“I suppose you’re right.” He was growing drowsy. “I’ll sign it into the Log. First thing in the morning.”
“I could get the Log now, sir.”
“No, I want to think about it overnight. Bring him in tomorrow morning, I’ll do it then.”
“Aye aye, sir.” He was sleeping by the time I reached the hatch.
Dr. Uburu faced me in the anteroom. “He ordered me to announce his illness to the ship,” she said. “Rumors are everywhere.”
“I know,” I said. I’d heard some of them.
She smiled warmly. It lighted her face and I was grateful.
“I’ll stay up with him tonight.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” I took her nod for a dismissal and left.
In the wardroom the other midshipmen questioned me silently. I had nothing to say to them; there was no way I could tell Vax he was going to make lieutenant, before Captain Malstrom had made up his mind. When the Doctor’s solemn announcement came over the speaker we all listened in silence. Afterward I slapped off the light. None of us spoke.
First thing in the morning I arranged for Sandy to take Vax’s watch. A quick breakfast in the officers’ mess, then I told Vax the Captain wanted to see us in the infirmary.
Dr. Uburu had been dozing at the table in the outer compartment; she woke when we came in. She said the Chief Engineer had already brought the Log chip from the bridge, on Captain Malstrom’s instructions. “He’s awake and wants to see you. He’s not doing too well.” Her tone was glum.
We entered the sickroom, snapping to attention. The Captain was dozing in his bunk. He heard the hatch close, and opened his eyes. “Vax, Nicky, hi,” he said vaguely. The ship’s Log was in the holovid on a small bunkside table, within his reach.
“Good morning, sir,” I said. He didn’t answer. “Captain, we’re here to do what you said last night.”
“I was having dinner,” he said suddenly, loudly.
“When you were taken ill, two nights ago, sir.” I tried to think how to direct him. Vax watched, puzzled. “Captain, last night we talked about Mr. Holser. Do you remember?”
“Yes.” Captain Malstrom smiled at me. “Vax, the bully.” An icicle crept up my spine. I wanted to move to him, but we were still at attention; he hadn’t released us.
I was so desperate I prompted him. “Sir, we talked about Vax’s commission. Don’t you remember?”
He came fully awake. “Nicky.” He studied me. “We talked. I said I would... make him looey. Of course!” I was weak with relief. He turned to Vax. “Mr. Holser, wait outside while we talk.”
“Aye aye, sir.” Vax spun smartly and left the room.
I took it as permission to move. I took the Log and dialed the current page. “Sir, let me help you. I can write; all you have to do is sign.”
Captain Malstrom began to weep. “I’m sorry, Nicky. I guess I have to give it to him. He’s the qualified one. You aren’t. I don’t have a--it’s the only way!”
“I know, sir. I want you to. Here, I’ll write it.” I took the.
laserpencil. “I, Captain Harvey Malstrom, do commission and appoint Midshipman Vax Stanley Holser lieutenant in the Naval Service of the Government of the United Nations, by the Grace of God.” I knew the words by heart, as did every midshipman.
I handed him the laserpencil. He stared at it, as if it were wild. “Nicky, I don’t feel well.” His face was white.
“Please, sir, just sign, and I’ll get Dr. Uburu. Please.”
He began to tremble. “I... Nick, I’ve--NICKY!” His head snapped back, his jaw clenched shut. His whole body shivered.
“Dr. Uburu!”
The Doctor came running at my yell. One look and she grabbed for a hypo, filled it from a medicine bottle in the cabinet nearby. “Move, boy!” She shoved me aside and bared his arm. As the hypo plunged, his rigid muscles slowly relaxed. His hand opened.”Give me the Log,” he whispered.
But his hand wouldn’t hold the pencil.
I said, “Captain Malstrom, commission him orally! Dr.
Uburu is witness!” The way it came out, it sounded like an order.
He muttered something. I couldn’t tell what it was. Then he drifted toward sleep. “This afternoon,” he said clearly, surprising me. “After I rest.” I waited, but his breath came in short rasping sounds. His face was flushed.
I took hold of the Doctor’s arm. I had touched the Captain, now it might as well be Dr. Uburu; I had lost all sense of propriety. I tugged her toward the corner. “Do you realize,”
I whispered, “what will happen if he doesn’t commission Vax?”
“Yes,” she said coldly, pulling my hand from her arm.
“He’s got to sign the Log! Will he be able to, this afternoon?”
“Perhaps. I have no way to know.”
“I heard him orally commission Vax. You did too.” I stared her straight in the eye, hoping she would realize what had to be done.
“I heard no such thing,” she said bluntly. “And you are a gentleman by act of the General Assembly. A gentleman does not lie!”
I blushed all the way up to my ears. “Doctor, he has GOT to sign that Log.”
“Then let’s hope he wakes up in condition to do it.” She added, “I agree with you. It’s necessary for the ship’s safety that he sign Vax’s commission.”
“But you won’t... “
“No, I won’t. And you won’t suggest it again. That is a direct order which you disobey at your peril! Acknowledge it.” She had steel in her. I hadn’t known.
“Aye aye, ma’am. I will not suggest again that Captain orally commissioned Vax. I accept your statement that he did not. Is there anything else, ma’am?”
“Yes, Nick. Duty is sometimes unclear. Right now your duty is to obey the regulations you swore to uphold. All of them. I trust that by the Grace of God the Captain will do what he must. You would do better to pray than to scheme, young man.”
“Yes, ma’am.” She was right.
Vax was waiting outside the sickroom. “What was all that about?” he asked.
We walked back along the corridor toward the wardroom.
Now he had a right to know. “I asked the Captain to commission you lieutenant. He said he would do it this morning. I wrote it out in the Log for him.”
“And?”
“He hasn’t signed it. He’s disoriented. I asked Dr. Uburu to agree that he had commissioned you orally, but she said he hadn’t. In truth, he had not.”
Vax took my arm. There was a lot of touching going on in Hibernia.“Why did you want him to?”
“Vax, what the hell happens when the Captain dies? Do you expect me to try to run the ship?”
I don’t think it had occurred to him until that moment. It had only occurred to me two days ago. “Oh, my God.”
“And mine.” We locked eyes. “We’ll come back in a couple of hours. He’ll sign it. He has to.” We walked the rest of the way in uneasy silence.
After lunch we returned to the infirmary. At my request Chief McAndrews also came. The Doctor, the Chief, Vax, and I waited in the sickroom for the Captain to awaken. He slept fitfully, tossing and turning. The silence in the brightly lit room grew unbearable.
Hours passed. “Is there anything you can give him?” I asked Dr. Uburu. “Some sort of stimulant?”
“Yes. If I want to kill him,” she growled. “His systems are closing down. He can’t take much.”
“He’s got to wake up long enough to sign the Log, or at least tell us orally!”
She shook her head, but after a while she loaded a syringe and gave Captain Malstrom an injection. Chief McAndrews sat near the bed; the Doctor was at a table close by. Vax stood stolidly against the bulkhead; I paced with increasing nervousness.
“Nicky.” The Captain’s eyes were open and riveted on me.”Yes, sir.” I hurried over to the bed. I picked up the holovid with the Log.
The Captain swallowed with difficulty. As I came closer he squinted to keep me in focus. “Nicky... you’re my son,” he said weakly.
“What?” My voice squeaked. I couldn’t have heard right.