“Seconds to go,” Rose said, her voice breaking into his thoughts.  She sounded suspiciously eager to come to blows with the aliens.  “I love you all, guys.”

Kurt rolled his eyes as the other pilots made their replies, some of them dreadfully obscene, then cleared his throat loudly.  “Maintain radio silence,” he reminded them.  It was unlikely that the alien sensors were good enough to pick up the tiny bursts from the starfighters, at least while they were in their launch tubes, but he didn’t want to take chances.  “And do try to be professional out there.”

“Ten seconds to jump,” the XO said.  “All hands, brace for jump.  I say again, all hands brace for jump.”

Understood, Kurt thought.  He braced himself as best as he could.  Five seconds to go ...

***

Charles, wearing full shipboard armour, watched as the Royal Marines braced themselves for the jump.  They were all brave men – no one joined the Royal Marines without being ready for anything – but none of them liked the idea of being helpless as their starship jumped into potential danger.  On the ground, they were lions; in space, they fretted over the prospect of being wiped out by a random missile strike.  If Ark Royal came under heavy attack, there was little they could do beyond assisting the damage control teams.

“Five seconds,” Sergeant Fred Miles said, softly.  “Here we go.”

Charles gritted his teeth as he felt the strange sensation of the jump building up around them, a feeling that defied analysis.  The scientists swore backwards and forwards that no one should feel anything, but there was still a vaguely unpleasant feeling as the starship made its jump.  Perhaps it was just a product of their imagination, the scientists had observed, a reflection of their awareness that something had changed.  And yet ... even when someone was unaware of the exact timing of the jump, they still felt the effects.

“Yes,” he muttered, as the sensation faded away.  “Here we go.”

***

Ted had half-expected to see missiles or plasma bolts screeching towards them as soon as they materialised, even though Kiev hadn't detected any alien starships within sensor range.  Instead, nothing greeted Ark Royal as she flickered back into existence, all hands braced for immediate attack.  Ted gazed down at the screen and saw nothing, apart from the gravimetric signatures of the tramline and the system’s planets.  The aliens seemed to have missed their arrival completely.

“All clear,” Farley said.  He sounded doubtful.  “But they could be lurking under stealth and we’d never know about it.”

“True,” Ted agreed.  As long as they remained in the tramline, they could jump out again at the first sign of an alien threat, but they couldn't remain in the tramline indefinitely.  “Launch the first set of recon platforms, followed by the drones.  I want them established according to the operational plan.”