Vanguard (Ark Royal Book 7) (42 page)

She cut the connection and rose, taking one last look at the Ready Room.  Most of Captain Blake’s clobber had been moved out, giving her space to actually
work
.  It was
hers
now, but not for much longer.  She would be surprised if she was allowed to return to duty in less than six months, assuming she wasn't summarily discharged.  Someone else would sit in the command chair, someone else would take command of the ship ... although it would be months, at least, before the battleship was fit for combat.  She’d made sure that the list of repairs was in order.

At least I had a chance to send a message to father
, she thought, as she walked out of the compartment and down towards the airlock. 
He'll hear it from me first
.

She stopped outside the airlock, just as the red light flicked green.  The hatch opened a second later, revealing a grim-faced man wearing a Commodore’s uniform, escorted by two military policemen.  Both of the redcaps wore holsters at their belts, the flaps unbuttoned.  It was not a reassuring sight.

The Commodore stepped forward.  “Susan Onarina?”

“Yes, sir,” Susan said.  No rank ... that didn't bode well.  “Reporting as ordered.”

“I am Commodore Douglas Archer, Royal Navy Military Police,” Archer said.  “It is my duty to inform you that I am taking you into custody, pending a full investigation into your conduct on HMS
Vanguard
.  You have the right to remain silent, but any and all cooperation you offer between now and your formal hearing will be counted in your favour.  Do you understand me?”

“Yes, sir,” Susan said.

“As of now, you are relieved of command,” Archer continued.  “You will be held on my shuttle until you can be transferred to RMP Titan.  Although you are not technically under arrest, I would advise you to comport yourself as though you are.  A legal officer will be assigned to you at Titan; until then, you may not talk to anyone save for myself and other RNMP personnel.  Any attempt to do so through any means will result in you being restrained and held in a cell, rather than reasonably decent quarters.”

He nodded to his escorts.  Susan briefly considered resistance, but she knew it would be suicidal.  Instead, she let them search her with practiced ease, then lead her through the hatch and into the shuttlecraft.  Inside, a handful of officers - an emergency command crew, she realised - eyed her curiously as she was marched through the craft and sat at the far end, one of her escorts sitting near her.

Behind her, the hatch slammed closed.

End Of Book One

HMS
Vanguard
And Her Crew Will Return In:

Fear God And Dread Naught

Coming Soon!

Appendix: Glossary of UK Terms and Slang

[Author’s Note: I’ve tried to define every incident of specifically UK slang in this glossary, but I can’t promise to have spotted everything.  If you spot something I’ve missed, please let me know and it will be included.]

Beasting/Beasted - military slang for anything from a chewing out by one’s commander to outright corporal punishment or hazing.  The latter two are now officially banned.

Binned - SAS slang for a prospective recruit being kicked from the course, then returned to unit (RTU).

Boffin - Scientist

Bootnecks - slang for Royal Marines.  Loosely comparable to ‘Jarhead.’

Bottle - slang for nerve, as in ‘lost his bottle.’

Borstal - a school/prison for young offenders.

Clobber - stuff/junk.

Donkey Wallopers - slang for the Royal Horse Artillery.

Fortnight - two weeks.  (Hence the terrible pun, courtesy of the
Goon Show
, that Fort Knight cannot possibly last three weeks.)

‘Get stuck into’ - ‘start fighting.’

‘I should coco’ - ‘you’re damned right.’

Kip - sleep.

Levies - native troops.  The Ghurkhas are the last remnants of native troops from British India.

Lorries - trucks.

MOD - Ministry of Defence.  (The UK’s Pentagon.)

Panda Cola - Coke as supplied by the British Army to the troops. 

RFA - Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Rumbled - discovered/spotted.

SAS - Special Air Service.

SBS - Special Boat Service

Skive - Avoid work

Spotted Dick - a traditional fruity sponge pudding with suet, citrus zest and currants served in thick slices with hot custard.  The name always caused a snigger.

Squaddies - slang for British soldiers.

Stag - guard duty.

TAB (tab/tabbing) - Tactical Advance to Battle.

Walt - Poser, i.e. someone who claims to have served in the military and/or a very famous regiment.  There’s a joke about 22 SAS being the largest regiment in the British Army - it must be, because of all the people who claim to have served in it.

Wanker - Masturbator (jerk-off).  Commonly used as an insult.

Wanking - Masturbating. 

Yank/Yankee - Americans