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“Any news on David?” I asked when Karen had gone.

Mel shrugged. “I looked in at the auto-doc just before I came down. It’s showing that he’ll be getting out in the morning. I suspect he’ll be as weak as a kitten after this. He’s going to be moving very slowly.”

“What’s to prevent him from just getting out of the auto-doc and making demands?” I asked.

“He can’t,” Fredi said. “Well no, he can, but he has no standing until the auto-doc clears him for duty. He’ll have to report back to it until it says he can go to work, and even then, maybe longer.”

I shrugged and finished my lunch. “He’s not gonna be very happy, is he.”

Mel snickered and Fredi actually laughed.

With just the three of us, lunch went pretty quickly. I needed a nap before I had to go back up to the bridge at six so I excused myself and went to my stateroom. On the inside of the door, I found that somebody had installed solid bolt locks on the inside of both my stateroom door, and the door to the head.

I threw the bolts on both doors, stripped to skivvies, and crawled into bed. It felt glorious, and even though I knew it was only for a little while, thoroughly enjoyed it.

C
HAPTER
F
ORTY-SEVEN
D
IURNIA
S
YSTEM
2358-
N
OVEMBER-7

Fredi dispelled any reservations I may have had about her taking over First Section on that first midwatch. Around 23:30 her slight, almost bird like, frail frame stepped delicately onto the bridge. She had her usual shy smile, but there was more to it. I can’t put my finger on what it was, but something like a sense of “this is going to be fun” radiated from her.

And I believed it.

“Hello, Juliett. How are you tonight?” she asked on the way past the helm, pausing to listen.

“I’m fine, Ms. DeGrut. Ready for a little sleep, but very good, and you? Are you ready for the midwatch?”

“Oh, yes,” Fredi replied with a gentle enthusiasm. “I think this is going to be ever so much more fun than riding herd on a tin can.”

At that moment, I knew I was watching a pro.

Fredi continued onto the bridge and came over to the watch station. “Good evening, Ishmael,” she said with a smile.

“Hi, Fredi. You seem pretty enthusiastic.”

She gave a little half shrug. “One does what one must to chip in,” she murmured. After a moment she added, “But yes, I’m looking forward to doing more than sitting around watching the ship go to hell.”

She looked me in the eye when she said it, and I knew right then why Frederica DeGrut was number eight on the Alys Giggone’s hit parade. It made me wonder why I was on it at all.

“Would you ask the delightful Ms. D’Heng to join us so we can relieve the watch on the bridge?” she asked me.

“Of course,” I said and bipped Charlotte’s tablet. “That’s a great idea,” I added while mentally kicking myself for not thinking of it on my own.

She smiled and sipped her coffee, her eyes roaming the bridge. She nodded to the locker door at the back. “Broom closet?” she asked.

“Yes, and there’s a full maintenance cupboard just at the foot of the ladder below,” I said.

“Excellent,” she chirped. “Now, I’ve been over the standing orders for deck watch standers and this console looks standard. Is there anything I need to be on the lookout for? Things that are common knowledge but not in the book?”

“Well, we generally give the bridge a good cleaning on midwatch, but we’ve also been in the habit of giving it a quick wipe at the beginning of each watch.”

She nodded. “Might make more sense to do it at the end of each watch,” she suggested. “Leave it nice for the next section.”

“Very true, but there was a problem…”

“Ah,” she said, catching on immediately. “Somebody wasn’t pulling his weight?”

“Just so.”

“Well, that factor has been removed from the equation for the moment,” she said. “We’ll have to see what we can do, eh?”

Charlotte came up the ladder then with Mallory and Apones close behind. “Hail, hail, the gang’s all here,” Fredi said brightly. She set her coffee cup on the console with a glance at me, “One moment, Mr. Wang?”

I had no idea what she was about to say so I just said, “Of course, Ms. DeGrut.”

Apones and Mallory had stopped at the top of the ladder. I knew they couldn’t have been surprised by Fredi’s presence on the bridge, but with both watches present, everything seemed a little out of kilter.

Fredi crossed to where they were standing and said, “First section, attention.”

She didn’t bark it in the approved drill instructor manner. It was more like a dog owner bringing a pair of puppies to heel. Mallory came to immediate attention and even Apones seemed surprised by his own compliance.

Fredi looked Mallory up and down, walking behind him as if appraising a particularly interesting horse. When she got to the front, she reached out one fine-boned hand and zipped a half open pocket on the side of his suit. Nodding to him with a smile, she moved to Apones. She frowned and tsked, walking around him the same way she had Mallory.

“As you were,” she told them and crossed back to the watch station. “Well, Mr. Wang, I’m ready if you are…” she said.

“The ship is on course and on target. No incidents or actions. Standing orders are unchanged. You may relieve the watch, Ms. DeGrut,” I said smartly standing beside the station.

“First section has the watch, Mr. Wang. Logged 2358-September-2, at 23:45 in accordance with long practice and standing orders,” she said with a gleeful grin.

Mallory took Juliett’s place at the helm and Apones started to turn and head down the ladder.

“A moment, Mr. Apones, if you please,” Fredi called.

Apones froze like some cartoon character caught in mid-sneak.

Fredi arched one eyebrow in my direction as if to ask, “Why are you still on my bridge?”

I grinned and headed for the ladder, the rest of third watch in a file behind me. At the bottom of the ladder, we all stood there looking at each other in amazement for a moment before the two women headed on down the passageway. I stood there for a moment, reviewing the previous few ticks in my mind with equal parts awe and amusement, before heading down the passage toward my stateroom.

