lack of honorific for Captain Ayres. Then she remembered that the Ephraim CO's second wife was Jennie Greentree Ayres, so they were family, surely that meant it was all right.
Captain Ayres appeared not to notice the slight at all.
“A board? Of course not, it was just a paper promotion! I had no idea that she'd refuse to sign the transfer paperwork and push to get put on a ship.”
Claire blinked trying to remember refusing to sign anything. She hadn't even made her initials on anything in the Ephraim XO's office that morning. What had the XO told him?
“Any sane woman,” Captain Ayres continued, “would realize that we just can't allow our own women to run wild like the Manties do. But sometimes they get ideas you know. Fun, when they're in your bed. Not so much when you try to command one.”
Commander Greentree finally got Captain Ayres to wind down. Ayres repeated sheepish apologies for passing on his problems to a brother-in-law when he had intended to pass them off to Willard, the stuffed shirt running the Blackbird maintenance division, who properly deserved Claire since he was an advocate for the Protector's outlandish social engineering.
Ayres dipped his head in a final apology and walked off.
Commander Greentree turned to Claire. His quick up-down look focused a bit too much. She force relaxed her jaw to keep from gritting her teeth or letting a change of facial expression escape. So maybe she was plain to the point of near ugliness, and maybe the slight mottledness of the skin spoke of skin cancers caught late and treated without much concern for the aesthetic impact on the patient. She looked well enough for a not so wealthy steader from Burdette who had never had enough marital prospects to make it worth her family's while to mortgage their lives for beauty treatments.
Claire's new CO welcomed her with: “Why aren't you at least wearing makeup?”
Of course she was wearing makeup. It just wasn't very good. Claire was sure her smile had slipped into the mulish blankness that the Burdette Ladies often chastised her about. “No excuse, Sir.”
Commander Greentree shot a glare at the departing back of his brother-in law. “At least get yourself over to base medical and have a skin treatment. Jennie is constantly writing Elsabeta about them, so I know they've got a spa dermatologist up here, for all that Jennie claims the service in the waiting room isn't what she's used to back on the Steading.”
Claire opened her mouth to object, but Greentree talked right on over her. “Any way, we can't have the Manties thinking that we let our service members walk around with untreated service injuries so easily corrected. What did you do anyway, get sloppy at the engineering depot?”
Claire blushed furiously at that implication of negligence. She'd been four or maybe five the last time she'd had a skin cancer.
Greentree shook his head. “Nothing for it. You've learned. I see that. But get it fixed now. Wearing your mistakes on your face helps no one. You hear?”
“Aye, Sir.” Claire could do that much. She gave up a half formed line of explanation to spell out his mistaken assumptions, and instead she grasped for the glimmer of opportunity. “Sir, when should I report for my board?”
“What board?”
“For ensign.”
Commander Greentree's nostril's flared. “You're wearing the rank. I assume your pay's already been adjusted. If not, my exec will see to the admin details. Regardless, the orders your Captain Ayres signed on his honor as a commissioned officer say you are reporting as an ensign. You'll just have to learn as you go along. Try not to fall on your face too often in front of your people. You'll be having requalification or,” at this he grimaced again, “I suppose your first qualification boards for the watches. That will have to do.” Almost under his breath, Commander Greentree muttered his brother-in-law's name like a curse and then added in a voice used to issuing commands. “Don't expect empty promotions from me.”
Claire kept her face carefully still and boarded the shuttle to Manasseh as Commander Greentree waved her on with a final grimace. Master Chief Wallens joined her for the return flight. Without the two COs present, Claire introduced herself and asked who she should see on the ship about getting assigned a place to sleep. The master chief presented her with a stateroom assignment, ship patches for her uniforms, and a new ship's comp filled with study material and ship system schematics. Claire