John smiled to himself, retrievedthe pen when it was tossed back towards him, and calmly began signing. Theagreement was formalised. It now needed to be returned to Command, where anofficially sealed copy would be forwarded to Cush as confirmation.
The silence was thick betweenthem. John had nothing more to say. He knew he had said too much. Hecouldn’t take any of it back and he wasn’t going to apologise for being right. He slipped his pen back into his pocket and retrieved his copy of the papers,daring Cush to break the silence.
Cush knew he had to, for his ownpeace of mind. “You would have let your lieutenant commander sign thesepapers?”
“She has the authority in myabsence.” John turned the papers along one edge, neatly flattening the bitsthat stuck out until they appeared as one. “It could all have been achievedwithout this unpleasantness.” He carefully insinuated his innocence.
Cush changed the subject. “YourLieutenant Gillespie interests me… What is poker?”
John couldn’t hide the smallgrin. Gillespie’s one track mind was obvious to anyone who was not a telepath.
“A game you wouldn’t have thepatience to appreciate.” He couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by amoment’s lightness. “I think it would be best for all concerned if I returnedto my ship.”
Cush silently agreed. “Yourofficers are under no such obligation. They may remain for the evening asearlier planned… They will not be scanned.”
“Thank you.” There was no reasonnot to be polite. “Madison to Bismarck, ready to transport.”
John’s first priority was to filethe documents. After that, he returned to the bridge. Humphries was in hischair; his head resting across its back, his eyes closed and his mouth openslightly. He was asleep. John hadn’t meant to leave him that long. He had alreadypulled a double shift and with the lack of activity currently on the bridge, hehad nodded off.
It was tempting to wake himsuddenly, to remind him where he was and what his duties were. John didn’thave the heart to do that. Especially when the rest of the crew were unaware.
John stepped quietly to his chairand leaned towards Humphries’ ear. He whispered softly. Humphries stirred,his eyes remained closed for a moment, then shot open.
“Ssh,” John warned before heembarrassed himself and alerted the crew to his state. “Go and get somesleep.”
Humphries’ head twisted around tosee John properly. A kink in his neck locked. He tensed, then relaxed asJohn’s face showed no anger.
“Yes, sir,” he whisperedhoarsely, his throat dry. He slid out of the chair and tried his best to walkin a straight line. He was still half asleep and swayed slightly.
John smiled to himself as he satdown. Humphries was a good kid. He had thought that for a long time. Sometimes he needed to remind himself where his priorities lay.
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Chaptersixteen
McReidy and Gillespie werecompletely exhausted by the time they returned to Bismarck. Giacomo had neverbeen comfortable at social events. Dunlop was the only one who appearedbright, although the day’s events were beginning to tell. He was fascinated bythe medical facilities.
The power the mind held over thebody was incredible. He had witnessed an operation during which the patientremained completely conscious without the aid of painkillers. A child had beenbrought in unconscious. By tapping his most recent thoughts, it was discoveredhe had swallowed poison.
Dunlop was excitedly telling theothers all about his day as they walked along the corridor from the transporterroom. No one was interested. Not at the moment anyway.
McReidy turned in exasperation toGillespie. He took the hint.
“Look, Doc,” he interrupted. “Not now. Tomorrow… I’ll listen to anything you want to tell me tomorrow… Right now, I’ve got this huge headache.” His hands rose to his head in anexaggerated outline of how he felt.
“I’ve got something for that,”Dunlop offered.
“No. I’d rather sleep if off.”
“About time you lot turned up.” Kowalski was leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest.
“What do you want?” Gillespieasked, suddenly realising they were outside his quarters.
Kowalski seemed to be the onlyone aware of what day it was. After a quick discussion, which didn’t includehim, it was mutually decided to cancel the evening’s game.
“That’s not fair,” he objected. “I’ve just finished working out a new strategy to beat the lot of you.”
“Sam… Shut up.”
For some reason, he was notwilling to argue with McReidy. Instead, he sulked. “Well, what am I supposedto do for the rest of the evening?”
“Whatever it is you do everyother night of the week,” she threw back at him.
“Problem?” John asked as hejoined them.
“They don’t want to playtonight,” Kowalski explained, hoping to receive some sympathy.
“A sound decision under the circumstances.”
Kowalski opened his mouth toobject.
“If you want something to do, whydon’t you go and look after the bridge for me for a while.”
“But I’m off duty,” Kowalskicomplained. He didn’t get on the bridge as much as he wanted. He also didn’twant to sacrifice his own time to do so.
“I was not asking, MisterKowalski.” The dark eyes matched the tone and there was no arguing witheither.
“Yes, sir.”
“He’s just bored,” Johnexplained. “Remind me to send him down to the surface next time.” The commentwas directed towards McReidy. “And unless the rest of you intend keeping theentire ship awake, I suggest you retire for the evening. I will see you in themorning.”
* * *
McReidy couldn’t settle. She wastired, exhausted, but her eyes couldn’t stay closed. Nothing could keep heroccupied and she found herself continually pacing around her quarters. Shefound herself in front of the bookshelf. Maybe if she took a book to bed. Skimming through the titles, there was nothing that particularly interestedher.
An early night might work; shewould feel better in the morning. The bedside clock revealed that it wasn’tthat early. Lying in the dark only made things worse. She tossed and turned,unable to get comfortable. She was hot, and threw the blanket off, only toretrieve it a few minutes later. The pillow was getting the beating she knewsomeone deserved.
The clock’s luminous digits gavethe only light to the room. She blamed it for keeping her awake and turned itsface away, turning it back a few moments later to check the time.
She sat up in frustration,thumping her fists on the
