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the fusilage heating.
"Ah . . . humm," coughed Major Vierio.
"Yes, Major?"
Gerswin turned in the seat to face the senior officer.
"All right. Captain. I am neither stupid, nor unnecessarily vindictive. But
I do not like being treated like an idiot, and* before we leave this flitter,
I think we need to get some things straight."
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"I understand. Major."
As he spoke, Gerswin completed the thruster shutdown. He could finish the
rest once the flitter was towed, if necessary.
"Starting tomorrow, I am the Ops boss. Period. You are my deputy. Deputy,
not puppet master, not the power behind the Ops boss, but deputy. Do you
understand?"
"Major, I understand completely. You are the Ops boss, and you can't afford
to make mistakes. If you don't succeed, then neither do I."
Vierio snapped his head, and both sun and impact visors retracted. His
forehead was damp.
"Then why did you go out of your way to make a fool out of me in front of
the senior tech?"
Gerswin snapped his own visors up and let his hawk-yellow eyes bore into
the major's. "Because you insisted on this damned flight. Major Matsuko
wouldn't tell you no, and no one else could."
Gerswin jabbed his hand at the raw clay gouge on the hillside nearly a kay
behind the major. "No one who hasn't spent some time here ever seems to
understand how dangerous the spouts are. I could have let you go out and kill
yourself. I didn't have to step in. You would have. Lost a flitter and crew.
For what?"
The major was beginning to tremble, with what Gerswin feared was
out-and-out rage.
"Markin wants to go home. He's got half a tour left before he can retire.
He'll say nothing. Nor will I. Everyone knows you saw a spout up close, and
maybe it was a damnfool thing to do, but you did it and you're back. No
problem. May be an asset because the pilots will all know you've been through
it. I take the responsibility for the damage, and you become Ops boss."
"You're clever. Captain. Too clever."
Gerswin sighed, grabbed the edge of the seat. The flitter rocked as the
crew turned it for the tow back into the bunker.
"Major, think about it. Did I do anything against your interests? Anything?
If I had wanted you out of the way, I could have stayed in the Ops center and
vectored you right into the sheer line. With Jeri Deran as copilot, we
wouldn't have found as much as a kilo of scrap metal."
Gerswin waited, wondering if the apparently hot-headed major would stop to
understand.
"I guess you're right, Captain. At least, I see what you tried to do. But I
still don't like being treated like an idiot."
"Major, I'm sure there was a better way to handle it. But I didn't have
much time. You have a great deal more managing experience. That's why you're
the Ops boss. I understand all the local problems. That's why you need me as
deputy. I'll tell you the problems, and you make the decisions, and if we do
it in private, you get all the credit."
"And the blame?"
"Major," and Gerswin forced a laugh, "Headquarters will always blame the
boss. That's why you need all the credit you can get."
Vierio nodded, slowly.
"All right. Captain ... or Major, I should say. We'll try it. But don't
ever, EVER, pull a stunt like this one again!"
"Yes, ser."
Gerswin waited until the flitter came to a halt inside the hangar-bunker.
Then he finished the last three items on the shut-down checklist.
By the time he looked up from his work, Vierio was gone.
Chapter XLI
The tap on the portal was gentle, yet a dull and hollow sound rang through
the metal-so much metal for a planet which had so little that had not been
oxidized, fragmented, or scattered in dozens of differing and unique ways.
Although he had been sleeping, his bare feet touched the cool tiles before
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the first echo from the tap had died away.
"Yes?"
"Greg?"
He touched the entry stud, and the panel irised open.
Faith Hermer stepped through the half-open portal, not waiting until it was
fully open, her head a scant few centimeters under the top of the frame.
She touched the closure and locking studs in quick succession, and sat down
on the foot of his bunk, automatically ducking her head to avoid the
non-existent upper bunk.
Gerswin remained standing, leaning against the wall next to the built-in
console. He could sense all the conflicting emotions she radiated-impatience,
excitement, fear, and . . .
He shook his head.
"It might be that bad," she said lightly, "but you'll survive. You always
will."
He frowned. "Not what I meant."
Amazingly, she returned his gruffness with her shy smile. After all the
years he had watched her, he had come to appreciate that shyness, the gentle
warmth it conveyed without invading or demanding anything.
His frown easing, he asked, "You're in a hurry?"
"In some ways. The shuttle brought my orders, mine and Lieutenant Glyner's.
They're on a tight tum-around. After they unload, they'll take us to the
Andromeda."
"Orders?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]