The worlds beyond Aran, he’d notencountered. He had to rely on what Command had provided. There was nothingnew to their original list. If anything, a few worlds had been taken out. Hefigured lost cause or someone else was dealing with them.
He was not looking forward to thereturn to Lushon. Those women could wreak more havoc on his ship than he wascapable of handling.
The door to his quarters openedunexpectedly. It wasn’t locked but he expected everyone to have the decency tobeep. He was laying on the lounge. He lifted himself enough to be able to seeover the back of it.
Gillespie strode to the middle ofthe room and tossed his bag to the floor. “Hi, roomie.”
John jerked himself upright, hisreports falling to the floor. “What do you mean ‘roomie’?” he demanded.
“I’ve been kicked out of myplace.” Gillespie put his hands on his hips and looked around. “Where do youwant me to put my stuff?”
John didn’t answer him. Heswitched on his communicator. “Giacomo!” he roared.
“Just obeying your orders, sir,”came the unflinching reply. Giacomo had expected the outburst and was preparedfor it.
John groaned and got to hisfeet. This was not what he had expected. He remembered Giacomo telling himthat some people would not be happy. He also remembered his own answer. Therewas nothing he could do about it now. He decided to lay out the ground rules.
“I work with you all day. I evensocialise with you occasionally. But I cannot stand being around you twentyfour hours a day.”
“You’re no picnic either.”
“Then we understand each other?”
“Perfectly.”
No sooner had they come to anagreement than Dunlop arrived. “I’ve got to put up with both of you, do I?” hesummed up the situation immediately.
“I’m out of here.” John realisedhe would get no peace. He left Gillespie and Dunlop to settle in, hoping likemad that they were the only ones Giacomo had stuck him with. Had he beenwarned, he might have made room. No – had he been warned he would have madesure it never happened!
He made his way to the bar,hoping to get some time to himself. He was sadly disappointed. It seemed thateveryone else had thought the same thing.
John didn’t know whether it wasauthority or intimidation that cleared a table for him. Quite frankly, hedidn’t care. He had his reports, and a set of earphones that enabled himprivacy. If he closed his eyes, he had the illusion of being alone.
If he closed his eyes, he wouldfall asleep! There was nothing exciting about studying protocol. The onlymajor decision he made was coffee or rum. He decided on the former. It wastoo easy to misinterpret the minor technicalities if he allowed himself tobecome too relaxed.
He was unaware of time passing. Behaviour was excellent and he wasn’t required to settle any disputes. He wasentirely in a world of his own that extended no further than arm’s reach.
He sensed McReidy’s presencebefore he saw her. She wasn’t in the best of moods. He slid the earphonesdown around his neck, switching off the tape with the other hand. “Problem?”
“Not exactly.”
He knew that meant yes, andindicated that she take a seat. ‘Not exactly’ – that usually meant that he washer problem. “What’s up?”
“I think you’re being unfair onGiacomo.”
“This is not the place to discussthis.” If he had to discuss crewmembers it was not going to be within earshotof anyone else. It looked like McReidy had some serious grievances. He stoodup. “My place… no, wait a minute, I’ve got Gillespie and Dunlop in there… Which I assume you already knew about.”
He could tell from the look onher face when he mentioned their names that she did.
She nodded in confirmation.
“I take it that means your placeis also full?”
She nodded again.
He didn’t like the idea ofinvading the bridge to get to his office. He glanced around. The bar wasreasonably quiet. Against his better judgement, he sat back down and quietlyasked, “What about Giacomo?”
“You ask too much of him.”
“Do I?” One brow raised as hewondered just how much she was aware of.
“Yes. You give him the toughdecisions and then you don’t support him.”
“He has my full support on anydecisions he makes.”
“Then why do you let the rest ofthe crew dispute him?”
John was quiet for a moment whilehe summed her up. He took a second glance at the numbers in the room and kepthis voice low. “Captain Barrett never asked you to make unpopular decisions?”
“Yes, but –”
“And who did you confide in whenyou thought he was being unfair?” He already knew the answer.
“Steve, but –”
“But what?” He propped hiselbows on the table and rested his chin in his palms. His dark eyes were levelwith hers.
“Captain Barrett was always thereto fall back on. He was as loyal and supportive of his officers as they wereof him.” Her voice trailed off.
The amused look in his eyes toldher he knew perfectly well what she was only beginning to understand.
“Giacomo’s different. He doesn’twant to use you every time he has a disagreement.”
“Smart man.”
The comment only seemed toinfuriate her. “He needs your authority.”
“No.” One fist dropped to thetable, emphasising his seriousness. “He needs his own authority.” The otherhand came down and tucked behind his elbow. He inched his chair in closer andleaned forward slightly. “I could order everyone on this ship to obey himwithout question. What good does that do him? When he leaves here, that putshim right back in the same position. Actually worse, because he’ll have afalse sense of security.”
He stopped for a moment, allowinghis words to sink in.
“He’s got to earn their respecton his own. Then they’ll obey him without question. He can’t afford to thinkabout their personal feelings when he starts sending men off to their deaths. He hasn’t got it in him at the moment. Quite frankly, neither have you. And Idon’t know if you ever will.”
“You have that high an opinion ofhim?”
“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be so…unfair on him, as you put it.” He deliberately chose to use her words. “Hewill make one hell
