Trial and Temptation (Mandrake Company) Read Free Page B

been a student and even later as a young officer, but the last five years with Mandrake Company, surrounded with the sharp-tongued and irreverent, he had honed his talent for reading it. What he hadn’t honed was his ability to keep people from resorting to it as a natural response to dealing with him. His rank insulated him somewhat, but he was not deaf. He heard the jokes issued at his expense. The crew might appreciate his expertise at the helm—he had saved the entire ship from certain calamity on more than one occasion—and they even gave him a thump on the back from time to time, but they would never truly be comfortable around him, just as he struggled to find ease when in their presence.
    He had certainly struggled to find ease with Cadet Calendula. He had been flummoxed by her beauty—that damnably alluring shirt and the unsubtle hint as to what lay beneath it!—and by his own feelings, feelings he had never dared show when he had been the instructor and she the student. Not that she would have reciprocated them back then, regardless. She had never seemed to appreciate his attempts to advise her, though he had been eager to offer pertinent tips to help her improve. She had seemed horrified when he had offered to put together a remedial study group in which she might participate. At the time, he had been mystified by her disinterest in accepting help from him, for he excelled in all areas of mathematics and piloting, core subjects at the academy. Was he not a logical choice as an offerer of input? Only later in life, during his infrequent and always awkward attempts to woo the opposite sex, had he learned that women sometimes put feelings toward a person ahead of practicality, and that not all of them found his blunt logic appealing.
    Unfortunately, if her frostiness today was any indication, nothing had changed for her in the intervening years. She still saw him as… an irritation to be dealt with. Perhaps her disinterest in him would make things easier, since it would be inappropriate for him to pursue a relationship with a trainee recruit seeking a job under his command. Even later, if she was hired, it would be a dubious situation.
    Ah, but his concern was premature. She had to pass the assessment first.
    Gregor’s comm-patch chimed. Before he could activate the two-way signal, the captain’s words sounded. “I need a skilled pilot who can defy gravity, dodge missiles, and who can be trusted to be discreet about a secret mission. You have any recommendations, Thatcher?”
    Gregor frowned. He was the company’s most skilled pilot, as his flight record and biannual proficiency tests proved, but if the captain wished a recommendation, would it be inappropriate to put himself forward for the mission? The idea of passing it up did not sit well with him, but after his difficulty in communicating with Cadet Calendula, he felt more tentative than usual in regard to social situations. To err on the side of inoffensive would be prudent. “Nobody can defy gravity, but Lieutenant Sequoia is qualified for many piloting tasks, Captain. I have not spent time with him outside of work hours, but I have also not heard reports of failings in regard to discretion.”
    “I’m talking about you, Thatcher. You still in the briefing room? I’ll be there in thirty seconds.”
    Gregor’s frown deepened. If the captain had meant him, why hadn’t he said so? He was a man who usually spoke bluntly, and rarely employed levity. Gregor appreciated that about him. Perhaps this new… blitheness had something to do with his acquisition of that civilian girlfriend. Gregor hadn’t spoken with the woman often but knew she was responsible for the pink shuttlecraft in the bay. Granted, the captain had leased the shuttle to her for her business, but Gregor couldn’t help but feel affronted at the color. Spacecraft deserved more seriousness, more respect.
    The door slid open, and Captain Mandrake strode in. As usual, he wore no sign of