Gallantry in Action (Halberd Book 1) by John Spearman

Author:John Spearman [Spearman, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Published: 2017-07-19T06:00:00+00:00

28

Jonah reported to Vice Admiral Antonelli’s office in the admiralty, flanked by Lieutenants Browning and Lewis. The yeoman commed to let the admiral know of his arrival and quickly waved him to the door.

Halberd entered and saluted. Antonelli sat down. “Congratulations,” he said. “The plan you and your people came up with to stop the Rodinan task force worked as well as anyone could have hoped.”

“Chief Allroyd and Lieutenant Blutarsky deserve the credit, sir. They came up with the idea, and Commander Fung was able to tweak the systems so it worked.”

“It’s amazing that anyone survived from Cumberland,” the admiral added. He clicked a button on his comm unit, and photos were projected on the blank wall next to them. “These were taken by PB 410 as she was picking you up.”

Jonah looked at the pictures. Cumberland was a scarred and blackened hulk, with huge scorch marks and three large ugly holes in her hull. The EM drives were shot away, making the rear of the ship look oddly truncated. The hole on the front quarter was particularly large.

Jonah winced and shook his head. “She was a tough ship, sir.”

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to you about your conversations with Captain Belyaev.”

“Yes, sir. What would you like to know?”

“In your report, you say that Belyaev alleged that there was a leak somewhere in the command of Third Fleet?”

“Yes, sir. As I recall, he said that he did not know for sure but that he thought it came from the command of Third Fleet.”

“When he said, ‘command,’ did you get the impression he was speaking of Admiral Johanssen? Or was it perhaps someone on the admiral’s staff?”

“I don’t know, sir. As he said it, he put his finger aside his nose, like this,” Jonah laid his finger next to his nose.

“Hmmmm. It’s a pity he wasn’t more specific,” the admiral said. “Regardless, you are not to speak with anyone regarding your conversations with Captain Belyaev. As far as your rescue is concerned, the story we have released is that you managed to escape in pods, and Lieutenant Commander MacMurray made a daring dash through the system at incredible odds to rescue you and your people as soon as he saw Pyotr Velikiy re-entering the Venera system.”

“I understand, sir,” Jonah confirmed.

“For his actions, we are awarding him the Military Cross and promoting him to commander. He’ll be assigned to Essex in a few weeks.”

“Wow!” Jonah exclaimed, “That’s wonderful news. I think he’ll do a great job with her, sir.”

“There’s more,” the admiral smiled. “You will be awarding him the Military Cross in a special ceremony at the court on Caerleon in two weeks. As a matter of fact, you’ll be awarding the Distinguished Service Cross to every surviving member of your crew at that ceremony.”

“I’ll be honored to do that, sir.”

“And King Edward will be awarding you the Victoria Cross,” Antonelli added in an off-hand way.

Jonah wanted to say, “You’re kidding!” but knew that would be inappropriate to say to the admiral.

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