The Trafalgar Gambit (Ark Royal) by Christopher Nuttall Read Free Book Online Page A

told?
     
    He took a breath.  Weeks – he thought it was weeks, although it was hard to be sure – of captivity had left him uncertain of anything.  It was growing harder to recall that there had ever been a world outside the cell, where he’d struggled to be a starfighter pilot and achieved his dream, only to be captured by the aliens.  And the aliens didn't have the slightest idea who they’d caught.  He’d been careful not to say anything that might suggest his true identity to them.
     
    “I understand,” he said.  If the alien was feeling talkative, he could at least try to learn something from it.  “Why did you decide on war?”
     
    The alien moved, oddly.  Henry wished, not for the first time, that he knew how to read their body language.  A human might have been laughing at him or preparing to throw a punch, but the aliens were completely inscrutable.  He braced himself and pressed onwards.
     
    “Your people attacked us,” he said.  “Why?”
     
    “Attacked.  Us,” the alien said.  As always, the computer-generated voice was completely atonal.  “You.  Attacked.  Us.  Faction for war won.”
     
    Henry felt his eyes narrow.  There was certainly evidence the aliens had more than one faction; he’d been at Target One when the aliens had fired on one of their own ships.  But what had the War Faction won?  And why did they think humanity had attacked them first?
     
    “We didn't even know you existed until you attacked us,” he said.  “Why didn't you talk to us?”
     
    “Faction for war won,” the alien repeated.
     
    It – or he – spoke as though it explained everything.  And perhaps it did, Henry realised.  It was far from uncommon for humans to be rushed into war against another group of humans without sober reflection.  If the aliens had some reason to think that humanity had started the war, it might explain their reluctance to actually talk to human representatives.  They’d see the human race as aggressive, as needing to be pruned back before opening discussions.  But how had the aliens come to that conclusion in the first place?
     
    “We don’t have to fight,” Henry pointed out.  “We could have the land; you could have the sea.  There’d be nothing to fight over.”
     
    “Faction for peace ... uncertain ,” the alien stated.  “Aliens.  Started.  War.”
     
    Aliens , Henry thought.  They must mean us .
     
    “But what happened?”  He asked.  “And why?”
     
    The alien said nothing.  It rose to its feet, inched back towards the entrance and dropped into the hole.  There was a splash as it hit the water and then vanished, somewhere within the murky depths.  Henry stared after it, wondering just what had happened, then stood and walked back to the bed.  There was little else to do, but sleep and dream of Janelle.  He couldn't help wondering just what had happened to her ...
     
    And Ark Royal , he thought, numbly.  Did she make it back to Earth or did the aliens kill her ?
     
    His thoughts were interrupted by splashing from the entrance.  One alien – a new one, if he were any judge – clambered into the room, then knelt down and held out a leathery hand.  It was so odd that Henry stared in disbelief.  He’d never seen the aliens needing assistance to climb out of the water and into the room.  But, as the next person came out of the water and removed the mask covering her face, he understood.  The newcomer was human.  And female.
     
    He looked at her, then flushed and looked away as he realised she was naked.  She was probably a handful of years younger than him, he decided, probably just pushing eighteen rather than twenty-two.  Her long brown hair clung to her body as she wiped her skin, trying to get the water off her flesh.  Henry understood the feeling all too well.  The faint smell from the ocean water suggested it was far from clean.
     
    “There's a shower over there,” he said, pointing to the corner of the