“My father? It’s a toss of a coin. If he hadn’t got to Duquesne when he did…”
“He did, though. He’s strong, and Duquesne’s good. He’s going to make it.”
“I wouldn’t bet against him.” He looked up at her, saying, “Still glad you signed up?”
“I’d do it again in a heartbeat. You think I’d want to miss all this fun?”
Standing up, Marshall walked around his office, “I’d better get back onto the bridge and make myself seen. How are the crew holding up?”
“Morale’s been better, but everyone’s happy that we got through in one piece. They were prepared for a trip out and back, not for a spin around the cosmos, though.”
“I know,” he said, nodding. “So was I.”
“You should talk to them.”
With a look of disbelief, he said, “You’ve heard some of my speeches.”
“Make it a good one, Danny. The crew need it, and so do you.”
“I know.” He paused at the door, “Thanks, Deadeye. For everything.”
“All part of the service, skipper.”
He walked out onto the bridge; Kibaki nodded as he approached, and made to rise from the command chair, but Marshall waved to him to remain, walking over to stand by his side. Zebrova was over in the far corner, talking to Quinn and the duty flight engineer; a man and a woman in Martian uniform were standing nearby, offering the occasional word; Captain Lane and one of her staff from Hercules. Walking over to the group, he listened for a moment, then Zebrova looked up.
“Sorry, sir, I didn’t see you there.”
“How are we doing, Lieutenant?”
“Everything’s in hand, sir. Nothing we can’t fix.”
“Alamo’s a tough girl, sir,” Quinn said. “We’ve got through a lot worse than this.”
“Captain,” Lane said, “I thought I’d thank you for giving us a safe berth out. All of us want to work our passage home, help in any way we can.”
“Don’t worry, Lane, we’re going to use and abuse you as though you were are own. There are going to be plenty of opportunities for hard labor.”
“I hope so, sir.” She looked around the bridge, “It’s not like Hercules.”
“Every ship’s different. This one has something about her that is all her own.”
Zebrova passed a datapad across to him, “I’ve already worked out how we can integrate the two crews, sir.”
Smiling, Marshall took the proffered datapad, replying, “We’ll have a talk about it at the first opportunity. Good work, Lieutenant. You carry on.”
He walked around the bridge, looking at the stations, watching the technicians at their posts, slowly working on preparing Alamo for its return to normal space. He made his way to the communications station and picked up a headset.
“Ortega, can you patch me through to the whole ship, please?”
“Certainly, sir,” she replied, tapping a sequence of buttons. “You’re on to the ship, Captain.”
“Thank you.” Clipping on the microphone, he began, “Captain to crew, attention. Captain to crew, attention. All of you are aware of the tactical situation. We’re a long way from home and heading in the wrong direction, a fleet of Cabal ships at our heels. They’re going to hound us all the way as we work to get home, and try anything at their disposal to stop us.”
“They’re going to do this because we have in our databanks information that will change the shape of interstellar politics for a decade. A complete, decoded ship’s database with all the information we need to bring the Cabal down. They know how dangerous Alamo is, and simply by grabbing this data, we’ve already struck them a tremendous blow.”
“We left a lot of friends behind at Hades Station. The bulk of the espatier platoon captured or killed, and Hercules missing. They didn’t die for nothing. They gave us this chance, a chance to run for home with what we now know. And we are going home, ladies and gentlemen. They can send their entire fleet against us, and I’d still think the odds were in our favor, because I know you, and I know this ship, and I know that you combined are more than capable of dealing with anything that the Cabal can throw at us.”
“I’ve already asked a lot of you. I know that. I’m going to be asking a lot more of you over the next weeks and months, to go above and beyond the call of duty time and again. In return, I promise you this: we’re going to get home. All they way. No matter what it takes, no matter what it costs, I’m going to get this crew home.”
He looked around the bridge, a sea of faces watching him. Some of them were nodding, smiling, others simply staring at him as they contemplated the enormity of the task ahead.
“Mr. Mulenga,” he said.
“Aye, sir,” the astrogator replied, his voice echoing throughout the ship.
“Plot us a best-speed course for Sagdeev, and send it up to the helm.”
“Yes, sir.”
“That is all. Captain out.”
This time he accepted the chair offered him by Kibaki. As he sat down, he contemplated the course, thinking of the problems that lay ahead. At best, he was looking at seven or eight jumps to reach their destination, and they only had fuel in their tanks for a single jump. They’d have to find more, raiding ships and outposts just as his father had done in the war against the UN a decade ago, just as this ship had done in those dark days.
Home was a long way away. At least he’d taken the first step. And if nothing else, he was going to see worlds and systems he’d never dreamed of seeing before. He sat back in his chair, and smiled.
Whatever happened next, he knew one thing. They were going to make it. All the way.
Thank you for reading 'Battle of Hercules'. For information on future releases, please join the Battlecruiser Alamo Mailing List at http://eepurl.com/A9MdX for updates. If you enjoyed this book, please review it on the site where you purchased it.
The writer's blog is available at http://tinyurl.com/pjl96dj
Look out for Spitfire Station: Triple-Cross, available soon on Amazon.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Table of Contents
The stars, a jolly company,
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Thank you for reading 'Battle of Hercules'. For information on future releases, please join the Battl...
Table of ContentsChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4
Battle of Hercules Page 24
