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direction Hartmann had taken. “It lets big, important people like him show that he associates with ordinary, everyday people like me.”
    Beth frowned at him. “You aren’t ordinary people, Tanner.”
    “Yes, I am. There are hours and hours of media stories to tell you so.”
    “You don’t think that proves my point?”
    “I think it proves that not everyone understands the concept of irony,” he quipped.
    Rather than let him get away with that by laughing, Beth smacked him on the shoulder. Tanner accepted it without complaint. “Still. That’s a pretty cynical view of things, isn’t it?”
    “How long have you worked in Ascension Hall?” Tanner asked. “You haven’t gotten cynical yet?”
    “Oh, I’m plenty cynical,” she shrugged, “but you’ve only been here a few months. I figured it’d take at least a year or two for a kid like you to get that way.” Beth looked at him thoughtfully. “You’ve never been asked out?”
    “Not the way you’re suggesting, no. Have I been asked out? Sure. Have women dropped hints? Sure. But nobody just walks up to me while I’m here in my shiny dress uniform and—“
    Tanner always kept his eyes on the hallways. His job mostly involved simple crowd control, courtesy greetings and a certain amount of pageantry. Dress uniforms were part of the spectacle of the palace. But neither he nor his sidearm were purely for show; he was also a part of the building’s security force, and as such he kept his eyes and ears open at all times.
    H e saw the admiral coming well before she was within conversational range, but popped to attention the instant she appeared. Unperturbed, Beth merely turned her eyes back to her computer displays.
    “Crewman Malone,” said Admiral Yeoh, “how are you?”
    “Fine, ma’am. Thank you for asking, ma’am.”
    The corners of Yeoh’s mouth cracked in just the slightest show of amusement. “I wondered if you might join me for some coffee.”
    “Yes, ma’am. Soon as I can get relief here, ma’am.” He wasn’t due to have a break for another hour, but this was Admiral Yeoh. Every officer in the guard would tell him that his break would happen whenever the admiral damn well pleased.
    “Excellent. I’ll see you in the south dining room.”
    “Yes, ma’am.”
    With that, Admiral Yeoh turned and headed back down the hall. Tanner relaxed his posture. He glanced at Beth and then grimaced at her amused expression. “Don’t,” he warned in vain.
    “Don’t what? I was just gonna say she’s still rather pretty, especially given her age. You like that, don’t you, Tanner? Pretty, powerful and much, much older than you?”
    Tanner let out a loud, grumbling sigh. He tapped his holocom to call his watch commander.
    Beth didn’t bother to restrain her teasing. “So, I want to know: is it the feeling of conquest that draws you to women like that? Or are you only interested in women who can conquer you?”
    “That’s exactly it, ” Tanner replied. “That’s why I have erotic dreams every night about Gunnery Sergeant Janeka from basic training.”
    “Wait, you have dreams about what ?” asked the voice of the watch commander on his holocom.
     
    * * *
     
    “So, what are your thoughts on choosing a rating?” Yeoh’s eyes stayed on him as she sipped her cup of coffee. A handful of the other tables also hosted people in dress uniform—all of them officers, except Tanner—but by a wide majority, occupants of the south wing dining room wore civilian business wear.
    “I’m sorry, ma’am?” Tanner had yet to touch the drink on the table in front of him. He sat up straight with his hands on his lap.
    “Tanner, it’s one thing to observe military etiquette, but you don’t have to call me ma’am with every sentence,” she smiled. “This isn’t the first time we’ve met. Or even the third. Relax.”
    His lips tensed for a second as he processed his reactions, but he nodded. “Yes, ma’am,” he exhaled, and then grinned a bit