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The fact that she didn’t want to be alone in the same small room with Burnside was left unsaid.

“Okay, Ms. D’Heng. Have a good day off tomorrow and have fun with Ms. Novea.”

“Thanks, sar. We’ll have a right cheery hen party, we will. Ms. Novea, Juliett, and I. Guess who we’ll all talk about?”

She didn’t wait for an answer, just sailed out of the office and headed into the ship.

David Burnside came into the office on the stroke of 23:45. He reeked of beer and was still in his civvies. He’d obviously had just come from the lock. “I relieve you, Mr. Wang,” he said very precisely. “Sign off the watch, and I’ll change my clothes.”

If he was slurring just a little bit, it was hard to tell. He looked steady enough. He didn’t wait for me to even acknowledge his order, but turned and stalked heavily toward his stateroom in Officers’ Country.

That was beyond acceptable, but I really didn’t have any options. I followed his command, and put him on watch. I also stopped by the lock before going back to my stateroom, passing Juliett on the way.

“A heads up about tomorrow, Ms. Jaxton. I’m swapping watch with Ms. Novea. She’ll be your OOD for the next watch.”

“Anything serious, sar?” she asked.

“I don’t know. She asked for a favor and I said yes. We didn’t get into the particulars.”

“Very good, sar. I’ll find out from Charlotte. Good night, sar.”

She smiled brightly and headed off toward deck berthing.

I just sighed. She probably would find out from Charlotte and long before I’d find out anything from Arletta. Shaking my head, I continued to the watch station at the lock. “Mr. Mallory,” I called, as I came down the passageway.

“Good evening, Mr. Wang, can I help you, sar?”

I walked up to the watch station and leaned on it, trying to think of how I wanted to phrase the question. I looked up and saw the intercom grill on the bulkhead and decided to go for the direct approach.

“Is Mr. Burnside drunk, Mr. Mallory?”

“I’m sure I don’t know, sar. I’ve been asleep for the last four stans and just now got up to relieve the watch. Is he even aboard?”

“Yes, Mr. Mallory, he is. If you run into any problems, please bip me?” I asked.

“Of course, sar.” He shrugged.

“Thank you, Mr. Mallory. See you tomorrow.”

That was about all I could do. I contemplated calling Mel or Fredi, but under the circumstances, there was little they could do, either. I shrugged it off and went to my bunk. I just hoped he didn’t do anything to kill us all before he sobered up.

When I went back past the office, he wasn’t there, but I heard voices on the mess deck when I turned off to go to Officers’ Country. It sounded like Apones and Burnside, so I didn’t fret it. He was at least up and moving around.

My tablet bipped me awake at 08:00. It wasn’t a lot of sleep, but it was some. I’d missed breakfast, but I knew the morning cleanup would be getting done soon and I wanted to take Mr. Vorhees down to the Oh-one Deck for some shopping before he started working on lunch.

There was no sign of Arletta, and I wondered what she was up to that would take all day. I brushed that thought out of my mind and focused on getting myself clean, awake, and into an undress uniform for a short trip ashore. By 08:30 I was on the mess deck and made a cup of coffee serve as breakfast.

Penny Davies was swabbing down the mess deck as I came in, keeping a careful eye on Apones who sat—nose down—at his usual table in the back. She smiled when she saw me. I waved and she knew enough not to get between me and the coffee. She finished sweeping while I applied caffeine to my blood stream through oral ingestion, then came over and stood shyly.

“Good morning, Ms. Davies,” I said softly to keep from waking the watch stander.

“Mr. Wang,” she started, “I just wanted to say thanks.”

“Don’t mention it, Ms. Davies. I didn’t do anything except call for help.”

“You didn’t take advantage of…um…the situation. You could have…others would have.”

“No, Ms. Davies,” I told her with a smile. “I couldn’t.”

“Well, thanks, anyway. It’s better. He keeps pestering, but I keep saying no, and his trained gorilla over there has kept his distance, so…thanks.”

“You’re welcome, for whatever it’s worth, you’re welcome.”

She took her sweeper and headed back into the galley just as Mr. Vorhees came out.

“Ah, Mr. Wang,” he grinned when he saw me.

“Just getting a little liquid breakfast,” I said raising the cup. “You about ready to go shopping?”

“Oh, aye, sar, I got that locker cleaned out, so it’s right spiffy. Now you’re gonna tell me what I should put back into it, right?”

“I’m ready now, Mr. Vorhees. If morning clean up is done and you can accompany me?”

“Of course, sar. Penny’s just going to finish up, and I have one small little task to do before I leave.”

I drained the cup and put it on the tray in the sideboard. Mr. Vorhees walked over to the pile of clean trays that were waiting for lunch service and picked the top one off the stack, turning it this way and that in his hands. I watched curiously for a while before he noticed me looking.

“Does this tray look clean to you, Mr. Wang?” he asked, holding the tray up for me to see.

He had an odd look on his face but before I could answer, he flung it down on the tiled decking. The metal rang like a bell, bouncing and clattering from the momentum of his throw. Apones sat bolt upright in his chair. He looked much more awake. Not happy, but awake.

“I think it’s dirty now, Mr. Vorhees,” I said when the clangor died down enough to speak over.

He picked it up and considered. “I think you’re correct, Mr. Wang.”

He crossed to the galley door and put the tray on the counter just inside. “Penny, would you put that into the washer for me?”

I heard her laughing in the empty galley.

“Of course, Mr. V,” she said with a giggle.

