Ted rolled his eyes.  If there was one great disadvantage to the planetary datanet that linked Earth together, it was that it allowed hundreds of kooks to feel that they were not alone.  One pressure group, in particular, believed that the aliens wanted to mate with human women to produce pointy-eared hybrids.  The fact that this was biologically impossible – humans couldn't produce offspring with their closest relatives in the animal kingdom, let alone creatures from a completely different biological system – never seemed to have crossed their minds.

“Glad to hear it,” he said, dryly.  He looked around the table.  “We will proceed back to Earth within the hour, bearing the recovered bodies with us.  Should we consider leaving teams behind to continue the search?”

“We’ve inspected most of the debris,” Anderson said.  “I don’t feel that there will be any important discoveries made from the remainder, sir.  Most of it is just pieces of alien hull; anything that might be useful has been firmly melted down into scrap metal.  I suspect that Earth will dispatch a post-battle assessment team to check out the remainder anyway.”

“They probably will,” Ted agreed.  He suspected that the other interstellar powers would send their own teams.  Britain gaining access to alien bodies – and technology – might upset the balance of power.  Or it would have, if anything they found wasn't shared.  With a powerful alien race breathing down their necks, it was unlikely that the Admiralty would see fit to classify the recovered bodies and data.  “Overall ... do we have any better idea of where to look for the alien homeworld?”

Anderson and Jeanette exchanged glances, then Anderson shook his head.  “I doubt it,” he said.  “It's possible that something might turn up, once the post-battle teams arrive in the system, but it's unlikely.”

Ted had his doubts.  The security officers had gone through Ark Royal and discovered an alarming amount of data – unsecured data – that could point the aliens towards Earth.  He knew the computer cores were designed to wipe themselves, then melt down into puddles of molten liquid, but books and diaries were far less secure.    But how many of them would be comprehensible to the aliens?

He stood.  “Inform your departmental heads that they have all performed brilliantly,” he ordered, as they rose to their feet.  “We have good reason to be proud of what we have done today.  Dismissed.”

Fitzwilliam waited for the room to clear, then walked over to stand beside his commander.  “I have a report on repairs,” he said, quietly.  “We can fix up the damage within a day or two, even without outside help.”

“I know,” Ted said.  Ark Royal had been designed for long-duration cruises, after all.  “But we do have to return to Earth.”