Ted smiled, then turned to head towards his cabin.  “I’m going to get a nap,” he said.  He needed a shower too, just to wash the reporters off his skin.  “Take command when shift changes, then ping me.  I've got paperwork to do.”

***

“You really should consider coming with us.”

Major Charles Parnell shrugged.  The seven-man Russian commando team had largely kept themselves to themselves during the first two weeks of the voyage, even though they’d been given quarters – barracks – right next to the Royal Marines.  Now, their leader had finally condescended to speak to the British CO, even though he clearly had his doubts about the wisdom of talking to anyone.  But they did have to coordinate their deployment with Ark Royal.

“It might be interesting,” he agreed.  “But we have other orders.”

The Russian – the only name he'd given anyone was Ivan, which Charles suspected was a false name – snorted, rudely.  He was a terrifyingly big man, his skin bulging with implanted weapons and combat systems.  There had been no attempt to make him look normal, something that impressed and alarmed Charles in equal measure.  Even the most capable cyborgs in British service still looked human.

“We have ours too,” Ivan said.  “We have to get down to the surface before they react to our presence.”

“We understand,” Charles said.  It was going to be tricky, even if the alien sensors were no better than human sensors.  Entering a planet's atmosphere would leave a trail a blind man could spot.  The aliens could simply track them to their destination or intercept them in flight.  “You will have all the support we can muster.”

Ivan grunted.  “Perhaps you should shoot those reporters out of missile tubes,” he grated.  He muttered a handful of Russian words Charles recognised, then slipped back to English.  “They are pains in the buttocks.”

“You never spoke a truer word,” Charles said.  Royal Marines were discouraged from talking to the press, which hadn't stopped the assholes from badgering him and his men for interviews.  It wasn't as if they had anything useful to say – or even anything newsworthy.  “I will speak to the XO and ask him to tell them to leave you and your men alone.”

Ivan muttered something in Russian about Siberia and the proper punishment for inquisitive reporters, then tapped the display.  “The main body of settlement on New Russia is here,” he said, pointing to the main continent.  “We intend to land here.”

Charles gave him a surprised look.  Royal Marines were no strangers to long route marches, but Ivan was talking about walking several thousand miles to the settlements.  It would take weeks, even for the fittest soldiers in the human sphere.  He found himself eying the cyborg implants, wondering if they were far more capable than he had assumed.  But there was no way to know.