"Would you go out in a D-ship again?" Collingswood asked. "It was a pretty hazardous duty, wasn't it?"
Barbousse nodded and smiled. "Aye, ma'am-to both your questions."
"Hmm," she said, glancing at Ursis, men Brim. "And you, gentlemen?"
Brim looked at the Bear. "Nik," he said, "I have this feeling that I am about to hear us volunteer for a number of dangerous missions," he said, grinning in spite of himself.
Ursis laughed. "Indeed, Wilf Ansor, I believe I am about to hear the same thing.
Strange..."
"Only if I get Admiralty clearance for such a mission," Collingswood interjected with a laugh. "And a ship. Until then, you three and the D-ship's prospective skipper are at least relatively safe from my more perilous schemes."
"Her skipper!" Brim asked, suddenly curious.
"Of course," Ursis answered. "Your countryman, Baxter Oglethorp Calhoun, unless I miss my guess...."
"How did you know that?" Collingswood exclaimed in amazement.
"Pure conjecture, Captain," Ursis said, grinning. "Commander Calhoun's background in the 'salvage' business made me feel that he might be, shall we say, specially qualified for such a job."
Collingswood looked at him for a long moment and nodded ever so slightly. "I see," she said, breaking into a knowing smile. "I see...." Then, shaking her head and chuckling, she turned toward her work station in a clear sign of dismissal. That will do for now, gentlemen,"
she said, peering at the old-fashioned timepiece on her wall. "I shall let all of you know as soon as I hear one way or another."
"Thank you, Captain," Brim said amid the scraping of chairs, then followed the other two into the corridor. "What was that all about, Nik?" he asked as he closed the door behind him.
Ursis chuckled, watching Barbousse hurry back to his N-ray prototype in the repair shop below. "Only a little wager I made one evening at a party," he explained, grinning until his fang gems sparkled in the overhead lights. "I predicted that Number One's previous occupation would one day prove to be highly valuable to Defiant and her mission," he said.
"And I am about to be proven right."
Brim rubbed his chin and frowned. "I think Calhoun said he was in the 'salvage' business at one time, didn't he?"
"That is what I remember," the Bear answered.
Brim narrowed his eyes and frowned for a moment, then snapped his fingers. "Of course," he said, shaking his head. "How could I have missed it? I'm from Carescria, even.
The polite word for 'piracy' there is 'presalvage.'"
Ursis shrugged. "Often what is closest to one's nose is actually most distant."
"Well, he certainly ought to know about D-ships, then," Brim declared.
Soon afterward, the two comrades parted company. Both had a great deal of work to do before Collingswood received the answer to her proposal. And with old Borodov on the Task Force, they were reasonably sure they knew what that would be.
K324976HJGCCK
[TOP SECRET NOFORN COURTLAND/CAMPBELL]
FM: ADMRALTYCOMINT
TO: COLLINGSWOOD@CL.921:HAEUC
INFO; COMFLEETOPS
<<98RQWEIH92CNU98U4-QOW213HCPQ3CO-CMQ95C>>
1. SPECIAL REQUEST FOR 'D-SHIP' APPROVED UNDER PROJECT CODE NAME
'CAMPBELL'.
2. FUND L-533 ESTABLISHED TO COVER 'CAMPBELL' EXPENSES. INITIAL
AMOUNT UNDER SEPARATE UNCLASSIFIED COVER.
3. STARSHIP S.S. 'PRIZE' ASSIGNED AS LEAST LIKELY TO COMPROMISE
PROJECT PURPOSE.
4. CLAUDIA J. VALEMONT (MOR/CTV/FLEETOPS4) ASSIGNED TEMPORARY DUTY
BASE PROJECT OFFICER FOR ALL MATERIAL. SUPPORT, AND CIVILIAN SERVICES
RQMTS.
5. INITIAL D-SHIP COMBAT CREW MUST SOURCE PROM 'DEFIANT' CREW
CONTINGENT.
6. COMFLEETOPS EXPECTS 'PRIZE' WILL BE READY FOR ACTION WITHIN 40
STANDARD DAYS.
[END TOP SECRET NOFORN COURTLAND/CAMPBELL]
BEST OF LUCK TO COLLINGSWOOD
BORODOV SENDS
K325003HJGCCK
"Well," Collingswood said as she peered around her crowded cabin, "I wanted everyone to read it together, for it seems as if we shall have our project-even if it must be ready for action within forty days. All that remains is to get on with everything-while we maintain our primary mission as an escort vessel." She looked at the dark-haired figure sitting to her left.
"Claudia," she asked, "you're a relative latecomer to the project, but I assume some of this makes sense, doesn't it?"
"Only in the broadest terms, Captain," the Atalantian Yard Manager admitted with a smile. "Dr. Borodov's office at the Admiralty sent a long message just as I was on my way over here, but I've yet to read it." She glanced at Calhoun. "If you hadn't sent Lieutenant Brim to meet me, I should be completely in the dark."
"Wilf will mak' sure ye ha' all the facts, my dear," Calhoun assured her. "Won't ye, Lieutenant?" he added with a knowing look.
"Count on it, sir," the younger Carescrian answered, feeling his cheeks bum. "I've promised to fill in the details while we drive over to inspect S.S. Prize. We're due at the salvage yard directly following this meeting." He looked around him. "Nik, Utrillo, you're coming with us?"
Ursis shook his head. "Not this time, Wilf," he said, "the Chief and I have test time in the radiation lab.... But you and Miss Valemont should begin learning everything about the ship immediately. With only forty days to work, we don't have a lot of time to lose."
"Agreed," Brim said, hoping the elation he felt about spending an unshared afternoon with Claudia didn't show up too much on his face-even if it also made him feel slightly guilty.
"We'll start going over her this afternoon."
"All right, people," Collingswood said, holding up her hand. "I promised I should keep this meeting to an absolute minimum of wasted time-and I shall. Defiant is due out on patrol in precisely six days, so we Blue Capes must work with all deliberate speed-and a little more.
Claudia will bear most of the refit burden here while we are off trying to discourage Gorn-Hoffs from the convoy lanes." She smiled and winked at the Haelacian. "We shall have another brief meeting again tomorrow morning at the top of the Morning watch to discuss today's progress-make it the wardroom this time, so we can breakfast together. Oh, and by the bye," she added, "because we do retain our primary mission as an escort ship. I shall employ other members of the crew only as their services become necessary-by leaving them behind if necessary. So, if the work force appears to be a bit short of Blue Capes at present, take heart. Things will improve as the project progresses...."
Brim followed Claudia through the door, sheepishly aware of her powerful sensuality. He readily acknowledged that she was a true, hardworking professional in every sense of rite word; ironically, it was her very professionalism that he found most attractive. He'd encountered lots of good-looking females around the galaxy. Very few of them, lamentably, had what it took to be very interesting out of bed as well as in. Taking a deep breath, he resolved he would maintain a professional relationship with her at all costs-for Margot, if for no other reason. "I'm making the assumption that you know where this Prize is moored," he said, guiding her into the companionway.
She grinned over her shoulder. "If you'll show me the way out of this maze you call a starship, I'll promise to find S.S. Prize. It seems to be the least I can do as Project Officer."
She laughed a little self-consciously. "Perhaps after I get a chance to read that message from Dr. Borodov I can be a little more useful."
Brim abruptly stopped at the bottom of the steps and looked her in the eye, frowning.
"You really don't remember the way out," he asked, "do you?"
Claudia glanced both ways along the long corridor and shook her head. "I was in so much of a hurry when I came that I didn't pay all that much attention," she admitted ruefully.