Read The Last Charge (The Nameless War Trilogy Book 3) for Free Online Page B

received orders from Headquarters that relate to you,” he started. “With immediate effect you are being transferred off Deimos . This was not a transfer I requested.”
    “I see, sir,” she replied. “Where am I going?”
    “You’ve probably heard about the new light carriers being rushed into service.”
    “Yes sir,” Alanna replied.
    There was a slight tension in her stance now as she guessed at what might be coming. Crowe plunged on.
    “Now they’ve been commissioned, fleet is trying to put together fighter groups for them. We are considered a lower priority for fighters, so we’ve been ordered to hand over our most experienced crew, which obviously includes you. You’ll be replaced by a rookie crew just out of training.”
    Alanna looked puzzled for a moment, then surprised.
    “Lieutenant?”
    “I’m sorry sir. I’m used to thinking of myself as a newbie,” she said.
    “Sorry, Lieutenant, but you are a long way from that now.”
    “Where am I to report to, sir?”
    “You’re to report to the Aldrin Lunar facility at oh ten hundred hours tomorrow,” Crowe replied. “You’re also taking your fighter and weapons controller with you.”
    “I see, sir, thank you for telling me. I’ll start to make preparations.”
    “There is one last thing, Lieutenant.”
    Crowe paused. He wished he’d been enough of a coward to leave out this part and let her find out for herself.
    “One of the new carriers – the one you’re assigned to – was christened Norge . Headquarters has decided to change her name. From tomorrow, she will be the new Dauntless .”
    Alanna made no reply, but he saw the muscles in her arms tighten and guessed that behind her back, she had clenched her fists.
    “Is the transfer permanent, sir?” she asked after several moments, in a tightly controlled voice.
    “As permanent as anything is,” he replied, observing her closely. “I will be requesting your return but realistically, you’re now too experienced for this post.”
    Crowe stopped there, genuinely unsure of what more to say.
    “Thank you, sir, for telling me. I appreciate it. Lieutenant Malm... he... he can be counted on to look after the new pilot,” she stopped and then abruptly put out her hand. “It has been a pleasure to serve with you and I wish you good luck, sir.”
    “Thank you, Lieutenant,” Crowe replied as he stood to shake the proffered hand. “You’ve done well here, Lieutenant, and I’m sorry to say someone down in Headquarters appears to have been reading my reports. This is a step up for you and I wish you good luck on your new ship. You are dismissed.”
    She should have saluted before leaving and clipped the edge of the hatch as she went out. Neither was lost on Crowe.
    The concern he had been trying to keep from his face was now plainly apparent. He’d felt the tremble in her grip. Fifteen months ago, during the first Nameless offensive against Earth, a green as grass Lieutenant Alanna Shermer had been finishing her final assessments aboard the fleet’s elderly training carrier Dauntless . After the battle of Alpha Centauri, when the dust settled, Dauntless ’s fighter group, the carrier herself and even her escort, were all destroyed. Of the hundreds of men and women that made up the crews, the Lieutenant was the sole survivor, pulled out of the wreck of a shattered fighter.
    God knew, there had been days where Crowe felt he was only just holding it together. But in the year plus that the Lieutenant had been under his command, Crowe had always sensed that for her, that was what every day felt like. Now some arsehole in Headquarters had decided to put her onto a ship named after the very one on which she had probably experienced the worst days of her life. He’d put in a complaint, but it hadn’t fitted into any neat box, so by the time someone with a brain looked at it, she would be on Dauntless . He could contact her new captain, but Crowe shook his head as he rejected the thought. He