The Honour of the Knights (First Edition) (20 page)

“
If…”

“
You
’
ve seen first hand what that
fighter is capable of,” Turner went on, ignoring the commodore.
“Imagine facing several dozen of those in combat. Combine that with
the Enemy
’
s
abilities and we might as well arm everyone with low-grade particle
cannons for all the good it would do. Then there’s all the other
information they will have become privy to. We would have to step
up the final phase of the project without any
guarantees.”

Turner picked up another report, reading it to himself for a
time before glancing up at Parks and quoting a passage out loud.
“
Upon resuming our patrol we were
contacted by Spirit Orbital who requested that we assist
CSN Cardinal
, which had
come under attack. We arrived to find signs of recent combat and
the
Cardinal
damaged. I ordered that the area be made secure until the
search and rescue teams could arrive.

“
I see the
White Knights
were at the
scene.”

“
Yes, sir. They were patrolling the area
when they received the request to aid
Cardinal
.”

“
And they were unable to take down a single escaping craft?”
Turner demanded to know.

“
Those details are sketchy, sir. The wing leader believed she
was acting within a support capacity and did not act because she
was not ordered to.”

“
de Winter was leading the wing?”

“
Yes, sir.”

“
She should have had that ship blown to
pieces the moment it was clear of
Cardinal
,” Turner growled, flipping
backwards through the pages. He had received the reports less than
an hour before Parks
’
arrival and there was much in them that he had skipped over,
turning straight to the most important parts. “Apparently they also
encountered some unknown hostilities on their patrol… What the
hell
’
s
this?!”

“
Sir?”

“
This part of about some transmission!”

“
The
Knights
received an unusual message
that they thought was report-worthy,” Parks explained, recalling
reading it himself on the journey over.

Turner read back to get the full details of the transmission.
Displeasure etched deeper into his face as he read on. Parks knew
without having to be told what the admiral was thinking: this
shouldn
’
t be
here. It all had to go. The pilot
’
s words would lead to questions;
questions which would then lead to truths; and truths that would
lead to panic on quite literally a galactic scale. And then the
Enemy would win.

“
Remove it,” Turner said, dropping the
report back onto his desk. “As far as anyone is concerned those men
were Imperial asylum seekers fleeing their
system
’
s
civil war. They stole three ships and ran the check points in the
Alba system before jumping to Temper. Their ships were destroyed
after they failed to identify themselves upon request to a Naval
patrol unit, which they had also attacked.”

“
Yes, sir. I
’
ll have that updated for the final
report,” Parks assured him.

“
Ensure it is, as well as the traffic and activity record at
Alba.”

Parks
nodded.

“
And have someone take the
Knights
aside and ensure
they do not repeat what they heard. I don’t care who you get to do
it: yourself, Meyers, Hawke, or whoever. Just make sure the message
is clear. We need all our bases covered on this one.”

Parks
nodded again. “I’ll have it done as soon as we’ve wrapped this up,
admiral.”

“
Good. I have to leave soon to meet with
those clowns in Office and I don
’
t wish to spend any more time with
damage control,” Turner growled once again, as if blaming Parks for
the presence of the offending sentences. “Now, before all of this
crap started, I believe you said that you had some news for
me?”

“
I do,” Parks said with a wry smile.

Turner scowled at the commodore’s sudden bright face. “I hope
it
’
s
good
news,
Commodore.”

“
It
’
s very good news, Admiral -
Intelligence have finally managed to locate
Dragon
.”

IX

—
Poker, Rumours and Whiskey —

T
he Officer
’
s Club at Mandelah Naval Base was
filled to capacity. Most days, the Club was not as packed as it was
tonight, but the actions of the
White
Knights
two days previous had set in
motion a series of rumours that had resulted in as many service
personnel squeezing themselves into the building as
possible.

Word of mouth had spread that a pilot named Kelly (first name
unknown) had engaged and taken down two enemy starfighters, making
their way through Confederation space. The exact identity of the
“enemy” did not seem to be known and neither was it important. By
further word of mouth, it had become four enemy vessels, who were
en route to torpedo Spirit Orbital. Kelly had been patrolling on
his own when he had encountered the enemy, and had therefore been
unable to fall back on any wingmates for assistance (at this point,
Kelly had also been identified as a man, or “one hell of a guy”).
In the end, he had become the sole responsibility for the defence
and evacuation of a heavily packed naval transporter, that was
acting as the enemy
’
s secondary target.

Even
with the records available showing the true nature of events, Kelly
Taylor had not breathed a single word of correction to anyone;
anything for a party.

