A Matter of Honor Part 7

One began showing a sunlit disk, and she realized that had to be Ranger Medart's s.h.i.+p. Tiny-seeming at first, it grew rapidly, filling the lander's window and continuing to grow.

Corina's determination faltered. She had seen innumerable pictures of such vessels, knew their immensity--a Sovereign-cla.s.s battle cruiser was approximately spherical, a kilometer in diameter, and ma.s.sed on the close order of eight hundred million tons. But pictures and statistics couldn't convey the emotional impact of actually seeing one at close range for the first time. Corina swallowed an exclamation of awe, trying to remain calm, but she could feel Medart's gaze, and felt certain he knew how the s.h.i.+p affected her.

The lander surged slightly as it was gripped by a tractor beam from one of the Chang's equatorial hangars. Nevan released the controls, allowing the beam operator to settle the lander to the deck while hangar doors closed behind them. As soon as his gauges showed Terra-normal atmosphere, he opened the airlock and the group disembarked, with Medart in the lead and Corina trailing behind.

The hangar deck was large, much bigger than necessary for the lander it now held, yet Corina had a feeling of things closing in on her.

Precognition was no part of her Talent, though, so she attributed the sensation to her surroundings, familiar from pictures but strange in reality. She felt like a young, unbladed child again, everything around her seeming odd and alien in spite of her studies.

But this was her new reality, here aboard the Chang. She had no way to know how she would fit in yet, but she did know she would have to.

This s.h.i.+p was going to be home for however long the Ranger wanted her help; she would have to adapt.

When they left the hangar, they were met by a stocky officer in Navy working khaki; from the eagle on his collar, Corina knew he was the s.h.i.+p's captain. There were several others, with different rank insignia, but it was the first man who saluted Medart.

The Ranger returned the salute, then introduced them. "Captain David Hobison, this is Ms. Corina Losinj. She will be accompanying us on this trip as my special a.s.sistant. She won't have any formal Navy rank, but I want her quartered in a senior officer's cabin, preferably near mine. Have someone see to that, bring the s.h.i.+p to Condition Yellow, then meet me in Briefing Room One. I have to call the Emperor, and I don't want to have to go through everything twice."

He started to leave, then turned to Corina. "Before I go, what's your ident code?"

"ISCCJ-1643-2048," she replied.

"Got it." Medart strode past the group and entered an intra-s.h.i.+p shuttle, one of several, partway down the pa.s.sage.

Hobison gave Corina a thoughtful look, then turned to one of the officers standing nearby. "Ensign Yamata?"

A young female with a gold bar for collar insigne answered. "Yes, sir?"

"You're a.s.signed to Ms. Losinj until further notice. Get her a cabin and anything else she needs. You're relieved of regular watch standing."

"Yes, sir!" Yamata said with a wide smile. "If you'll come with me, Ms. Losinj?"

Corina inclined her head. "I appear to be in your hands, Ensign."

"You might as well call me Sunbeam," Yamata said as they left the group. "Everyone else does, even Ranger Medart, except on watch. And you heard the Captain, I'm not standing watches any more, thanks to you. I really do mean thanks--I was supposed to go on rotating s.h.i.+fts tomorrow, instead of staying on first watch, and now I don't have to."

She smiled again, even more widely.

Corina's ears twitched in surprise at the flood of words, but Sunbeam didn't seem to notice. "All right, Sunbeam. What do we do first?"

That was something else she would have to get used to, Corina told herself. Humans were, by Irschchan standards, quite informal, sometimes to the point of appearing rude. But they did not intend offense, and she really ought to adapt to their ways, so she added, "You may call me Corina."

"Great! We find you a cabin, that's first, then we can eat, if you're as hungry as I am. C'mon, let's get a shuttle."

That reminded Corina that she hadn't eaten since the previous night.

"I am hungry," she agreed, as they entered one of the elevator-like cubicles that provided intra-s.h.i.+p transport. "But what if Ranger Medart wants me for something?"

"That's right, he called you his special a.s.sistant. Don't worry about it, Chang handles the intra-s.h.i.+p communications." The young Ensign spoke into thin air. "Emperor Chang?"

A pleasant baritone voice replied. "Yes, Ensign Yamata?"

