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alone, he’d earned his high-school equivalency certificate and begun an advanced first-aid class. Heinrich in particular had taken a liking to the little Rabbit and was training him in marksmanship and the martial arts, of all things. He was turning into a regular renaissance-bunny, Nestor was! We freed Rabbits were just full of surprises, apparently, and so far as I was concerned the ex-cabin boy was growing best and fastest of us all. It was a miracle, considering where he’d been and what he’d endured. But it was the happiest one I’d ever witnessed.
     
    “Let’s all go together,” I declared, though in truth I didn’t want to go at all. The fact was that I’d still not gotten over my father’s death. He’d died heroically, doing his duty to the very end and knowing full well that he’d never make it out of the engine room before all hell broke loose. The last few ergs of power my father nursed from the failing ship’s drive had saved James’s and my lives, though he’d not lived to see it. There’d never been a funeral, I’d never had a chance to mourn, and, well… I was tearing up at just the thought of revisiting my once-happy little home.  So I stepped forward briskly, trying not to let the others see how badly affected I was.
     
    But in the end I was spared. “Lieutenant Birkenhead!” a welcome voice barked out. It was that of Colonel Amaroo, the army officer in charge of re-securing and policing the capital area under martial law. He was currently the ranking officer dirtside. Amaroo was a good and kindly sort of man until crossed, and had without actually out and out saying so made it clear how much he respected me. This wasn’t an easy thing for a senior officer to manage with a junior.
     
    “Son, that’s area’s still off limits—it hasn’t been swept for booby-traps yet. Please, stay closer to the ship!”
     
    “Aye-aye, sir!” I responded, turning away from my old home. Then I smiled at my friends. “That’s okay. I can always come back tomorrow.”
     
    But I didn’t, of course. Or any other day, until finally the whole area was bulldozed for the new, improved spaceport. For I loved my father very, very much. And I wanted to remember the place where I’d spent so many happy hours with him the way he’d left it, not as befouled by marauding Imperials.
     

7
     
    “…and fourteen Class II ground to orbit shuttles,” I explained to the rest of my little staff at our afternoon meeting a week later. “That’s the whole fleet.”
     
    “Good lord!” Jean murmured. “There’s not even enough lift capacity left to keep the orbital infrastructure up and running!”
     
    “The only reason the Imperials left even that much is because it’s all junk,” I answered, scowling. “Only one of the shuttles is certifiable to carry passengers, and its permit is long-expired.” Then I shook my head. “I’ll grant that things look pretty bleak—I mean, no one can create an auxiliary fleet out of nothing. But we can make this into an opportunity. Within weeks you can bet that my House will be bidding for vessels all over Royal space and maybe even beyond, to alleviate the shortage. Plus, once word gets out of what a mess we’re dealing with here independent shipmasters from all over will be dropping out of hyperspace seeking high-value cargo and easy profits. Maybe we can persuade a few of them to sign up?”
     
    “Maybe,” Heinrich replied, looking out the window. “But… Will they be the ships we really want? I mean… David, they’ll have engines manufactured on a hundred planets, and will require just as many kinds of spare parts. Plus, the independent operators won’t have roots here. Maybe—just maybe!—they’ll sign a contract. But in the event of war, they won’t be fighting for their homes and families like the locally-owned ships. Their hearts won’t be in it. Less-than-fully-committed fighting men are worse than useless and you know it, sir.”
     
    I