The drink was flowing quite freely that night, with much
singing and dancing. The pool tables were receiving a great deal
more attention than they would normally, with various wagers being
played out non-stop. A tall, skinny man by the name of
O
’
Reilly was
enjoying a lot of success with the cue, many challengers attempting
to break his winning streak and soon parting with their
cash.

With everything going on, Estelle wondered just who was
watching how much everyone was drinking. Certainly not Captain
Meyers, who had been absent from the base for the past two days,
disappearing straight after the
Knights
had returned from their
patrol. Earlier on, she had seen a couple of the more senior
officers perched on stools by the bar, making sure that people
didn’t overdo it; but they were not exactly enforcing the usual
rules of responsible alcohol consumption on others.

“
… of all the places that we could have wound up in. Kelly?”
Estelle said, raising her eyes from her glass and discovering Kelly
to be preoccupied. “Kelly?”

The
brown-haired girl turned back to Estelle. “Sorry, Estelle, what did
you say?”

“
Too busy in your own little world, as usual,” Estelle
muttered, wishing her friend would listen to her ranting, so she
could get it off her chest. “Sometimes I think you really are just
like your sisters.”

Kelly recoiled on her stool. “Oh, thanks, Estelle. Thanks a
lot,” she said, sounding both hurt and angered by
Estelle
’
s words.
“I thought if there was just one person in this world who
wouldn
’
t continue
to bring that up, it would be you. Why people constantly feel the
need to judge me on that, I
’
ll never know.”

* * *

A gathering of eight men and women, standing not too far from
Estelle and Kelly
’
s table, lowered their drinks to watch the scene
unfolding.

“
What
’
s going on?” asked a man to the
group, noting the scowl on Kelly
’
s face.

“
The neurotic one and the spoilt one are fighting,” one of his
drinking companions answered.

“
That doesn
’
t surprise me,” said another. “I
don
’
t think
there
’
s a single
person on the base that de Winter hasn
’
t picked a fight with.”

“
What exactly is her problem?”

“
Ego,” a woman put bluntly.

“
That Kelly Taylor?” one of the other men asked, with a nod of
his beer bottle.

“
No, that
’
s de Winter. Taylor’s the one
having a go.”

“
Oh.”

“
Why, do you like that?”

“
She
’
s not bad.”

“
Don
’
t bother. I share quarters with
her. Really full of herself, that one. Kelly
’
s nicer, even if she’s quite
dizzy.”

“
Could someone explain to me why she is even here?”

“
What do you mean?”

“
Well, if I were her, I
wouldn
’
t
be here. I
’
d be
spending all that money her father
’
s got.”

“
You know, you’re a real credit to the service.”

“
No, I’m just making a point. You probably would,
too.”

“
Like her sisters?”

“
You know, I heard she hates them?”

“
No, she doesn
’
t hate them; they just
don
’
t get
on.”

“
Tell you what, I wish my Dad had done that.”

“
Done what?”

“
Been a galactic commodities trader.”

“
It wasn
’
t her Dad, it was her great, great
grandfather, or something like that.”

“
You wouldn
’
t be able to do it these days
anyway. The market for that sort of thing was only around for a
short time, before all the larger corporations started to get in on
the act. He was a smart man, you got to give him that.”

“
What are they fighting about?”

“
I don
’
t know and I don
’
t care.”

Several of the group turned their backs on the two women,
going back to what they had been talking about before they had been
distracted. One only half-turned back, leaning ever so slightly in
the table
’
s
direction, intrigued to hear what had riled Kelly so
much.

* * *

“
I can
’
t help being who I am, Estelle. I
didn’t ask to be born into my family,” Kelly was continuing her
rant, Estelle not saying a word. “And I
’
m not like Susan and Gemma at all.
If I was, I wouldn
’
t be here for a start. I
’
d be being snapped by
photographers, falling out of cars and nightclubs, so drunk I
don
’
t know what
day it is; working my way through some football team; or joining
the ranks of the no-knicker club. You know, my sisters
don
’
t even know
what I do? I’ve been with the CSN for nearly ten bloody years and
they think that I
’
m a soldier, part of the Mobile Infantry.

“
And speaking of which, you need to stop
trying to make up for what happened to Jed. At least he
wasn
’
t
killed and could walk away from it…”

Kelly stopped talking as the sentence left her mouth,
instantly regretting her choice of words. Estelle and her brother
had both taken up military careers at the same time, Estelle
joining the CSN and her brother the CMI. Her brother had lasted
only two years before he had returned home. An accident during a
live fire exercise had resulted in a bullet shattering his knee cap
and leaving him with a permanent limp. Estelle
’
s family had been unable to afford
the corrective surgery.

She looked uneasily around the Officer
’
s Club for a moment, before turning
back to Estelle. In for a penny, in for a pound; she may as well
get it all out now. Better Estelle hear it from her than somebody
else.