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.“I’m.I’m being promoted?”“I suppose it does sound unbelievable,” Commander Gregory said, snidely.She grinned at Yolanda’s stunned expression.“You’ve done well, both in actual combat and in.the other tasks of managing a starship, so I had no hesitation in recommending you for promotion.You will, of course, be expected to live up to this honour, Lieutenant.I will not prove forgiving if you screw up or abuse your authority.”She smiled again, then sobered.“The Solar Navy doesn't have many officers with actual space combat experience,” she added.“We were careful to try to avoid major conflict with any of the Galactics, apart from the Horde and other scavengers.Experienced officers like yourself are going to be worth their weight in compressed antimatter, now we’ve finally stepped onto the galactic stage.I think you will probably be transferred to another ship soon enough, once we have time for a proper reorganisation.”“Yes, Commander,” Yolanda said.“You won’t get a bigger cabin yet,” Commander Gregory added.“Not that anyone really has a big cabin on this ship, anyway.”That was true, Yolanda knew.The Captain and the Commodore had enough room to swing a cat, but everyone else had a small compartment or had to double up with another officer.It was odd, given the sheer scale of the quarters available to Tokomak officers, yet she had a feeling it helped to concentrate a few minds.Besides, VR could create the illusion that one was living in a palace, with a harem of nude servants, or any other illusion one fancied.It wasn't as if an officer needed a huge compartment to himself.“I.”“Just remember not to throw your weight around too much,” Commander Gregory warned, darkly.“And you still have plenty of work to do.”“Yes, Commander,” Yolanda said.“Take ten minutes to recover, then report to the simulation chambers,” Commander Gregory ordered.“We have some new scenarios based on their war plans, such as they were.And some interesting potential uses for pieces of alien technology.”***It had taken several hours of careful argument, but eventually the Marines had been able to convince most of the aliens to assist the humans in stripping the storage dump of supplies and transferring them to the captured freighters.There really wasn't much of a choice, Martin knew; the aliens had been trained to use the equipment, which was specifically designed for their physiologies.The Marines couldn't have used it without real problems, which would have delayed operations too far.But some of the Commodore’s decisions seemed to be delaying matters too.“You have a question, Corporal?” Lieutenant Robbins asked.The breather she wore on her face made it harder for him to make out her words.“You’re hanging there as if you have something you want to say.”Martin hesitated, then nodded.“Why are we stealing their missiles, Lieutenant?”“Because the Commodore wants us to take them,” Robbins said, shortly.She was a good Marine, everyone agreed, but she had a tendency to be sharp when asked stupid questions – or questions she considered to be stupid.“And his orders stand.”“But.” Martin stepped aside to allow another missile rack to be moved to the freighters, then looked back at the Lieutenant.“We can't use these missiles, can we?”“You never know when you might want to bombard a planet,” Robbins said, evasively.“And besides, better we have them than the alternative.”“But we can’t use them,” Martin said.Lieutenant Robbins smiled, lightly.“The Commodore had years of service in the wet-navy, then fifty-plus years of service in the Solar Navy,” she said.“I think he probably knows what he’s doing.Just because the order didn't seem to make sense doesn’t mean that it’s stupid, Corporal.The people at the top often have a better idea of the big picture than the people on the ground.”Martin frowned, remembering some of the exercises they’d been forced to undergo, purely to draw the lesson that the people at the top didn't always know what was going on at the bottom [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.“I’m.I’m being promoted?”“I suppose it does sound unbelievable,” Commander Gregory said, snidely.She grinned at Yolanda’s stunned expression.“You’ve done well, both in actual combat and in.the other tasks of managing a starship, so I had no hesitation in recommending you for promotion.You will, of course, be expected to live up to this honour, Lieutenant.I will not prove forgiving if you screw up or abuse your authority.”She smiled again, then sobered.“The Solar Navy doesn't have many officers with actual space combat experience,” she added.“We were careful to try to avoid major conflict with any of the Galactics, apart from the Horde and other scavengers.Experienced officers like yourself are going to be worth their weight in compressed antimatter, now we’ve finally stepped onto the galactic stage.I think you will probably be transferred to another ship soon enough, once we have time for a proper reorganisation.”“Yes, Commander,” Yolanda said.“You won’t get a bigger cabin yet,” Commander Gregory added.“Not that anyone really has a big cabin on this ship, anyway.”That was true, Yolanda knew.The Captain and the Commodore had enough room to swing a cat, but everyone else had a small compartment or had to double up with another officer.It was odd, given the sheer scale of the quarters available to Tokomak officers, yet she had a feeling it helped to concentrate a few minds.Besides, VR could create the illusion that one was living in a palace, with a harem of nude servants, or any other illusion one fancied.It wasn't as if an officer needed a huge compartment to himself.“I.”“Just remember not to throw your weight around too much,” Commander Gregory warned, darkly.“And you still have plenty of work to do.”“Yes, Commander,” Yolanda said.“Take ten minutes to recover, then report to the simulation chambers,” Commander Gregory ordered.“We have some new scenarios based on their war plans, such as they were.And some interesting potential uses for pieces of alien technology.”***It had taken several hours of careful argument, but eventually the Marines had been able to convince most of the aliens to assist the humans in stripping the storage dump of supplies and transferring them to the captured freighters.There really wasn't much of a choice, Martin knew; the aliens had been trained to use the equipment, which was specifically designed for their physiologies.The Marines couldn't have used it without real problems, which would have delayed operations too far.But some of the Commodore’s decisions seemed to be delaying matters too.“You have a question, Corporal?” Lieutenant Robbins asked.The breather she wore on her face made it harder for him to make out her words.“You’re hanging there as if you have something you want to say.”Martin hesitated, then nodded.“Why are we stealing their missiles, Lieutenant?”“Because the Commodore wants us to take them,” Robbins said, shortly.She was a good Marine, everyone agreed, but she had a tendency to be sharp when asked stupid questions – or questions she considered to be stupid.“And his orders stand.”“But.” Martin stepped aside to allow another missile rack to be moved to the freighters, then looked back at the Lieutenant.“We can't use these missiles, can we?”“You never know when you might want to bombard a planet,” Robbins said, evasively.“And besides, better we have them than the alternative.”“But we can’t use them,” Martin said.Lieutenant Robbins smiled, lightly.“The Commodore had years of service in the wet-navy, then fifty-plus years of service in the Solar Navy,” she said.“I think he probably knows what he’s doing.Just because the order didn't seem to make sense doesn’t mean that it’s stupid, Corporal.The people at the top often have a better idea of the big picture than the people on the ground.”Martin frowned, remembering some of the exercises they’d been forced to undergo, purely to draw the lesson that the people at the top didn't always know what was going on at the bottom [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]