The Dark Colony by Richard Penn

Author:Richard Penn [Penn, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Richard Penn
Published: 2014-06-24T22:00:00+00:00

22 Preparations

When they headed out for breakfast in the bar it was still early, and only Minah was there. ‘Oh my God,’ she said, ‘you two are… that’s wonderful!’

Lisa was not entirely sure how Minah knew, they were not holding hands or anything. Put it down to female intuition. Not that big cheesy grins are that hard to spot.

‘Phone Inspector Njenga from Acting Sergeant Johansen. Confirm recommended assignments for out team. Sousanna Papadakis, fighter pilot and second in command. Stjepan Knezhevitch, medical officer. Thomas Hansen, mother ship pilot and engineer. Minah Gabai, refugee liaison and third in command. Hashani Adikari, interpreter and welfare officer. Request ratification at your convenience. Out.’

By now, the rest of the team had arrived, having spent the evening in the bar catching up. ‘Welfare officer,’ said Shani. ‘What’s one of those?’

‘Well,’ said Lisa, ‘we’re all completely committed to this mission, but none of us are fighters, none of us have been in this kind of stress before. I’m hoping you can keep an eye on us all, help us stay sane.’

‘Of course, I’d be doing that anyway, even if you didn’t make it my job. Teaching school should be a great background for keeping tabs on you lot.’

Minah spoke up, rather hesitantly. ‘You made me third in command, not Tommy. Is that up for discussion?’

‘Not for discussion, no,’ said Lisa, ‘but I’m happy to explain the reasoning. It doesn’t really mean anything in the normal running of things. It only arises if both Sou and I are out of touch. We’re the most likely to be off in a fighter under radio silence, and we’re the most likely… to be killed. In that situation, Tommy would be heads down, up to his ears in technical issues, and running the show would be a distraction.’ What she did not say was that she was not sure he would be able to make the right decisions, have the maturity to quickly save one life and sacrifice another. Shani seemed to read it in her eyes, though. She rather liked having a wise woman around.

Njenga came on again. She must have answered immediately, given the light-speed delay. ‘Captain Johansen. I have reviewed your crew assignments, and concur with all of them.’ Captain was a job, not a rank. She was the captain of the ship they were building. ‘To ensure legal correctness given the seriousness of your mission, you are to the recruited into the Belt Federation Navy with no rank or duties. Captain Fournier will swear you in later. You are free to resign this at any time. You will continue to report to me in proxy for your superior officer.

‘Please concentrate the next few days on the design and equipment of your ship, and on training yourselves to fly it. Various scenarios will be sent to you; work through each of these to decide what you need to take and to know. Bear in mind always that you will be out of touch with myself and with Terpsichore for much of your mission.

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