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capital crimes here?” She smiled,
obviously only half joking.
    Jill stared, intent. “I don’t think so.
Mostly just Article 92.”
    “Failure to obey a lawful order. I can tell
you then with ironclad certainty that my lips are sealed.” She took
a drink of her coffee, made a face. “It’s this ship’s water. I ran
out of bottled a while back.”
    Repeth took a deep breath. “All right. I
choose to trust you.” A pause. “I am not assigned to this
ship.”
    Forman’s eyebrows flew up in surprise, and
she sat forward, putting her chin on her fist. “Really? That’s a
new one, not that my military career is particularly long or
distinguished. Do tell.” Her eyes sparked with the cheeky joy of
shared secrets.
    Jill shook her head angrily. “Ma’am…six hours
ago I was looking at this LPD from the railing of that cruise ship
you have under quarantine. I just swam twelve miles, I’m hungry,
and I’m not in the mood for casual conversation. And there is no
disease aboard that ship. At least, nothing…nothing bad.”
    Forman opened her hand to drum her fingers on
her own cheek, staring into Jill’s eyes, as if seeking truth. “Dear
me. Dear me. Sergeant, I never thought to say this, but I am at a
loss. What do you want me to do?”
    “Ma’am...I haven’t a clue. But I’m exhausted.
I need food and rest, and I’m holding my head up by sheer
willpower. Is there somewhere…”
    “On a ship? We both know that every space is
spoken for. You might be able to join the crew as a transfer in and
get away with it for a few days…”
    “Just let me eat and sleep, then I’ll be able
to think straight. Please?”
    Forman thought for a moment. “Take my cabin.”
She gestured to a door in the back of the tiny office. “No one will
disturb you. I can sleep in my chair if need be. I’ll go get some
food to go from the mess.”
    “Thank you, ma’am.” Jill stumbled to the
cabin’s bunk, falling asleep as her head hit the pillow.
    The wolverine in her guts woke her up. Faint
light from the open office door illuminated food cartons next to
the bunk. She wolfed down their contents – sandwiches, fruit,
potato chips, milk – then rolled over and went back to sleep.
    A long black time later, a giant club struck
the ship like a gong, throwing her out of her bunk and onto the
deck. She yelped as the impact twisted her wrist, then again as she
put her weight on the prostheses. She gave up and went back to one
hand and two knees, crawling along the heaving deck to the
doorway.
    Chaplain Forman was sitting on the deck as
well, holding her head. She would have a nasty shiner soon, above
her right eye. The two women stared at each other, and then Forman
clawed her way to her seat behind the desk as the PA came to
life.
    “Now hear this, now hear this. General
Quarters, General Quarters, all hands General Quarters. Condition
Zebra.” They felt the ship get under weigh, the sound of the screws
churning at flank speed, maximum revolutions.
    “I have to go to my station in the infirmary.
You stay here!” Forman pointed severely at Repeth with an
emphasizing finger.
    An hour of sweat later the chaplain returned,
teeth clenched. “The scuttlebutt is your cruise ship just exploded.
Lost with all souls. One of the corpsmen said they saw streaks of
light from the sky, then it just vanished in a fireball. Someone
should be court-martialed – the Ingraham was a lot closer
than we were, and has been gravely damaged. Their wounded are being
medevacked to us. I have to get right back.”
    “You know what this means, don’t you,
ma’am?”
    “It means the US government just murdered
three thousand innocent people because they thought they were sick.
They must have been extremely frightened to do something like that.
Though perhaps they have a right to be. Terrorists just detonated
two nuclear weapons on US soil: one in Los Angeles, another in West
Virginia.”
    Sergeant Repeth gaped in shock. “Los Angeles?
What the hell is