Hail the Hero (The Hunter Legacy Book 5)

by Timothy Ellis

  "All we really know is," I said, "this arm of the galaxy has only us. At least so far. We don’t even know if we've discovered all the jump points there are along the arm, nor have we been able to penetrate the radiation system which blocked our advancement into the core systems. For all we know, there are jump points between the arms, in systems which we cannot reach yet. Maybe we haven’t met aliens yet simply because they don't yet know we're here, or haven’t yet found a way to reach us."

  Patton stirred.

  "One of our scenarios, which the Joint Chiefs keep up to date, is the possibility of alien invasion. It was first proposed five hundred years ago, and about every fifty years, some Commander is tasked with dusting it off and updating it. I personally think these prophesies are more likely to be about some cosmic event than an alien invasion. But all the same, my job isn’t about pandering to my own beliefs, it’s the defense of the sector, and I think it's high time we all dug out every threatening scenario we have in the archives, and update our response protocols."

  There was a mutter of assent all round. Discussion continued.

  The Queen took it all in, and in the end, all she could promise was to take our concerns seriously, and to see what could be done at the government level. The Monarchy was more active in government than it had been in the middle past, but there were limits.

  As the gathering broke up, the Queen turned to me.

  "I'll see you for lunch tomorrow Admiral." It wasn’t a request.

  We all bowed as she left, although mine was little more than a deep nod. There were handshakes all round, and promises to keep in touch.

  By eleven, I was back on the roof, to take a shuttle back to BigMother.

  I found Miriam waiting for me on the bed, naked.

  As it was almost due again, Jeeves gave me another shot, and left us to discover more ways of enjoying each other's company, without my screaming in pain.

  Twenty Eight

  I woke at four for another pain shot, and went straight back to sleep. Miriam was lying next to me, looking at me, when I woke again. She kissed me.

  "Last time for a long time Jon," she said with a sad look on her face. "We head home this morning."

  I reached for her, and we spent another hour alternating frantic moments with tender ones. She helped me into the shower.

  By eight, after a pain shot, we were down in the Dining Room, where I found Amy waiting for me to be ready for her interview. The whole team was present, so I held her off while everyone ate, and had a chance to congratulate me individually on my awards of the previous day.

  "When are we moving on boss?" asked BA.

  "No fixed time in mind," I replied. "I have to be at the Palace again for lunch, so call it a free day, and unless something comes up, we'll head for home tomorrow morning."

  "Suits us," said Annabelle. "We've been invited to the SAS barracks for lunch."

  "Enjoy," I said with a smile.

  I didn’t eat.

  Miriam ate quickly, and we had a private goodbye moment in my living room, before she left for the Flight Deck to launch her Excalibur.

  I went back into the Dining Room, and waited until everyone was leaving before nodding to Amy. We went up to my Ready Room. I laid out some ground rules, and we did a short interview. After, I posed for some seated images, which showed me in Hunter Dress, with medal ribbons prominent. I immediately changed back to 'slinky red', which didn’t have the ribbons, and felt more comfortable.

  Angel interrupted us finishing up, and reminded me she'd had no quality time with me in the last day, so I spent the rest of the morning following her around and patting her wherever she demanded it. Fortunately this only involved getting down to floor level twice. Part way through, I alternately tickled her and watched the Guam, Starman, and Stiletto, depart towards the Washington jump point.

  When Angel tired of the attention, I explained I needed to go again for part of the afternoon, and I’d see her when I returned, whenever it was.

  The Royal Gig arrived on the Flight Deck at eleven fifteen, was taken down to the Launch Deck, where I boarded it with Jane and Jeeves.

  By quarter to twelve we were being shown into the same sitting room as the previous day. Before the Queen arrived, Jeeves gave me another shot, and went to stand with Jane in an unused corner.

  Precisely at twelve, the Queen entered, waved me not to get up, and took a seat opposite me. She beamed a grin at me.

  "Finally," she said, "I have you all to myself."

  I had no idea what to say to that, so I said nothing, and allowed my face to look surprised. She laughed.

  "I don't bite you know," she went on. "Well, actually I do, but let's not go there."

