In Enemy Hands (Honor Harrington Series, Book 7)

Move the word," he instructed the com officer. "We release in thirty seconds! " "My God! " Holden Singer snapped upright in his chair, eyes extensive. It took 8 seconds for his radar pulse to arrive count number Tilly and her consorts, and one other 8 seconds for it to come. in the course of that point, the Peeps' process pace had reduce the diversity through over 1000000 kilometers . . . and taken them good into missile diversity. It took the lieutenant one other seconds to gain what he was once seeing and shout a caution, and it took Commander Dillinger one other moment and a part to reserve the overall Quarters alarm sounded. In all, twenty seconds elapsed among the time Tourville handed his order to fireside and the instant the atonal, two-toned howl of the alarm truly started to sound. HMS Enchanter's group had slightly all started to race to their conflict stations while 4 battlecruisers, 8 heavy cruisers, and 6 gentle cruisers, with a mixed overall of fifty-six missile pods on tow at the back of them, opened hearth. Peep missiles have been much less effective than these of the RMN, yet in reimbursement, Peep warships fastened extra tubes . . . and so did their missile pods. by the point Singer's assistant tac officer flung herself into the chair beside his, over 9 hundred missiles have been in area and streaking for his send. "Yessss! " Citizen Captain Bogdanovich's exultant, sibilant whisper stated all of it as Tourville and his employees watched their monstrous salvo flow in the direction of the enemy. while the missiles went out, Tourville's engineers have been citing his ships' impellers and sidewalls, for there has been not any cause to conceal. in contrast to the Manties, Tourville's officials had identified their drives and protecting structures will be wanted, and they might been at standby for over fifteen hours, yet regardless of sizzling impeller nodes, they might desire at the very least one other 13 mins to deliver their wedges up. but that also positioned them a ways prior to the Manties, for the Manties hadn't recognized this was once coming. Their missile-defense hearth regulate began to come online, blossoming on Shannon Foraker's exhibit in bursts of sunshine, yet their passive defenses might by no means be stated in time. And opposed to the typhoon of fireplace coming at them, all their radar and lidar may possibly rather do was once supply focusing on beacons for her missiles' onboard seekers. Commodore Frances Yeargin hurled herself onto her flag bridge nearly sooner than the carry doorways opened. She hadn't waited to don her skinsuit; she got here charging out of the carry in blouse sleeves, with no even her tunic . . . simply in time to work out the 1st laser heads detonate within the depths of her visible show. Lester Tourville stared into the grasp plot, not able even now to really think what it confirmed. A Manty activity staff have been stuck absolutely unprepared, and that wasn't imagined to ensue. however it had, and Shannon's plan had taken cruel good thing about the Manties' deadly over-confidence. He watched concentrating on codes blossom and alter because the missiles pronounced again over their telemetry hyperlinks. They have been all alone, yet Foraker had informed them accurately what to seem for, and the regular procession of fireplace keep an eye on structures coming online ahead of them beckoned to their homing sensors.