Kas waved a dismissing hand. “You are President of the officers’ mess. As far as I am concerned, a staff officer’s commissioning date is irrelevant.
“I am specifically giving you permission to deny this officer entry to the wardroom if you consider him unfit to associate with Fleet officers. You are to permit him entry only if his hygiene is satisfactory. And if his manners offend you, you have my permission to eject him.”
Tremling’s head swiveled from one of them to the other. Suddenly he snorted. “Don’t think I don’t know what’s goin’ on here,” he said in a surly tone. “I don’t have t’put up with this. You’ve got no right
…”
“I have every right,” Kas interrupted. “Even an engineer has to know that. However, you have no right. No right to subject your fellow officers to your lack of manners and hygiene.” He continued at some length, until he happened to glance at To-Ling, who rolled her eyes. Too long. His tirade was losing its effect. He decided to end it.
“You seem to pride yourself on not behaving like a Fleet officer. Very well. Until further notice, Commander To-Ling will be ignoring your seniority. If she feels it necessary to dress you down like an Ensign, she has my permission to do so. Moreover, if your behavior does not improve, I will progressively reduce you in rank until we find a rank I consider appropriate. Perhaps Apprentice Wiper.”
Tremling paled. “You wouldn’t dare! You don’t have the authority to demote an officer…”
Kas just shrugged. “You can file a grievance when we get back to Prime. If we get back to Prime. Now, get out, Commander!”
Tremling stomped out, furious.
To-Ling looked at him narrowly. “You really want me to do that, sir? You could get in trouble…”
Kas chuckled. “Commander, I’ve been in trouble ever since I joined the Fleet. After all, an outie barbarian uncouth enough to assault an Admiral is certainly uncouth enough to authorize you to deal with a fool like Tremling.”
To-Ling flushed slightly. “Is it my turn now, Commodore?”
“No. Well, maybe.” He shook his head. “Look, Commander. I’ve been very impressed with the way you handle your job. You’re good.”
He shrugged. “I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. However, because you impress me, I will tell you this. Changes are coming in the Fleet over the next few years. We cannot afford to waste good officers just because they have some silly prejudices.
“You know as well as I that you’re overdue for promotion to command and to Captain. If you could put aside these silly ideas of superiority, you’d be a good one. Don’t let your mouth keep you from realizing your potential.”
She frowned. “What do you mean, ‘changes are coming’?”
He shook his head. “I can’t go into detail. But I suspect you’re going to see a real shakeup, with some being forced out, and others gaining rapid promotion.”
“Like yours.”
He nodded. “Like mine.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Commander. I cannot tell you more, and I have no business lecturing a senior officer like an Ensign. But I strongly urge you to take a hard look at your opinions and your prejudices. They’re holding you back.”
She was looking thoughtful. “I’ll think about it, Commodore.”
Kas straightened. “Good. Now, about these daily reports…”
Tremling was not the only problem case among the officers. Ra-Lavon, the Supply and Administrative Officer, and Raskin, the Gunnery Officer, for instance.
They were like two sides of the same coin of bigotry. Ra-Lavon had already shown himself to be openly hostile to outerworlders in general and Kas in particular. Raskin was equally hostile to innerworlders, and delighted in annoying them by acting as coarse and offensive as possible. The two were constantly irritating each other. Moreover, since one was a staff Commander and the other a line Lieutenant Commander, their constant bickering was affecting crew morale. Kas called them to his cabin together.
Feigning a towering rage, Kas ordered the two of them to convert an empty storeroom into a double stateroom, which they would share for the remainder of the voyage. “You’ll either learn to get along, or one of you will kill the other and I’ll execute the survivor,” he roared.
It was not just the officers, of course. He knew they hadn’t found all the stills and drug labs aboard, though they destroyed them as quickly as they were found. But he’d had to break four petty officers down to able spacers and two others had lost a stripe. That wasn’t the worst, though. Three spacers and two civilians were in the brig. He’d been forced to order three floggings.
Hardest of all was being forced to order the execution of a man who had attacked and killed another with a weapon he’d found. The man had pleaded, begged, and fouled himself in fear; but Kas had no choice. He had to show the crew in the strongest way possible that he would enforce discipline. He personally triggered the blaster bolt, then had the corpse put into a stasis chamber, to be jettisoned once they had returned to normal space. Only the man’s DNA-coded ident tag would complete his round trip ticket. Then he went to his cabin and threw up.
Time still dragged but finally, eventually, the jump timer clicked down to emergence.
Kas was pacing the bridge, fretting, when they emerged, and the viewscreens leapt to life. Kas forced himself under control. If Starhopper were detected Kas would learn of it instantly. It would accomplish nothing to hound good people.
He could stand it no longer and was about to demand a report when the chief sensor tech spoke. “Nothing detected, Commodore,” he reported crisply. “No hazards and no ships.”
Kas’ shoulders sagged, but it would have taken a careful observer to notice the slight change. Kas sighed. “All right. Maintain all sensors on max. If Starhopper or any other ship emerges, I want to be notified immediately.”
“Aye, Aye, sir,” the tech responded in the same crisp tones. Kas keyed his ship’s comm. “Commander Tremling,” he said, “Your repair crew is cleared to work outside. But no one works outside alone.”
“Yeah, yeah,” came the response, but then, just as Kas was about to roast the man’s ears, a reluctant “sir” was added to the bald acknowledgment. Kas glanced at To-Ling, who rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly.
“When your people have completed the damage assessment, Commander,” Kas continued, “You will deliver your report in person in my cabin. Preslin out.”
He sighed. Yet another bitch session with the engineer. So far, his and To-Ling’s efforts had largely been in vain. Tremling seemed to prize his lack of military bearing, manners, and standards of hygiene. It appeared that Kas was going to have to make good his threat to reduce the man in rank. He grimaced.
The problem was that Tremling was right. Kas almost certainly did not have the authority to reduce an officer in rank. Moreover, someone as abrasive as Tremling would never have made Commander in the first place if he did not have influence somewhere. Tremling would be certain to howl to anyone within reach when they returned to Prime, and Kas would be in trouble again. Pankin’s voice rang in his memory, telling him to keep his head down and stay out of trouble.
The problem was that Tremling had a disastrous effect on morale and discipline in the Engineering Department. How could the junior officers and senior petty officers be expected to maintain discipline among the enlisted people when the senior Engineering Officer was so unmilitary? He suddenly got a glimmering of an idea, but pushed it to the back of his mind. He had more immediate concerns.
“Astrogation, begin recalibration,” he instructed, noting with satisfaction that Lieutenant Commander Be’Rak, was already hammering at her keyboard. A large, if fleeting, grin accompanied her crisp “Aye, Aye, sir.” Kas suppressed a smile of approval.
He beckoned To-Ling. “What do you think, San? Have we lost Starhopper?”
The tiny woman shrugged, but her expression was grim. “Too soon to say, sir. Her nav comp was slaved to ours, so in theory she should have emerged at the same time and place we did. But we know so little about Jump space,” she continued. “She could emerge at any moment or perhaps not for two or three hours.”
“If she emerges at all,” Kas finished. To-Ling nodded soberly.
Despite To-Ling’s obvious disapproval, Kas remained on the bridge, hovering over sensor techs and pacing until he learned that the damage control team was returning aboard. With a scowl, he returned to his cabin to await
