“At least overnight, and then probably confined to bed rest until we get to Diurnia,” Mel said.
She looked at me again with that “curious but I’m not going to ask” expression.
I shrugged. “Okay, so, what do we do?”
Mel made a sour face. “On a normal ship, the captain would take the watch.”
“He’s coming out of the cabin?” I asked surprised.
She shook her head. “I said on a normal ship. I reported Burnside’s condition to the captain right after breakfast. That’s why we’re here.”
I looked from face to face to face. “Arletta and I are going watch on watch?” I asked. Watch-on-watch was basically a two section rotation of twelve on and twelve off around the clock.
Fredi said, “I’m going to take over the first section.”
I gaped at her. “So, is this something you’ve always wanted to do? Stand long deck watches with potentially violent crewmen?”
She smiled. “Oh, Steve Mallory isn’t that bad, and he’s the best ship handler we have. Without Mosler and Burnside to back him up, I think we can count on Apones to toe the line.”
“Where’s Mosler?” I asked, not following the whole transaction yet.
“Mosler and Apones are confined to quarters except for meals and watch. That means Apones stays in deck berthing forward, and Mosler in engineering berthing aft. Never the twain shall meet, except on the mess deck and even then rarely,” Mel said.
“When did that happen?” I asked.
“We’re about to let them know. They’re being held on suspicion of assaulting an officer,” Mel said.
“Assaulting an officer?” I asked.
Arletta was in on it. I could tell because she was grinning, but I still hadn’t caught up to the joke.
“But there’s no proof they assaulted me,” I said.
“Who said anything about you?” Fredi asked. “Poor David is in the auto-doc. And all Mr. Apones can tell us is he tripped? I’m sorry that sounds very fishy to me.”
Arletta’s face took on an innocently agreeable look. “Me too. He and Mosler even have the marks and bruises to show that they were in some kind of scrap. Too darn coincidental if you ask me.”
Mel shrugged. “And there we have it.” She looked to me. “Are we clear?”
“Until poor David gets out of the auto-doc and starts raising a stink,” I pointed out.
“You leave poor David to me,” Mel said. “He can’t admit what really happened because then he’ll be in the soup. If he lets his stooges hang fire for a while, we’ll drop the charges when we get to port in a few days.”
I thought about it and realized that Mel had the right of it. She was senior officer present by virtue of being Chief of Engineering. She also had stanyers of experience, which only helped her credibility. Until, and unless, the captain countermanded her orders, and so long as the first mate was disabled, she held operational command. They’d drilled the chain of command into us at the academy and the sense of it was indisputable.
“Okay,” I said, “we’re clear. Welcome to the deck watch, Fredi.”
“Thank you, Ishmael. I think it will be quite fun for a few days. And, if I’m going to relieve you at midnight, I need to take care of a few things.” She smiled all around and added, “If you’ll excuse me?”
We all shrugged or nodded or both, and she picked her way delicately back off the bridge with a smile for Juliett along the way.
Mel turned to Arletta. “You’ve got the watch at noon?” she asked pointedly.
“Oh, yes, I do,” she said, taking the hint and following Fredi off the bridge.
Mel’s curiosity boiled over. “What in the name of heaven happened last night?”
I felt like I should call Charlotte up to give the recap, but I gave Mel the highlights, finishing with, “And that crash you heard was Burnside being driven into the bulkhead by Apones and Mosler.”
“No wonder he broke ribs. He’s lucky to be alive,” she said. She frowned a little looking at me, “And you didn’t get a scratch?”
“I got a bruise on my hip when I rolled off the bunk,” I said, pointing.
Her face took on an odd look for a moment. “No, don’t show me,” she said, with a short shake of her head. “They really did assault an officer. They hit him, drove him into the bulkhead, and broke his ribs. That’s just icing on the cake!”
“How did you think he got beaten up?” I asked curiously.
She grimaced a little. “Well,” she said, dragging it out, “we knew he was after you.”
I laughed in surprise. “You flatter me! There’s no way I could hit him hard enough to break a rib.”
“With friends like he has, you won’t need to, but watch your step anyway, okay?”
“Yeah, I will. Thanks, Mel.” I paused. “Oh, is there anything like a deadbolt or a door stop I can use so I can sleep without worrying that he’s gonna turn the Bumble Brothers loose on me again? I need something to make sure the head door stays closed.”
“You think they’d enter through Arletta’s room and then through the head?”
“They did it before with Jaffee.”
She looked at me for about three heartbeats before she said, “Lemme look into my bag of tricks. I’ll get back to you.”
“Thanks,” I told her. “For everything.”
She just winked and headed for the ladder.
Juliett and I settled down and Charlotte came up to the bridge around 10:30 with fresh coffee.
“Big doing’s?” I asked as she came up the ladder.
“Nothing you don’t already know, sar. Apones and Mosler are taking it pretty well.”
“Without a patron, they’ve gotta be feeling the breeze they’re swinging in,” Juliett said. “They’ll bide their time until he’s out of the auto-doc.”
“What’s the feeling on Ms. DeGrut taking over first section?”
Charlotte lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “Most people think it should be the captain, but nobody expects he’ll come out of the cabin until we set navigation stations.”
“What’s he doing in there?” I asked.
“We’re not sure, sar,” Charlotte admitted. “Nobody ever goes in or out, hardly.”
I thought about Simon and Bayless and wondered why the rumor mill didn’t know about them.
“Why? Do you know something, sar?” Charlotte asked sharply, watching my face carefully.
“I have no idea what he does in there. For all I know, he’s writing poetry.”
Juliett glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, but Charlotte nodded and sipped her coffee.
Arletta relieved me on time at 11:45. “I have no idea how anybody else is taking it. David’s still in the auto-doc, the Bumble Brothers are keeping their heads down.” She followed it with a little shrug. “With Mel calling the shots, nobody’s saying boo.”
“Well in that case…the ship is on course and on target. No incidents or actions. Standing orders are unchanged. You may relieve the watch, Ms. Novea.”
“I have the watch, Mr. Wang. Logged 2358-November-7, at 11:45 in accordance with standing orders,” she said with a grin.
I headed for my stateroom and a quick clean up before I went to the wardroom for lunch. Fredi and Mel were there and Ms. Cramer brought the food right in. She smiled shyly at me and I thought she looked a little more rested, a little less stressed than she had in a while. I wondered if Apones or Mosler had been harassing her.
“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.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
DIURNIA SYSTEM
2358-NOVEMBER-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.