d she turned to Medart. "I can no longer
put it off. We must speak to Colonel Greggson."

"I'll talk to him if you'd like, since he makes you uncomfortable."

"No, though I thank you for the offer. I have accepted this job, I
will do what it requires. I will speak to him."

"Right." Good for her, Medart thought. She'd apparently gotten more
from his memories than he'd realized; that sounded like something he'd
said once, back in the early days of his own career. Or maybe they
were just a lot alike.

* * * * *

Greggson, naturally, was in his office in the Security section. He
stood and came to attention as the two Rangers entered, strictly by the
book though his expression was cold. "Yes, sirs?"

Corina explained as she had to Nevan, seeing Greggson's expression
become thoughtful as he analyzed the problem. It seemed Jim was right,
she thought. This man was a professional, would do his job in spite of
his personal opinions. And his shield was fractionally tighter than
Hobison's or Nevan's, though not up to Jim's partially-trained one. "I
believe, Colonel," she finished, "that you would be most useful on the
team going after Thark, Valla, and Kainor, although that will mean
working directly with me. Are you willing to do so?"

"Yes, sir." Emotion was seeping through, despite his shield, and
Corina read two that conflicted strongly. One was a passionate dislike
for her as an individual, but the other was more important to the
Marine: his duty to the Empire, which she as a Ranger had the right to
command.

That fact overrode his personal feelings. He would accompany the
assault team not because she asked it, but because of his own
conviction that it was part of his job as a Marine. In a flash of
insight, Corina realized that Sunbeam had, perhaps without fully
realizing it, given her a very accurate capsule description.
Greggson's work was truly all he had: the Corps was his entire life,
nothing outside had any meaning whatsoever. She found herself pitying
him as she and Medart left with his agreement, on the way to speak with
the rest of the shielded ones.

The group that finally came together in Briefing Room One shortly after
noon to form the assault team was an unlikely one, but the only one
that would have any chance at all. In addition to those they'd first
spoken to, the Rangers had found a nurse, an engineer's assistant, the
ship's junior navigator, and four ot