[SFAP] Chapter 14:13

This is the thirteenth section of the fourteenth chapter of Sonnets from a Proton. The novel starts here.
The next section is here.

“We’ve missed Sir, they appear undamaged”
“Damage reports coming in Sir, two of our fighters are out, correction they’re on fire. Hydrogen fires all over the ship Sir.”
“Jettison the damaged fighters now!” shouted Malka “Can we chase them?”
“Standby just reloading the bomb launcher for propulsion.”
The ship lurched forwards knocking everyone off their feet. Damage sirens sounded.
“Report!” shouted Malka
“Atmosphere loss reported on all decks. Pusher plate damaged. Checking now.” the crewman paused “There’s a hole in it.”
“Sir” interrupted a Lieutenant “it’s a straight line stopping at the top armour. It’s a relativistic missile again, or at least a lump of rock one of the fighters was carrying. Sealing decks now Sir but the plate is going to be out of commission until we can patch the hole and fix the shock absorbers.”
“How long?”
“Days.”
“Have we reported this to the Teller?”
“Too late sir, they’ll have already engaged by now.”