Lt Leary 04 - The Way to Glory by Drake David

Author:Drake, David [Drake, David]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9781416521068
Google: 58Ofrd0jk7QC
Amazon: 1416521062
Publisher: Baen
Published: 2005-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Sinmary Port on Nikitin

The captain's clerk, Orly, had been Slidell's clerk aboard the Bainbridge. He watched Daniel tensely over his console. The court-martial records showed he'd been heavily involved in the suppression of the mutiny.

From the scuttlebutt Hogg had gathered, Orly'd fired into the deck while arresting the bosun. He'd nearly blown his foot off, and the ricochet clipped the ear of a trustworthy technician behind him in the corridor.

The Captain says you can go in now, the clerk said, his hand hovering close to the cloth-covered pistol on the stand he'd moved next to his console.

Thank you, Orly, Daniel said, giving him a bright smile as he stepped to the hatch of the captain's day-cabin. He hoped the nervous clerk wouldn't decide he was baring his teeth in a prelude to a snarling attack.

On the positive side, Orly clearly didn't know much about guns. If he did cut loose in panic, he was at least as likely to shoot Captain Slidell as he was Daniel.

Though that didn't mean Daniel himself wouldn't be blamed for the result.

The whimsy made Daniel smile, which he realized instantly from the look on Slidell's face wasn't the expression to have worn on greeting his superior officer. This one, at any rate. Daniel braced to attention, saluted, and said, Sir! I need to go over arrangements for 614's liftoff with you.

Close the hatch, Leary, Slidell said. His tone had the calm of a dog straining at a leash. He didn't bother to say, At ease, or return the salute; Daniel hadn't expected that he would.

Daniel pulled the hatch to, then dogged it on his own initiative. Slidell could snarl at him no matter which choice he made about dogging it—or if he asked direction. One learns very quickly in life, let alone in the RCN, that there are situations in which you couldn't win. You dealt with them and got on with your business.

All right, Leary, Slidell said from his seat behind the console. Nobody can overhear us now, so we don't have to lie.

Sir, said Daniel carefully. If Slidell really thought nobody was eaves-dropping on them, he didn't know Adele very well . . . which was probably the case.

The day room was small but attractively appointed. The couch and two chairs, though bolted to the deck, were hand-carved wooden souvenirs of a previous appointment. On one bulkhead was a hologram of a smiling woman with two children whose features bore obvious resemblance to Slidell's. Across from the hologram were two rural watercolors, of a tile-roofed hut and of drystone fences snaking across a hillside. Slidell had a reputation as a skilled amateur painter.

You're blackmailing the Admiral, Slidell said baldly. She's furious, but she's giving you this new chance to make a hero of yourself anyway. No wonder you've got so many medals, Leary! I now see that you use not only influence but extortion to make sure that all the high-profile assignments are given to you!

Daniel blinked. He was so nonplussed that he didn't even bother to deny the charge.

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