The Honour of the Knights (First Edition) (40 page)

“
Not sure I
’
d take that over being spaced,
myself.”

“
Nice looking thing, too.”

“
Yeah?”

“
Yeah.”

“
That
’
s a shame.”

Chaz had noticed Estelle
’
s expression change as the two men
had spoken, the woman lowering her gaze to the floor.

“
You all right, Estelle?” Dodds had asked sometime
later.

“
Just thinking.”

“
Sure?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Okay.”

“
Thanks, Simon.”

Simon.
That was a name he didn’t hear used all too often.

The head of security was now back, and speaking with the rest
of his team. As he did so, he looked around the groups of people
sat in the cargo hold, but mostly at the
Knights
. The other members of the
security team were doing likewise. It was clear to Chaz that the
man was discussing the
Knights
and he’d guessed what was going on well
before
Wyatt
strode over to the five pilots.

“
Lieutenant de Winter?” Wyatt asked as he stood over them,
flanked by two others from him team.

“
Yes,” Estelle said, getting to her feet.

“
Commodore Parks wishes to speak to you immediately in his
private office. Please come with me.”

The
Knights
were escorted from the cargo hold by the head of the security
team. As they walked through
Griffin
‘s
decks towards Parks
’
office, they were at last able to see the true
extent of the damage. There were still many safety and fire doors
closed across every deck and as a result their journey was not
straightforward. Parks had insisted that the security team avoid
the use of elevators, in case they became stuck and delayed the
meeting.

* * *

Parks
turned back from where he was gazing out the window in the
direction of Arlos as the six people entered his office.

“
Thank you for being so prompt, Omar,” he
said. “Please wait outside. I have a confidential matter I need to
discuss with the
White
Knights
.”

“
Yes, sir,” Wyatt nodded and departed the office.

“
White Knights
reporting as…” Estelle began, before Parks waved her
down.

“
At ease. Please excuse me for restricting
you to the cargo hold. I intended to explain the reasons behind the
move back at Spirit, but that is going to have to wait. You may
have noticed that we are currently not in jump.” He indicated to
the inky blackness of the world outside the carrier, the scene
punctuated by tiny pin-pricks of greys and whites from distant
stars. “When we departed Aster,
Griffin
suffered a miss-jump and as
a result we did not make it to our intended destination. Instead,
we have become temporarily stranded in the Phylent
system.”

“
Phylent?” Estelle and Kelly both said.

“
We
’
re in Imperial space?” Chaz asked,
mimicking Parks
’
own reaction to the news the first time that he had heard
it.

Parks nodded. “That’s correct, and we will be remaining here
until we either repair our jump engines, Captain Meyers or
Commodore Hawke arrive to assist us, or we are discovered by
hostile forces. The situation is not in the least favourable
to
Griffin
from
whatever angle you look at it. Whilst rescue is on the way, we
cannot count on its arrival for at least several more
hours.

“
Griffin
has sustained a considerable amount of damage and in the face
of an attack would be almost totally defenceless. Our weapon
systems are unreliable, our shielding is barely adequate, and we
have no means of launching fighters.”

“
Excuse me, sir, but we could launch the ATAFs from the cargo
hold,” Estelle chipped in.

“
Thank you for letting me know that,
Lieutenant,” Parks answered with a hint of sarcasm. “But the
situation is no longer as straightforward as that, and I have just
received a communication from Fleet Admiral Turner that has further
complicated matters. I believe you were all present
when
CSN Cardinal
was boarded and destroyed by a raiding
party?”

“
Yes, sir,” Estelle said, the others nodding.

“
We believe that the raider who escaped stole some highly
classified and sensitive data that, if it were to fall into enemy
hands, could spell utter disaster for the Confederation and all her
interests.”

“
What was it?” Enrique asked.

“
As already stated, Mr Todd, that is classified,” Parks shot.
“Now keep that big mouth of yours shut. This is very important and
I need you all to listen very carefully.”

Enrique
did so.

Parks
pressed on. “All you need to know is that we have to get it back.
As it happens, a government service agent has tracked the raider to
this very system and is in the process of reacquiring the data. She
planned to immediately return to Confederation space once she had
done so, but the instability of this entire region could make that
considerably more difficult than she first expected. And it is that
which has made my next decision so very difficult because I need
you five to go and get it from her.”

He scanned the group as he finished speaking, noticing, as he
had expected, Chaz
’
s narrowed eyes upon him. The others said nothing, turning to
look at one another. Parks pressed on, looking to head off the two
dozen questions he could see coming. “So, I will be requiring you
to travel, in the ATAFs, to Arlos starport, where you will meet the
agent, retrieve the stolen data card that was her mission target
and return to
Griffin
.”

It
sounded very simple when Parks put it that way. He only wished that
it was.

He tapped the keyboard in front him. “This is who you will be
looking for.” Parks turned the monitor of his desk around to face
the
Knights
,
keeping a close eye on Chaz as he did so. Unlike the others, whose
attention was focused on the screen, studying the profile of the
woman they were to meet, Chaz
’
s eyes flickered to the monitor for
only a couple of seconds before darting back to meet
Parks
’
. For a
while, the two men locked eyes, Parks maintaining a serious and
unwavering expression, Chaz keeping his own just as
steady.

