“Then pay attention to it and look for it,” Steve said. “And emulate it. Discipline is what makes a military an effective tool compared to a mob. And one of the things that enhances discipline is the actions and deportment of an officer. It can be carried too far. There are officers who think that actions and deportment are the only thing that’s really necessary. At this point you’re mentally inserting ‘Captain Wilkes’ into that sentence, correct?”
“Yes, sir,” Faith said. “Was that disrespectful?”
“If one of your subordinates said it and you blurted ‘You mean Wilkes’ then it would be an issue,” Steve said. “So don’t. But appearances have a point. Officers have not just the right but the duty to tell their subordinates to do something insane and suicidal. Your troops would probably kill themselves to keep you alive. Or, say, to get you a dress… ”
“We were never in any real danger, sir,” Faith said. “Honest.”
“But the point is that they have to think of you as an officer,” Steve said. “Not their wild-child kid sister. Which in part is acting like an officer. Carrying yourself like one, requiring that you be saluted and called ‘ma’am,’ snapping orders in a firm voice. Because when it really drops in the shit, they have to know who is in charge. Even if it’s Captain Wilkes. And part of that is, yes, not putting a guy in a chokehold because he called you a bitch.”
“So am I the only one getting dressed down, sir?” Faith asked.
“Again, does not matter,” Steve said. “How I handle the rest is up to me. That’s on my plate, not yours. I’ll give you this much. I’m not handling Zumwald. I told Isham if I saw the fucker I was going to toss him into the bay. I mean, seriously, toss him into the bay with the sharks. Was not joking.”
“Thanks, Da,” Faith said. “Sorry, thank you, Oh, Captain My Captain. That really pissed me off. I mean, not that it was… You know, ‘Shewolf, Zombie Hunter’ but that he felt like he could grab just any girl and… order her around. Da, this is the Alpha, okay? You know what happened here. That was what went through my mind. Sort of. Mostly I was just pissed but… ”
“I hadn’t considered that,” Steve said, nodding. “It’s… If this was official and if there were charges, which there wouldn’t be under most circumstances, it would certainly be a mitigating factor and it explains why… I wondered why even you, Faith, would have gone off so… ”
“Yeah,” Faith said. “I was just out of… Da… Captain this boat gives me fucking nightmares, okay? I mean… I’m okay on the Senorita but this boat just flips me out. But this is where the team’s based and, hell, I’ve got my own room and head.”
“How are you with the Boadicea?” Steve asked.
“I’m great with the Bo,” Faith said. “The Bo is the first bright spot in a long time.”
“We’re getting it cleared out and prepped,” Steve said, making a note. “This isn’t personal, it’s professional. And, okay, personal. But I’ll see about getting the Marines moved over to the Boadicea. It’s not a good idea to mix them with the civilians. There have been other incidents. Okay… So… That is not permission for you to go off in public, understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Faith said. “Sorry about… No excuse, sir.”
“Mister Zumwald will be counseled as well,” Steve said. “At a certain point, possibly I’ll have the two of you sit down and you can give him your story of clearing the Alpha and why, particularly on this boat, automatic male dominance for the purposes of personal service triggers rather unpleasant memories.”
“Rather not explain that,” Faith said. “I can’t even talk about it with the Marines. And… If I can input on it, I’d just as well not have to deal with him again.”
“There are not many of us,” Steve said. “More, thank God, every day. But still so few. Absent throwing him off the island or, rather, on an island, you’ll have to deal with him at some point. On the subject of Captain Wilkes or any other superior… ”
“Do not undermine his authority,” Faith said.
“Except in one limited circumstance,” Steve said. “And even then, especially then, you have to be punctilious with your professional demeanor. So it is not, in fact, undermining his authority.”
“Which is?” Faith asked. “Which is, sir?”
“When you’re an instructor,” Steve said. “The fact that Captain Wilkes has not seen a live zombie since he jumped ship, by orders, from the Iwo has been brought up through other channels. He really cannot make rational judgments as to what is and is not normal and proper without some experience of the operations. He needs experience and he needs an experienced teacher… ”
“Oh, Da… ” Faith said, pleadingly. “Have Lieutenant Fontana or the Gunny… ”
“No,” Steve said. “What the Gunny and Lieutenant Fontana are going to do is give you a quick class in how to be a subordinate and an instructor. From what I’ve heard, you have it mostly down. The Marines certainly think that you’d have made a great Tactical Instructor. At least when it comes to zombie fighting. I’ll have the Gunny and Lieutenant Fontana, both of whom have experience with training more senior officers, explain to you the dos and don’ts. Then you will train Wilkes with your team back-stopping. And you will treat him with due respect. Is this understood, Lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir,” Faith said.
“Now, as to the combat shopping. Dress shopping, Faith. Seriously?”
“They were Paris originals, Da!” Faith said.
“It was my mistake using your first name,” Steve said. “In this case, again, Lieutenant, it would be ‘Captain.’ Lieutenant Chen feels that it was a serious error in judgment on your part and I cannot disagree. Not to mention the wall against infiltrating infected as we clear these ships is rather shaky. Two lapses in judgment.”
“In that case, Captain, I will repeat myself,” Faith said. “They were, and are, Paris originals. May I state my case?”
“Go ahead,” Steve said, leaning back in his chair.
“I am not sure that the argument will work,” Faith said. “But I’ll stand by it. And I’ve had time to think about this one. First, I agree that I had a lapse in judgment as well as, uhm, not sure what the right term is. But I shouldn’t have looked for a dress at that time and with my team helping me. That was sort of stupid. But I wasn’t sure that we could hold the position. As it is, I would strongly argue that we need to… word, starts with a p, means important, sort of like property… ”
“Prioritize?” Steve said.
“That one,” Faith said. “I would recommend, Captain, that we prioritize getting them out of the compartment and to a safe place.”
“They’re dresses, Faith,” Steve said. “I get that you wanted a dress… ”
“Sir, again, they are not just dresses,” Faith said, frowning. “I don’t know how to explain it. Maybe… Money terms? The dress that I grabbed, on the rack, in a store, would run thirty thousand dollars, sir.”
“Ouch,” Steve said.
“Now you’re getting it, Da,” Faith said with a grin. “We never could have afforded these for prom. That container contains several million dollars worth of clothing. And it’s more than that, sir. I guess it’s an MWR issue. But all the clothes we’ve got are either slops that were from infecteds or pulled off of salvage or uniforms. Pretty… matters to a woman. Just about any woman. The reason we propped the door the way we did was to keep the infected from screwing up, like, the last pretty thing in the world, sir. Those are the last Paris originals anyone will probably ever see. I… I don’t know how to put it any better, sir. A woman would understand, sir. But everybody in my chain of command is a guy. No offense.”
“Not quite,” Steve said, thoughtfully. “Stand by.”
He leaned up and toggled his computer to video then hit the link to the Dallas.