“Any suggestions?” Kris asked.
“Not the Constellation,” Benson said. “Sampson is all bent out of shape about your marriage and shooting off her mouth a lot. Unless you want to hear things you’ll have to ‘not hear’ or bring her up on charges, don’t go there.”
“The Constitution?” Kris said.
“Or the Princess Royal. All I hear are good things about Amber Kitano. Haven’t you fought with her before?”
“Kris,” Nelly put in, “Amber was Phil Taussig’s XO on his fast attack boat at the Battle of Wardhaven and Jack Campbell’s XO on the Dauntless.”
“Yes, Nelly, I remember Amber. She’s the one that refused to be the female lead in a panic party.” An honor Kris had failed to avoid and now, thanks to Cara’s skill with mash-ups, seemed to have gone viral in human space.
“Okay, Nelly, advise CO, Princess Royal that the commodore will be transferring her flag to her ship for the next five days. Send her schematics of my quartering needs, oh, and this office. Skipper, can you transfer this furniture?”
“Easier when we’re in zero gee, my princess.”
“Okay. Nelly, tell Abby to pack up and follow as fast as she can, same to Penny. Oh, and make sure Captain Kitano knows that Jack’s quarters are a deck below me and down the passageway.”
“Understood, Kris.”
“Drago, move my office as fast as you can, but don’t do anything that will delay the up-gunning. I’ve got to meet with our friends on the private side, and I like the idea of having an impressive office to meet them in.”
“Your Highness, your gear will be there by 2100 hours tonight at the latest.”
“Good. Nelly, pass the word to the civilian elephant that we’re having a powwow at 2100 hours on the Princess Royal.”
Kris headed for the Wasp’s quarterdeck. The ship was already making ready to move. Kris liked the pace.
Now. How would Amber Kitano take to sharing her ship with the original Princess Royal?
25
Commander Kitano met Kris at her quarterdeck and personally granted permission for her to come aboard. “I have your quarters ready. I’ve set up your office, but I understand more furniture will be coming along. There is a problem. The frigates were outfitted rather quickly. We don’t have a lot of spare screens aboard. To get you two, I’d have to borrow them from either the wardroom, chief’s mess, or the mess deck.”
“Nelly, tell Captain Drago to send along two of the screens from my office. I definitely want video to entertain my civilian guests, but I’m not about to cause a morale problem on my namesake ship.”
“Thank you, Your Highness. I’ve arranged for your office to be just off my bridge, same as Wasp, and your quarters, those of your maid, and Lieutenant Lien are right in a row.” She glanced at Jack. “Is it correct that your chief of security’s quarters are the deck below and a frame over?”
“Amber, my husband will continue to have quarters well away from me. What happened on Alwa stays on Alwa. What happens aboard ship is straight by the rules.”
“Thank you, ma’am. It will make things a lot easier.”
“Does everyone know about my wedding?” Kris asked.
“Just about.”
“Did it hit before or after the Monarch sailed?”
“Oh, after. Well after. And well before your official appointment came in. We all know that. Talk about Longknife luck and having the guts to take advantage of it.”
“I’ve fought that way. It seemed like a good time to live that way.”
NELLY, BENSON SAID SAMPSON WAS SHOOTING OFF HER MOUTH ALL OVER THE PLACE. WAS THERE ANY MESSAGE TRAFFIC BETWEEN THE CONNIE AND THE MONARCH?
YES, KRIS, BUT IT WAS IN A THROWAWAY CIPHER AND VERY SHORT. I DON’T SEE ANY WAY I COULD CRACK IT.
SO, WAS THE KING FULLY INFORMED OF MY ACTIONS? WHOSE IDEA WAS IT TO GIVE JACK A JOB THAT MEANS MOST OF HIS TIME IS DIRTSIDE? AND WAS THAT MIXED-UP LANGUAGE ABOUT DRAFTING PEOPLE A WEDDING GIFT FROM GRAMPA RAY?
KRIS, IF YOU SPEND YOUR TIME CHASING ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS YOU CAN’T FIND, YOU’LL GO AS CRAZY AS A LONGKNIFE.
With a sigh, Kris filed those questions in a pigeonhole marked “Ignore.”
“Commander, please have the P Royal send to the squadron: ‘Prepare for sortie, 0900 hours tomorrow. Exercises will extend up to four gees.’”
“Four gees, ma’am?” Captain Kitano swallowed hard.
“Is that a problem?”
“We did 1.5 gees at most on the way out, what with the Prosperity and Free Enterprise with us. Most of the cruise was at one gee.”
“Clearly, you didn’t come out the way we did.”
“No. I’m told that was intentional. That and taking it easy on the civilians.”
“Well, I’m glad things have been easy for them up to now. They won’t be from now on.”
The commander made no reply.
They arrived at Kris’s night quarters. Except for the tub, it was as spartan as ever and no bigger.
“We haven’t opened a door yet to your day quarters. Would you like a door to your maid’s quarters? They’re right next door.”
“You’ll have to ask her. I think she likes her privacy.” Then Kris caught the second part of the question.
“Can you open a door to the next quarters?”
“Most of my crew have apps on their computers to adjust the ship in minor ways. Create a massaging recliner to watch movies on the mess deck. Modify their work spaces for efficiency. Opening a door is one of the easy options.”
“Can they open the hull to space?” Jack asked. “A door into the brig, open the side of my safe?”
“Oh, no, Colonel,” the captain quickly put in. “Those are under higher security. But the normal internal bulkheads, yes. If there’s battle damage, anyone may need to seal a bulkhead.”
Kris nodded understanding. This new Smart MetalTM was making everything different. The captain looked like she wanted to say something more, but she didn’t.
Kris would have very much liked to know what she didn’t say, but she didn’t ask.
Some things smart officers ignored.
At least until they bit them on the behind.
“Nelly, give the commander a hint at the fleet maneuvers we’ll be using tomorrow. I don’t want to be embarrassed by my own flag falling out of line.”
Nelly opened a hologram before them and showed a ship going through a rather moderate jinking pattern. “We’ll use double intervals for safety,” Nelly pointed out, “and all the squadron will be executing the same maneuvers at the same time. That should reduce the chances of collision.”
“Do you think your ship can follow that evasion program?” Kris asked.
“I think so, ma’am. We’ll sure give it a good old Navy try. And thanks for the warning. Nelly, could you pass that holo to my computer? I’d like to show it to some of my officers. We may be in for a long night.”
“Do so, Nelly. You better pass it along to the entire squadron with my compliments. We don’t play favorites in this squadron.”
“Glad to hear that, ma’am,” Commander Kitano said.
Kris settled into her station chair in her night quarters. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to be thinking about my 2100 hour meeting. Please leave the door open when you leave. Colonel Montoya will be working with me.”
“Yes, ma’am. Doors open. Good idea.”
And the skipper of the Princess Royal left Jack and Kris alone.
“That seemed to go well,” Kris said.
“Anyone can open a door between rooms?” Jack said.
“You caught that, did you?”
“You think we might need to have a no-notice showdown inspection of berthing areas?”