Battlecruiser Alamo: The Price of Admiralty (32 page)

"What is this?"

"You're a terrible enlisted, spaceman. But I have a feeling that you are going to make one hell of an officer. Either I court-martial you or I commission you, so," he tapped a button on his desk, starting a recorder, "for outstanding service in the highest traditions of the Triplanetary Fleet,
and the performance
actions which were critical to both the success of this mission and the survival of TSS Alamo, I hereby grant Margaret Orlova a battlefield commission to the rank of Sub-Lieutenant, seniority effective as of four days ago." He turned the recorder off.

She looked back down at the pad, then up at him, "What was all that about?"

"Captains have to have their fun, Sub-Lieutenant. One day you might end up finding out what that's like. And you had to know why you were getting the promotion." He shrugged his shoulders before continuing, "Of course, you did enlist only for the duration of this mission, and I won't hold you to anything
more
. This can be a nice parting present if you want, or..."

"Or?"

"Turns out I have a position vacant for an Alpha Watch Guidance Officer. I'd planned on offering it to you in any case, but it seems even more appropriate in the circumstances, don't you think? You've got most of the training prereqs anyway; if you spend the trip back in the simulators you should be certified by the time we dock."

"What makes you think I'll make a better subordinate as a Sub-Lieutenant than I did as a Spaceman Second Class?"

He looked up at the picture on the wall again, then back at the young pilot, "Instinct. Without you this mission would have failed. All these reports highlight that. I rather suspect that if I didn't offer you a commission Esposito would be pulling strings to get you into the grunts. That's if Cooper didn't get you a job in the Ragnarok
Aerospace Force
."

"Nice to be wanted, I guess."

Marshall held out his hand, "Take the offer, Sub-Lieutenant. For old time's sake, if nothing else."

She looked up, smiled, and shook it, "You're probably going to regret this, you know. Sir."

"
Probably, but I actually like to live in interesting times
."

The door slid open, and Caine walked in, a smirk on her face as she saw the two of them holding hands across the desk. Leaning against a wall, she shook her head with mock outrage.

"Should I leave you two alone for a bit?"

"Don't be silly, Deadeye," Marshall replied.

"I take it you've had your fun with our newest officer?"

Orlova looked up at Caine, "Is he always like this?"

"Mostly. You'll get used to it – eventually."

Waving his hand at a stack of datapads on the side of his desk, "You know, I do have some work to do, ladies, if you want to take this elsewhere."

"Actually," Caine said, "I was asking if you were coming down to the wake. Coop – sorry, Acting Governor Cooper, sent up a couple of crates of, well, something, for the espatiers. There's quite a crowd gathering down on the landing bay. The paperwork can wait until we get into hendecaspace, can't it?"

"I suppose it can at that. Come on, let's go."

The three of them walked through the bridge to the elevator; Mulenga was already inside, a frown on his face. Marshall clapped him on the shoulder.

"If this is about the breakdown of discipline on the landing bay, I'm just going down to join in now. I'll warn the doctor to have some pep pills ready if we need them."

He shook his head. "No, it isn't that at all. I need to speak with you privately. It's important."

Shrugging, Marshall gestured towards his office. Orlova and Caine continued into the elevator, laughing and joking as it sped away. The astrogator looked extremely serious as he sat opposite Marshall, a series of printouts clutched in his hand.

"Where did you get those?" Marshall asked.

"I just got back from the surface. I was curious about the drive that the colony used to get out here; it seemed somewhat different to that used today. And decades earlier than the first reported
hendecaspace
drive research."

"Not much good, though. Eighty years to get eight and a half light years isn't exactly up to much unless you were desperate."

Mulenga shook his head, "They were unlucky. I ran some simulations through the computer. We know a lot more about hendecaspace now than they could possibly have known back then. Eighty years is about as slow as it was ever going to get. Three or four times faster was quite possible. One more thing – none of our ships can manage more than about nine light-years, but I don't think this drive has that restriction."

"Now that is interesting. Do you think we could apply the same principles to the systems we use?" Visions of thousands of stars opened up for exploration shot through Marshall's mind, before Mulenga dragged him back down to Earth.

"Perhaps, but that isn't the point. I almost missed it myself." He pushed the top printout across the desk, and Marshall glanced down at it. A long list of names.

"So? This is a hundred years old. All of them must be long-dead by now, if they didn't die in the war."

"Most of the researchers weren't Australasian, Captain."

"Your point?"

He jabbed a finger down on the paper, "These two were from the Central Asian Union, one from Greater South Africa, another from – Captain, there are representatives of at least half a dozen spacefaring powers on this list. Several of which did not participate in the solar system colonization that followed the war."

Marshall's eyes widened, and in a quiet voice he responded, "Lieutenant, are you suggesting that..."

"That Ragnarok might be the tip of a very large iceberg. There could be human colonies scattered across local space."

The captain rose from his chair, turned out to face the starfield, trying to locate near stars in the dark.

"I'd say you've given us a new mission, Lieutenant. If there are other Ragnaroks out there, then we need to find them. For our sake, and for theirs." He walked around the desk to the door, then back to the astrogator, "Let's go down to the party. You've just given us something more to celebrate."

Dozens of new worlds, societies that were lost to Earth decades ago to find. Not to mention the alien races that were out there to contact for the first time, the new discoveries to make. Suddenly all of it seemed closer than it ever had before. Marshall looked back out at the stars, and smiled, before turning and heading out to the bridge.

Thank you for reading 'The Price of Admiralty'. For information on future releases,
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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

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