Read Online Vanguard (Ark Royal Book 7) by Christopher Nuttall - Free Book Online

ship was underway, then followed him back through the airlock, making a mental note to return at some point and explore the turret thoroughly.  “Where next?”
     
    “Engineering,” Mason said.  “I think you’ll like it.  We have six fusion cores, each one powerful enough to keep the ship moving on its own ...”
     
    Susan couldn't help feeling tired, two hours later; Mason had shown her everything from the fusion cores to the bridge, sickbay and tactical compartment, his personal domain.  Vanguard was lavishly equipped, compared to a cruiser; Susan rather suspected that the Admiralty intended to use the battleship as a flagship, if all hell broke loose.  Vanguard would tend to draw fire - she was hardly unnoticeable - but she had the greatest chance of surviving a modern-day fleet battle.  The war would have gone very differently if Vanguard had fought in the Battle of New Russia.
     
    “I’ll be happy to cede the post to you whenever you want it,” Mason said, as he led the way to her cabin and opened the hatch.  “Commander Bothell’s next duty slot was tomorrow morning” - he glanced at his watch - “seven hours from now.”
     
    Susan nodded, frowning as they walked into the cabin.  It was larger than she’d expected, easily big enough to swing a cat; a giant painting of a starship she didn’t recognise hung against the far bulkhead, illuminated by a lamp mounted on the overhead.    A small bookshelf, embedded in the bulkhead, housed a dozen paper books; beside it, a coffee machine bleeped for attention.  Another portrait - she smiled as she recognised the king - hung above the drinks machine.  She would have bet ten pounds that the XO’s safe was hidden behind the portrait.  It was practically tradition .
     
    She looked into the sleeping compartment and frowned.  The bed had been changed, probably by one of the stewards, and her holdall had been placed at the foot of the compartment, but the remainder of Commander Bothell’s possessions had been left in place.  He looked to have been something of a packrat, judging by the books on the shelves.  It was rare for any naval officer to bring physical books onto a starship when they could load thousands, if not millions, of eBooks onto a datapad.  She could download the complete works of anyone and read them during long deployments and boring watches.
     
    “I’ll have to get his possessions boxed up,” she said, tightly.  She'd slept in uncomfortable places before - her midshipwoman quarters had been cramped, smelly and thoroughly unpleasant - but she’d never slept in someone else’s room.  “I wish I knew what had happened to him.”
     
    “I’m surprised no one has come to collect them,” Mason said.  “Surely, someone must want to go through his possessions to look for clues.”
     
    Susan nodded, slowly.  “I’ll put in a request for an investigative team, then have his possessions put in storage if they’re not interested.  I can't see them not wanting to take a look.”
     
    “Technically, they should have sealed the quarters,” Mason said.  “But there’s been a marked lack of interest in inspecting his possessions.”
     
    He cleared his throat.  “When do you want to take up your post?”
     
    “I’ll assume the position formally tomorrow, when I take my first watch,” Susan said.  Seven hours ... she could take a nap, then read her way through the personnel files, just to make sure she knew who she was supposed to be commanding.  It would mean hitting the deck running, but she could handle it.  “If that suits you ...”
     
    “Well, I’m sure I can serve as the acting XO for another few hours,” Mason said, mischievously.  “But I don’t think I want the job permanently.”
     
    Susan frowned, inwardly.  The Paul Mason she recalled had been ambitious, as ambitious as herself.  And he had every right to be irked at her coming in and taking a position he might have thought to be his by