Parks
said, “This is Clare Barber, an agent working for the Confederate
Secret Service. She has a long-standing history of providing her
government with outstanding results.” He continued to lock looks
with Chaz. None of the others had picked up on the exchange, their
eyes remaining focused on the screen, which detailed Barber as
being light-skinned, thirty-nine years old, five foot nine inches
tall, and with shoulder-length, straight black hair.

“
She’s likely to be maintaining a low profile, so you will
need to put in a little extra effort to find her when arriving at
the starport. She is obviously not aware of your coming to meet
her, so do not expect her to come running and waving her arms in
the air the second you arrive. We are aware that the Imperium has
extensive information on some of our operatives, so she will
undoubtedly be on their watch list, due to her persisted presence
within their space.”

He had
still not broken eye contact with Chaz.

“
I shouldn
’
t need to remind you all of the
very hazardous predicament that we all find ourselves in right
now,” Parks said, before he swivelled the screen back around. “And
as such, it is necessary that upon leaving
Griffin
and travelling to the
starport you take maximum precautions. That means avoiding
detection by hostile forces at all times.”

Estelle
cleared her throat, then said, “Pardon my ignorance, sir, but
whilst they are black, the ATAFs are not invisible.”

“
You
’
re half right, Lieutenant. They are
indeed black, and the cloaking device fitted into each of the
fighters is a feature we wished to keep under wraps for as long as
possible. However, circumstances like these often force matters
forward.” He paused for a moment to watch their expressions, the
look of total surprise clear on all of their faces; his own deadly
serious.

“
Sorry, sir. Did you say a cloaking device?” Dodds
said.

“
Yes, Lieutenant, I did. And it is exactly what you likely
believe it to be: a system designed to render the fighter totally
undetectable by almost any means,” Parks said. Now that he had
their total and undivided attention, he went on to explain the
activation and features of the device. The system would render the
ATAF completely invisible to both the naked eye and all radar
systems, with the exception of those on-board the ATAFs themselves.
Even the glow of the engines would be effectively masked by the
device.

“
The invisibility effect of the cloak
itself is linked to the ATAFs
’
shields, so they must be enabled
at all times, even when you disembark upon entering the port. I
want to make it absolutely clear right now that if you disengage
the cloak or the shields then you will expose yourselves and blow
your cover. You will therefore have to push yourselves back through
the shield when you wish to re-enter the fighters, a tedious but
elementary exercise as you all should know.

“
You should also know that although you can use your weapons
whilst the system is activated, it is not recommended as it will
have detrimental effects on your cloak. Should you do so, then your
shielding will react for a few seconds and light you up like a
Christmas tree. Similar effects will be caused by anything that
tests your shields to any degree.

“
Unfortunately, I’m not a scientist, so I cannot list every
conceivable failing of the device. But since you are not to engage
any hostile forces at all, I would strongly advise against using
any of your weapons whilst cloaked. The technology is something
that we do not wish anyone to become aware of – whether allied or
enemy - and that means not de-activating the cloak for any reason
whilst you are proceeding with this mission.

“
Now: do you all fully understand me?”

“
Yes, sir,” the five mumbled.

“
What?
”
Parks said. It had been a lengthy brief, but he needed to ensure
they were all still very much awake.

“
Sir, yes, sir!” they repeated much louder, though with the
exception of Chaz.

“
Excellent.” Parks tapped at the screen
before him and Omar Wyatt re-entered his office, coming to stand by
the
Knights
. “de Winter, Dodds, I want you two to remain here for a
moment whilst I discuss some extra details with you. The rest of
you head back down to the cargo hold. I have already made the
flight team down there aware of my plans and they should have
almost completed preparations by the time you return.
Dismissed.”

The head
of security led the other three out. Parks watched them go, Chaz
meeting his eyes for one last time before he left the
office.

* * *

Dodds
watched as the commodore rose from his chair and paced back and
forth in front of his office window for a moment, the grey and
uninviting form of Arlos just visible to one side of his view. He
began contemplating why Parks may have requested he and Estelle
remain behind. Parks did not take his eyes of either of them,
studying them as if they were a pair of wanted criminals he had
chased for years, having at last been brought before
him.

Parks stopped his pacing and fixed him with a stern look. “I
don
’
t suppose I
need to ask if you
’
re sober now, Dodds?”

“
Totally, sir,” he said in earnest.

“
And I should damn well think so, Lieutenant!” Parks snapped,
his eyes narrow.

Despite
his earlier actions, it was very clear to Dodds that Parks did not
feel he had redeemed himself. Dodds detected that he was struggling
with second thoughts about sending the team away,
unsupervised.

“
When you get to the starport I
don
’
t want
any performances from you, Dodds. You and Todd will fall in line
behind de Winter and follow the chain of command. You will
do
exactly
as you
are ordered, without letting either your over-inflated ego or
have-a-go-hero attitude interfere with your assignment. Got that?”
He stabbed a finger onto his desk with each point he
made.