The Last Charge (The Nameless War Trilogy Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

bit her lip. “When we drive off the Nameless, you can return here. It should be no more than weeks.”
    “Oh, Lieutenant, I don’t doubt that the battle for Earth will be over in weeks at most, but in its aftermath, I don’t believe getting anyone back to Mars will be a priority. That is why I and my colleagues wish to remain – as a skeleton crew if you will.”
    “Professor, do you understand, you won’t be safe here? I don’t know the exact plans, Professor, but I can say with certainty that the fleet won’t defend Mars and that there is no planetary defence here. If you put out a Mayday, there won’t be a response.”
    “I understand that. Battle Fleet made it very clear that we are trusting to good fortune. But I want to make something equally clear to you. I have been on this planet for the last nine years of my life and I gave another ten before that in preparation for coming here. I fully expected, even before this war, to be buried here. I know the odds you and your courageous comrades are facing. We have to put as brave a face as possible on this, but I know they aren’t good. If the worst happens, well, being on Earth won’t change anything.”
    “Sir, is there no one there you would want to be with?” Alanna asked quietly.
    “No, there isn’t. This world became home a long time ago,” Scalzi replied, before adding, “not to mention that after nearly ten years in one third Earth gravity, I’d probably break a hip within an hour of landing.” He handed over a neatly folded sheet. “This is the piece of paper that so offended your man. It is to confirm that I and three of my colleagues have decided of our own free will, not to evacuate and we absolve Battle Fleet of any responsibility with regard to our safety.”
    Alanna sat for a moment, thinking, then reached out and took the sheet.
    “My commander won’t be happy,” she said. “I don’t have the authority to force you get on that shuttle. But I strongly advise you to do so.”
    “I – we, choose not to.”
    Alanna sat back in her seat and opened the sheet. At the bottom were three neat signatures. “All right Professor,” she eventually said. “I wish you luck.”
    “Thank you, Lieutenant. I hoped you would understand.”
    “Maybe a little, Professor, but I’ve got out of the habit of thinking long-term,” Alanna replied with a sigh. “When we leave, go dark. Don’t wait for the Nameless to arrive. If you wait until they do, it will be too late. Shut down all transmitters, beacons and reactors, if you can. Just run at the very minimum. With a little luck, you won’t look like you’re worth a missile.”
     
    “Why did you let them stay, ma’am?” one of the shuttle pilots asked as they climbed away from Olympus Mons. “The Council gave us full authority to evacuate.”
    As the shuttle had lumbered down the runway, she’d seen three tiny suited figures standing outside the compound waving.
    “When this is over, Lieutenant,” Scalzi said as they stood at the edge of the compound, “come back here. I’ll give you the full fifty-dollar tour. I’ll make sure you see the real Mars, what it is and what it will be, not just the tourist nonsense.”
    “Because he thinks we can win,” Alanna replied quietly, “and I don’t want him to be wrong.
    ___________________________
     
    Lost in thought, his cold blue eyes staring into space and his spare frame ramrod straight, Admiral Paul Lewis stood on the very spot where, a little over two years before, he had watched the cruiser Mississippi limp home after that first fateful encounter with the Nameless. A year after that, he’d led the Home Fleet out for the great clash at Alpha Centauri. As the Home Fleet repaired and rebuilt, he had seen many ships set off to fight only to return as broken vessels.
    Two years and yet not enough time, not close to enough time.
    The last twelve months had seen dozens of new defence projects started, as Battle Fleet attempted to adapt to the