Battlecruiser Alamo: The Price of Admiralty Read Free Page B

only way of operating in the reactor while it was in use. Hatches that led to access points throughout the ship, all of them too dangerous to permanently occupy but of potential critical value for damage control. His attention was quickly drawn to the rear, a huge hologram of the ship showing the status of every system, and the position of every engineering technician.
    Most of the crewmen appeared to be paying him no heed, focused totally on their own duties, but a couple of officers in the corner had noticed the scruffily-dressed Marshall entering the room. One was a tall, dark-haired officer who somehow managed to make his blue jumpsuit seem smart, a trace of contempt shown on his severe face, the other a weary-looking blonde who had obviously recently been working around the clock, her round face set in what appeared to be a permanent frown. They looked at each other, and the man made his way over to Marshall, looking him up and down with a disapproving air.
    "Are you lost?"
    Marshall shook his head. "Just having a look around." After all, it wasn't a lie.
    "I suggest you look around somewhere else. This is a security area."
    "Very well, mister..."
    "Flight Officer Dietz. And that is the last question I will answer. If you do not leave at once I will have you removed."
    Shrugging, Marshall stepped back into the elevator, shaking his head as the doors closed behind him. The name sounded familiar, and he scanned down his crew list again to confirm his suspicions – the attached headshot confirmed it. Wilhelm Dietz, currently Flight Officer, shortly to become a Lieutenant of the Triplanetary Fleet. Operations Officer, which was his current position. Another one of the Patrol's draftees, though at least this one seemed to care about his job.
    It occurred to him that ordinarily, an officer would make an effort to find out what he could about a new commanding officer, and that would include finding out what the man looked like. That he had not taken the effort to find out either meant that he was such a stickler for protocol that he had opted not to take such steps, or that he simply didn't care.
    This little raid of his was beginning to feel like a bad idea. He was aching to have a look at the bridge, but the security there would be ten times tighter than in the engineering sections. Weapons Control would be the same, but perhaps Astrogation would be a different story.
    The elevator didn't go directly there this time, instead depositing him in a corridor in the lower decks, close to the sensor housing. Alamo – like the other ships of her class – had originally been designed as a long-range FTL survey ship, before the war led to a change in plans. Most of the gear was left intact, though, and he was right in the bowels of it. The door opened to reveal an almost empty room, a broad-shouldered man with skin as dark as space hunched over a control console – and wearing a Triplanetary uniform. Closing down his workstation, the man turned and stood to attention.
    "You must be Captain Marshall." He had a deep, rich voice that actually sounded vaguely welcoming.
    Marshall hastily went through his crew list in his head, "Senior Lieutenant Mulenga?"
    The astrogator smiled and curtly nodded his head, gesturing around the room. "I thought I would familiarize myself with the equipment on this vessel. I presume you met the same response as myself when asking for access?"
    "I'm afraid so. I get the impression that Flight Commander Zubinsky does not like me very much."
    "You have stolen his ship from him. A ship upon which he has served for seven years, as Executive Officer and then Commander. Were he handing it over to a fellow officer of his service, I suspect it would be different; but he had another year to go on his tour before the Patrol elected to abruptly terminate it."
    "If I were in his shoes, I hope I would behave with greater courtesy."
    Mulenga raised his eyebrows and smiled, "I will remind you of that if you ever find