He Who Dares: Book Two (The Gray Chronicals 2) (26 page)

“Pulling the fleet together in close formation during the initial disruption would overlap your shield the moment they came back online, and give others ships that much more protection, especially for the more lightly armored elements.”

“Good point.  However, don’t try to teach your grandmother to suck eggs Lieutenant.”  He laughed.  Mike blushed slightly, forgetting for a moment who he was talking too, his mind working a mile a minute on probabilities.

“Sorry sir.”

“Don’t be.  It shows you have a head on your shoulders, and any possibility is welcome.  I’ll work on this problem, and among those I can trust come up with a workable plan.”

“I just wonder what the time-table for all this to happen?”

“No telling,  If what you say is true, the new system will work perfectly of God knows how long before it’s activated.”

“A major Sirrien incursion would be my guess.”

“Or an invasion.”  It was a bleak assessment.

“You could be right, sir.”

“If it is, we might just have time to do something about it.”  Even as the Admiral said it, Mike felt a shiver run up his back.

“Can you win, sir?”  It was a horrible thing to say to anyone, let alone the Admiral of the Fleet.  For a moment, the Admiral said nothing.

“No… we can’t.”  He answered at last, his voice flat and emotionless.  “With what I have available, all I can do is delay the inevitable.”  He said at last.

“That aside, back to your report.”

“Yes, sir.”  Mike answered, shaking off the feeling of gloom.

“I was wondering who sent Kevin Barker to kill you.”

“I have no way of knowing, sir.  The Sensei told me to leave and I took his advice, but I’ve heard nothing about him since.”

“Not surprising, his protectors in high placed have probably spirited him away by now.”

“He’d not much good to them without his arms.”

“Arms can be regrown.”

“Yes, sir.”

“He’s a valuable asset, I doubt they would dispose of him so quickly.”

“Yes, sir.”

“That Inspector General from the Bureau of ships makes me wonder how far up the ladder the rot has spread.”  The Admiral looked pensive but didn’t say anything more it wasn’t time yet.  If Mike Gray proved himself, then he might reveal a few other secrets to him, mainly in the hope he could use him to solve a few problems.

“Quite a way by the look of it, sir.”  To Mike, it was clear that something wasn’t right with the Navy, and gradually he was seeing something between the cracks as the facade broke away.

“Can you tell me a little more about my ship, Admiral?”  The old man gave him a pensive look for a moment, then nodded.

“You have a right to know, seeing she’s your command now.”

“Thank you, Admiral.”

“About twenty-two years ago, three bright young men sat down after dinner at a fine restaurant one evening and began talking about ship design. All three were of the opinion that size didn’t necessarily equate strength.”

“I agree totally, sir.”

“If you have been doing your reading, Mike, you will know that even a simple thing like an aircraft, or a motor torpedo boat could take out a Battleship, or an aircraft carrier.”

“True, sir, like the Japanese did at Pearl Harbor, or the British and American PT boats did during WW II.”

“Exactly.  So, the three bright young men got several bottles of good wine and spend the rest of the evening drawing on the table cloth and napkins.”

“And came up with my ship.”  Mike smiled, he didn’t have the heart to tell the Admiral just yet that this wasn’t the ship those three young men designed.

“Not straight away.  They had many heated arguments, and almost a fist fight, but eventually, they draw smaller and smaller ships with more and more power and armaments.”

“I seem to remember the German’s did something similar, they called it a pocket Battleship.”

“Right, light, fast and heavily armed.  Yet, pound for pound a motor torpedo boat or a midget sub-could inflict more damage for far less cost than a Battleship.”

“Good God!”

“Imagine the damage the German’s could have inflicted if they spent the same amount of money for the pocket Battleship on E-boats or submarines?”

“They could have built thousands of them, and trained the crew faster and keep them in action longer with the right supply lines.”

“Right, but pride can be a dangerous thing.  In the end, the Royal Navy and the Air Force crippled or sank all of those great ships.”  Mike pondered the Admirals word, his eyes looking off into the distance.

“I understand.  My ship is small, fast, heavily armed and built like a Battleship.”

“In other word, like any good warship, able to take substantial damage and still stay in action.”

“So why didn’t they finish building her twenty years ago?”  He didn’t try to hide the note of exasperation in his voice.