  She grinned at her own little joke, and I felt obligated to do likewise, even though I had no idea what she talking about.

  "This is purely social, so we can dispense with the formalities. You're Jon. I'm Liz."

  She saw my eyes opening wide, and continued to laugh.

  "Elizabeth the fifth, if you want to be completely accurate, but in private, I'm just Liz."

  "Yes Majesty," I said.

  "Jon, stop it. We're the same age. I'm Queen, and you're the Hero. You own your own sector now, so might as well be a King. I don’t see any point in us being formal in private."

  "Since you put it that way…"

  "I do," she interrupted me, and laughed again.

  A ping came in from Bigglesworth. I held up my hand to her, and pointed to my head.

  "Are you with the Queen?" he asked.

  "Yes," I pinged back.

  "Something's wrong. The SAS barracks isn’t answering pings, and there are troop movements I know nothing about. One report says there are ship movements around one of the outer planets. But I can't get any hard information."

  "We may have a problem," I said to Queen Liz. "Marshall Bigglesworth is telling me now. Hold on while I find out more." She nodded.

  "What do you want from me?" I pinged him back.

  "Protect the Queen. Stay with her until I give you the okay. If the worst happens, you are authorized to take any action to ensure her safety."

  "Understood."

  "Are you armed?"

  "Yes."

  "Good. You are authorized for lethal force if need be."

  "Also understood."

  "If you need to get her to safety, do so. The Palace isn't a very secure location, so if you need to, take her to your Carrier."

  "Will do."

  I turned to the Queen.

  "Marshal Bigglesworth is concerned there's something happening he's not being told about. He fears the worst I think. Are you wearing your belt?"

  "Yes, he was most insistent about that."

  I sent a request for control access to her belt.

  "Please okay the request for access to your belt, so I can make some changes, and check your settings."

  She paused.

  "Do you trust me?" I asked her.

  "Yes," she said without any hesitation.

  She authorized my access. I checked to see if her suit was on hair-trigger, and it was. I pulsed her over 'slinky red' and activated it. The suit formed over her clothes.

  I turned to Jane.

  "Scooter."

  She brought it over, and I pulled myself up. I immediately activated the scooter belt to bring my guns up. Both gatling stunners went to my upper arms, and the Long Gun to my right thigh.

  "Team coms," I said to Jane.

  "Confirmed. Active."

  "Team coms are active," I said. "General Smith, sitrep."

  "Thank heavens Admiral," she responded. "We're holed up in the SAS barracks. Troops have us surrounded. We're secure for now, but only have side-arms, and no outside communications."

  "Combat suits on the way. I fear we might have some sort of coup in progress. Standby for instructions."

  "Understood."

  "Wing Commander."

  There was no answer. I tried each of the pilots, including Slice and
Eric, but none of them replied.

  "Jane, let's assume the worst. Sitrep with BigMother?"

  "Troops approaching the dock."

  "Have the security droids enter the ship, seal both airlocks, and undock."

  "Confirmed."

  "Launch the Pythons and dock them at a side airlock to receive combat suits and droids. Move combat suits for the team there, with half of your special suits, and one hundred combat droids. Outfit for stunning, but have them take heavy weapons as well. If the gloves come off, I want General Smith to have all the options. Drop them on General Smith's position. If coms fail, take what action you feel is appropriate to meet up with the team and the SAS forces. General Smith has the command."

  "Confirmed."

  "Send my combat suit to Gunbus, and launch her. Put her in position for a fast pickup from the roof if we need it."

  "Confirmed."

  I paused and took a breath.

  "Now I understand," said Queen Liz. "Before I only saw the boy in you. Now I see the man, and especially the Admiral."

  I ignored what she'd said.

  "Move over next to me Majesty. Jane, place yourself to cover her if anyone comes through that door." I indicated the main entrance.

  They both moved as I asked.

  "Problem Jon," said Jane. "I can't undock BigMother. The station won't release the docking clamps. They're in the station airlock, and firing into our outer airlock. They must intend to take the ship."

  I sighed.

