In Ashes Born (A Seeker's Tale From The Golden Age Of The Solar Clipper Book 1) Read Free Page B

snorted again. “You’ll get used to it. You didn’t socialize with the other captains out there in Diurnia?”
    “None of them were my first skipper.”
    She gave a short chuckle at that. “No doubt.” She took a pull from her glass. “So, last time I saw you, you were worried about how to pay for the academy. Got your loans paid off yet?” Her lips curved up in a half smile.
    I laughed. “Yeah. I didn’t have to take out that much, and I had that paid back before I made second mate.”
    “Told ya,” she said with a bump of her elbow. “Now look at you. Captain and everything after only, what? Sixteen stanyers?”
    “Something like that. I came up fast but I had a lot of help pushing me up the ladder.” I toasted her with my mug.
    She smiled and nodded. “I heard about Maloney. Geoff was a good man. My father always thought highly of him.”
    “Didn’t you?”
    She shrugged. “Didn’t know him that well. Father knew him because they had committee business together. Seems like I’d barely taken over here when we got the word that he’d passed on.”
    “Well, he gave me my start, even if it was as bait.”
    She looked at me with one eyebrow arched in query. “Who? My father or Maloney?”
    “Both, actually.” I shrugged. “Your father recommended me when Maloney showed up at the academy after graduation looking for a green third mate.”
    “And you took it?”
    “I didn’t have a large number of choices. A lot of the class had shipped out by the time Maloney made me an offer. I was afraid I’d be here doing another year just because I didn’t have a berth.” I took a sip of the coffee.
    “You said bait?”
    I nodded. “Long story.” I chewed on the inside of my lip as I remembered it. “It was pretty bad. I think that was the first time I was ever punched by a senior officer. By anybody for that matter.”
    “Punched?” The look of amazement stretched her eyes wide and left her jaw hanging.
    “On the bridge. First mate caught me by surprise with a punch to the gut.”
    “Oh, Ishmael. Your first berth out of the academy and you got a bully first mate?”
    I shrugged. “I had no idea. My only saving grace was that I knew I had no idea. It’s a miracle that I wasn’t booted for insubordination.”
    “You? Insubordinate? Is that why he hit you?”
    I shook my head and opened my mouth to tell her, but Mike returned.
    “Commandant? Captain? Your table is ready.”
    A steward in a spotless white uniform showed us to a table in the corner. I hadn’t seen a table dressed that well since Jimmy Chin’s Plum Blossom on Welliver. From the immaculate white table cloth to the precise placement of embossed silver and a single yellow rose, the staff had created a work of art.
    “Anything wrong, Captain?” the steward asked as I stood there gazing.
    I glanced at his name tag. “Not at all, Mr. Armstrong. Your work?” I waved a hand at the table.
    He smiled and I realized he was much older than the typical cadet. “I’ve been doing it for some time now, Captain. Practice makes perfect.”
    I nodded agreement and slipped into my place across from the commandant.
    “We’ll have the special, Rubin,” she said. “Another coffee for Captain Wang and if you could bring me another iced tea?”
    He smiled and nodded. “Of course, Commandant.” He disappeared through a swinging door that wafted some delicious aromas as he passed.
    She looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Punched?”
    “I interfered with the first mate’s watch section. He punched me for it.”
    “That’s conduct unbecoming in most circles.” She rested her elbows on the table, her fingers steepled in front of her face.
    “The captain approved of his tactics.”
    She sighed. “I’m surprised Geoff put up with that.”
    “He didn’t, but he didn’t have the lawyers to back him up.”
    “Ugh. I understand the reasoning but when something’s obviously wrong, finding the legal justification can be a real