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Back Ark Royal
Chapters (42)
  1. Cover Blurb
  2. Contents
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty

There was no reply, leaving him alone with his thoughts.  Rose was right, unfortunately; the longer they remained psyched up to launch, the less ready they’d be to fight when they actually blasted out of the launch tubes and faced the aliens.  But there was no way to avoid it, unless they gambled on remaining in the ready rooms ... but, given how quickly a situation could move from controlled to a desperate battle for survival, they couldn't rely on being able to launch in time.

“Sorry,” Rose said, finally.

Kurt understood.  She was young, without the maturity that came with age and greater experience.  But then, few of the Royal Navy’s starfighter pilots had any real combat experience ... not until now.  Kurt suspected that a few years of heavy fighting would rapidly separate the true pilots from the men and women who had signed up merely to wear the uniform.  Rose, he decided, would be a true pilot with a little more seasoning.

But, for the moment, she just had to learn to ... hurry up and wait.

“Don't worry about it,” he said, kindly.  He checked the timer.  Twenty minutes until the shower of rocks cascaded through where the aliens were ... or had been.  Twenty minutes until the aliens knew that they were under attack.  Ark Royal and her flotilla had changed position, of course, but the aliens would still have a rough idea of where they were.  “Just stay alert.”

He sighed.  It was definitely easier said than done.

***

Ted looked up at the display, mentally ticking off the last few minutes before the projectiles flashed through the alien-occupied position.  Behind them, a handful of recon platforms and drones were already manoeuvring closer, hoping to provide an accurate record of just what happened when the projectiles hit home.  It would be risky – the aliens would start looking for the platforms as soon as they knew what had hit them – but he needed to know just how badly hammered the aliens had been.

“One minute,” Farley said.

Ted braced himself.  If they’d had more ships, with more projectiles, they could have swept more of space for alien targets.  But they had to work with what they had.  He cautioned himself not to get too optimistic; the projectiles and the alien carriers were tiny, in the grand scheme of things.  It was entirely possible that all they’d do was alert the aliens that they were being watched, without hitting a single target.

“Thirty seconds,” Farley added.  He counted down the last few seconds.  “Ten ... five ... contact!”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two