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Back Ark Royal Save as PDF
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

The First Space Lord took control of the display.  “There was a great deal of arguing about the best way to proceed,” he continued.  “However, the upshot of it was that Ark Royal was best employed in raiding New Russia, along with a couple of dozen older ships from minor powers.  If there is a chance to strike some blows against the aliens, we should take them.”

Ted wondered, absently, just what deals had been struck to convince the Royal Navy to take the risk.  The aliens had to know which tramlines the human race would need to use to reach New Russia, which meant that those systems would probably be heavily defended.  There had been some political disputes between Britain and Russia over the years.  Perhaps the Russians on Earth had offered to settle those in Britain’s favour in exchange for the raid.  Or perhaps the Admiralty had reasoned that knocking the aliens back on their heels would help win time to prepare Earth’s defences.

“I would be delighted if you kicked the aliens off New Russia completely,” the First Space Lord continued, “but I doubt it would be possible.  Instead, your orders are to give the aliens a nasty surprise and then attempt to make contact with any surviving humans on New Russia.  The Russians have provided a contact team, which will actually land on the planet’s surface – if it seems possible.  They’ve agreed that the final decision will be up to you.”

“Brave of them,” Fitzwilliam said.

Ted couldn't disagree.  The aliens might well have exterminated most of the planet’s population from orbit ... or simply taken control of the high orbitals and ignored the human population.  But flying a shuttle through the alien positions would be tricky, almost suicidal.  It was possible, he supposed, that the aliens could be decoyed away, but after the aliens had been fooled by the sensor decoys he’d deployed they’d be more careful about what they believed to be real.

“Precisely how you reach New Russia and engage the enemy will be your choice, of course,” the First Space Lord said.  “However, we would like you to carry out the mission within the month.”

“That would give us time to outflank any alien pickets,” Ted mused.  There were several tramlines that led through a series of useless or underdeveloped star systems, systems he suspected the aliens would probably ignore.  But it wouldn't take more than a single stroke of bad luck for the aliens to get a fix on their position and scramble to attack.  “As long as you didn't mind us taking the long road.”