''Thank you, Commander,'' Kris said.
''Glad to be working with you, Commander. Or should I say ‘Princess'?''
''I answer to either one,'' Kris said. ''Oh, speaking of answering, Nelly, get me Abby on the line.''
''You finally remembered me, Your Absentmindedness,'' Kris's official maid said a second later.
''But you were never far from my thoughts,'' Kris said, glancing at Penny. ''It seems that I will be going to a dinner and dance tonight. A simple thing, don't want to outshine all the other girls there. Since we're dancing it might be just as nice if I was in that red gown that swirls so nicely.''
''You mean the simple red one that goes well with blue accessories,'' Abby said, seeming to catch on immediately that network communications might not be as secure as they once were.
''Yes. Just the simple stuff.''
''And how much time will you give me to do your hair?''
''Not nearly enough,'' Kris assured her. ''But I'll try to break away from here before too long.''
''I'll be waiting for you.''
Kris rang off, waited until Nelly assured her that all comm lines were now off, and then shrugged. ''Just how much time I have will depend on how Hank reacts to that.''
Whatever Hank had in mind, it didn't become apparent for a while. Into the quiet, Penny asked, ''What is the uniform of the evening? You may have Abby to get you ready, but I need to think about what I can throw together.''
''Dress whites for you, Penny,'' Kris answered quickly and easily. ''Jack, what you're wearing, sidearms included.''
''And you?'' Penny asked.
''Not a uniform,'' Kris said defiantly. ''Since Hank has promoted himself to commodore, I'll trump him with princess. Tiara, Order of the Wounded Lion and all.''
''That boy's pride won't take kindly to that,'' Penny said, smiling at her board.
''Disappointment is something he's going to have to learn to live with,'' Kris said. ''And if you ask me, he hasn't had nearly enough of it in his life.''
''Oh-oh,'' Penny said. ''I think I see where his next disappointment is coming from. Either his or yours.''
''I don't need any more disappointment,'' Kris said, eyeing Penny's board. ''I've had all a growing girl can use.''
''The reactor,'' Jack breathed.
The new four had been meandering their way down station. Now they made a straight line for one of the two elevators among the aft shops. Kris mashed her commlink. ''Engineering, are you prepared to repel boarders?''
''What?'' came from the chief engineer, a grandmotherly woman who frowned at Kris, then glanced off screen, apparently at her security monitors, and then said a not very grandmotherly word.
One of Kris's monitors showed the foyer they had created to block off the passageways around the reactor. Similar to the one in front of the Command Center, this one had a six-foot plus, linebacker type standing in front of the elevator as it opened. He opened his arms wide and blocked the door. ''This is a secure area. Unauthorized people are not allowed,'' he calmly bellowed.
That should have settled the matter.
One of the men in the elevator started a long, high-pitched spiel that Kris didn't try to follow, while the other three ducked under the big fellow's arms and headed for the doors.
''Hey, you can't do that,'' the linebacker shouted, turning to chase after them, but it was like four mice being chased by a lone cat… and the cat had been briefed not to do anything lethal to the mice. The rodents took maximum benefit of that edge.
The strapping fellow would jiggle one doorknob to disrupt the lock picking effort, only to have to trot over the next door and mess up another lock pick. And the fourth fellow was in his face all the time, talking, and his feet were as likely as not to be where the big guy put his down. It was better than most comedy routines, but this was not funny. Once they broke into the reactor room, there was no telling what they'd do. Or Hank.
''I'm getting a report of Marines on the cruiser's quarterdecks,'' Penny said. A glance showed Kris that the kids were still on the landings doing their cute.
''Order the kids out of there. Don't let them get mixed up in this,'' Kris ordered.
''Doing it.''
''Engineering, you're about to be boarded,'' Kris repeated.
''Not on my watch, Commander,'' came right back at her. ''Tu, Sanchez, Ladonka, grab the biggest screwdrivers you got and a hammer and get your rear ends moving for the doors.''
''Screwdrivers? What're we doing with screwdrivers?''
''Didn't they teach you kids anything in school? Your heads are all full of book learning and you don't know anything practical,'' the grandmother type was muttering as Kris followed her fast walk from one screen to another. ''I bet I'm the only one here that can hot-wire a car if I need to.''
''Probably, Granny Good-Good,'' said Sanchez from well off screen.
Granny was at one of the doors into Engineering. ''You take one honking-big screwdriver and wedge it in the doorsill next to the end with the hinges, not the doorknob, you doorknob, and you hammer it in good and hard. Nobody's opening that door.
''Here's a doorstop if you want it.'' A wooden wedge flew across the room to bounce off the door. The younger woman taking all the guff from Granny grabbed it, set it in place at the bottom of the door, and Granny gave it a whack, too.
''Now, if a couple of you big lugs will do your usual lazy lean up against this door, it ain't opening for no one,'' she said, and headed back to her main station.
Kris checked all of her monitors. The situation seemed stabilized, but she didn't trust those four. Just what did they have in their bulky coats? Explosives? What would Hank decide to authorize if he got too frustrated? Kris hoped Hank had some kind of trainer with him. Daddy usually only turned Hank loose with someone who was supposed to teach him the ropes. Was this trainer an admiral? No, more likely some captain was stuck trying to explain to Commodore Hank why his latest bit of brilliance was not a good idea.
''Steve, we've got a problem,'' Kris said on net.
''I know. I've got a set of plumbers from the Patton trotting over there to add their two cents to the conversation.''
Kris cut the commlink. ''Plumbers?''
''Ever see the size of the wrenches those folks use?'' Jack said, a grin growing on his face. ''You get hit with one of those and you don't need to be hit twice.''
The comedy continued in the Reactor Foyer for a minute longer. One fellow actually managed to get his door unlocked, but found that the door would not budge for him. All four of them were congregated before that door, devoting their full effort to pushing on it while the linebacker did his best to push them sideways off the door. It was a sight to behold.
And the elevator door opened on six big guys. No, four big guys and two big gals, each with a very big wrench in their hands, stepped into the foyer.
''Hi, guys,'' a healthy farm girl, her blond hair in twin pony tails, her right hand lifting and dropping one honking big steel wrench into her left. ''You got a problem?''
Two of the Greenfeld types reached for things that were inside their coats. One of them made a grab for the linebacker who broke the hold and stepped back.
Kris mashed her commlink. ''This is Commander Longknife. Do we have a problem in the Reactor Foyer that I need to bring to the attention of Commodore Peterwald?''
''No.''
''Nothing.''
''No problems here'' came quickly from the four. Kris's six provided sideboy… or girl… courtesy to them on their way to the elevator, and punched button One.
''Do we want to let them off that easily?'' Nelly asked.
''We don't want to hurt anyone,'' Kris pointed out.
''But the elevators are all designed to go straight up and through to the other side of the station, Kris. People rarely do that because it subjects them to zero g and they have to reorient themselves because the ceiling becomes the floor. However…''