“That is the question, Mike, and one that will have to remain unanswered for a while, I’m sorry to say.”

“Yes, sir.”  Something was going on here, but he couldn’t figure out what.

“At least I have the latest equipment and armament, sir, not worn out junk.”

“Well, at least we know there are a few people working on our side.”  The Admiral pushed a message pad across the table, “this came in while you were in transit, I didn’t understand it at first, but after reading your reports, I do.”  The message was from Cynthia and read.

“I take it you know what this means, Mike?”  Mike read it twice, then nodding in understanding.

“Yes, Admiral, it means that I have the only existing copy of the plans and specification for my ship, including all the new equipment and modifications.”

“Just so, in fact, your ship doesn’t even exist in the naval list, or archives yet?”

“No, sir, she doesn’t.”

“That’s the reason I had you park way out.  After looking at the picture you sent of your ship, I didn’t want anyone else to see her either.”

“Why so, Admiral?”

“You have a new ship, with all the latest innovations, drives, weapons and tactical systems, yet in size she’s a cross between a Destroyer and a light Cruiser with weapons systems and firepower on the order of a Heavy Cruiser.”  He said with a chuckle.

“Yes, sir.”

“It also means that no one in the Admiralty knows about her either.  She a ghost ship if you like.”

“Well, she is only a…. I’m not sure what to class she is, Admiral, but she’s not a Battleship.”

“True, but if what you have told me is true, she has the capabilities of a ship far larger.  I thought it best that the fewer people who saw her, the better.”

“Yes, sir, but as yet I have nothing to gage her capabilities against.  I need to take her on a shakedown cruise and find out.”

“Out of curiosity, what are the wings, or whatever you call them, for?”

“They aren’t wings, sir.  The port and starboard wings actually house the landing sponsons and additional missile launches that fire fore and aft.”

“Good thinking, and”

“The landing sponsons houses four additional torpedo launchers with auto load capabilities.  They augment the six launches in the bow, and the four in the stern.”

“And that mast… or whatever you call it?”

“The upper tail fin, if you can call it that, is for the long range sensors and a fake communication system.  It also houses one of our active ECM units.”

“So where is the real long range comm antenna?”  In answer, Mike tapped his port-comp and passed it to the Admiral.  He took one look and erased what Mike had written and passed it back with a nod.

“We have a full ECM and ECCM suit onboard, not the abbreviated one that smaller ships carry.

“Lord, I wondered where you’d packed all that extra equipment they sent you.”

“Oh, we have a whole range of weapon system tucked away inside her,” he laughed, “should we need them that is.”

“From what I’ve seen of your equipment specification, she’s more like a pocket Battleship and anything else.”

“Maybe one day we’ll find out.”

“Sooner than you might think, Michael.”

“How so, Admiral.  I definitely need a shakedown cruise.”

“Hmm, can’t let you have much time, as I have an urgent assignment for you.  However, you will have time to iron out the kinks along the way.”  Mike sighed.  So much for getting her shipshape. 

As he spoke, the Admiral got up and walked over to the wall safe, held his thumb to the security lock, then punched in some numbers.  He took out a sealed package, handing it to Mike.

“Those are sealed ordered, and not to be opened until you are passed the first warp point somewhere above Solar North.”

“Aye-aye, sir.”

“I can tell you that they were hand delivered by a Kings Messenger, with the instruction that I give them to you personally.  In a way, going back to hand deliver critical messages might be slow, but far less prone to interception.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I can’t tell you anything else at this time only that this mission is critical.”

“Aye, sir.”  He hesitated a moment, then continues.  “I have a question, Admiral.”

“Yes?”

“What are you going to do with the report I sent you?”  It was a delicate question to ask an Admiral, but from the look he got he felt reassured.

“Your report was hand carried by a King’s Messenger to, um, well let just say, someone high up, and, I didn’t keep any copy for myself other than what is on this.”  He held up a reader.  “It will be erased and the chip broken the moment you leave here.”  That made Mike feel a lot better.

With all the leaks in the Admiralty, there was no telling where his report might end up.  His comm tech reported that the booby trap didn’t go off, so he knew no one tampered with it before the Admiral saw it.  Now it was in the hands of someone he trusted, and shouldn’t turn up somewhere else.