“Actually, I think he could learn a hell of a lot from Harrington,” he said after a moment. “For that matter, he could probably learn a lot from all of them. If he could keep his own mouth shut long enough to listen to them, anyway.”

“And how likely is that to happen?” Flanagan snorted.

“Not very,” Shelton conceded. “The man does like to hear himself talk.”

“I wouldn’t mind that so much, if he weren’t such a bastard,” Flanagan said, still with such an edge of bitter condemnation that Shelton looked across at him with the first beginnings of true alarm.

“Is there something going on that I should be hearing about, Ian?”

“Probably not anything you don’t already know about,” Flanagan told him moodily. “It’s just that he’s such a total asshole. Hell, you’re in a better spot to see the way he treats the snotties like dirt than I am, and he’s not a lot better with his own tac people. Even he knows better than to piss off a senior noncom, but he came down like a five-grav field on his yeoman yesterday, for a screw-up that was entirely his own fault. You know I’ve got no use for any officer who beats up on his people when he’s the one who screwed the pooch. Man’s the most worthless piece of crap I’ve seen in an officer’s uniform in years, Shellhead.”

“I don’t know that I’d go quite that far myself,” Shelton said in a considering tone. “I’ve seen some pretty piss-poor officers, you know. Some of them could at least give him a run for his money. On the other hand, I don’t think any of them were worse than he is.” He paused for a moment, and looked quizzically at his friend. “You know, I think it’s probably against Regs for two senior petty officers to sit around and badmouth a commissioned officer over their beer this way.”

“And you don’t see me doing it with anyone else, do you?” Flanagan returned, then grimaced. “Ah, hell, Shellhead, you know as well as I do that Santino is the worst frigging officer in this ship. Come on, be honest. You’re worried about the way he treats the snotties, aren’t you?”

“Well, yeah,” Shelton admitted. “I see a kid like Harrington—any of them, really, but especially Harrington—with all that promise, and there’s Santino, doing his level best to crush it all out of them. I mean, it’s one thing to be tough on them. It’s something else entirely to ride them twenty-two hours a day out of sheer poison meanness because you know there’s nothing in the world they can do to fight back.”

“You can say that again,” Flanagan said. “Not bad enough he’s got the chain of command on his side, but they know he can flush their careers any time he damned well pleases if they don’t kiss ass enough to make him happy.”

“Maybe. But I’ve got to tell you, Ian, I don’t know how much longer Harrington’s going to put up with it.” Shelton shook his head soberly. “I had my doubts when she turned up with that treecat of hers. First time I’d ever seen one onboard ship. I figured it was bound to make trouble in Snotty Row if nowhere else, and that Harrington might be full of herself for having it in the first place, but I was wrong on both counts. And the girl’s got bottom, too. She’s going to be a good one someday… unless Santino pushes her too hard. She’s got a temper in there, however hard she tries to hide it, and Santino sticks in her craw sideways. One of these days, she’s gonna lose it with him, and when she does…”

The two noncoms gazed at one another across the table, and neither of them any longer felt like smiling at all.

“Tell me, Ms. Harrington,” Elvis Santino said, “is it possible that by some vast stretch of the imagination you actually consider this a competently done job?”

The lieutenant stood in the weapon’s bay for Graser Three, the second energy mount in War Maiden’s port broadside. He and Honor both wore skinsuits as Regs required, since the bay was sealed only by a single hatch, not a proper air lock. When the ship cleared for action, the bay would be opened to space, the emitter assembly would train outboard, and the powered ram would move the entire weapon outward until the emitter head cleared the hull and could bring up its gravity lenses safely. Honor had always been privately amused by the fact that modern energy weapons were “run out” like some echo of the muzzleloading cannon of Old Earth’s sailing navies, but at the moment all she felt was a dull, seething resentment for her training officer.

Santino was in his favorite pose, hands propped on hips and feet spread wide. All he needed to complete the handsome HD star image was a bright sun to squint into, Honor thought derisively, and wondered yet again how he could possibly be unaware of the effect that sort of posturing was bound to have on the men and women under his orders. It was more than a merely rhetorical consideration at the moment, since six of those men and women—including SCPO Shelton—stood at her back in silent witness.

“Yes, Sir, I do,” she made herself say levelly, and his lips drew back to bare his teeth.

“Then I can only say your judgment is suspect, Ms. Harrington,” he told her. “Even from here I can see that the access panel is still open on Ram One!”

“Yes, Sir, it is,” Honor agreed. “When we got it open, we—”

“I don’t recall inviting excuses, Ms. Harrington!” he snapped. “Is or is not that access panel still open?”

Honor clamped her teeth and decided it was a good thing Nimitz wasn’t present. The ’cat had no vac suit. As such, he was thankfully barred from this compartment and so unable to bristle and snarl in response to Santino’s attitude.

“Yes, Sir, it is,” she said again after a moment, exactly as if she hadn’t already agreed it was.

“And you are, perhaps, aware of the standing orders and operating procedures which require all access panels to be closed after inspection and routine maintenance?” he pressed.

“Yes, Sir, I am.” Honor’s voice was clearer and crisper than usual, and a small tic quivered at the corner of her mouth. Something seemed to gleam for just an instant in Santino’s eyes as he observed it, and he leaned towards her.

“Then just how the hell can even you stand there and call this a ‘competent’ job?” he demanded harshly.

“Because, Sir, Ram One has a major engineering casualty,” she told him. “The main actuator must have developed a short since its last routine maintenance. There are actual scorch marks inside the casing, and stages one and five both show red on the diagnostic. As per standing orders, I immediately informed Commander LaVacher in Engineering, and she instructed me to open the main breaker, red-tag the actuator, and leave the access panel open until she could get a repair crew up here to deal with it. All of which, Sir, is in my report.”

Her dark eyes locked unflinchingly with his, but even as they did, she kicked herself mentally for losing her temper, for she saw the sudden rage flashing in the depths of his glare. She’d kept her voice level and even, but the entire tone of her answer—and especially that last jab about her report—had been well over the line. No one would ever be able to prove it, but she and Santino both knew she’d done it to get some of her own back, and his florid complexion darkened angrily.

“I assume you know the penalty for insubordination,” he grated. She said nothing, and his color darkened further. “I asked you a question, Snotty!” he barked.

“I’m sorry, Sir. I was unaware that it was meant as a question. It sounded like a statement.”

She could hardly believe it even as she heard her own voice say it, and she sensed Senior Chief Shelton and his work party behind her, watching it all. What was wrong with her? Why in heaven’s name was she goading him back this way?

“Well it wasn’t one!” Santino snapped. “So answer me!”

“Yes, Sir,” she said. “I am aware of the penalty for insubordination.”