"We have a VIP guest, Ms. Corina Losinj of Irschcha. Ranger Medart wants her a.s.signed a cabin near his. What's available?"

"There is one next to his," the s.h.i.+p-comp replied. "3N-2-1-8 is free."

"Great! Take us there, will you?"

"Affirmative. Is there anything else?"

"No, thanks."

"Chang out."

The shuttle began to move, and Sunbeam turned to Corina. "You'll have to memorize those coordinates, I'm afraid. You're not a member of the s.h.i.+p's crew, so until Ranger Medart or Captain Hobison say otherwise, that and comm patches are the only commands of yours the Chang will obey, once you get its attention by using its full name. Security, you know."

"I understand," Corina said. "Deck Three North, Ring Two, Segment One, Cabin B."

"Very good!" Sunbeam exclaimed. "If this was the Academy, I'd make you explain the system."

"If I am fortunate, I will go to the Academy when this is over. May I practice?"

Sunbeam a.s.sumed a mock-fierce expression. "All right, plebe. Recite!"

A stern-looking Sunbeam Yamata seemed so incongruous, even on short acquaintance, that Corina purred briefly in amus.e.m.e.nt. "We came in on Deck Zero, known as the Equator. Other decks are numbered away from that, south being toward the drive pod, north toward the bow. The Bridge is at the center of Deck Zero, fully protected. The rings are numbered outward, toward the hull. There are twelve segments, numbered clockwise from an arbitrary beginning, and compartments in each segment are given alphabetic designations."

When she finished, Sunbeam was grinning again. "Not quite by the book, but you're close, and you've got all the facts right. Are you a Navy fan, or something?"

The shuttle door opened, and the two stepped out into a cool-looking green corridor before Corina replied. "I would not use that term, but you could say so."

"D . . . C . . . here we are." Sunbeam motioned Corina into the cabin.

"So was I. It makes a lot of the first year easier. But don't get used to this--cadet quarters aren't anywhere near this nice, and neither are junior officers' quarters. Which you probably already know."

"Yes." Corina looked around. It was more like a small apartment than a cabin, with the part they were in both lounge and office. A panel labeled "s.h.i.+p's Services" covered one wall above a table which had an L-shaped extension housing a computer terminal and viewscreen. Storage and display cabinets lined two other walls. The fourth was a translucent screen with a curtained-off opening.

She brushed past the curtain into the sleeping area. A standard bed covered in glimmercloth was the only furniture here; the clothing storage and fabricator were both built into the wall across from the bed. A door in the wall opposite the divider proved to lead to a small but well-designed 'fresher room--though Corina remembered that aboard Navy s.h.i.+ps, for some obscure reason, they were called "heads".

She returned to the lounge area, testing one of the two armchairs it held--yes, as soft as it looked--glad that if she was to spend some appreciable amount of time on this s.h.i.+p, it would be in such pleasant surroundings. A yellow light flas.h.i.+ng on a panel beside the door caught her attention, and she pointed to it. "What is--oh, I remember."

"s.h.i.+p's status, right," Sunbeam said. "We're in Condition Yellow; what's General Quarters?"

"Red, with a wavering buzz. I do not have a battle station, so I would remain here unless told otherwise by a senior officer."

"Right again!" Sunbeam looked around. "I think that's all here. So unless you need something else . . ." Her voice trailed off, and she pointed to Corina's neck. "Is that blood?"

"Oh." Corina reached up and touched the spot. "I forgot, and I have had no chance to wash it off before now. Excuse me for a moment, please." She left, returning with her throat fur damp but clean, to face a thorough scrutiny by the young Ensign.

Sunbeam nodded at last. "And that's a blaster burn--"

Corina felt a curiosity as strong as her own, and hastened to say, "I do not think I should discuss it until Ranger Medart tells me I may."

Sunbeam looked dissatisfied, and Corina didn't really blame her. "You must be something pretty special," the Ensign said. "He comes back from convalescent leave early, brings you along--wounded--as his special a.s.sistant, puts the s.h.i.+p on Condition Yellow . . . and I bet you can't talk about any of that, either. Uh, do they hurt? I can take you to sickbay if they do."