Their Lordships Request: A Harry Heron Adventure (64 page)

             
"
Powerful
to
Vanguard
,
we
'
re
casting
off
now
Captain,
your
head
is
at
three-four-nine
lateral,
zero-one-five
positive
angle.
We
'
ll
be
stood
by
if
you
need
us.
"

             
"
Thank
you,
Captain,
"
James
Heron
acknowledged
the
tug
commander
'
s
message
and
checked
his
own
readouts,
confirming
the
release.
"
Hopefully
we
won
'
t
need
you
until
we
berth
again.
"
To
his
team
he
now
said,
"
Helm,
set
course
for
the
trial
zone,
Engineering;
manoeuvring
power
to
three
quarter
output.
"

             
Those
crowding
the
Control
Centre
watched
as
the
vast
ship
began
to
gather
way,
the
only
indication
of
movement
the
changing
display
as
the
ship
turned
away
from
the
dock,
changed
aspect
and
plunged
toward
the
area
designated
for
the
trials.

             
In
Navigation,
Commander
Curran
watched
his
chart
displays
and
checked
the
waypoints
against
his
plotted
course.
He
made
a
small
adjustment
and
said
to
the
helm
operator,
"
Watch
your
heading,
we
seem
to
have
a
small
propulsion
imbalance.
"
He
contacted
Engineering,
"
Mary,
we
seem
to
have
a
slight
helm
bias
to
starboard,
can
you
check
output
for
the
port
and
starboard
lateral
thrusters;
one
of
them
seems
to
be
delivering
a
little
more
than
the
other.
"

             
"
On
it,
"
Mary
Allison
responded.
"
Starboard
cluster
was
giving
around
one
percent
more
than
portside.
Is
that
better?
"

             
Ben
checked
the
helm
and
nodded
as
he
said,
"
That
'
s
got
it,
now
she
'
s
behaving
perfectly.
Everything
ready
for
the
first
Transit?
"

             
"
Ready
when
you
are,
the
pods
are
online
any
time
you
want
them.
"

             
"
Standby,
we
'
ll
be
on
the
marker
to
go
to
transit
in
four
minutes.
"
Commander
Curran
rechecked
the
Navigation
solutions
and
then
contacted
the
Command
Centre.
"
Navigation
to
Command,
ship
is
approaching
marker
for
first
transit,
all
systems
checked
and
ready
on
your
order.
"

             
"
Thank
you,
count
us
in
and
enter
transit
on
my
mark.
"
The
Captain
listened
to
the
countdown
and
as
it
reached
zero,
said
quietly,
"
Engage
Hyperpods.
"

***

             
There
was
a
slight
sensation
of
acceleration
and
then
normality
returned
except
that
the
display
now
showed
nothing
except
a
swirling
greyness
around
the
ship.
A
few
of
the
passengers
expressed
some
surprise
at
this,
but
soon
refocused
on
their
tasks.
With
everyone
busy,
the
ship
seemingly
hung
suspended
in
her
envelope
of
grey,
then
a
signal
sounded
and
the
voice
of
Commander
Curran
announced,
"
Exiting
transit
in
five
minutes.
"

             
"
Very
well,
"
the
Captain
acknowledged.
Around
him
the
various
technical
people
checked
and
rechecked
their
readouts,
instruments
glowed
as
data
streamed
through
the
ship
'
s
own
neural
net,
packets
of
it
finding
the
way
to
a
variety
of
different
instruments.
He
looked
at
the
Construction
Chief
and
asked,
"
Everything
working
as
planned?
"

             
"
It
'
s
all
functioning
extremely
well.
Of
course,
we
don
'
t
have
the
weapons
online,
but
the
particle
shields
are
functioning
exactly
as
designed
and
the
power
plant
is
stable
and
performing
better
than
specification,
"
the
Chief
Constructor
replied.

             
"
I
'
m
glad
to
hear
it.
"
The
Captain
kept
his
face
straight,
concealing
his
smile.
"
I
'
m
so
glad
the
replacement
equipment
is
performing
as
it
should,
my
Engineering
Commander
will
be
relieved.
"

             
*
*
*

             
"
The
Vanguard
'
s
first
trials
have
shown
that
she
is
even
more
capable
than
we
were
led
to
believe,
"
the
agent
reported
to
the
Consortium
Head
of
Security.
"
She
'
s
just
completed
her
full
power
and
transit
trials
and
she
has
proved
faster
and
more
manoeuvrable
than
the
required
specification.
"