ld
join him at a meal. When they did stand, however, Commander Pappas
gave an exclamation of surprise, and the room grew silent. That didn't
last long; the murmur of conversation resumed, but now, from what
Corina could hear, with herself as the subject. The tone was more awed
than surprised after that first exclamation, and Corina assumed that
word of the previous day's war council was no longer restricted to the
Command Crew.

Jim must have picked that up, she thought, or possibly he was just
anticipating her reaction. "It's impossible to keep rumors from
circulating aboard ship," he said, "especially about something as rare
as a potential Ranger. The word was probably all over Chang within
fifteen minutes after His Majesty dismissed the Command Crew. There's
no harm in it."

They entered a shuttle, and Medart ordered it to the Bridge. "We'll
meet Captain Hobison there, so he'll get the news directly, not
second-hand. He normally has breakfast in his cabin, and goes straight
to the Bridge."

Corina nodded. "And I must tell him my plans, as well. But what about
those rumors? What if I had continued to refuse?"

"You're starting to sound like Sunbeam," Medart laughed. "The rumors
would have tapered off eventually, after giving the crew something a
bit different to talk about for awhile."

The shuttle slowed to a stop, its door sliding open. The Bridge, as
the ship's nerve center, was of course always fully crewed; Chief
Engineer Jensen, on duty as Senior Officer of the Watch, was seated in
the Command chair. He swung the chair around to face them as they
entered, saying, "You're early, Cap-- Huh?" He stood and saluted, his
exclamation attracting the attention of the rest of the Bridge crew.
They also started to stand.

"As you were," Medart said, returning Jensen's salute. The Bridge
returned to near-normal, though with more than the usual amount of
non-duty conversation.

Corina saw Jensen's hand move toward the chair's comm controls, and
spoke. "No, Commander. There is no need to disturb Captain Hobison; I
understand he will be here shortly."

"Uh, yes, sir."

They waited in silence, both Rangers moving to stand at the left of the
Command chair. The shuttle door finally slid open again and Hobison
emerged. He raised one eyebrow in surprise at the sight of Corina's
badge, but went through the routine of relieving Jensen before he said
anything. Change of watch completed, he seated himse