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Until then, we just bore a hole in nothing on our way there. Nobody and nothing else is near us."
    Paul nodded, scanning the displays. Watches tended to be either way too dull or way too exciting. Once they joined up with the foreign ships, they'd probably all be exciting for a while, but they had a lot of space to cover before then. "Who's this on a slightly converging track with us?"
    Kris pointed to the symbol. "The Mahan 's out here, too. Heading for the same general area."
    "What?" Paul stared at the symbol. "They're adding in another ship? This late in the game? I haven't seen—"
    "Relax, relax. We got briefed on it during our watch. The Mahan got tapped as an observer ship."
    "What's the Mahan going to see that anyone watching from Earth's surface couldn't?"
    "Nothing. But they loaded some VIPs onboard her. American and foreign. They get to 'be here' during the exercise."
    "Whoopee." Paul settled into the chair, adjusting the straps to suit his larger body.
    Kris Denaldo gave him a curious look. "Why's the Mahan got you spooked?"
    "I'm not spooked."
    "You're not happy."
    "You know who the captain of the Mahan is!"
    She frowned, then her expression cleared. "Oh, yeah. Jen's dad."
    Jen's dad. Captain Kay Shen . A man who'd made it clear that he didn't think Paul measured up to what his daughter deserved, and who'd warned that he'd be watching Paul. And now here he is, literally watching my ship. Oh, joy .
    Denaldo smiled at Paul's expression. "Captain Shen's not that bad, is he?"
    Paul stared at her with exaggerated disbelief. "Do you know those illustrations for science fiction stuff where some big, dark character is looming over and menacing an entire galaxy? That's how I think of Jen's father. He's out there, always watching."
    Kris laughed. "Paul, I met him once. He seemed okay."
    "You weren't dating his daughter."
    "That's true. Jen and I don't swing that way." Kris paused as if thinking. "Still, Jen is awful cute."
    "And she's mine. Just in case you're not joking."
    " Yours ? Jen's like a cat, Paul, just in case you haven't figured that out, yet. She might choose to hang around with you, but you'll never own her."
    Yeah. Which is one of the things I like about her. But it leaves me to worry that someday she'll find some other tomcat that she likes better than me. Not that I have to worry about her father liking that other tomcat better than he does me. I think . "Point taken. Still, Captain Kay Shen is one very hard-assed individual. And I know he's keeping as close an eye as he can on everything I do."
    "I thought Commander Herdez was keeping an eye on you to see if you were maintaining her standards."
    "She is. Both of them are."
    "Ugh. Better you than me." Denaldo ran down the rest of the information Paul needed to know. The turnover briefing didn't take too long, since Paul was familiar with upcoming events and because in this large area of space labeled "local" he and the other officers on the ship had become familiar with space traffic patterns, objects in fixed orbits and navigational aides. "Any questions?"
    "Nah." Paul rendered a casual salute to her. "I got it."
    She returned the salute, part of the formal ritual the watch followed. "I stand relieved." Raising her voice, Denaldo called out, "This is Lieutenant Denaldo. Lieutenant Sinclair has the conn."
    "This is Lieutenant Sinclair. I have the conn." Paul listened as the other watch standers acknowledged the transfer of responsibility.
    Lieutenant Sindh had been his more senior watch standing partner as officer of the deck for some months now. He'd regret losing her steady presence on the bridge, too. They passed the hours of the watch playing Foreign Navy Jeopardy, which could be entertaining enough to dissipate boredom while also professional enough not to get them in trouble if a more senior officer overheard them.
    Paul was saying, "I'll take Russian Federation minor combatants for four hundred," when their reliefs arrived. Sam Yarrow gave Paul an