(eng) Michael Wallace - Void Queen 1-3 by Queen of the Void Star Wolf Sun King
Author:Queen of the Void, Star Wolf, Sun King [Queen of the Void, Star Wolf, Sun King]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
Chapter Fifteen
The last time Hroom ships approached Albion, a death fleet had obliterated York Town with an atomic bombardment, killing millions of people. So Jess Tolvern couldnât blame the planet for being on edge as General Mose Dryz led his new, unified fleet of twenty-four sloops of war into a wide orbit beyond the moon. Should the general make a suicidal run at the planet, it was doubtful the humans would be able to turn him aside. The orbital fortresses would certainly put up a fight, as would the three destroyers, the missile frigate, and the two corvettes that made up the home fleet.
But HMS Blackbeard would be helpless to intervene. The newly rebuilt battle cruiser remained docked at Fort William for a final systems check while Tolvern took a final tour in the destroyer that had carried her these last months from Singapore and through Hroom systems. For twenty hours she shadowed the new captain, a young man by the name of Algernon Fox, back and forth from William to the Hroom fleet, leading him through his paces as he learned about his new ship and crew. Every time they approached the generalâs sloops, Fox and the others stiffened and grew short with her and each other.
Tolvern was relieved when she joined Manx and Oglethorpe in taking a shuttle to Fort William to take command of Blackbeard. As the shuttle pilot eased them up to the captured asteroid, she stared out the viewport at her ship. Blackbeard had been altered almost beyond recognition.
The yard had chopped her in two, peeled back the decking, removed the guns, and stripped out the engines. After swapping in a newer, larger power plant, workers had added additional torpedo tubes, installed new sensor equipment, and returned the cannon, but with four additional guns in the main battery. The engineering bay was twice as large as before, with storage installed below to hold falcons that could be sent out through a new launching system.
Only two things about the ship looked the same as her earlier incarnation. The first was the curve of the prow, and the second was the upper deck armor. Since Tolvern had insisted on keeping the name Blackbeard, the yards had returned the skull and crossbones that Drake had appropriated from Pete Vargusâs ship, the pirate frigate Captain Kidd.
The skull and crossbones may have remained the same, but behind them gleamed the gold rampant lions of Albion. Blackbeard was nearly thirty percent longer as a rebuilt battle cruiser, and there was plenty of room for both.
âCapp would like the new look,â Tolvern told her companions as the shuttle swung past Blackbeard on its way to the asteroid surface. âA little bit pirate, a little bit Albion, just like she is.â
âIs Capp coming back?â Manx asked.
Tolvern felt a twinge of pain at the thought of her old friend. âWeâve lost her to Vargus, Iâm afraid.â
âGood.â Manx grinned. âI like being first mate.â
âYou think youâre first mate?â she said. âManx, weâve got a battle cruiser now.
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