The Short Victorious War

She paused, her eyes very level, then smiled almost impishly.

'You're going to feel overworked and underappreciated while we work up, people, but try to remember that its all in a good cause. I'm sure I can rely on all of you to give me your very best. I promise you'll get my best in return.' She nodded at the pickup. 'Carry on,' she said, and killed the circuit and turned back to Henke.

'Welcome aboard, Captain.' The commander extended her hand in the traditional welcoming handclasp, and Honor gripped it hard.

'Thank you, Mike. It's good to be here.'

'May I present your senior officers?' Henke asked, and then waved the waiting officers forward at Honor's nod.

'Commander Ravicz, Ma'am, our engineer.'

'Mr. Ravicz,' Honor murmured. The engineer's deep-set eyes were frankly curious as he nodded courteously to her, and she shook his hand before glancing back at Henke.

'Commander Chandler, our tac officer,' her exec said.

'Ms. Chandler.' The diminutive tactical officers flaming red head didn't reach even to Honor's shoulder, but she had a tough, no-nonsense look to her, and her blue eyes were as firm as her handshake.

'I believe you know Surgeon Commander Montoya, our doctor,' Henke said, and Honor smiled hugely as she took Montoya's hand in both of hers.

'Indeed I do! It's good to see you again, Fritz.'

'And you, Skipper.' Montoya studied the left side of her face for a moment, then nodded. 'Especially to see you looking so good,' he added.

'I had a good doctor—two of them, in fact,' Honor said, and gave his hand another squeeze before she turned to the next officer on Henke's list.

'Lieutenant Colonel Klein, commanding our Marine detachment,' Henke said.

'Colonel.' The Marine bobbed a sharp, respectful nod as he took Honor's hand. His was the sort of face that revealed very little, but the ribbons on his black tunic were impressive. Which they ought to be. Nike carried a full battalion of Marines, and the Admiralty wouldn't have picked their commander's name out of a hat.

'Lieutenant Commander Monet, our com officer,' Henke continued down the order of seniority.

'Mr. Monet.' The com officer was the antithesis of her new tac officer: a tall, thin, almost colorless man with humorless features. His handclasp was firm enough, but almost mechanical.

'Lieutenant Commander Oselli, our astrogator.' Henke's bland voice laid just a hint of emphasis on the word 'astrogator,' and Honors lips twitched, for her own astrogation skills were less than outstanding.

'Ms. Oselli.' Honor shook her astrogator's hand, pleased with what she saw. Oselli's hair and eyes were as dark as Honor's own, and her thin, almost foxy features looked both confident and intelligent.

'And last but not least, Lieutenant Commander Jasper, our logistics officer.'

'Mr. Jasper.' Honor gave Nike's supply officer a small smile that mingled conspiracy and sympathy. 'I imagine you and I will be seeing a lot of one another over the next week or so, Commander. I'll try not to ask the impossible of you, but you know how captains are.'

'Yes, Milady, I'm afraid I do.' Amusement colored Jasper's deep baritone. 'At the moment, I know almost exactly where we are and what we still need. Needless to say, that's subject to change without notice until the yard turns us loose.'

'Needless to say,' Honor agreed, and folded her hands behind her as she surveyed the entire group. 'Well, ladies and gentlemen, we've got a lot to do, and no doubt I'll get to know you all in the process. For now, I'll let you get on with whatever you were doing before my arrival interrupted, but you're all invited to dine with me at eighteen hundred, if that will be convenient.'

Heads nodded as agreements were murmured, and Honor chuckled mentally. It was a rare officer who wouldn't find it 'convenient' to dine with a new captain on her first day in command! She nodded a courteous dismissal, and they began to move away, but she held up a hand as Henke started to leave.

'Wait a moment, Exec. I'd appreciate it if you could join me in my quarters. We've got a lot to discuss.'

'Of course, Milady,' Henke murmured, and looked across the bridge. 'Ms. Oselli, you have the watch.'

