Third World by Louis Shalako Read Free Book Online Page A

mother to some of
them. We understand all of that. They are very young. But if you
lose their respect, then we will have no further use for you. At
least at your current rank, and in your present
position.”
    “ I understand,
Ma’am.”
    “ You are
dismissed.”
    Quietly, the door closed behind
him.
    Their eyes met. She grinned hugely, and
he couldn’t help but to respond as it was genuinely contagious. She
was enjoying this.
    “ I’m sorry to have had to
bother you, Ensign.”
    “ That’s all right,
Lieutenant.” She grinned happily.
    Neither said anything more for a
moment, and then he nodded, indicating the door with a wave of his
forearm, and finding himself unable to stifle a yawn. What he
wouldn’t give for a friend right now.
    He said as much.
    “ That’s all right, sir.” A
quirky grin crossed her features. “I wouldn’t have missed that for
the world.”
    She got up to go, and Newton considered
offering her a drink but the hour was late enough as it
was.
    Then it was her turn to pause at the
door.
    She turned.
    “ Onboard the ship things are
a lot easier. At least there, they know their duties and understand
the routine. I hope I was of some assistance.” She waited for this
to sink in and went on. “They’re not bad people, as I see
it.”
    No, and that was just the
trouble.
    “ You were great. I couldn’t
have put it better myself.” He yawned, and then shook his head as
if to clear it of cobwebs.
    Everyone knew what cobwebs were. Funny
thing about space-ships, they still had cobwebs. For all of their
material and technological progress, some things remained the same
and likely would until the end of time. Deep-space missions were a
curious mix of the mundane and the sublime.
    Even doing laundry for a thousand
people had its challenges, yet it was also crucial to morale to be
clean yourself, and to look after your people.
    “ Thank you, Ensign. And I’m
sorry to keep you up so late. Goodnight.”
    “ Goodnight, sir.”
    There was one more thing to do, and
then he could go to bed.
    But if the events of the last half-hour
were any indication, and of course they were, he had better make a
quick check around and see if anyone else was missing or
unaccounted for. He was doing bed-checks, for Christ’s sake. He
shook his head at the thought.
    For someone in command of even the
smallest group of human beings, the work was never done and the
responsibility was acute.
    He was beginning to see why these
particular troopers were considered dispensable. Maybe they were
just young. The ship really was a whole different environment. But
they might very well have bivouacked right at the landing field,
and subsisted on field rations. They just didn’t see
that.
    For one thing, it would be a hell of a
lot cheaper.
    Perhaps he should have spelled it out a
little more clearly for them. This was his failure, and his alone,
the way he saw it. Surely it was how the Commander would see
it.
    This was just the tip of the iceberg.
And it could have been so much worse.
     
     
     

Chapter Six
     
    Hank Felt Like a
Fool
     
     
    Feeling a bit of a fool, Hank was back
at worship the next Sunday.
    For some reason Leviticus
always left a bad taste in his mouth and it was a sore trial just
to sit through it. The fervent Amens of the congregation may have
had something to do with it, or perhaps it was the fact that ten
percent of them must be hypocrites.
    Perhaps they didn’t have the slightest
idea of what they were saying or what Marty was talking
about.
    Polly was there, but her mother was
absent. He should have been pleased, and yet he had been prepared
for the two of them. It was all rehearsed.
    He wasn’t prepared for this.
    As the congregation straggled out into
the morning mist, with patches of alternating sun and cloud on the
distant hilltops, he stood there blinking for a moment, off to one
side so as not to be in the way.
    Surely there must be at least one man
on the planet who was lonelier than Hank, but