  "Fine. If they want to play rough, we'll play rough. What do you have at the airlock?"

  "Six of my combat suits, and fifty combat droids. The other fifty are still on their way from the other airlocks. The remaining combat suits are in the bay being converted to an armoury."

  "Return the fifty to the airlocks. If they can't get in the front door, they'll try airlocks or the Flight Deck next. Secure all ways of entering the ship. Use all the combat suits we have, not already allocated."

  "Confirmed."

  "Secure Angel. I want her in her carry cage, next to an air supply. Have air backpacks taken to her location as a backup, just in case."

  "Confirmed."

  "Okay, let's deal with problem one. Have your combat suits take out the people in the airlock. Then move your force into the station, and remove any opposition. Leave half the force to guard the airlock, and secure the station operations areas. Release the docking clamps, and back the ship away from the station when you can."

  "Confirmed. Airlock opening. Combat in progress."

  I stopped for a moment to think. I put combat sensors in primary mode, searching for nearby weapons.

  None of this made any sense unless the Queen was taken or killed.

  There was no movement nearby. Actually, in itself, this was a bad sign. It meant the Palace staff had abandoned their posts. Including the security forces. Unless the security forces had been lured away, like…

  I immediately sent Susan Bentley a priority email urging her to return. I told her I suspected she was on a wild goose chase designed to keep her away while a coup took place.

  Movement. My proximity alert showed weapons incoming.

  I snapped both of our suits into full protection mode. My suit changed in a way I hadn't seen before, making me look like I was wearing hugely thick body armour.

  I seized both gatling stunners from my arms, and looped my arms under the hand holds for the scooter, using my elbows against the undersides to keep me in place, raising my guns towards the door.

  Jane was suddenly likewise armed. I didn’t know how she did it, because I hadn't seen her with a gun since we'd arrived at London. She must have figured out a way for her suit to hide them.

  We waited, proximity alarms showing where the movement was.

  As the door burst open, both of us began firing. A dozen armed men went down as they entered. Another dozen behind them opened fire on the three of us. Our suits took the fire without problems, and they went down under our gunfire as well.

  The firing stopped. I changed our suits back to 'slinky red'.

  Queen Liz went over to the first fallen man. She kneeled down, and took a long look at his face.

  "What is this?" she asked. "This is the Duke of Norfolk!"

  "You might want to rethink such appointments," I said, "when you get a moment." She looked at me strangely and straightened up. "Jane, we're leaving. Gunbus to the roof please."

  "Confirmed."

  "Majesty, step up onto the scooter behind me, and put your arms through underneath my armpits and loop them up around my shoulders. Please don’t touch me anywhere below the shoulder level."

  She did as she was told. The feel of her pressed up against my back felt good.

  "Hold on tight, and don’t let go for any reason."

  "Okay."

  "Jane, pick up the Duke, and take point. Once on board, put him in the brig. If he's the leader of whatever this is, having him in custody might be an asset."

  "Confirmed."

  She picked him up as if he weighed nothing, and I followed her out of the room, and up the staircase as fast as I dared. Jeeves followed me. At the top, we started taking fire again from a platoon of troops already up there, and we stopped to mow them down. They were ordinary troops with no body armour of any sort. Ideal for handling civilians, but not for Jane and me.

  Gunbus came down like a dropship, and stopped to one side of the roof, with her ramp extended a meter above us. I kicked the scooter up enough to scoot into the open Cargo Bay. The ramp retracted, and the airlock began to close behind us, as Jane and Jeeves jumped through after me. Jane took Gunbus up as fast as she'd come down.

  I scooted us up to the Bridge. Queen Liz dropped off the scooter, and sat in the Coms chair. I eased myself into my chair, which had the leg support already in place, and sent the scooter to a corner. Jane came in a minute later and took the XO's position, as she normally did on Gunbus. As I looked beyond her, I saw the figure of Kali in its position, although it was supposed to be on BigMother's Bridge instead. Ganesha's was also there.

  Gunbus burst through the top of the atmosphere into space, and the scanner became fully active again.

  Dull red dots further out in the system, lit up the scanner and HUD.

  A channel opened.

