Fear God and Dread Naught by Christopher Nuttall Read Free Book Online

this,” she said, raising her voice to address her officers.  “It’s very good to be back.  And I would like to invite you all for dinner tonight, at 1900.  We have much to discuss.”
     
    She paused.  “Commander Mason, remain behind,” she ordered.  “The rest of you, dismissed.”
     
    “We cleared Captain Blake’s gear out of his cabin,” Mason told her, quietly.  “It’s open for you now, if you wish it.”
     
    “Good,” Susan said.  She’d left his cabin alone after she’d assumed command - it had been as good a place as any to put him - but now it was hers.  “You can come with me.  I imagine we have a great deal to discuss.”
     
    She kept her face expressionless as she strode through the corridors, silently noting the ongoing work to prepare the battleship for war.  Crewmen - many of them unfamiliar - were unpacking boxes, installing components and checking and rechecking their work.  A handful of her junior officers snapped to attention as she passed, then relaxed as she strode on to her cabin.  It wouldn't be long before word got around the ship, if it hadn’t already.  Captain Onarina had returned.
     
    “Well,” she said, once they had entered the bare cabin.  Someone had put a bottle of whiskey on the captain’s table, along with a pair of glasses, but there was nothing else in the compartment.  “How was it for you?”
     
    “They asked a great many questions,” Mason said.  He relaxed as soon as the hatch had hissed closed.  “And I answered them to the best of my ability.  There was a week in pokey and then they sent me back to the ship with a promotion and orders to get her ready for combat as soon as possible.”
     
    “That’s good,” Susan said.  It was hard not to feel envy, but she had been the one who had worked hard to ensure she took most of the blame.  Her subordinates could claim they’d followed orders, although she had no idea how well that would have stood up in a court martial hearing.  “Have you heard anything else?”
     
    “Your father sent me a number of emails, which I have strict orders to pass on to you at the most convenient moment,” Mason told her.  “He appears to believe we’re lovers.”
     
    Susan would have blushed, if her skin had allowed it.  Mason and she had been barrack mates, back at the academy.  She couldn't have been his lover, not when it would have landed them both in hot water.  And besides, it would have felt like kissing her brother.
     
    “I’ll v-mail him tonight,” Susan said.  “Or perhaps we can have a real conversation.”
     
    “You should be able to,” Mason said.  He reached for the bottle and poured them both a generous dollop of alcohol.  “You are the Captain, Captain.”
     
    He sobered.  “I think he was trying to round up political support,” he added.  “You’d probably be better emailing him now, before he does something foolish.”
     
    Susan winced.  Her father was a stubborn old man - hell, he wasn’t really that old.  He’d been strict with her, pointing out that he expected her to excel at everything she did, but he'd also fought hard for her.  She had a feeling she might have been expelled from Hanover Towers if her father hadn't driven up to the school to argue her case personally with the headmistress, citing chapter and verse to make sure her suspension couldn't become an expulsion.  The thought of the conversation they’d had afterwards made her cringe, but she’d never doubted her father was on her side.  He’d proved it too many times.
     
    “I will,” she said.  She took a sip of the whiskey as she sat down, silently promising herself that she’d get some more comfortable furniture moved into the suite before they left the spacedock.  “How is the ship?”
     
    A shadow crossed Mason’s face.  Susan couldn't help feeling a flicker of guilt.  She would have hated it if a senior officer had come in and taken command, after she’d spent days