“You’ve made your point,” the First Space Lord said.  “But four weeks is a rather short time for a complete refit.”

“I should have sent you flypaper reports,” Ted said, remembering one of the classes they’d shared at Portsmouth.  An officer, pestered for paperwork he didn't have, had started sending reports on the number of flies killed by flypaper while on deployment.  The whole episode had been used as a warning of the dangers of too much bureaucracy.  “Didn't anyone ever read my reports?”

He shook his head a moment later.  The only ship considered less likely to go into battle was Lord Nelson’s Victory, which was – technically – the First Space Lord’s flagship.  But as Victory was a sailing ship, it was unlikely the First Space Lord had spent any time on her since the commission.  She normally served as a tourist attraction.

“I will take your word for it,” the First Space Lord said.  His tone suggested that if it took longer than four weeks to get Ark Royal ready for deployment, Ted could start looking for a new job.  “Captain Fitzwilliam will serve as your XO.”

Ted swallowed a curse – and, beside him, Captain Fitzwilliam didn't look any happier.  For one of them, there would be an XO looking for a place to plant the knife; for the other, there was an effective demotion.  There was only one Captain on a starship and it wouldn't be Fitzwilliam.  Unless, of course, Ted failed to make good on his boast.  Silently, he promised himself that he would read through Captain Fitzwilliam’s file as soon as possible.  He didn't even know the man's first name!

“Thank you, sir,” he said, finally.  “Might I enquire as to deployment plans?”

“The UN Security Council is meeting in emergency session,” the First Space Lord said.  he jerked a finger towards the deck – and Earth, far below.  “For the moment, the Admiralty is concentrating on protecting Britannia and contributing to the defence of Earth.  We assume that we will be making future deployments once the Vulcan Protocols are fully activated, but as yet we don’t have any details.”

Ted nodded.  Britannia was Britain’s largest possession, a colony world with over a billion settlers from Earth.  The British Commonwealth had worked hard to both settle the planet and build up local industry, taking advantage of the latest UN environmental regulations to encourage corporations and private individuals to move to Britannia.  There was no way the Government would leave the planet uncovered, even if it meant drawing ships away from Earth.  Indeed, Ted had been surprised that Ark Royal hadn't been moved to Britannia long ago.