There was another deluge of complaints. I wished that the Academy had taught more diplomacy, instead of just Non-Violent Conflict Resolution, but Gandhi himself would have sworn off non-violence after meeting the reporters. When I’d been chewed out on the Jacques Delors, I had thoroughly deserved it. The reporters seemed to expect me to have more authority than the Captain and the ability to snap my fingers and make things happen. That didn’t work, even on a properly-run starship.
“That crewman was leering at me,” one of the women — the one exposing her breasts — protested, when the crewmen finally delivered the luggage and left. Her voice rose to a pitch that hurt my ears. “I demand you have him punished at once!”
It looked to me as if I should ask the Ship’s Doctor to check his eyes, or perhaps his sanity, instead, but I didn’t say that out loud. “I shall see to it,” I promised. Some kind of reward seemed to be in order. “Do you want a tour of the vessel once you have finished unpacking?”
It was nearly an hour before I could escape and report back to Ellen that the reporters had started to settle into the stateroom. She seemed pleased about it, although I still didn’t understand why we were putting up with them in the first place. Why couldn’t they have travelled on an assault carrier along with their support staff?
But a good thing did come out of it. I had forgotten all about the logistics bureaucrats. When I returned to that task, it was almost a relief.
Chapter Twelve
Heinlein was founded by a group of colonists intent on developing a society based on the teachings of Robert Anson Heinlein (banned on Earth since the UN took control), particularly those exposed in Starship Troopers. Heinlein, unlike Earth or many other worlds, only granted the electoral franchise to military veterans, who signed up for a two-year period of service in the military. Although the system wasn’t perfect, it did lead to the development of a society that stood in stark contrast to the UN, which granted a meaningless vote to every citizen. This meant that Heinlein, along with the purchased vote system of Williamson’s World and the Dual Monarchy of Nova Britannia, was a threat to the UN by the mere fact of its existence.
“You did well,” Captain Shalenko said, gravely. “I only needed to intervene once.”
I nodded, too tired to speak. I’d finally managed to convince the Supply Department that we actually needed the items on the Captain’s list — all, but one. I’d kept playing the game until one day before our departure date, but then I’d had to admit defeat and ask the Captain to handle it. I don’t know what he said to the Supply Department, but suddenly all the obstacles melted away and we got everything we wanted, quickly. It almost made working with the reporters worthwhile.
“As a special reward,” the Captain continued, “you are to escort Miss Johnston with us when we go onboard Admiral Hoover’s flagship for the briefing.”
I blinked. “Captain… is that wise?”
“The Admiral wants a reporter there for the briefing,” Captain Shalenko said. He didn’t chew me out for my remark, which I took to mean that he privately questioned the Admiral’s wisdom as well. “You will find her and bring her to the Captain’s Boat for 1400.”
“Aye, sir,” I said, and went to the reporters stateroom. They had already exhausted most of the pleasures on the starship — which were few and far between — and had been driving me crazy with their incessant demands. Two of the reporters seemed to have fallen out with the other five and weren’t speaking to them, while the other five seemed to be drafting the victory proclamation already. Given that no one on the starship, but them, seemed to know the fleet’s target, I couldn’t help, but wonder if they were being premature.
But I had to admit that Lillian Johnston was the best of a bad bunch. She wore tight clothes that revealed everything while showing nothing, but she actually seemed to have a brain in her head. It just wasn’t one that was focused on surviving in space. She’d already asked me a whole series of silly questions — she even asked me if she could go outside the starship without a spacesuit — and I didn’t want to read any of her work. It actually turned out, when I questioned her, that she was actually paid to present the news, rather than dig it up. The Admiral might have been smarter than I’d thought. She certainly wouldn’t notice anything amiss.
“The Captain wants me to come?” She asked, for all the world as if she got requests like that every day. “I’d love to, darling.”
I managed to duck the other reporters, who were shouting demands that they be allowed to come as well, and led her out of the stateroom. I saw her nose tighten slightly as she took in the lower decks, obviously comparing it to a pleasure liner she’d travelled on years ago. I’d already heard enough about the White Swan to feel that I knew it perfectly, apparently, the crew were respectful and the food was divine. It never seemed to cross their minds that the passenger liner was designed for the idle rich and that real starships were much more cramped. If half of what they said was true, the liner had to be making a loss with each passage.
“This is the Captain’s Boat,” I explained, when we reached the shuttlebay. Unlike a more workable shuttle, or tug, the Captain’s Boat looked surprisingly pretty. I’d heard that they were actually constructed somewhere on one of the colonies, which wasn’t something to put my mind at rest. The engineers had been all over it, but a competent engineer could have probably rigged the boat to blow at will. “She can hold nine passengers in reasonable comfort.”
“This isn’t comfort, darling,” Lillian trilled, as soon as she saw the interior of the tiny ship. “This is barely large enough to swing a cat.”
“It was large enough for four First Lieutenants,” the Captain said, gravely. Anna followed him into the boat and took the helm. “We were on shore leave at Tropicana and decided to see how many First Lieutenants we could fit into the ship.”
I swallowed the bait. “But, sir… surely you could have fitted in five more…”
“Oh, at that point we ran out of First Lieutenants,” Captain Shalenko said, with a flickering grin. “We had to make up the difference with some of the locals.” He winked at me. “Not quite regulation, but close enough for government work.”
I blushed. “Yes, sir,” I agreed. “Close enough.”
Anna was a skilled pilot, I realised, as we flew out of the shuttlebay and orientated ourselves on Orbit Nine, before racing past it to the battleship looming up in the distance. It was large enough to be visible with the naked eye almost before we passed Orbit Nine, a single white craft that seemed to dominate the surrounding area. It was surprisingly elegant, in a way, shaped like a long oval. The drive blisters at the rear seemed only to mar its perfection.
“She’s beautiful,” I breathed. Suddenly, I envied Roger and his service on a battleship. “Sir, why don’t we have more like her?”
Captain Shalenko snorted. “She cost the same price as ten light cruisers and took five years to build,” he said. “If old Admiral Picard hadn’t wanted a proper flagship, she and her twins wouldn’t have been built at all. She handles like a wallowing elephant and is the easiest target this side of a planet. We should have built the cruisers instead and then we would have had more flexibility. Instead…”