  The vid showed a middle aged man with Admiral's stripes, on a uniform I didn’t recognize.

  "Ah," he said with a grin. "Our beloved Queen, with the boy cripple, who plays at being an Admiral."

  His grin became predatory as he looked at me.

  "Well boy, surrender or die!"

  Twenty Nine

  I stared him down. In response to his supercilious predator grin, I gave him my Admiral's look.

  "To whom do I not have the pleasure of addressing?" I asked him.

  The grin slipped, and annoyance showed for a second.

  "You are speaking with High Admiral Thaddeus Abbott, of the pirate Battleship Unassailable."

  "Oh? High Admiral is it? Does that imply there's a Highest Admiral you report to?"

  I gave him my smug look.

  "Don’t banter wit with me, boy. Surrender or die."

  "Funny, I was about to say the same thing to you."

  His grin slipped again, for just a moment. Then he laughed.

  "You and whose army?" he challenged me with. "We'll be taking back the Carrier you stole from us, and eventually our Corvette as well. The Carrier can't leave the station, so all you have to fight with is that puny so called Heavy Transport."

  "I'll match my puny transport against your Battleship any time you like, Mr. Abbott." I emphasized the Mr.

  The grin slipped completely, and rage replaced it.

  "You choose to die then. Pity. We wanted the Queen alive so she could dissolve the British nobility once and for all, and then abdicate. My Republican allies have promised to allow me to base in this sector, while we retake what was once ours. No matter, a dead Queen kidnapped by a love sick boy will do just as well. My fle
et will be in orbit shortly. Prepare to be destroyed!"

  The channel closed.

  "Smarmy git," I said. "That went well."

  "How did that go at all well?" asked Queen Liz.

  "We now know there's a Republican coup in progress, and they have allied themselves with pirates. The question is, your Majesty, what do you intend to do about it?"

  "Do? What can I do?"

  "Act like a Queen for a start. Do you abdicate, or fight? Choose."

  "Fight!"

  "Then act like a Queen under attack. What are your orders?"

  She looked at me for a moment, stood, and drew herself erect.

  "Jonathon Hunter, I call you to service in the British Fleet, with the rank of full Admiral. Do you accept this commission?"

  "I do."

  "You are ordered to put down this coup, and deal with this pirate rabble. Use any resources available. Appoint anyone you trust to command, with commissions in the British Fleet."

  "Yes Majesty. Please take your seat, and buckle up."

  She did so, and I took a moment to think. I wasn’t given any longer.

  "Military transport approaching the Flight Deck of BigMother, rear entrance."

  "Take us there Jane."

  "Confirmed."

  I checked the scanner. We had maybe ten minutes before the pirate fleet arrived, and it would take five to reach BigMother. I pulled up details of the fleet. One Battleship, two Cruisers, four Destroyers. One of the Cruisers and two of the Destroyers were British Fleet.

  "You have mutineers Majesty."

  I pointed out the British ships to her.

  "Destroy them please. Destroy them all."

  "Yes Majesty."

  I put team coms on the Bridge com system so Queen Liz could hear.

  "General Smith."

  "Sir?"

  "The team has just joined the British Fleet, by Order of her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the fifth. You are ordered to put down the coup, using any means necessary. Stun if possible, but heavy weapons are arriving with the combat suits if needed. Be sure a target is an enemy before you take terminal action. At this point, we don’t know who is friendly, and who is not. Once your area is cleared, you will retake the Palace. I assume the Houses of Parliament were also taken, so assume this is the case and act accordingly. Think like a coup leader and retake any place you consider they may have gone after. Jane is in battle on the Orbital station as we speak. I'll be busy with an enemy fleet up here, so you have the command on the ground. If you encounter any superior officer who won't take your orders, stun and detain. At least one Duke is a ringleader, so make no assumptions about who may or may not be involved. Marshall Bigglesworth got the alarm out to me in time, but I've not heard from him since. He's either down, or somewhere being jammed. One objective is to ascertain his fate, and if needed, effect a rescue. We're operating under the direct command of the Queen, for as long as the situation requires. Do you understand?"