Alien invaders lay waste to Victorian Britain! One ship defies the pitiless assault. H.M.S. Thunder Child steams towards her glorious destiny in this 'War of the Worlds' pastiche! The War of the Worlds contains small section on the Thunder Child battleship that attacks three tripods to save a paddle steamer. This story takes place a few days before the event and leads up to the final dramatic moment. The clever build up leads to this final battle of ironclad v three Martian tripods. The story moves between the crew of Thunder Child, at sea, and Mister Stanley, the ministry of defence man, moving across the land to various semaphore stations. His character becomes more solid as the crisis becomes more desperate. He is linked to the ship because he delivered the mission orders before the story starts and is upon the paddle steamer that must be defended by Thunder Child at the end. If you have read War of the Worlds and enjoyed it, you will love this story too.