"But I was Auxiliaries Officer on the Rickover, so I can handle the turnover for main propulsion assistant quickly."
Paul gave Carl a puzzled look. "Main propulsion assistant? But you're the Weapons and Fire Control Officer."
Carl spread his hands. "It's a rolling turnover. Lieutenant Kilgary's taking over my job, and Scott Silver's taking over Kilgary's job."
"Kilgary's going to weapons? Why?"
"Colleen's afraid of being typecast in engineering and being forced to serve in that type of assignment her entire career, so she wants to get experience in another area. She's too late, if you ask me, but I understand why she's doing it."
"Yeah." Paul didn't know Colleen Kilgary all that well because their duty sections and watch patterns rarely crossed. But I'm sure she'll do great as Carl's replacement, and having her onboard after Scott takes over her job will mean he has a source of knowledge to draw on. It should be a win-win situation for everybody. "Is she going to replace you as my underway officer of the deck?"
"Nope," Silver replied with another smile. "That'll be me. Carl tells me you're a great junior officer of the deck, so I'm looking forward to it."
Carl checked his watch. "Let's get going, Scott. I need to get you to engineering and pick up Colleen to pass on my stuff to her."
"Sure. See you around, Paul." Paul watched them go, then mentally shrugged. He seems okay. Friendly, that's for sure. And if he's been on the Rickover he ought to be familiar with how the Michaelson handles as well, so I shouldn't have problems with him as my officer of the deck. I hate to see Carl go, but this could be a lot worse.
Paul, busy with his own work, saw little more of either Carl or Scott Silver before he received a page from the quarterdeck. Jen's here? He glanced at the clock. It's only 1700. She's the one who's early this time.
Jen gave his uniform a critical going over. "Did you actually get this pressed?"
"Yeah."
"I guess you're okay."
"Thanks. I haven't had a uniform inspection this tough since I left the Academy."
"Ha-ha. Forgive me for wanting you to look decent. Ready to head for the Mahan?"
Two docks over this time, and another quarterdeck very similar but not exactly the same as the Michaelson 's. A very sharp-looking officer of the deck welcomed them aboard, then a very sharp-looking ensign escorted them to the captain's quarters.
Jen rapped on the hatch. "Lieutenant Shen reporting as ordered."
Captain Shen looked up from his desk. "At least you follow orders now that you're in the Navy, Jen. This is Sinclair?"
"Yes. May I present Lieutenant Junior Grade Paul Sinclair."
Kay Shen squinted at Paul. "Pleased to meet you. I thought I might have to wear my sunglasses to this little get-together."
"Sir?"
"Jen keeps talking about this knight in shining armor of hers. I figured I'd need my sunglasses to cut down on the glare."
Paul smiled politely, unsure how to respond, and trying to figure out why Jen and her father were acting so formal with each other.
"Well, let's eat." Captain Shen led the way back to the Mahan 's wardroom, where a small group of officers awaited. After a dizzyingly fast round of introductions, Paul found himself seated opposite Jen, unable to be sure of the names of anyone else at the table except Captain Shen himself. The meal passed quickly as well, with only occasional small talk and a few questions to Paul about his operational experiences on the Michaelson. Before he knew it, Captain Shen was rising, everyone else was following suit, and he was once again walking with Jen back to the captain's stateroom.
Captain Shen sat in the one chair, waving Paul and Jen to the small couch against one bulkhead. Paul sat a little stiffly, unable to relax.
Kay Shen smiled briefly at Paul. "You're an Academy graduate."
"Yes, sir." Jen's body, next to his, felt tense.
Captain Shen leaned back, raising one eyebrow at Paul. "I looked up your record. You weren't the anchorman, but you didn't distinguish yourself in class rank, either."
Jen's voice carried an edge. "Dad…"
"Okay, okay. Somebody's got to be in the middle. So, Mr. Sinclair, do you have any plans about making my daughter an honest woman?"
"Dad! I don't require some male keeper to make me an honest woman."
"Oh. You don't want him."
"I didn't say that."
Captain Shen glanced at Paul again. "I take it you two aren't sharing quarters, yet."
"Dad!"
"No, sir. We're both still assigned to ships."
Captain Shen nodded. "Different ships, fortunately. Good thing you had Gwen Herdez riding herd on you when you were both on the Michaelson."
"You know Commander Herdez, sir?"
"I had the pleasure of serving with her once. Hard as nails."
"She has high standards, sir."
"Damn straight." Captain Shen smiled once again, the expression coming and going rapidly. "So does my daughter. She's never held on to a man this long before. They usually got the boot pretty quick."
"Dad, if you don't — "
"Mind you, they all deserved to get the boot, because they didn't deserve her. Apparently she feels differently about you."
"I'm a very lucky man, sir."
Jen covered her eyes with one hand. "Oh, please."
"Good people tend to make their own luck. Are you good enough for Jen?"
"I'm doing my best."
"We'll see if your best is good enough."
Jen spoke sharply. "I'll be the judge of that."
"Sure, Jen. Where's your next assignment? Any word yet?"
"I've got six more months on the Maury, Dad. I've got my dream sheet in with the detailers telling them what assignments I really want, but no responses from them."
"Nothing too odd about that. Am I correct in assuming you two have matching dream sheets?"
"Yes. We want assignments close to each other and know we need to make sure our detailers know that. I'm not an ensign anymore, Dad."
"Heck, no. You're a lieutenant junior grade! Practically an admiral. Let me lay it on the line. As long as you're not officially hitched the detailers are real unlikely to worry about sending you to the same general area on your next assignment."
"We know that, Dad."
"I assume there's no plans to rush into marriage to try to ensure you get similar orders?"
Jen look of annoyance deepened. "There won't be any rushing into anything."
"Well, that's a relief. What are your career plans, Mr. Sinclair?"
Paul tensed some more. The question was outwardly run of the mill, yet in professional terms the career plans of an officer told you a lot about them, for better or worse. "I've put in for shore duty on Franklin Station, sir. Preferably in the operations branch, but I'm willing to look at other options."
"Hmmm. Space officers tend to rotate to Franklin for shore duty, so I'm sure you'll get that. What about afterwards?"
"I'm going to evaluate options when my next orders come up, sir."
Captain Shen looked skeptical. "That's not exactly long term planning. Are you going to make the Navy a career?"
"That option's still open, sir."
"Options are all very well, but it's necessary to make decisions at some point."
Paul made a small gesture which stopped Jen's next eruption. "Sir, I'm fully capable of making decisions. I'm just awaiting some more experience before making decisions that don't need to be made now."
"The proof's in the pudding, young man."
This time Jen ignored Paul's attempt to handle the issue himself. "Dad, Paul has proven his ability to make tough decisions. He doesn't need any criticism from you on that score."
"I take it you're referring to his testimony in his former captain's court-martial. Carrying out Commander Herdez's instructions — "
"Sir," Paul interrupted, hearing his voice carry an edge of anger which he tamped down. "Commander Herdez gave me no 'instructions' on that matter. The decision was mine." He'd never boasted about it, but he couldn't bear having such a difficult, soul-wrenching decision casually dismissed.