Read No Honor in Death for Free Online

junior navigator."  His face was red with shame and he looked like he'd rather be reaming out plasma conduits under full sail than stand here explaining why he was gambling with his seniors.  He was good looking, in a boyish way, with his mop of chestnut hair, and large, sensitive brown eyes.
    The third officer, a large, bald, dark-skinned man who kept licking his thick lips was perspiring heavily.
    "You?"
    He bobbed his shiny, bullet-shaped head several times, lips working furiously.  "Lieutenant Rossum, sir.  Purser."
    Dunmoore let the silence deepen as she stared at them.
    "For some reason I cannot begin to identify," she growled, "I thought this was a warship, not some cheap, rat-infested floating casino.  In all my years of service, I have never seen such a disgusting, filthy wardroom.  If I didn't know better, I'd have you all arrested for impersonating commissioned officers of the Commonwealth Navy.  Right now, I'm not sure whether to arrest you or make you clean this pig-sty with a toothbrush."  Before she lost what remained of her temper, Siobhan growled, "Clean this place up.  Do it yourselves.  Do not make the wardroom steward do it.  Then get yourselves cleaned up.  I will decide what to do with your sorry asses later."  Then she turned on her heels and stomped out.
    Luttrell glanced at her companions and grunted.  "We've got a live one, laddies, and no mistake.  Something tells me she subscribes to the hard-assed school of command, and doesn't give a shit what anyone thinks.  It'll be an interesting change, if nothing else."
    "Gods above," Rossum wiped his forehead with a thick handkerchief, "hard-assed could get us all in deep trouble, Viv."
    "I wouldn't worry too much, chums.  She'll be wanting to look good, like all skippers.  Turning over rocks to see what's wiggling underneath ain't gonna do it.  So long as we keep the past as buried as it gets."
     
    The hatch to the Captain's cabin opened at Siobhan's touch and she stepped gingerly over the threshold.  It was bare save for the permanent fixtures: bed, desk, computer terminal, closet and washroom.  And the two small boxes containing her personal effects.  At least those had made it to their proper destination.  But bare as the cabin was, she could still feel the traces of Commander Forenza's occupation, a dampening presence just like the dullness she'd felt in every other part of the ship.
    Siobhan and Forenza had been classmates at the Academy, and lifelong enemies.  That Forenza had finally met her downfall was small consolation to Siobhan.  Most likely her family connections would ensure she didn't suffer for her misdeeds.  The true story of her dismissal would probably never be known.  Earthers protected each other.  The only thing Siobhan knew for sure was if she failed to pick up the pieces left by Forenza's habitual self-indulgence and scheming, she'd be the one paying the price.
     
    Engineering was as silent as the proverbial grave.  The main fusion reactor pulsed dully, its energies damped with the ship at anchor.  She knew the matter/anti-matter reactors in the  nacelles would be dark and silent, dead without the highly volatile fuel.
    A short, stocky woman wearing coveralls stamped with a Lieutenant-Commander's two and a half stripes emerged from the Chief Engineer's office.  She glanced at Dunmoore in surprise and came to attention.
    "Chief Engineer Tiner, sir."  Her small dark eyes darted around the engine room, looking everywhere except at Siobhan.  Tiner had a seamed, weathered face topped by an unruly mop of iron gray hair.
    "Commander Dunmoore." Siobhan replied.
    "Yes, sir.  New Captain, sir."
    "Ah, finally someone who was aware I was expected aboard," Dunmoore replied with more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice.  She immediately regretted her tone when she saw the Engineer flinch.  Siobhan forced herself to smile and took a gentler tone.  "Why don't we tour the engine room, Mister Tiner.  You can