. "And just what would you do with a warship?" McCock enquired "I'll find summat to do wi' it." "I wont sell one to you, but, if you behave yourself and stop that Glasgeigh accent, I'll sell you a space yacht like Shelly's for a hundred." "Done." "Now sit there and enjoy your coffee while Harold and I haggle. Harold, do you accept or do you have a counter offer?" "You are serious, Aggy?" "Of course he's serious, mon, the McCock hasna a humorous bone in his body. Scheming? Aye, he's full of it, so count your fingers afterwards" burst in Rosemary. "In that case, done" and Harold stretched out his hand, shook McCock's hand and ostentatiously counted his fingers before requesting "and could I have a Bill of Sale? I'll need it to convince the Lords that they owe me." "Leave that to me' said Rosemary as she gulped down the last of her mug and bustled out. "Now, what about the supply train. I've got some garbled tales about a million ships laid up somewhere from which the tankers and repair ship were procured." Harold enquired. "They are 119's prizes" "Which means under your letters of margue, yours." "In fact, the articles which my people sign, details the prize money; I get two eighths, my officers get one eighth, the senior NCOs get one eighth, and the crew four eighths." McCock continued in response to Harold's 'wave on' " but that train represents a sizable portion of Sol's merchant marine and removing it would have very serious trade ramifications for Sol. So I'm obliged to put it back into Sol's merchant marine. On my terms. I'll sell them back to Sol's shipping companies. That will deal a terrible blow to the Chen Confederation and their navy is not in a position to recover any hulls. You might wish to purchase a few hulls but basically your merchant marine is intact; huddled in harbours all over the galaxy, but intact. As the word gets about they will return. The com link to Old Earth will stay up and we could expand it to accept commercial traffic. Diety forbid that we take any of their tellyvid. Now there is a wonderful thought, we could start again on the entertainment media. Seriously, the supply train goes back to Sol; some cargos will be offloaded here to help out but otherwise ... Bollard Lines might be interested in a few hulls as trade out here will pick up. How did she ... Sorry Harold, my thoughts have just gone off at a tangent. Henry, can you come to my quarters stat. Excuse me, Harold" and busied himself in the pantry returning with more coffee and a tray of refreshments just as Sir Henry Bollinger scurried in. Sir Henry's face lit up on seeing the coffee pots, produced his bulb and reached for the nearest coffee pot before stopping and suspiciously asking "Trojans?" "Trojan's" confirmed McCock as Sir Henry commenced filling the bulb. "Now Commodore, what is so urgent you command my presence at such a time" nodding acknowledgement of the royal presence. "How did Trudie com Gus after the junction went down?" "She didn't" Sir Henry advised "she probably had those credentials just in case. I suppose you want me to re-establish coms with Gus? Diety, you are slow at times; I picked up on that immediately and the line went in two days after the meeting of the Lords. The Royals have been keeping in touch ever since and Trudie has almost certainly confirmed her status. You have had other things on your mind. That brings me to another point. The UVAs we sent swanning about cosmic space are all showing signs of radiation damage. The stationary units have very little damage and our warships using shields have none; even holeinspace is adequate. I have looked further and now conclude that military grade shields are needed for movement in cosmic. Coms are good but the physical transfer of goods will require expensive shields and that is very good news for the Kingdom. The junction will still be needed. I have notified the Laird Galbraith who has set up a 'telco' and is organising capitalisation to spread across the galaxy. Should be a good money earner. I think I'll invest my prize money in it. You are indeed fortunate you have such efficient subordinates, Commodore." "Thank you, Henry ... Rosemary, what have you got there?" 'There' were several map sized pieces of thick parchment(?) headed 'Bill of Sale'. "I had the extruder to run these off. The Winsor and the Montrose coats of arms were a bit difficult in getting the colours just so. The graphic script is a nice touch, gives it that ancient appearance. I kept the wording simple and just a bit vague. Harold, sign all three here ... Commodore, sign here ... Thank you. I sign here as witness. Your copy Harold, and one for the Heralds' Office. I'll get yours framed, Commodore. Now! Commodore, Commodore Gort has the Barge waiting for you. Your youngest children were born nearly a day ago and its time for your departure. Sally went yesterday, bless her and you didn't miss her did you?" Rosemary accused McCock as Evan entered to retrieve McCock's toiletaries and lead him to the Hangar Deck. ------- Chapter 69 AFTERWORD My good friend Professor Sabajhi Indira has decided to end this biography of "The McCock" at this point because what occurred thereafter is in the public domain. The affairs of the family are not public knowledge however, and Sabajhi suggested I summarise them. My youngest brothers, Charles David, Edward Garth, Stuart Leonard and Neville Harold are attending Naval College in Enkland and the Commandant has my heartfelt sympathy — four of us in the same term. Previously, the most had been two, Dorian and Peter, and the Commandant had requested he be sent on convalescent leave to the Falklands where another bitter war was being fought over the oil rights yet again — oil still reigns in atmosphere. My other brothers have also entered King Harold's naval service and I have recently completed a secondment to 119 (Reformed) which acts on the Sovereigns' Warrant to defend the Kingdom's galactic western flank. Admirals Gort and Denholt command and both took special interest in making my life thoroughly miserable. Father says they are just practising for retirement when the Crypt are in nursing homes. Uncle Polack is retired from naval service and was joined by Gus-gus at Adama where they play all day long inside the bowels of power packs of all sizes. Father frequently cosmics down in "Offspring" to 'keep his hand in'; Gus-gus tells me that the real reason is to rub his father's nose in the fact that "Offspring" belongs to GmBH and it is The McCock's runabout; Gus says his father sulks for about an hour and then proceeds to tease The McCock that Polack's designed racing yacht holds the Blue Riband for Sol — Mountserrat in hyper. The games olders play. Speaking of games — the Gaggle have gone into galactic politics; behind the scenes, of course. Unfortunately my wife, Sabatha (a true daughter of aunt Trudie), has been taken on as an apprentice and when the Gaggle is whirlwinding, the McCocks and their peers volunteer for hazardous duty — anywhere. Not true, of course, but the tension can run high. Uncle Harold has a penchant for inspecting the fleet in the New Territories, Uncle Augustus leads an expedition into Paracelsus t clean out the pirates and Uncle Bernard visits Renmark unless Foxy is annoyed with him for some reason and doesn't give the Lord Protector advance warning. The Gaggle has as a special project, Harbouria and Sema. Personally, I cannot see what they can hope to do even in their lifetimes as the planets are not much more than scorched ground. But they visit regularly taking full precautions so as not to contaminate the place — despite the fact both of them still glow — and make full and detailed reports. Life, plant life, is coming back to the Gaggles' delight. Because of my mothers' interests, and my aunts' and of course, Sabatha's, I have studied the histories of both nations. There was tremendous energy in their populations and particularly on Sema, great scientific capacity — if you can forget the purposes to which it was put. Perhaps out of The McCock's interventions on the edges of great affairs (his description, not mine but I obey my father) a better galaxy will result using the energy of good people — with of course the help of my mothers and their friends. James Donald McCock, Viscount High Mountain. ------- The End ------- Posted: 2009-02-21 Last Modified: 2009-06-20 / 08:36:03 am ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------