A Small Colonial War (Ark Royal Book 6) by Christopher Nuttall, Justin Adams

Warspite had left the system, rather than altering course to head to Tramline E.  If everything went according to plan, the Indians would never know that Warspite was on her way to Pegasus.
     
    “Set course for Tramline E,” he ordered.
     
    “Aye, sir,” Armstrong said.  “Course laid in.”
     
    “Engage,” John ordered. 
     
    He smiled to himself.  Armstrong would, of course, have plotted out the course as soon as John had mentioned where they’d be going, then stored it in his console until the time came to bring it out.  It was a common technique.  Warspite thrummed again as she picked up speed, thrusting away from the tramline before anything else could come through and detect their presence.  He sat back in his command chair and forced himself to wait, keeping a sharp eye on the passive sensors.  If anyone was close enough to watch them without being detected, they’d have to reveal themselves now or lose track of Warspite .
     
    “Commander Howard,” he said.  “You have the bridge.”
     
    “Aye, sir,” Howard said.  “I have the bridge.”
     
    John nodded, stepped into his office and opened the secure drawer.  The sealed orders were where he’d left them; he plugged the datachip into his terminal, waited for the verification program to confirm that they had left Earth far behind and then sat down to read through the orders as soon as they were unlocked and displayed.  They were nothing more than a more detailed version of Admiral Fitzwilliam’s verbal instructions, he was relieved to note.  It wouldn't be the first time sealed orders had differed markedly from whatever the recipient had been told beforehand.
     
    He uploaded the orders onto the datanet, rose and walked back onto the bridge.  Howard rose to his feet; John sat back down, motioned for Howard to read the orders quickly, then keyed his console.  It was time to inform the crew.
     
    “All hands, this is the Captain,” he said.  Everyone would hear him, from the reporters to the SAS troopers in Marine Country.  “As some of you will have surmised, we are not heading for Britannia.  Our orders, instead, are to make our way to enemy-held territory and conduct a full tactical survey of their positions.  This is, of course, a somewhat more challenging mission than you may have expected.”
     
    He smiled at the thought before continuing.  “We will proceed immediately up the tramlines to Pegasus and commence our mission,” he said.  “As it is imperative that we remain undetected, we will remain in stealth mode from this moment on.  We will not be opening communications links to anyone until we rendezvous with the remainder of the task force after completing this mission.  They are depending on us to succeed.
     
    “This is not our first operation where we had to sneak through enemy territory, but it will be the most difficult,” he added.  “And yet, we have the experience to make it work.  The Indians will not even catch a sniff of us before we return to the task force.  I have faith in our ship - and in each and every one of you.  We will complete our mission and lay the groundwork for recovering our territory.”
     
    He keyed his console again, closing the channel.  “Commander Howard,” he said.  “You have read the orders?”
     
    “Yes, sir,” Howard said.  He didn't sound very surprised.  “I will make a note of it in my log.”
     
    “Thank you,” John said.  He had to fight down the urge to ask just how much his XO had guessed before the sealed orders were revealed.  Howard was smart; he’d probably guessed the truth long before the SAS had arrived.  “Note also that the sealed orders were not disclosed ahead of time.”
     
    “Aye, sir,” Howard said.
     
    John settled back in his command chair and forced himself to relax, as completely as he could.  It would take a fortnight, at the best speed they could manage while remaining in stealth mode, to reach Pegasus.  The Indians