Free The Void War (Empire Rising Book 1) by D. J. Holmes Page B

them sort out the political landmines. If there were more Chinese ships at V17 then Drake would be running a needless gauntlet. Clearly the Chinese intended to keep the Void a secret. This was a situation for the Admiralty. Yet Somerville wanted to go poking his nose into places he shouldn’t. To shake her thoughts she began to review the data on the planet and the Chinese ship.
     
    Yet, forty five minutes later she was still struggling to control her anger. The planet certainly looked like the best find the British had yet made. V2 had the potential to fill the British government’s coffers for years to come. In time it would be developed into a major industrial center and then become the springboard for new waves of exploration and colonization out beyond the Void. Her other distraction, the Chinese destroyer, was clearly up to no good. Their small course corrections indicated that the destroyer was intent on patrolling the main line of approach from the Cambridge shift passage to V2. They wanted to catch any British ships that might happen upon the Void and head for V2. Still, despite these distractions, her thoughts had returned time and again to her Commander. With a groan she stood up from the command chair and headed out of the bridge. Her doubts would not leave her alone and, as much as she didn’t want to confront her immediate superior, Somerville wasn’t just toying with his own life.
     
    *
     
     
    Sub Lieutenant Becket approached the Captain’s ready room. Adjacent to the Captain’s quarters it provided him with a more private briefing room than the tactical briefing room. She had a report she felt needed to be passed up the chain of command and the ship’s sensors said that both the Commander and the Second Lieutenant were here. As she raised her hand to activate the chime on the door to request permission to enter she heard raised voices.
     
    “This is insane sir! Your lust for glory is going to get us all killed!” Lieutenant Gupta’s voice could be clearly heard despite the sealed doors.
     
    Instinctively, Becket turned to leave. It wasn’t unknown for Drake’s Commander and her Second Lieutenant to get into shouting matches. Under such circumstances it had become the Sub Lieutenants’ custom to get on with their duties and simply record an audio message for either the Commander or Second Lieutenant to look over in their own time. Something about the strain and desperation in Gupta’s voice made her hesitate though. Although she knew she should not, she lowered her hand and continued to listen.
     
    “We’ve discovered the Void, we’ve identified that the Chinese are already here. The Admiralty needs to know what we know,” Gupta continued, just as loudly as she had begun.
     
    “Listen carefully because I’m only going to say this once!” James sharply retorted. “How many times in the six years before I took over command did Drake return to Earth for a refit or upgrade to the sensor package?”
     
    “Six times sir, we had a yearly upgrade cycle which you know full well,” Gupta spat.
     
    “And how many times have we been to Earth since I took command? James followed up.
     
    “None.”
     
    “And where have we undergone our upgrades? Not even in Britannia, but at Cambridge. Where the parts and the equipment had to be shipped in just for us at a much greater cost to the Admiralty. Haven’t you figured it out yet? My promotion to command Drake wasn’t because I used my family connections to get a foot up the ladder. And it wasn’t about your lack of command ability. I was banished!”
     
    James paused and eyed Gupta to let his last sentence sink in. “Sent out here, away from the high life of London and the nobility. I’m not doing this because I have a blood lust for fame and fortune. I’m doing this because it is all I have. If I don’t command Drake to the best of my ability and somehow grind my way out of this situation, I will likely be here until I retire an old