41 The Medical Team of the destroyer asked to
help take care of the injured, and as there was enough of them to go
around, North and Morn trusted their sincerity and put some of the
lesser injuries in their sick bay. The destroyer's Commander told them
that the colony's Governor had told ALL his Commanders that The Lord
God was aware of his actions, and approved. He had recordings of these
statements.
42 Seeing the orders from The Fleet to defend Morn, he apologized and
asked that his crew be released and allowed to help with repairs.
Again, Morn and North believed the statements of their captives and
released them from Security but under supervision. They would recommend
later that no Officers of the system's Fleet be punished. The
one
responsible for the attack on Morn had already been vaporized
when North put the bolt in his flagship.
43 After conducting their own investigation, Fleet agreed, and put the
Officers on probation, but dropped each one a space in the promotion
list. As they finally entered Haven's system, Morn asked North for
permissionm to disengage. "I want to go in under my own power," he
insisted, "not
in tow."
44 "Very well," agreed North, "but we go in side by side. A battle
fleet always flies at the best speed of its slowest vessel. We'll drop
the destroyer just as soon as we reach system speed, and go in in a
triangle formation."
45 Morn agreed, and in a short time the two ships disengaged. When they
reached system speed and the destroyer was dropped, one-hundred ships
of The Home Fleet formed up in double ranks behind them. Then using
their greater speed, they flew by, all their beams shining on low yield.
46 It had been a long time since any incoming vessels had been given
the salute. As The Fleet passed on both sides, Morn and North were
aware that the salute