It was only partly a lie. It seemed Paul usually had to be in Combat, but he didn't have any specific requirement at the moment. He reached Combat, had a few words with the sailors from his division who were standing watch, then sat down at his console and stared at the screen. He wasn't sure how long he sat like that.
'Hi, sailor.'
Paul looked up at Jen. 'Hi. What brings you to Combat?'
She hooked herself through the tie down on Paul's console so she could float nearby. 'Boredom and a desire for decent company. That and I have no appetite and the rest of my wardroom is eating at the moment.'
'You should eat, Jen.'
'Yeah. Yeah. I'm eating enough. Do you need anyone to stand watch up here?'
'You?'
Jen seemed unable to decide between angry and amused. 'I was standing watches in Combat while you were still staging panty raids in college, Mr. Sinclair.'
'I didn't go to college. I went to the Naval Academy.'
'Oh, yeah. Trade school. Don't avoid the question. Can I do some work up here?'
'Well, I'm sure-'
One of Paul's sailors called out 'attention on deck' as Captain Hayes entered Combat. 'Good afternoon, Paul. How're you doing, Ms. Shen?'
Jen smiled politely. 'I'm fine, sir. Thank you for asking. My shipmates and I are very grateful for the hospitality the Michaelson has shown us.' The reply sounded to Paul almost mechanical, as if she were reciting a script, but he didn't think anyone who didn't know Jen as well as he did would detect that.
'It's the very least we can do. Do you personally need anything?'
'Yes, sir. I need something to do. I'm a line officer, sir. I'm going crazy with all this free time.'
Captain Hayes grinned. 'That's not a complaint I'm used to hearing from junior officers. I may be able to do something about that. A ship can always use another officer, but I'll be frank. I've been advised to minimize the stress on you and your fellow officers from the Maury. Watch standing is out.'
'Sir, right now I'd do paperwork and be glad for it.'
'Can you concentrate on that sort of thing?'
Jen's smile grew strained. 'It beats concentrating on other things. If you know what I mean, sir. I've served on the Michaelson. As auxiliaries officer, before I went to the Maury. I'm familiar with the ship.'
'So I understand, Lieutenant Shen.' Captain Hayes gave Jen a long, appraising look, as she gazed back at him. 'I'll talk to our chief engineer about getting you some gainful employment, Ms. Shen.'
Jen didn't bother trying to hide her reaction. 'Thank you, sir. That really means a lot to me.'
'I try to look out for my officers, Ms. Shen, and if you're unhappy then Paul here would be unhappy, too.' Hayes winked at Paul, smiled, and left.
Jen kept her eyes on the hatch after the Captain had left. 'What's he like?'
'Hayes? Really good.' Paul hesitated. 'He served with the Chief Engineer on the Maury. They were on the John Glenn together.'
Jen's face froze for a moment, then she smiled sadly. 'Juko was a good boss, too. What about your Chief Engineer?'
'Commander Destin?'
'Yeah. What's Destin like?'
'She's an exile.'
Jen laughed for just a moment. 'Do you remember when I explained that stuff to you? Exiles and slackers and all? A few days after you joined the Michaelson?'
'Oh, yeah. I remember. You scared the hell out of me.'
'Me personally or what I told you?'
'Both, I think.'
She smiled briefly. 'So Destin's an exile.'
'And she doesn't like me, and something must've happened to her once that really hurt, because she's always walking around looking melancholy.'
'Wonderful. But I'd be happy to settle for a boss like that if I can just get something to do. Let's see if your captain can wrangle some work for me from her.'
Paul just nodded back, not wanting to share what Ensign Gabriel had told the other officers at lunch, and hoping Captain Hayes would change Destin's mind. Once she's seen how well Jen works, even Destin will have to admit Jen's really good.
After chatting a bit longer, Jen finally admitted to hunger, so Paul escorted her to the wardroom, then headed for his own stateroom. Paul's path took him by the executive officer's cabin. Just before he reached it, the hatch opened and Commander Destin swung out, her face flushed and her mouth tight. Commander Kwan followed, also looking unhappy. Seeing Paul in the passageway, Destin glowered at him for a long moment before turning and heading away. Kwan spotted Paul as well and gave him an annoyed look before going back into his stateroom.
Oh, great. Now what? Destin hasn't liked me since Silver's court-martial, but this seems pretty recent. Wait a minute. The captain said he'd talk to Destin about putting Jen to work. I guess he already did. Too bad I couldn't overhear that conversation. Destin must've just been venting to Kwan about it, and Kwan's not thrilled, either.
But it'd make Jen a little happier, and that made it worth it.
'Hey, Paul, have you seen this stuff?'
Paul looked over to Ensign Randy Diego, who had a news feed visible on his terminal. This close to Franklin, they could pick up the local data stream without much delay, and with the whole world knowing the Michaelson was bringing most of the Maury 's survivors home there was no reason Franklin shouldn't maintain a constant stream of communications to the ship. 'No. What is it? Something about the Maury?'
'You might say it's about the Maury! They're blaming it on the SASALs. Just like I said they would!'
'What?' Paul punched buttons, hurriedly bringing the news feed up on his own display. Remember the Maury. Just like I feared. Paul switched news channels several times, finding the same stories being reported on each. He finally settled on a channel with several talking heads who seemed marginally more civil to each other than the average commentators.
An angry man held up his fist. 'It's obvious the South Asian Alliance had to be behind this. There's no other explanation.'
Another man held up both hands, palm out. 'Now, George, it's a possibility. There's no evidence-'
'Evidence? Ships don't just blow up! You've seen the Navy's statements on this.'
'The Navy says they don't know what could've caused such explosions. That's not the same as saying they know it was sabotage!'
'Sabotage, hell! Try act of war!'
Paul muted the sound, shaking his head. Act of war? Somebody's trying to get us to start fighting a hot war with the SASALs because of what happened to the Maury? Well, Randy was right. Too bad. Unless the SASALs did do it. Then I want them to pay.
Randy cleared his throat. 'Paul? How could the SASALs blow up the Maury like that? Our engineers won't really talk about it. I mean, you can't exactly smuggle that much explosives onto a ship without someone noticing, right?'
Paul sighed. 'I'd guess people are claiming they did smuggle a bomb on board because they don't understand how hard it'd be. Or that it was some other kind of sabotage. Messing with software or hardware so all the systems in engineering on the Maury blew.'
'A virus? Could a virus do that?'
'They're not supposed to be able to do that. Nothing's supposed to be able to do that, from what I've heard. I'm not sure how we'd ever prove it anyway, with all that equipment blown to hell along with whatever software it carried.'
'Do you think the SASALs did it?'
Paul hesitated, thinking through his answer. 'I don't know they did, and I don't know they didn't. But I haven't seen anything to make me believe they did. And I can't believe the SASALs would risk war with us in order
