The Honour of the Knights (First Edition) by Stephen Sweeney

Author:Stephen Sweeney
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: military, science fiction, space opera
Publisher: Stephen Sweeney

* * *

An out of breath Parks arrived at one of the flight deck's observation galleries; or at least, what remained of it. All access to the deck had been sealed off, blast doors preventing anyone from getting any closer to the source of the devastation that had crippled the carrier. Even the gallery refused to permit its occupants any idea of the destruction that lay beyond: thick blast screens covered the windows, allowing them to see no further than the inside of the room.

The smouldering remains of terminals and computer screens, as well as shattered glass covering the ground, was all that remained to suggest what the gallery's purpose may have been. Everything around Parks was charred black, the damage spreading down the approaching corridor. The doors, which usually slid open automatically as they were approached, had to be pushed apart by hand. As on the bridge, people were attending to the wounded and trying to revive others.

Kneeling down on the floor, just inside the doorway, was a woman attending to the injuries of a man propped up against a wall. His face was quite bloody, the result of a wound somewhere on the top of his head.

“Captain,” he said upon seeing Parks enter. He pushed aside the woman's hand and attempted to get to his feet.

“As you were,” Parks said, waving him back down. Though they were injured Parks had found that some of the carrier's crew still attempted to adhere to a certain standard of correctness. Right now he did not want either of these two to stand and salute.

“What's the status of the flight deck?” he asked, though by the state of the observation deck he believed he already knew the answer.

“Badly damaged,” answered the man on the floor, wincing as the woman tended to his wounded head. She was now making a clumsy effort to wrap a bandage around the affected area. “There is no hope of launching fighters until it receives some extensive repairs, and that won't be before we re-establish the force fields. The whole deck has been exposed to space. If we open it up then we risk depressurising the entire ship.”

“Survivors? Anyone still alive down there?”

“Not a chance. If they weren't killed when that damn fighter hit, then they would have been spaced straight after. We'll have lost everyone: pilots, attendants, the OOD and the junior, technicians and munitions handlers...”

“Stay calm, man!”

“Captain!” another voice came.

Parks looked around as a man came bounding up the stairs to the remains of the observation room; it was the security officer who he had sent to fetch Andrea.

“The Red Devils are dead, sir. They were spaced during the frigate's initial attack.”

Though he knew the shock on his face was clear for all to see, Parks made no attempt to conceal it. This was news that he had not been prepared for. As it stood the entire plan to attack and retake Dragon had been nothing short of a total disaster. Even retreating would not be possible until the engines were brought back on-line, and abandoning the ship was not an option.

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