Their Lordships Request: A Harry Heron Adventure Read Online Free PDF Page A

is deeply embedded in our own society. The Fleet has enemies inside the bureaucracy, people working for a group we know only as " The Consortium " . We don ' t know who ' s behind it, but we have an inkling of what they are after and how they plan to get it. It is going to be a bad time for everyone, but with ships like yours and loyal crews we hope to be able to meet the threat when it comes. "
     
                  " Thank you for the confidence, sir, " replied the Captain. " I know I have a pretty good team coming together on her. Certainly when Richard Grenville takes up his post as Executive Commander I will have one of the most efficient Execs a Captain could want. I already have the best Communications and IT Commander and same for my Engineering and Weapons heads. Once we can ship the strike and interceptor squadrons I just hope I get the man I have asked for. Nick Gray is the best there is and just the man I need to shake a new ship like this down and get its squadrons functioning well. "
     
                  " You ' ll have him. " The Admiral smiled broadly. " He ' s driving Drafty mad over it. They ' ll give it to him just to shut him up and get him off their backs. "
     
                  Captain Heron laughed. " I can imagine. As it is Mary Allison is riding the Engineering staff so hard I think she ' ll drive them to nervous breakdowns. She won ' t accept anything less than perfection as she sees it and has rejected a complete reactor set. Made them take it out and replace it. They kicked up a fuss, but she was right and I backed her all the way. "
     
                  " I heard about it. " The Admiral ' s expression was stern. " I had the bureaucrats kicking up a right fuss and threatening to complain to the Minister. I told them to go ahead and I would then provide the Minister with the evidence of sub-standard equipment and defects they were accepting from their favoured suppliers at below agreed contract price. "
     
                  " Bet that got them worried. "
     
                  " Not immediately – but once I let it be known that I knew where the difference was going and the Minister would as soon as anything happened to me or even appeared about to happen. That changed the tune. "
     
                  " Dirty bastards. Still, Fritz Dieffenbach is now onboard and installing and training the AI system. " The Captain nodded thoughtfully. " Still can ' t quite get my head around the ship having a mind of its own. Fritz seems delighted with it and happily reports it is learning far more quickly than he anticipated. He takes a paternal pleasure in each new node and each new ' achievement ' as it is built. "
     
                  " I know what you mean. He ' s probably the only person around who does understand the thing. This ship will have the most advanced system going and will be almost self aware as I understand it. " The Admiral shrugged. " A far cry from when we first ventured beyond our own system. " He grimaced. " Well I ' d better get back to my desk. Work to do and ships to repair. Get your Weapons Commander to call on me – my Writer will make space for her. I have some information on the Primary she ' s overseeing built she will need but I can ' t put it on the links or through the usual channels. "
     
                  " I ' ll get her onto it straight away. " Captain Heron accepted the handshake and then saluted as the Admiral turned to leave. He would have to interrupt Valerie and smiled at her probable reaction. Valerie Petrocova didn ' t trust civilian constructors and fitters and firmly believed that if she or her team weren ' t watching every component something would be badly or incorrectly fitted. She was probably right he thought, especially at the moment and in the light of what was happening in the privatised suppliers of components to the Construction