Admiral Smith leaned forward. “According to the aliens, the War Faction has a base here,” he said, tapping one location on the starchart. “You will note that it is some distance from the border, as they suspected there would be further contacts between Heinlein and Vera Cruz and they wanted distance between us and their shipyards. Their fleet is gathered there…”
“We can’t get there in time,” James said. It would take at least two weeks to get to the alien system, by which time the aliens would have already started off towards Earth. The signal ordering the offensive would probably have already reached the system. His chest twanged, painfully. “Admiral… is it hopeless?”
“No,” the Admiral said. “I believe there is another possibility. They must assume we will be warned, so they will take the shortest possible route to Earth. In order to do so, they will have to jump through the New Russia system.”
He looked from face to face. “We will depart within the hour, along with all but one of our flotilla,” he continued. “If we move at considerable speed, we should be able to reach New Russia before the aliens and prepare to make a stand there.”
“We will be pushing the drives to the limit,” Anderson warned. The Chief Engineer looked exhausted. “If we lost the drive midway to our destination, Admiral, we would be screwed.”
“We have to take the risk,” Admiral Smith said. “We can try to buy time for Earth to prepare its defences, or even come to our aid. That is all we can do.”
He rose to his feet. “It has been seventy years since the Old Lady was commissioned into the Royal Navy,” he said. “Until this war began she was not tested in combat. But now she has been tested and she has done us proud. She will do us proud once again in this, our final battle.
“If we win this, the war will come to an end,” he concluded. “And if we lose, at least we will go down fighting, buying time for Earth.”
James felt a surge of pride in his ship as the Admiral paused. It was true, he knew, that Ark Royal had never been expected to serve as more than reinforcement to the modern carriers, back before the Battle of New Russia. But since then, the Old Lady had done brilliantly, surviving damage that would have ripped a modern carrier apart. There was very good reason to be proud of her and her crew.
“Captain Fitzwilliam, remain behind,” the Admiral ordered. “Everyone else; dismissed.”
“Admiral,” James said, as soon as they were alone. “I…”
“I’m sending Standish back to Earth,” the Admiral interrupted. “She will be carrying urgent dispatches for the Admiralty, a copy of the draft treaty and a note of my intentions. I’m also stripping her of most of her experienced crew for the carrier.”
“Captain Shawcross will love that,” James predicted, sarcastically.
The Admiral smiled, humourlessly. “I’m sending Janelle back too,” he said. “And Polly. And a dozen others who are probably more suited to return to Earth. And you.”
James stared. “Admiral, this is my ship,” he said. “I…”
“I need someone who can convince the Admiralty to deploy reinforcements to New Russia,” Admiral Smith said. “And you’re badly injured, Captain. I could hear you grunting in pain throughout the meeting. You can’t stay on the ship.”
“I’d throw a tantrum if I thought it would get me anywhere,” James said. Cold logic agreed with Admiral Smith; sentiment insisted he should be on the command deck as the Old Lady faced the aliens one final time. “I assume it wouldn’t, right?”
“It wouldn’t get you anything other than a bad memory,” the Admiral said. He took a datachip and pressed it into James’s hand. “Get that to the Admiralty, James, and tell them that I will be taking up that desk job after the end of the war.”
“That would be a good idea,” James agreed, mischievously. “Admiral…”
“And thank you,” Admiral Smith said. “For everything.”
James swallowed, remembering just how far they’d come together.
“You’re welcome, Admiral,” he said. He managed to get to his feet, then pull off a snappy salute. “I’ll see you back on Earth.”
But, as he was wheeled through the hatch to catch his shuttle, he had the strangest feeling he would never see the Admiral again.
“I wish we had time for…”
Henry shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he said, changing his tune. “That makes me sound awfully selfish, doesn’t it?”
“You’re not the only one,” Janelle said. She looked… irked. “I still don’t understand why the Admiral is sending me back to Earth.”
“Maybe he thinks Captain Fitzwilliam will need help in convincing the Admiralty to act,” Henry speculated. “You served as Admiral Smith’s aide. Who knows his thinking better than you?”
But he had a different idea. The Admiral might have come to think of Janelle as a daughter, of sorts. He’d been furious when he’d discovered that Henry and Janelle had become lovers, but he’d been more concerned for Janelle than Henry himself. In hindsight, Henry understood just what the Admiral had been feeling. His reported death had caused no shortage of problems for his lover.
And the Admiral may think no one will be coming back from this mission, he thought, morbidly. The odds had never been good, but now they were worse. He might have wanted to make sure she survived.
“Here,” he said, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a datachip. “If I don’t make it back, please will you give this to my family.”
Janelle stared down at the chip, then looked up at him. “You’ll make it back,” she said, firmly. “And you still owe me a homestead on an isolated asteroid.”
Henry grinned, then swept her into a hug. He wanted — he needed — to hold her as long as possible, before her shuttle departed Ark Royal.
“Promise me something,” he said, as he held her. “If… if I don’t make it, and I might not, don’t let the monarchy destroy your life. Stay in the navy or go elsewhere — and change your name. Whatever you do, don’t let the monarchy claim you. It will destroy any hope of a normal existence.”
“I understand,” Janelle said.
She kissed him, her eyes bright with unshed tears, then she turned and practically ran through the hatch. Henry stared at her retreating behind for a long moment, then closed his eyes as the hatch hissed closed. She didn’t know it, but he’d changed his will. He did have a sizable sum of money in his own name, after all, and if he didn’t come home it would go to Janelle, making her a wealthy young woman. She could go to one of the worlds outside the British Commonwealth and make a life for herself, well away from the monarchy.
And goddamned reporters, he thought, sourly. He’d taken a moment to review some of the crap they’d sprouted about him after his death and most of it had been nonsense. Maybe he could sue for libel after he returned to Earth… he shook his head, tiredly. If there was one thing the Royal Family had learned about the parasites who believed they had a right to know everything, it was that squashing one or two of them was pointless. There were always more of the vermin scurrying around.
He sat down and reached for a datapad, forcing himself to concentrate on his duties. There would be time to miss her later, afterwards. And pray they both survived.
“Standish has departed, sir,” Commander Williams said. “She’s on her way back to Earth.”