The Honour of the Knights (First Edition) (36 page)

The bridge had been laid to waste; and whilst his crew were
coping with the damage that had been dealt it,
Griffin
would without doubt be out
of service for several weeks, if not months. It was not time they
could spare.

Idiot,
he thought to himself,
looking over how much the carrier had suffered at the hands of an
enemy he had been foolish enough to believe he was ready to
tackle.
We
’
re not ready yet!
You
are not
ready!

Leviathan
‘s
condition was not much better, the damage to the exterior
quite clear from where Parks stood. The emblems of the mythical
creature that graced the hull were torn and burnt from where
missiles, plasma bolts, and lasers had scorched the armour. Small
glistening crystalline shapes could be seen emanating from damaged
areas, where leaking gases and chemicals froze in the cold. Loose
metals and alloys threatened to break off at the merest brush with
solar winds.
Grendel
’
s Mother
told a similar story, the carrier in no better condition for
her part in the battle.

And then there was the loss of
Grendel
. The destruction of one of
their carriers would not please the United Naval Forces, who had
agreed to support the Confederation in their endeavour on the
condition that the safety of their forces would be made a top
priority. Parks had a lot to answer for, though he realised it
could have been a lot worse.

“
Good job, everyone,” Parks said to the bridge crew, although
the congratulatory offering felt decidedly hollow. “Now that we
have time to breathe, please prioritise yourselves with seeing to
the wounded and dealing with repairs.”

He would
call a meeting of his senior staff after he’d had time to see to
other matters.

“
Mr Liu, please put me in touch
with
Leviathan
,
Grendel
’
s Mother
,
and…” he started, before a
sudden anger gripped him. “No, wait, disregard that. Put me in
touch with
Ifrit
,
alone.”

As he
waited for the link to establish, he tried to cool his anger by
counting slowly to ten. He made it to three.

XV

—
The Journey Home —

“
T
hank you
so much for your assistance, Commodore,” Parks began. “We certainly
would not have been able to cope without your timely intervention.”
Parks made no attempt to conceal the sarcasm in his voice, the man
sure that, even if
Ifrit
‘s
captain had somehow failed to detect it, his expression would
do an adequate job of conveying his dissatisfaction.

Hawke
’
s
expression in the holographic screen remained quite neutral as he
composed himself before replying.
“As we
had both agreed prior to the commencement of the operation,
Commodore, I took up the position of rearguard and moved in to
fulfil my role as needed. I stand by my belief that had I acted
sooner than was necessary, we would, without a shadow of a doubt,
have been surrounded by enemy forces and certainly would not be
having this conversation now.”

“
That is besides the point, Commodore!” Parks glared. “I gave
you a very specific request that our forces were being overrun and
we needed your support. You chose to ignore that
request.”

“
I did no such thing. Your communication was cut short and I
took it upon myself to hold position until I could make a better
assessment of the situation,” Hawke replied with the same air of
infallibility.

Your stubbornness and downright arrogance is
staggering
, Parks thought.
What the hell happened to you?
It was almost as if the man
didn
’
t
want
to help. Had Hawke
panicked in the face of the Enemy? Had a repressed memory of his
experience aboard
Dragon
during the time of its theft reared its ugly
head? Whatever it was, it was still unacceptable to stand idly by
as hostile forces tore the allies apart, and for that Parks was
infuriated. With all that had happened that day he felt the rage
building within him and decided to end the discussion rather than
make his feelings known to the entire bridge crew.

“
We will continue this later, during
debriefing,” Parks said, fully intent on bringing the
man
’
s
almost total lack of participation in the operation to the
attention of Fleet Admiral Turner and other members of naval high
command.

He signalled to the bridge crew to open communications
to
Grendel
’
s Mother
and
Leviathan
. The holographic images of Mandeep and Meyers appeared
alongside the already present image of Hawke, the quality of the
images as poor as ever.

“
Commodore, Captain,” Parks greeted them. “Are you in any need
of assistance?”

“
We will be fine for the return journey, thank you,
Commodore,” Mandeep replied, the smile that Parks had grown so
accustomed to and fond of no longer gracing her face. “Much of the
damage we received was superficial, a miracle given what we just
faced.” Mandeep looked sad and disappointed, the tremendous losses
they had suffered and the deaths of her colleagues undoubtedly an
enormous weight on her mind.

“
Likewise with
Leviathan
,” Meyers said. “We did
take some considerable damage, but it
’
s nothing that we cannot cope with
prior to our return to Spirit.”

Parks nodded in understanding.
“Very
well. Whilst going about the repairs we should perform a brief
sweep of the area and pick up any bodies we can find. Obviously
there is nothing we can do for those poor individuals, but we can
at least return their bodies home for a decent burial.”

His eyes
flickered past the holographic images to the debris that floated
about beyond the carrier. Many of the starfighter pilots that had
lost their lives would have been all but vaporised in the
explosions of their craft. This he was glad for. After everything
that had happened, too many questions would be asked if they pulled
in the body of one of the Enemy. Such an occurrence would only act
as a catalyst and foundation for increasing rumour and speculation.
A count and name-check of those returning on the carriers would be
performed at Spirit, with those unaccounted for being marked as
killed in action.

