Trying to get this done.
“Something the Invaders never cared about,” Jim pointed out. “They ran the factories until the last cargo shuttle either escaped or was destroyed, remember? Then tried to orbital-bombard them themselves.”
“Along with the rest of the British Isles. But they couldn’t have made very many of them.” Alex smiled, or at least her lips curled and her teeth were visible. “We kept track of every gallowglass that went over to the Invaders’ side. We still have the lists. We still peruse the lists. Most of them are accounted for, one way or another.”
“You wouldn’t need more than a few gallowglasses for a redoubt, though. Just enough to keep the ventilation and power working, and to train the next generation. Assuming nobody found you, people could hide out for years.” Jim frowned. “Although what would be the point? The Invaders aren’t coming back. The Alphabet Fleet saw them off when they were just a bunch of submarines and aircraft carriers retrofitted with ultradrives. Now that actual warships are patrolling the Solar System, the Invaders wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“Really? It seems obvious to me, Sir James. They wanted a guerilla force in place, to sabotage and harass whoever was left on earth after the Invasion failed. We’re going to be coming for them, after all. HMS Victory has finished her orbital trials, and she’ll be the first of many. The more the stay-behinds can hurt the Realm, the longer it’ll be before we can, ah, show our displeasure about the Invasion.”
She gave him a look. “Yes, I’m sure that the parallels between them and our own Merry Men partisans are noticeable to an outsider. The difference is, the gallowglasses are evil, and we’re not.”