doing and is damned good at it," said Forrice.
She stared at Cole. "You're a little smaller than I expected."
"Bullshit," he responded.
"Wilson!" said Forrice, surprised.
"You've run a couple of background checks on me, and you were almost certainly the one who programmed my statistics into the security system. If I was half an inch taller or shorter than you expected, five pounds heavier or lighter, every fucking alarm in the ship would have gone off." He paused and smiled at her. "Did I pass the test?"
"With flying colors," she said, returning his smile. "I hope you're not offended."
"Not at all. It's nice to know we have a competent Security Chief onboard. Now let me ask you a question."
"Go ahead."
"As far as I can tell, the Teddy R hasn't touched down on any planet in more than half a year. I'm only the fifth replacement to come aboard since then. So my question is: What do you do with your time?"
"It's a reasonable question," replied Sharon. "I monitor all transmissions, I keep all sensitive areas under surveillance, I try to cut down on the intraship drug trafficking, I make sure that the crew isn't killing each other—they've tried, from time to time—and I make sure that the Officer on Deck performs hourly scans of our immediate vicinity."
"I thought there wasn't supposed to be a Teroni ship within parsecs of us," said Cole.
"We hope not, but their fleet isn't the only danger. Seventeen ships have been sabotaged in the past year. Six had entirely human crews, three more were close to eighty percent nonhuman, and one had no humans at all. That means someone has gotten to both human and nonhuman members of the Navy. I don't know what kind of inducement it would take to get someone to blow himself up with his ship, but there's no question that it's been done—and it's my job to see to it that it's not done here."
"Seventeen? I'd heard about two or three, but I hadn't realized that there were that many."
"It's not something the Navy brags about."
"So they keep it quiet, thereby guaranteeing that people who might see something suspicious don't recognize it as such."
"I like you, Commander Cole," she said.
"Wilson," he corrected her.
She reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a silver flask. "Want a drink?" she said.
"What's the penalty for drinking on duty?"
"It depends whether Security knows about it or not."
"Then I'll have one," he said, accepting the flask, opening it, and taking a swallow. He turned to Forrice. "I'd offer some to you, but you'd probably bathe in the booze and eat the container."
"The next time a Teroni offers a reward for your head, I'm going to have to seriously consider it," said Forrice.
"I really shouldn't tell you this," said Sharon, "but Forrice has practically been jumping out of his skin since we learned you were being transferred here. He'll probably never say anything nice about you while you're listening, but he's filled me in on your various exploits."
"I think the Navy would label them misadventures," said Cole wryly.
"The crew of the Teddy R knows better," she said. "You've become a kind of legend."
"Don't embarrass me during my first day on the job," said Cole uncomfortably.
"All right, then," said Sharon, taking the flask back. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yeah, as a matter of fact there is. What's the total complement of the crew?"
"Thirty-seven Men, five Polonoi, four Molarians, a Tolobite, a Morovite, a Bedalian, and a Bdxeni."
He shook his head. "Stupid."
"What is?"
"If they're worried about unhappy crewmen, why the hell did they give us lone members of four races? They've got no one to talk to, no shared worldview or experiences."
"Well, that's not quite true. The Tolobite's got its symbiote, and the Bdxeni is working every minute of every day and doesn't need any distractions."
"Nevertheless."
"We're not responsible for who or what the Navy assigns us," replied Sharon.
"I didn't mean to imply that you were stupid," said Cole. "A
She stared at Cole. "You're a little smaller than I expected."
"Bullshit," he responded.
"Wilson!" said Forrice, surprised.
"You've run a couple of background checks on me, and you were almost certainly the one who programmed my statistics into the security system. If I was half an inch taller or shorter than you expected, five pounds heavier or lighter, every fucking alarm in the ship would have gone off." He paused and smiled at her. "Did I pass the test?"
"With flying colors," she said, returning his smile. "I hope you're not offended."
"Not at all. It's nice to know we have a competent Security Chief onboard. Now let me ask you a question."
"Go ahead."
"As far as I can tell, the Teddy R hasn't touched down on any planet in more than half a year. I'm only the fifth replacement to come aboard since then. So my question is: What do you do with your time?"
"It's a reasonable question," replied Sharon. "I monitor all transmissions, I keep all sensitive areas under surveillance, I try to cut down on the intraship drug trafficking, I make sure that the crew isn't killing each other—they've tried, from time to time—and I make sure that the Officer on Deck performs hourly scans of our immediate vicinity."
"I thought there wasn't supposed to be a Teroni ship within parsecs of us," said Cole.
"We hope not, but their fleet isn't the only danger. Seventeen ships have been sabotaged in the past year. Six had entirely human crews, three more were close to eighty percent nonhuman, and one had no humans at all. That means someone has gotten to both human and nonhuman members of the Navy. I don't know what kind of inducement it would take to get someone to blow himself up with his ship, but there's no question that it's been done—and it's my job to see to it that it's not done here."
"Seventeen? I'd heard about two or three, but I hadn't realized that there were that many."
"It's not something the Navy brags about."
"So they keep it quiet, thereby guaranteeing that people who might see something suspicious don't recognize it as such."
"I like you, Commander Cole," she said.
"Wilson," he corrected her.
She reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a silver flask. "Want a drink?" she said.
"What's the penalty for drinking on duty?"
"It depends whether Security knows about it or not."
"Then I'll have one," he said, accepting the flask, opening it, and taking a swallow. He turned to Forrice. "I'd offer some to you, but you'd probably bathe in the booze and eat the container."
"The next time a Teroni offers a reward for your head, I'm going to have to seriously consider it," said Forrice.
"I really shouldn't tell you this," said Sharon, "but Forrice has practically been jumping out of his skin since we learned you were being transferred here. He'll probably never say anything nice about you while you're listening, but he's filled me in on your various exploits."
"I think the Navy would label them misadventures," said Cole wryly.
"The crew of the Teddy R knows better," she said. "You've become a kind of legend."
"Don't embarrass me during my first day on the job," said Cole uncomfortably.
"All right, then," said Sharon, taking the flask back. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Yeah, as a matter of fact there is. What's the total complement of the crew?"
"Thirty-seven Men, five Polonoi, four Molarians, a Tolobite, a Morovite, a Bedalian, and a Bdxeni."
He shook his head. "Stupid."
"What is?"
"If they're worried about unhappy crewmen, why the hell did they give us lone members of four races? They've got no one to talk to, no shared worldview or experiences."
"Well, that's not quite true. The Tolobite's got its symbiote, and the Bdxeni is working every minute of every day and doesn't need any distractions."
"Nevertheless."
"We're not responsible for who or what the Navy assigns us," replied Sharon.
"I didn't mean to imply that you were stupid," said Cole. "A
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