Their Lordships Request: A Harry Heron Adventure (21 page)

             
The
bruises
faded
in
due
course,
but
not
the
memory
of
the
false
accusation
and
the
beating.
Harry
was
not
one
to
harbour
grudges
or
to
seek
revenge,
but
he
now
treated
Barclay
with
great
circumspection,
suspicion
and
caution,
thankful
their
officers
seemed
to
be
taking
pains
to
ensure
there
was
little
opportunity
for
them
to
be
alone
together
or
for
Peterson
to
be
in
Barclay
'
s
company
alone.
He
could
not
know
Captain
Blackwood
himself
was
taking
an
interest
in
his
and
the
other
Midshipmen
'
s
activities
and
development.

             
For
his
part
Barclay
was
resentful
and
blamed
Harry
for
the
failure
of
what
he
saw
as
a
legitimate
attempt
to
stamp
his
authority
on
the
Messmen,
in
particular
on
Ferghal,
and
to
make
the
'
lower
deck
scum
'
respect
him.
"
The
Second
had
no
business
interfering
in
my
disciplining
that
upstart
Heron,
"
he
complained
to
Tom
Bowles.
"
He
has
undermined
my
authority
completely.
"

             
"
From
where
I
stand
it
is
yourself
to
blame
for
that,
"
Tom
retorted.
"
I
warned
you,
did
I
not,
the
Captain
would
not
stand
for
the
tricks
you
used
in
our
last
ship?
"
He
frowned,
"
Falsely
accusing
a
man
of
theft
is
hardly
the
way
to
win
respect.
You
brought
us
all
into
disrepute
with
that
folly.
What
were
you
thinking?
"

             
"
None
of
your
business,
it
is
a
family
matter.
Mark
my
words,
Heron
will
pay
for
it
and
so
will
that
man
of
his.
Scum
the
lot
of
them
–
and
the
O
'
Connors
worst
of
all.
"

-

             
"
Richard,
"
James
Heron
greeted
his
newly
arrived
Executive
Commander.
"
Welcome
to
the
shambles!
"

             
The
newcomer
smiled,
accepting
the
proffered
handshake.
"
Thanks,
sir.
I
must
say
she
'
s
impressive
even
in
this
incomplete
state.
When
are
they
likely
to
allow
us
to
take
her
out
on
trials?
"

             
"
No
fixed
date
yet,
but
the
estimate
is
around
six
more
months.
Then
we
'
ll
have
about
eighteen
months
of
trials
and
training
to
get
through
before
she
'
s
ready
to
undertake
any
missions.
"

             
"
Well,
plenty
of
time
to
get
her
absolutely
right
then.
Who
else
have
we
got
onboard,
I
'
ve
seen
the
Command
Team
list
and
I
must
say
I
'
m
looking
forward
to
working
with
them.
I
know
Valerie
of
course,
we
were
in
the
same
year
at
College
and
Nick
was
a
term
behind.
Ben
Curran
was
in
my
Class
and
I
know
Fritz
by
reputation.
Mary
Allison
as
well
–
it
'
s
an
impressive
list.
Whose
arms
did
you
break
in
the
Appointments
Office?
"

             
Captain
Heron
laughed.
"
Actually
it
wasn
'
t
that
hard.
She
is
the
first
of
class
and
so
has
lots
of
innovative
features,
not
to
mention
a
whole
ship
full
of
untried
tech
–
it
just
made
sense
to
pull
in
a
team
that
includes
most
of
the
people
who
have
a
hand
in
its
development.
"
He
waved
a
hand
at
a
shelf
with
a
collection
of
models
–
only
one
of
which
looked
anything
like
the
ship
now
under
construction
and
added,
"
She
is
as
much
a
technological
leap
forward
from
anything
we
'
ve
built
before
as
the
first
armoured
dreadnought
type
there
was
from
the
ship
Nelson
knew
or
the
nuclear
submarine
there
was
from
the
dreadnoughts.
We
are
going
to
have
quite
a
learning
curve
I
think.
Not
least
with
the
computer
system
which
Fritz
tells
me
is
self-aware,
though
just
how
much
so
no
one
actually
knows.
"

             
Richard
Grenville
'
s
eye
rested
for
a
moment
on
the
exquisitely
created
model
of
the
earliest
Vanguard
,
a
seventy-four-gun
'
ship
of
the
line
'
,
once
the
flagship
of
the
great
Admiral
Nelson.
"
I
wonder
what
Nelson
'
s
people
would
think
if
they
could
see
our
ships,
"
he
mused,
then
returned
to
the
task
in
hand.
"
I
'
ve
scheduled
a
meeting
with
all
the
key
Warrant
Officers
and
Heads
of
Departments
so
I
can
get
to
know
them
and
they
get
to
know
me.
I
'
ve
already
seen
the
Chief
Master
Warrant
and
gone
over
his
present
Watch
and
Station
bills.
He
'
s
identified
the
key
personnel
we
need
to
get
at
each
stage
of
the
roll
out
and,
if
Drafty
plays
ball,
we
should
have
the
full
crew
aboard
and
ready
to
begin
training
up
as
soon
as
the
final
trials
begin.
"