“He hasn’t gotten over ArkRoyal,” Gillespie told her. “I don’t think he ever will.”
“But that was months ago.”
“I know.”
McReidy tried to think for aminute. There was something she should have remembered about Ark Royal. Itwasn’t just a ship to him. “Wasn’t Laura –?”
Gillespie silenced her with anod. “Yes. She was the only woman who ever had complete control over him. She could get away with murder… You know he’s out for revenge.”
“I guessed that. Somehow, Ithought there was more to it than just the loss of one of our ships.”
“Whatever his outward motives,she’s the real reason. He’s ruled by his heart, you know that. He always hasbeen. If he closes off long enough, he might be able to forget. Then he’llbecome like all the other brass… And, if that happens, I’m going to miss him.”
During the awkward silence thatfollowed, McReidy had found herself agreeing. She couldn’t see John becoming aregulation officer. He was too different, too unique. He had a flair forgetting himself into and out of trouble. Rules were meant to be bent, twistedout of recognition and, occasionally, snapped completely.
“Did you know he hasn’t playedStrategem since Captain Barrett died?” Gillespie finally broke into herthoughts.
“No, I didn’t.”
“I don’t know what we’re going todo with him.”
McReidy knew what to do.
Since the hijacking of the ship,John had begun to reassess matters. He had begun to open up to her – as far aswork was concerned. They were spending a lot of time together. When they werealone, he let his guard down. His eyes would light up as he became distractedfrom his work, allowing him the freedom of a subject that interested him more,only to cloud over again as he returned to the original topic.
Occasionally, she had found himwatching her. So deep in thought had he been that she thought his mind was amillion years away. And if he drifted back and caught her watching him, thebrick wall went up.
* * *
John was on the bridge whenMcReidy arrived the next morning. That was normal, but how dare he look soawake. On returning to her quarters, she had slept soundly for the rest of thenight – all two or three hours of it.
“How’s your head?” he asked,genuine concern in his voice.
“Fine, thanks.”
There was a slight frown as hemade a quick overall assessment of her condition. Was she really unaware thathe did this every morning, or was it just today? she wondered. He seemedsatisfied. She was glad he couldn’t read minds or it would be one horribleday.
Gillespie arrived not looking onehundred percent. He had slept off his headache, but his eyes were stillheavy. He yawned, leaned forward over his console and rubbed his eyes. “Ifeel as though my head’s been stripped naked!”
He didn’t seem to be subject tothe same critical assessment, McReidy noted.
“Don’t say a word, I’ve onlywatched the first innings,” John warned.
“Opinion?” Gillespie asked. Itwas obvious that he knew the result.
“If the openers start firing, twoforty won’t be enough. If they go cheaply, it should be plenty.” John thoughtabout it for a moment. “Anyway,” he slapped both hands on the arms of hischair. “Back to business.” He noticed an empty seat. “Where’s Mister Tan?”
“Here, sir.” Tan rushed onto thebridge and slipped past Gillespie to his position.
“You’re late.”
“Sorry, sir.”
No, he wasn’t late. Officially,he had just over a minute to spare. Anyone on John’s shift knew to be fiveminutes early. Anything less was automatically considered to be late. It wasnot worth anyone’s peace of mind to argue the technicality.
Satisfied that everything was theway it should be, John rose to his feet. “McReidy, with me.”
The emotionless toneautomatically made her feel guilty.
Her thoughts must have shown onher face. She caught Giacomo’s reassuring glance as she turned. On her feetimmediately, she placed her hand gently on the pilot’s shoulder, then followedJohn to his office.
“Sit down.” John crossed behindhis desk and took his own seat.
The two words meant a longdiscussion. All the softness of the previous night was gone. His eyes weredeep pools of mud reflecting the serious overtones in his voice.
It was not her personally, sherealised. That would at least have brought a hint of fire to his eyes.
“I need your opinion.”
She didn’t answer, giving himwhatever time he needed to explain.
“This latest update came in a fewhours ago.”
He picked up the report from hisdesk, turned it around and tossed it towards her. It landed right way up infront of her and she began to scan it quickly.
“The Andromedans have made amajor advance. At this current rate, they overrun Simpson’s fleet at Polgar.”
McReidy looked up, more interestin his words than what she was reading. He oversimplified. He often did whenhe wanted to hide his intentions.
“Computer, continue program.” Hecarefully avoided McReidy’s probing eyes.
The screen clearly displayed whatthe report stated. The newly occupied territory was marked over the previousboundaries, the position and number of fleet ships, the estimated position ofenemy ships, and all planets of strategic importance to both sides.
“Doesn’t the fleet know aboutthis?” McReidy asked.
“Not from what I’ve been able toestablish. Two cruisers were allowed to slip through here.” He indicated theposition on the map.
“Allowed to?” she questioneddoubtfully.
“Page two, last paragraph,” Johnreferred to the report. He gave her time to find and read the paragraph – awarning not to confront any ships, to stay well hidden until reinforcementsarrived.
“It could be a bluff,” McReidyhoped.
“Reinforcements are due at Velosin under two days. That’s where all the communications have been coming from. Ground troops have been massing. A huge arsenal was suspected a while ago… It’s the key to their forces in this whole area.”
“It must be well protected.”
“Not really. It’s on the darkside.”
“Why do I get this sneakingsuspicion that you want to take it out?”
“It’s a very real option. Weknow its defences. They’re all ground based. Any ship capable of stopping usis too big to be hanging around. It would draw too much attention. We can bein and out before they know what’s hit them. It would take them months to getback what they’ve amassed. And they won’t be able to rearm
