'I cannot believe this ... this ... this ...'
Commander Abner Layson shook his head, uncertain whether he was more stunned or furious, and Captain Bachfisch grunted in irate agreement. The two of them sat in the captain's day cabin, the hatch firmly closed behind them, and the display on the captain's desk held a duplicate of Francine Alcott's plot imagery, frozen at the moment the pirate which the entire ship's company had worked so long and so hard to lure into a trap went streaking away.
'I knew he was an idiot,' the commander went on after a moment in a marginally less disgusted voice, 'but I figured he had to at least be able to carry out standing orders that had been explained in detail to every officer aboard.'
'I agree,' Bachfisch said, but then he sighed and leaned back in his chair. 'I agree,' he repeated more wearily, 'but I can also see exactly what happened.'
'Excuse me, Sir, but what happened was that the officer of the watch completely failed to obey your standing order to inform you immediately upon the detection of a potential hostile unit. Worse, on his own authority, he undertook to execute a maneuver which was a dead giveaway of the fact that we're a warship, with predictable results!'
'Agreed, but you know as well as I do that he did it because he knows both of us are just waiting for him to step far enough out of line that we can cut him right off at the knees.'
'Well, he just gave us all the ammunition we need to do just that,' Layson pointed out grimly.
'I suppose he did,' Bachfisch said, massaging his eyelids with the tips of his fingers. 'Of course, I also suppose it's possible his career will survive even this, depending on who his patrons are back home. And I hate to admit it, but if I were one of those patrons, I might just argue to BuPers that his actions, however regrettable, were the predictable result of the climate of hostility which you and I created for Lieutenant Santino when we arbitrarily relieved him of his duties as OCTO.'
'With all due respect, Sir, that's bullshit, and you know it.'
'Of course I know it. At the same time, there's a tiny element of truth in it, since you and I certainly are hostile to him. You are hostile towards him, aren't you, Abner?'
'Damn right I am,' Layson said, then snorted as the captain grinned at him. 'All right, all right, Sir. I take your point. All we can do is write it up the way we saw it and hope that The Powers That Be back home agree with us. But in the meantime, we have to decide what we're going to do about him. I certainly don't want him standing any more watches unsupervised!'
'Neither do I. For that matter, I don't want him at Tactical, even if he's just backing up Janice. Bad enough that the man is a fool, but now his own people are helping him cut his own throat!'
'Noticed that, did you, Sir?'
'Please, Abner! I'm still a few years shy of senile. Del Conte knew exactly what would happen.'
'I think that may be putting it just a bit strongly, Sir,' Layson said cautiously. He'd hoped without much confidence that the captain might not have noticed the senior chief's obvious decision to shut his mouth and stop arguing with his superior. 'I mean,' the exec went on, 'Santino specifically ordered him to -- '
'Oh, come on, Abner! Del Conte is an experienced man, and he damned well shouldn't have let the fact that his superior officer is an unmitigated ass push him into letting that officer blow the tactical situation all to hell, no matter how pissed off he might've been or how justified he was to be that way. You know it, I know it, and I expect you to make very certain that Senior Chief Del Conte knows that we do and that if he ever lets something like this happen again I will personally tear him a new asshole. I trust that I've made my feelings on this matter clear?'
'I think you might say that, Sir.'
'Good,' Bachfisch grunted, but then he waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. 'But once you've made that clear to him -- and once you're sure that you have -- that's the end of it.' He pretended not to notice the very slight relaxation of Layson's shoulders. 'He shouldn't have let it happen, but you're right; he did exactly what his superior officer ordered him to do. Which is the problem. When a noncom of Del Conte's seniority deliberately lets his officer shoot his own foot off that spectacularly, that officer's usefulness is exactly nil. And it's also the most damning condemnation possible. Even if I weren't afraid that something like this might happen again, I don't want any King's officer who can drive his own personnel to a reaction like that in my ship or anywhere near her.'
'I don't blame you, Sir. And I don't want him in War Maiden, either. But we're stuck with him.'
'Oh, no, we're not,' Bachfisch said grimly. 'We still haven't sent Gryphon's Pride home. I believe that Lieutenant Santino has just earned himself a berth as her prize master.'
Layson's eyes widened, and he started to open his mouth, then stopped. There were two reasons for a captain to assign one of his officers to command a prize ship. One was to reward that officer by giving him a shot at the sort of independent command which might bring him to the notice of the Lords of Admiralty. The other was for the captain to rid himself of someone whose competence he distrusted. Layson doubted that anyone could possibly fail to understand which reason was operating in this case, and he certainly couldn't fault Bachfisch's obvious determination to rid himself of Santino. But as War Maiden's executive officer, the possibility presented him with a definite problem.
'Excuse me, Sir,' the exec said after a moment, 'but however weak he may be as a tac officer, he's the only assistant Janice has. If we send him away ...'
He let his voice trail off, and Bachfisch nodded. Ideally, War Maiden should have carried two assistant tactical officers. Under normal circumstances, Hirake would have had both Santino and a junior-grade lieutenant or an ensign to back him up. The chronic shorthandedness of the expanding Manticoran Navy had caught the captain's ship short this time, and he drummed his fingers on his desktop while he considered his options. None of them were especially palatable, but --
'I don't care about shorthandedness,' he said. 'Not if it means keeping Santino aboard. Janice will just have to manage without him.'
'But, Sir -- ' Layson began almost desperately, only to break off as Bachfisch raised a hand.
'He's gone, Abner,' he said, and he spoke in the captain's voice that cut off all debate. 'That part of the decision is already made.'
'Yes, Sir,' Layson said, and Bachfisch relented sufficiently to show him a small smile of sympathy.
'I know this is going to be a pain in the ass for you in some ways, Abner, and I'm sorry for that. But what you need to do is concentrate on how nice it will be to have Elvis Santino a hundred light-years away from us and then figure out a way to work around the hole.'
'I'll try to bear that in mind, Sir. Ah, would the Captain care to suggest a way in which that particular hole might be worked around?'
'Actually, and bearing in mind an earlier conversation of ours, I believe I do,' Bachfisch told him. 'I would suggest that we seriously consider promoting Ms. Midshipwoman Harrington to the position of acting assistant tactical officer.'
'Are you sure about that, Sir?' Layson asked. The captain raised an eyebrow at him, and the exec shrugged. 'She's worked out very well so far, Sir. But she is a snotty.'
'I agree that she's short on experience,' Bachfisch replied. 'That's why we send middies on their snotty cruises in the first place, after all. But I believe she's clearly demonstrated that she has the raw ability to handle the assistant tac officer's slot, and she's certainly a lot brighter and more reliable than Santino ever was.'
'I can't argue with any of that, Sir. But since you've mentioned our conversation, remember what you said then about North Hollow and his clique. If they really did pull strings to put Santino aboard as OCTO and you not only relieve him of that duty, but then heave him completely off your bridge, and then take the midshipwoman they probably put him here specifically to get and put her into his slot -- ' He shook his head.
'You're right. That will piss them off, won't it?' Bachfisch murmured cheerfully.
'What it may do,' Layson said in an exasperated tone, 'is put you right beside her on their enemies list, Sir.'
'Well, if it does, I could be in a lot worse company, couldn't I? And whether that happens or not doesn't really have any bearing on the specific problem which you and I have to solve right here and right now. So putting aside all other considerations, is there anyone in the ship's company who you think would be better qualified as an acting assistant tactical officer than Harrington would?'
'Of course there isn't. I'm not sure that putting her into the slot will be easy to justify if BuPers decides to get nasty about it -- or not on paper, at least -- but there's no question in my mind that she's the best choice, taken