'Aye, aye, Ma'am. I have the watch,' Oselli responded, and Henke followed Honor into the intraship car. The doors slid shut behind them, and the commander's formality vanished in a face-splitting grin.

'Damn, but it's good to see you again, Honor!' She flung an arm around her superior and squeezed tightly, then reached up to Nimitz. The treecat buzzed a happy purr and extended a true-hand in a handshake all their own, and she laughed. 'Good to see you, too, Stinker. Still extorting celery out of your hapless companions?'

Nimitz bleeked smugly and flirted his fluffy tail, and Honor smiled back at her exec. As a rule, she disliked easy embraces, and despite her own recent elevation, she was still uncomfortable with those from the rarefied heights of the aristocracy, but Mike Henke was a rule unto herself. She never presumed upon her family's position as a cadet branch of Manticore's ruling dynasty, yet she had an unaffected ease with people and public situations Honor could only envy. They'd been roommates at Saganami Island for over three T-years, and Henke had spent hours trying to beat the fundamentals of multi-dimensional math into her shy, towering roommate, and even more hours unveiling the mysteries of etiquette and social interaction. Honor's yeoman ancestry hadn't prepared her for interaction with the nobility, and she'd often wondered if that was one reason the Academy adjutant had paired her with Henke, but whether it had been intentional or not, she knew how much Michelle's easy, breezy confidence had helped her.

'It's good to see you, too, Mike,' she said simply, squeezing back briefly, then straightened as the lift stopped. Henke grinned at her, then twitched her face into properly formal lines as the door hissed open and the two of them walked down the passage to Honor's quarters.

The Marine sentry outside the captain's cabin came to attention at their approach, immaculate in green and black. Honor nodded courteously to her, then opened the hatch and waved Henke through it, only to pause as she saw her new quarters for the first time.

They were huge, she thought with a touch of awe. Her belongings had come up the day before, and MacGuiness was fussing over the treecat-sized life-support module mounted on a bulkhead. He turned and started to come to attention as he realized his captain wasn't alone, but Honor gestured for him to stand easy.

'Mac, meet Commander Henke. Mike, Senior Chief MacGuiness—my keeper.' Henke chuckled, and MacGuiness shook his head resignedly. 'Go on with what you're doing, Mac,' Honor continued. 'Commander Henke and I are old friends.'

'Of course, Ma'am.' MacGuiness bent back over the module, and Nimitz leapt lightly from Honors shoulder to the modules top to watch him while Honor looked around and shook her head. Her personal gear had filled her last set of quarters to the point of crowding; here, it looked almost spartan. Expensive carpet covered the decksole, and a huge painting of the original Nike's final action in the Battle of Carson dominated one bulkhead, faced from across the cabin by a state portrait of Elizabeth III, Queen of Manticore. A portrait, Honor noted, which bore a striking resemblance to her own exec.

'BuShips really spoils its battlecruiser captains, doesn't it?' she murmured.

'Oh, I don't know.' Henke looked around and quirked an eyebrow. 'I'd say it's about right for one of your eminence, Dame Honor.'

'Yeah, sure.' Honor crossed to the padded seat under a view port and leaned back, staring out at the space station's irregular flank. 'This,' she said, 'is going to take some getting used to.'

'I'm sure you'll adjust,' Henke replied dryly. She crossed to Honor's desk and reached out to a heat-warped golden plaque on the bulkhead. The sailplane etched into its metal had lost a wing tip, and the commander reached out to touch it gently. 'This happen in Basilisk?' she asked. 'Or Yeltsin?'

'Basilisk.' Honor crossed her legs and shook her head. 'Just missed Nimitz's module, too. We were lucky.'

'Sure you were. Skill didn't have a thing to do with it,' Henke agreed with another grin.

'I wouldn't go quite that far,' Honor said, surprised by how easily it came out, 'but honesty compels me to admit that luck did enter into it.'

Henke snorted and turned back to the plaque, straightening it carefully, and Honor smiled at her back. They hadn't seen one another in far too long, and their relationship had changed, for their roles were different, but her