With that in mind, he looked to Meyers.
“Captain, can
Leviathan
carry some of our fighters? Our flight deck is
too badly damaged to land any and we can only accommodate so many
in our cargo holds. I don
’
t expect
Ifrit
will have room to spare,” he
added dryly.

Meyers nodded.
“That
shouldn
’
t be an
issue since, regrettably, we have many empty bays.”

“
Thank you, Captain,” Parks said, before he
turned once again to Mandeep. “Please convey my sincere condolences
to the families of those who were aboard
Grendel
. A lot of brave men and
women lost their lives on that ship today.” To lose an entire
carrier was disastrous to any naval force. Matters were made worse
by the fact that the crew were made up of military personnel
volunteered by a number of Independent World naval forces. Parks
could almost hear the cracks widening in the already strained
relationships between some of the worlds.

“
I will make sure your sympathies are known, Commodore,”
Mandeep said, the sadness clear in her eyes even through the
distortion. “Please contact us when you are ready to leave. We will
wait with you here, in case we can provide any further
assistance.”

“
Thank you again, Sima,” Parks said.

“
Excuse me, Commodore, but how do you
suppose the enemy forces were able to override the shut down code
that was sent to
Dragon
?” Meyers asked. It was a
question that had played on Parks’ mind - and he suspected very
many others - throughout the course of the battle. The sudden
restoration of power to
Dragon
had tipped the scales well in the
enemy’
s favour during
the opening part of the operation.

“
I don
’
t believe they did, Captain,” Parks
answered. “Our initial attempt at transmitting the code was not
immediately successful and it took a lot longer for
Dragon
‘s
systems to be deactivated than I was led to
believe. I was informed that the shut down procedure would take
place upon receipt of the code. The fact that it did not do so
should have been our first warning. It is my belief that the Enemy
became aware our intentions and purposely shut down all systems
themselves in compliance. Once we were lured into a false sense of
security, they sprung their trap.”

“
How could they have known about something like that?” Mandeep
asked.

Parks had a hunch that she was asking a rhetorical question,
implying that the Enemy had either been tipped off ahead of their
encounter or that
Dragon
‘s
previous crew were now working alongside its new
owners.

“
I
’
m afraid I don
’
t know the answer to that,
Commodore,” he said. “Until we can collate a battle report and
analyse all the data, then my guess would be as good as yours. Once
we have further information I will ensure that it is shared with
the IWC.

“
Now, if there is no other business that anyone wishes to
discuss?”

Even
with the interference caused by the damage to the holographic
projection systems, Parks had no trouble making out the subtle
confrontational look that Hawke was giving him. There were shakes
of heads and answers of no.

“
Then we will make preparations to leave. I will be in contact
shortly.”

* * *

For the next hour the allied forces continued with repairs,
most of
Griffin
‘s
surviving starfighters docking
with
Leviathan
. A
sweep for bodies resulted in only a handful of recognisable pick
ups, a mixture of both Confederation and Independent uniforms in
the group. The four remaining
Red
Devils
were found and taken aboard
Leviathan
, the women
identifiable by the colourful emblem of a cartoon devil clutching a
pitchfork on the left breast of their flight suits.

Dodds watched the shuttles do their work. He was happy to do
nothing now but take a well-earned breather. He listened to Estelle
conversing with
Griffin
.

“
Do you wish for us to return
to
Griffin
‘s
cargo bay or should we dock
with
Leviathan
?”
she asked.

“
Negative, Lieutenant. I want you and your
team to return to
Griffin
,” Parks answered her. “Land
via the rear cargo bay and then await further
instructions.”

“
Acknowledged.”

Estelle
was the first to return to the rear cargo bay, the awaiting crew
taxiing the sleek, black starfighter back to its original position,
so that the others could land uninhibited. Dodds saw her waiting at
the rear of the bay, stood next to Enrique, as he landed. Even
before he stepped out of the fighter, he could make out the grin on
the man’s face.

“
Good shooting out there, mate,” Dodds said to Enrique, as he
walked over to join them. “Think I might have gotten one or two
more than you, though!”

“
I think you
’
ll find I was ahead of you the
whole the time,” Enrique said, with a chuckle. He shook Dodds’ hand
and they gave each other a hearty slap on the back.

“
That frigate still only counts as one,” Dodds
grinned.

“
I am glad to be out there, though,” Enrique said, nodding
towards the ATAFs.

“
Definitely. After all of that I could do
with a nap,” Dodds admitted. They looked to Chaz, who was making
his way over to them. He appeared quite upbeat for a change, a
smile on his face. With Kelly the last to land and now out of her
ATAF, the
Knights
gathered around Estelle.

“
Good work out there, everyone,” she beamed, looking happier
than she had done in weeks.