Intrepid

''Do we have to do it all that fast?'' Captain Drago asked.

''No,'' his navigator said.

''Yes,'' Kris said.

''Okay.'' The captain sighed. ''I take it that Sulwan thinks we could do things as slow as I might want to do. You, my princess, no doubt want to go for the fast track that gives poor Captain Thorpe as little time to adjust as possible.''

''And I'd also like to suggest that some of us put our heads down for a nap,'' she said, looking straight at Jack. ''It's nighttime where we're headed on Panda.''

''We, Your Highness,'' the Marine said.

''We,'' Kris said.

''Oh joy,'' Captain Drago breathed. ''I shall have my ship all to myself this battle.''

''Oh, I'll be looking over your shoulder,'' Kris insisted. ''But from the comfort of dirt under my feet.''

''Who's going to provide you an intel feed?'' Abby asked.

''I'll take Penny dirtside with me. You stay up here and look after Cara. Make sure you and Penny coordinate.''

''And me?'' Chief Beni asked.

''You stay up here. I'll use the Marines for tech support. You coordinate with Professor mFumbo and his boffins.''

Which lost Kris at least a half hour of the nap she wanted.

''What do you mean, taking me and my scientists into a gunfight?'' mFumbo's deep base roared as he barged into Kris's stateroom, not bothering to knock.

Kris had laid herself out carefully for her nap so as not to muss her undress khakis. She suspected that a part of her, the one that refused to be startled and raise the hairs on the back of her head at this noisy arrival, was expecting this.

''You didn't complain all that much about it when we went trolling for pirates,'' Kris said, doing a crunch with a twist that got her sitting in her bunk, facing the upset boffin.

''I didn't expect a pirate to bite. None of us did. Do you know we had a pool going in science country. Only two were betting you'd get us into a fight. A fight. As in one. Now you're gunning for a second one, and this guy is former Navy, who has lasers hidden aboard his ship.''

''Have your techs identified the guns?'' Kris asked.

''No, not yet.''

''I assume you are working with Chief Beni.''

''It's our necks, too.''

''I'm glad you see it that way,'' Kris said, with as small a smile as she could manage.

''But see here, this is totally too much. We've hardly gotten any science done.''

''You didn't object when Captain Drago took on cargo.''

''He promised to upgrade our quarters with some of his ill-gotten take,'' mFumbo rumbled, looking for all the world like a three-year-old with his fingers caught in the cookie jar.

Kris again had to swallow a smile. She'd never have thought the imposingly tall, ebony professor could look so embarrassed. She was tempted to let this conversation go on, but she found herself stifling a yawn. She did want a nap.

''Lieutenant, I suggest you and the other technical support staff review the paperwork you filled out before boarding.'' mFumbo twisted his face into something not quite ugly but nowhere near submissive. ''So I'm ‘Lieutenant' now, am I?''

''And your team are ensigns and warrant officers,'' Kris pointed out, ''in Wardhaven's Naval Reserve, entitled to all the obligations, protections, and fun those papers allow. That includes facing my old captain, who loves to ride ensigns.''

The professor and, by the commission issued by the Parliament of Wardhaven, officer and gentleman, took in a huge breath and followed it with a deep sigh. ''Dr. Rimlin warned me those papers were not pro forma, not with a Longknife aboard, but I ignored her. She will have a few words to say to me over dinner tonight, and I will be reduced to hanging my head and allowing that a sociologist just might be wiser than a xenobiologist. How the world has turned.''

''Now, may I take my nap?'' Kris asked, carefully laying herself out on her back again.

''Yes, I will withdraw in abject defeat,'' Professor mFumbo said, turning out the light and opening the door. ''But I wonder how well you will sleep. That little girl certainly did not sign herself into any Navy, now, did she?''

And the door closed, leaving Kris in the dark. She was sleepy, but mFumbo's last salvo had hit home.

The situation on the planet they were headed for was full of unknowns. And if Captain Thorpe was involved in cooking it up, it would not be an easy one to figure out or make come out any way but how Thorpe wanted it. Kris should be concentrating on how to gnaw that knot.

But that knot was not her only problem.

The list of dead at Kris's hands was long and never seemed to stop growing. That they'd been the ''bad guys'' and died so that good might prevail was comfort to Kris.

The list of those who had died in Kris's various commands was much longer than she liked and also seemed destined to grow. The only comfort Kris could take was that they had all volunteered and died so that others might live in freedom.

But Kris was risking a twelve-year-old. And twelve was too young to volunteer for anything.

13