25
Jess sat stunned, unable to take in what he’d just heard. Jess had known Admiral North was pushing himself too hard and making himself ill, but this… this couldn’t be happening. Not right now.
The rest of the fleet was as stunned as Jess. Not a single message was sent for at least ten seconds… then the comms channels exploded with activity.
“What the hell do we do?” asked Jess.
“Whatever it is, it needs to be done quickly,” replied Ali. “The fleet was being held together by the force of the Admiral’s will as it was. Without him… without him things are going to fall apart damn quickly. Unless someone else can step into the role.”
“Who could possibly do that? Wait… people are asking me to do it! I can’t do that! I wouldn’t have the first clue where to start directing a battl