“I think I’m ready now, Mr. Wang. Shall we go?”

I led the way off the mess deck, and I stuck my head in the office door on the way out, but Burnside wasn’t there. I suspected he was in his bunk sleeping, but I didn’t say anything to Mr. Vorhees about it. At the lock, Mallory was alert, more or less, and nodded politely when we came up.

“The OOD isn’t in the office, so if you’d be so kind as to note that? I’ll be down on the Oh-one with Mr. Vorhees for a stan or so.”

“Of course, sar,” he said and did so as the lock was opening.

“All quiet overnight?” I asked him by way of idle chitchat.

“Very, sar,” he said, but winked.

John Vorhees may have been an engineman, but he had the makings of a great chef. What he lacked in experience, he made up for in enthusiasm. I have to give him credit. When we went to the chandlery on the Oh-one Deck, I led him back to the galley supplies. There, in the back corner of the complex, we found just about everything from soup spoons to nut crackers. The bigger items like ranges and refrigeration units were represented by catalog but there was a fully stocked spice locker.

For the better part of a stan, I went through the basics with him. He knew the difference between spices and herbs, and the advantages of whole over ground, but what he lacked was an understanding of how to use them. As we went through bales of herbs and tubs of spice, the scents and textures took me back to the
Lois McKendrick
and I couldn’t help but think of Cookie. He collected his spices from all over the quadrant and some of them were his own secrets. I knew I couldn’t hope to match his level of expertise, but I could at least get John Vorhees started with a few basics.

We each carried a pair of bags when we left. It wasn’t a lot and it was nothing spectacular, but it was the basics—all the things he’d need to get started with learning how they all worked with foods and in enough quantity to make it back to Diurnia. His grin lit up the lift.

It was no big deal to get the bundles back aboard and checked in. There were special mass allotment accounts for food stuffs, and these definitely qualified. We went back to the galley and I helped him set up his pantry—scooping some of the contents of larger containers into smaller canisters for use while cooking, lining up the herbs and spices in groups and families so the cinnamon and nutmeg weren’t mixed with the peppercorns.

When we got done he started putting together a fish stock for the lunch buffet and browning some meat for a pasta dish. His initial instinct was to try them all, and I had to convince him to master a few first. I reminded him that we’d have ten and a half weeks to play with the rest on the way back to Diurnia.

I steered him toward a bit of tarragon and a few bay leaves for the soup stock and had him lace the meat with basil and oregano. A quick dusting of garlic powder brought out the aroma of the meat just that little bit more.

“When we get back to Diurnia, we’ll look for some whole garlic,” I told him. “The flavor adds so much more when it’s freshly diced.”

I left him chortling to himself in the galley and the smell of the browning meat wafted throughout the passageways. I had time for a little run before I needed to relieve Mr. Burnside. So I headed for my workout clothes and the gym.

I wanted to work up a good appetite.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTY-EIGHT
B
REAKALL
O
RBITAL
2358-
S
EPTEMBER-10

At 11:40 I reported to the office to take the watch. Burnside was there and grunted when I relieved him. I don’t think he even realized I wasn’t Arletta. He just walked out of the office and headed into the ship. Ulla must have been watching the passageway because she came in as soon as he was gone.

“This is going to be different,” she said with a smile. “It’s been so long since I stood watch with anybody but Ms. Novea.”

“Well, I hope it won’t be too different. It’s still port side OOD watch, and if we’re lucky, nothing will happen.”

She laughed. “Well, I can study then. Is it okay if I study in here?”

“Sure. I’m not very good company, but you’re welcome to stay, if you like. I should go see how Mr. Betts is doing before I get too settled, but be my guest.”

She settled into a side chair and pulled out her tablet.

I went to check on the brow watch and found him going over the logs from last night. “Any problems, Mr. Betts?”

He smiled when he looked up. “No, sar. Just looking to see who came in really late.”

I chuckled. “One must find one’s amusement wherever possible on the brow watch, eh, Mr. Betts.”

“Yes, sar,” he agreed. After a moment he added, “Sar? Can I ask? Did we get a new cook?”

“Not that I know of. Why?”

He lifted his nose and sniffed delicately. “Whenever I open the lock, I get this scent of food that wafts out. Do you smell it, sar?”

I focused, and sure enough, the delicate fish and the robust oregano and basil aromas floated at just the edges of my awareness.

“Oh yes, that would be Mr. Vorhees. He picked up some fresh herbs and spices this morning after breakfast.”

“I hope it’s almost time for lunch,” he said with feeling. “That smells wonderful.”

We shared a laugh and a knowing grimace over the quality of the fare aboard the
Billy
.

“Well, I just wanted to stop by. Ms. Nart is in the office, but I suspect she’ll be relieving you for lunch soon.”

“Thanks for checking on me, sar,” he said with a grin, then added, “You’re not going to try to add me to your harem are you, sar?”

“I have no plans in that regard, Mr. Betts,” I told him seriously. “You’ll be the first to know if I change my mind.”

“I appreciate your consideration, sar. Ms. Jaxton speaks highly of you.”

“That woman is dangerous, Mr. Betts. You mark my words.”

“She likes you, too, sar,” he said, and I headed back into the ship.

Twelve on, twelve off for an in-port watch schedule is hard. Logically, I knew I was trading days off and in reality I’d be getting a thirty-six stan break back from it and I probably wouldn’t be standing another OOD watch until we got back to Diurnia. The small stub of watch just before we got underway hardly counted. Still, the ship’s office felt pretty small by the time I got back to it.