“I can understand that, sir,” Jerry interjected. “We were informed that the mission had both aspects in mind, working out doctrine and supporting the diplomatic mission. We’ll do it, sir. We have to.”
“Agreed. What’s your rank, son?” the skipper asked.
“Well…” Jerry temporized. “We don’t actually have ranks as such. I’m just the most senior guy. In most cases, I defer to Joanna when she’s around.”
“Grand,” Chang sighed. “So you’re not officially members of the UFS forces?”
“We are, sir,” Jerry replied, cautiously. “At least, that’s how we get paid. But the subject of ranks has never been raised. We just go where Sheida tells us and do what we can. We’ve done combat missions, sir. It’s not been a problem.”
“And what happens if one of your riders decides they don’t like the mission?” Chang asked.
“It’s… never come up, sir,” Jerry admitted.
“I’m going to send a long memo to Atlantis Command,” Chang said. “That’s for sure. Until further notice, Mr. Riadou, your new rank is warrant officer first class. I don’t know what you’ve been being paid but that’s also your pay-grade, starting now. If it’s more than you’ve been being paid, you just got a raise. If it’s less, we’ll figure something out. Flight pay, maybe. Choose one of your riders as your senior noncommissioned officer. The rest will be given the rank of sergeant. Do you have any questions?”
“No, sir,” Jerry replied.
“You should. You’re now under military law and discipline. That’s a far cry from being a civilian. I can have your riders flogged or hanged for failure to obey an order. So can General Talbot. For that matter, you’ll have to obey orders from Lieutenant Herrick, here, since he’s a commissioned officer and outranks you. I’ll have a copy of the regulations sent to your barracks.”
“What about Joanna?” Talbot asked.
“She’ll get a rank of commander,” Chang said after a moment. “She’ll be equal in rank to my XO but outrank everyone else on the ship except you or me. In general, she’ll have full control of the dragons and their riders. She’ll also be responsible for their actions. Will that be a problem?”
“Unlikely,” Edmund replied. “But she’s got a very specific pay structure. It’s in my orders.”
“Understood,” Chang said. “Now, to the mission. As Mr. Riadou noted, we’ve got a dual priority, getting the dragons trained in and handling the diplomatic mission. Comments?”
“Getting to the islands is the highest priority,” Edmund replied. “Dragon training cannot interfere with that to any great extent.”
Chang sighed and shook his head. “More or less the point that I’d come to. Well, we’ll just have to handle it.” There was a knock at the door and it opened almost immediately to reveal a brown-haired young man with a distant expression. He stopped, startled, at the group in the crowded room and looked at the commander behind the desk.
“Sorry, I’ll come back,” he muttered, starting to leave the room.
“You were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago,” Chang sighed. “Come in, Evan. Evan is…” He paused and looked Duke Talbot with a puzzled expression. “We’re not sure exactly what to call Evan. Generally we just refer to him as a ship’s designer, but he’s more like an efficiency expert.”
“I like to think of myself as a systems designer,” Evan said with a smile that relieved his puzzled countenance. “About that, there’s a change I want to make to the feeding system on the Richard…”
“Evan, we have to have the things in place long enough to write doctrine, you know,” Chang replied. He had an amused expression on his face as if this were a long-running complaint.
“I know, Shar, but I think I can cut one crewmember…”
“Tell it to me later, Evan, there’s something more important at the moment.” Chang turned to Jerry with a gesture. “This is Warrant Officer Riadou. He’s the senior dragon-rider of the first dragon-flight we’ve received. You should get him dialed in on the facilities on the Richard as soon as possible. Jerry Riadou, Evan Mayerle.”
“Okay,” Evan said, holding out his hand. “Does that mean we actually have wyverns to work with?”
“And a greater dragon,” Chang said with a nod. “You hadn’t heard?”
“Uh, no,” Evan replied. “We’ll have to break down the stalls on the hangar deck and—”
“Take it up with the XO,” Chang said, cutting him off. “We’re sailing on the morning tide. I’ll be out in no more than an hour. Pass that on to the XO, will you Mr. Riadou?”
“Will do, sir,” Jerry said. “Should I move my people out to the ship?”
“There’s no way I can think of to get the dragons to the ship without them flying out, so the first thing we’re going to have to do in the morning is fly them on. What do you think?”
“I’ll go out to the ship, make sure that everything is arranged and that I’m familiar with the system and then come back on shore?”
“That’s right,” the skipper replied with a chuckle. “I want to see you this evening so stay on the ship until I arrive.”
“Yes, sir,” Jerry said.
“This is the Navy, Warrant Officer,” the skipper replied with a smile. “When you get an order you say ‘aye, aye, sir.’ ”
“Aye, aye, sir,” Jerry replied. “Should I go now?”
“And the term is ‘by your leave’ or ‘by your permission.’ ” Chang sighed. “Yes, go. You too, Evan. I’ll see you both on board.”
When the two had left Chang shook his head and looked at Duke Talbot.
“Is it just me, or is everyone having to make this up as they go along?”
“Everyone is.” Talbot chuckled with the rest. “Daneh is having to half-train doctors, Herzer constantly has to make soldiers out of straw and mud. Everyone is.”
“Do you have any idea how complex a large ship is?” Chang asked. “Just gathering the necessary materials for it to go to sea is mind-boggling. Enough food and water for a hundred days, for thirty-six dragons? Not to mention the two hundred and twenty-five crew members, twenty officers and warrant officers, dragon-riders, passengers. On that subject, water is at a premium on-board. There is a ration of one gallon a day per person and it is not adjustable. There are saltwater showers and you can have thirty seconds of secondary water for washing the salt off. Don’t drink it; it’s not potable. We have a low-power steam engine for powered support and it produces the shower water, but there’s only so much. The cabins are small and tight; there’s no room for much gear. And the food ranges in quality from poor to very bad.”
“So much for a pleasure cruise to the islands,” Rachel said with a laugh. “It’s better than things were right after the Fall, Skipper.”
“That it is,” Chang said with a nod. “Speaking of gear, this was ported over. Or formed here, I’m not sure which.”