Behind me I heard Fredi bark, “Now! Mr. Apones.”

I looked over my shoulder to see Apones belting down the bridge ladder and heading for berthing at a near trot. He spared one glowering look in my direction—a look marred by the black eye—but didn’t linger.

Suppressing a chuckle, at least until he was out of earshot, I continued to my stateroom. Inside I threw the bolt, more to get into the habit than anything else. With Burnside locked in the auto-doc and Apones on a short leash, there didn’t seem to be much threat on the ship.

I went into the head to do the needful and wash the day’s grime off my face. It had been a long day, but I wasn’t quite ready for sleep. The beginning of a twenty-four always seemed to have such potential but I always started it exhausted. I heard a quiet tap on Arletta’s door and a mumbled, “Ya decent?”

“You should be sleeping,” I said through the door, “but yeah. What’s up?”

I heard a bolt slide on her side of the door and the latch released. She blinked into the bright light of the head as she opened it a crack. She was sitting on the side of her bunk in her ship tee and boxers looking tousled and thoroughly wonderful. I stuck my head back into the sink and splashed more cold water on my face.

“How’s she doing?” Arletta asked.

“Great,” I said, running a towel over my face. “I’m taking notes.”

“Really?” she asked with a grin. “About what?”

“Well, she started by having me call Charlotte up to the bridge so we could relieve the watch all together.”

“Yeah,” she said with a little yawn. “We talked about that at dinner.”

“Then she had them stand at attention and inspected them before she’d relieve the watch.”

Arletta blinked and chuckled. “And how did that go over?”

“Mallory had no problems, but I think she sent Apones down to change after the watch was relieved.”

“He’ll be standing his watch on the bridge,” Arletta said. “Fredi likes that idea a lot.”

“Oh, she also suggested that we should do our quick clean up at the end of the watch to leave it clean for the incoming one.”

“What an idea!” she said with mock sarcasm.

“I thought so. She asked where all the cleaning gear was before I left. She’s going to get First Watch to do their share, it seems.”

“Nice,” she nodded sleepily.

I took the hint and backed out to my stateroom. “Oh, did I hear you throw back a bolt to open the door?”

She grinned and took advantage of my leaving the space to step in herself. “Yeah. I saw Raymond doing the install on yours and asked if I could have a set too. Seems like overkill now.”

“We’re not out of the woods, but I know what you mean,” I told her. I gave a little wave as I closed my side of the door. “G’night. See you at lunch tomorrow.”

Stripping out of my shipsuit, I crawled into my bunk. I wasn’t really tired but there really wasn’t anything I wanted to do at—I glanced at the chrono on the bulkhead—00:15. I snuggled myself down into the bunk, cuddling myself under the blanket and tried not to think about how good a warm and sleepy Arletta Novea looked in ship tee and boxers.

I woke in time to grab a quick shower before breakfast and when I got to the wardroom I found Mel and Ms. Cramer having a conversation that ended as I came through the door.

“Coffee, sar?” Ms. Cramer asked and poured a cup before placing the pot on the table. “It’ll be just you two and Ms. DeGrut for breakfast, then?” she asked.

Mel shrugged. “I assume Ms. DeGrut will join us, yes. Mr. Burnside is a bit tied up, still.”

Ms. Cramer grinned a bit at that. “Yes, sar. I’m aware.” She gave a little nod—not quite a bow—and headed back through the pantry door. “I’ll be back in a few ticks with your breakfast, sars,” she called over her shoulder.

I took my seat as Mel took hers and we sipped coffee. “She seems chipper this morning,” I noted.

“Yes, she does.”

I raised a mental eyebrow at that and wondered what was going on, but didn’t ask.

“How did Fredi do last night?” Mel asked.

“She did quite well, thank you, and she’s here so you can ask her yourself,” Fredi said with a grin as she swept through the door.

I reached to pour coffee for her and she smiled her “thank you” across the table at me.

Mel grinned at her. “You certainly look proud of yourself this morning.”

“Why, thank you! I am,” she replied, taking a sip of her own coffee and sighing in delight. “The bridge has been thoroughly cleaned. Mr. Apones will be reporting to duty in a clean shipsuit, and Mr. Mallory is really a very nice fellow. Quite a good time, even with Mr. Apones scowling at me across the bridge all night.”

“What did you have him doing?” Mel asked. “Just sitting there?”

“Oh, no,” Fredi said, “We cleaned the bridge. It was quite therapeutic.”

Ms. Cramer brought our breakfasts then, with a bright smile and a flourish she set us each up with a delicious looking omelet with a side of bacon and some toast. She flitted in, did her job, and flitted out almost before we could say, “Thank you, Ms. Cramer.”

Fredi raised her eyebrows in surprise and looking at Mel asked, “She’s not usually so lively in the morning, is she?”

Mel shook her head. “Not as a rule.”

“Is there a cause for this lively good humor this morning?” Fredi asked by way of making conversation as she buttered her toast.

Mel smirked. “Yes, actually there is.”

Fredi glanced at me before looking back to Mel. “And you’re not going to say what it is, are you.”

Mel grinned and shook her head. “Not for me to comment. Let’s just say, it’s been a rough voyage for Ms. Cramer up to now.”

Personally, I thought it had been a rough voyage for just about everybody, but I didn’t say anything.

C
HAPTER
F
ORTY-EIGHT
D
IURNIA
O
RBITAL
2358-
N
OVEMBER-16