''Sleep through what?''
''The arrival of our first contingent of museum techs at two this morning, station time. You didn't hear the defense alarms.''
''No. Nelly?''
''I was aware we had a shuttle approaching. I backtracked it to its launch site, checked the video of it loading, and verified the IDs of all the passengers. They were all part of the Historical Society, of which the three veterans Kris talked to are charter members. So I concluded the shuttle was no threat. I tried to tell the station's security system of my conclusion, but it refused my input. It insisted only you two could make a determination. Since Kris authorized me to make a security determination for her, I let her sleep. Maybe you should let me do the same for you,'' Nelly added.
''Do you want to trust her computer?'' Beni said to Jack.
''If it lets me get a good night's sleep,'' the First Lieutenant said, ladling eggs from the griddle onto three plates. ''It looks like we're going to have traffic from the surface at all hours. You want to stand a twenty-four/seven watch?''
''No,'' the chief said.
''The jump points are another matter,'' Jack said setting loaded breakfast plates down for all of them.
''Both the one from Lorna Do and the one from Peterwald space are over two days out at one g. Nelly, wake us up if something comes through those jumps,'' Kris said as Beni attacked his eggs.
''Of course,'' Nelly said.
''Then it's settled,'' Kris said. ''Nelly is now part of our security team and will stand a twenty-four/seven watch for the station.''
''Access to our rooms will be much tighter,'' Jack said, waving a momentarily empty fork Kris's, or Nelly's, way.
''Of course. I do not want to be stolen.''
Kris grinned at Nelly's developing sense of self-interest.
As they finished breakfast Jack said, ''I need to refine the security situation on the station. Kris, could you have Nelly hitch into my computer and work with me?''
''Nelly, please do.'' Kris went on thoughtfully. ''I'll spend the day reviewing our bunch of willing workers on the Patton. See how much of a danger they are to the ship… and to themselves. Chief, you want to come with me?''
Beni scratched under his bathrobe and nodded. ''Give me time to clean up and I'm yours for the day.''
The tour of the work effort on the Patton was interesting. No one was actually in charge among the Proud Old Farts, or POFs as they called themselves, but no one seemed to need to be. They had divided the work up and were in the assessment stage.
''It is bad,'' one old gal in coveralls told Kris. ''I read the report, but you have to see it to believe it. Kid, this tub ain't nearly as old as me and she's in a whole lot worse shape.''
''She never got the loving you got,'' the codger next to her put in, which set the tone for the day. Kris was neither lieutenant nor princess to these folk. No, she was The Kid. Either that or General Ray's Brat to those who'd served with him, usually with an aside about how hard it was to believe the old bastard lived long enough to have such a lovely great-granddaughter. Kris was used to not getting much respect, but this paternalism, or maybe maternalism, that ended just short of pinching her cheek, was totally new. She weighed her options, considered invoking her rank… and dropped the idea without further reflection. It was clear, even to a blind man, that around here the status she'd earned with the Navy counted for nothing. Less than nothing. She could accept these folks on their terms or be ignored.
Kris decided she didn't much care, their presence got New Chicago Pizza running by lunchtime. For that heavenly gain, they could call her The Kid and maybe even pinch a cheek. Watching Beni demolish a large pepperoni, she suspected if she loused up this deal, he'd mutiny. And might take Jack with him.
Before she left, she introduced herself to Tony and asked how he'd powered the ovens. ''Oh, we service folks have an auxiliary power source. Antimatter powered. I just unplug the pod from my shuttle, move it inside, then unplug it later and take it back to the shuttle. Recharge it down below. No problem.''
''Mind if we use it when you're not using it?''
''I think, if you check, Steve had one installed as a backup for the station's reactor.''
That was news to Kris. ''Chief,'' she called to the growing boy who wasn't finished with his lunch yet.
''Yeah, boss.''
''Call your good friend Steve the Taxi Man and ask him about the station's antimatter backup power.''
''We got backup power?'' Beni said, mouth gaping open, pizza slice in a holding pattern.
''Mr. Chang, here, says we do. Please find out more.''
The day before, Kris just called up the station plans, and made no in-depth check on what they showed. Now Nelly checked for all plans and found one updated last just three weeks before Kris arrived.
''Call up the standard plans for an A-class station when built. Compare the two,'' Kris ordered.
Nelly whistled. ''Big difference, boss.'' Apparently the sibling rivalry between her and the chief didn't extend to shunning his language. Well, Kris couldn't protect Nelly forever from the bad influences of the universe.
Nelly overlaid the two plans. Kris concentrated on the important points… at first. The automatic machine guns she'd checked out the first day were, for the most part, not where the original plans had them. ''Nelly, show me the 4-inch lasers.''
They'd been moved, too.
Central Net was now a machine shop. The network was located next door to the command center. ''Interesting mods,'' Kris said.
''Looks that way to me,'' Beni agreed, between the last bites of his pizza.
''You look into that auxiliary power supply. I'll check on how things are going on the Patton.'' The afternoon shift was reporting. Whereas the morning crew was white-haired, gray, or bald, this bunch was tall, gangly, and noisy, with hair of many hues and voices that cracked at the most embarrassing times.
''Did we get signed agreements to not hold the Navy responsible if they hurt themselves?'' Kris asked several of the elders who seemed to be more in charge than usual.
''Your computer gave us a form. We signed copies before we came aboard and sent copies down to their parents. Parental consents are all recorded with your computer.''
I DID NOT JUST MAKE SURE THEY WERE HARMLESS WHEN I SAW THEM COMING. I MADE SURE THEY CROSSED THE LEGAL T'S AND DOTTED THE CORRECT I'S.
Nelly, you are a jewel. Frequently.
I HEARD THAT.
Good. ''I'm glad we have all those necessary legal matters covered,'' Kris said and set about looking over everyone's shoulders, which seemed to be a good junior officer's job. But she found little need to offer advice. Each of the work details was balanced, two or three youngsters in green shipsuits to an elder in blue. And if Kris found the paternalism of the POF irritating, the blatant hero worship and awe of the teenagers was just as hard to handle. Behind her she'd hear ''Battleships'' or ''Mucho Grandest battle.'' But let her turn face on to them and the kids got terminally silent or attacked by stutters.
Course, as she left that group, there'd be some older voice pointing out, ''She puts her pants on same as you. Don't you let her fool you.'' Which wasn't fair. Kris wasn't fooling anyone. It was their own delusion, their part in the Longknife legend.
Chief Beni got the backup power going, and that helped with the power needs of both the work on the Patton and the station. Kris powered up a laser; it took the charge. But about drained her antimatter pod. Four days after her first trip to Last Chance, she filed a flight plan for a second trip. She needed antimatter, eggs, bacon, milk, coffee, fuses, peanut butter, and a few other things. Jack strapped in beside her, though Beni was only too happy to stay with ''his'' crews on ''his'' ship.
Ron was a natural on her list of people to see. A lawyer, she wanted his official view on Nelly's Hold Harmless agreement.