Free Dark Running (Fourth Fleet Irregulars Book 4) by S J MacDonald Page B

officers, at least one officer Alex would not have chosen himself, as if to make the point that he could not have everything his own way. In Lt Commander Sartin’s case it was very obviously a political appointment. He was unusually senior to be serving a tour on secondment with them, for a start – most of their secondment officers were Subs, with an occasional Lt requested by Alex for particular fields of expertise. He had not asked for Mr Sartin, though acknowledged that they did stand in some need of his field of expertise. Lt Commander Sartin was an Internal Affairs inspector specialising in finance. He had spent the previous two years on assignment aboard the flagship carrier, Zeus.
    Anyone in the Fleet would recognise at once from that exactly what was going on with his appointment. Zeus’s captain was one of Lord Admiral Jennar’s allies, Old School to the bone. Pressure had obviously been applied at the Admiralty level to get Lt Commander Sartin assigned. It might be cynical to assume that his intention was to gather evidence that Lord Admiral Jennar could use against them, but Alex felt pretty sure that that was in fact why he was there. He was to become their Second Lieutenant. Now that Alex was a captain, he was entitled to a flag exec, meaning an executive officer who was not scheduled to take watches on a regular basis. Martine Fishe, therefore, would now be the First Lieutenant. Lt Commander Sartin had taken the Second Lieutenancy, on the basis of having considerable seniority over Lt Very Vergan, their Third.
    Alex wasn’t worried – he had already satisfied himself that Jonas Sartin was not of the fanatical breed. He might well disapprove of virtually everything they did and how they did it, but he was real Old School, so would keep his opinions to himself. He could be relied upon to carry out his duties with quiet, professional efficiency. As for gathering evidence against them, as far as Alex was concerned he was very welcome to do so – pretty much everything that happened on the ship was a matter of record anyway, and it wasn’t as if they had anything to hide.
    Alex was pleased to see, at least, how Mr Sartin responded to meeting Shion. She was almost dancing with excitement as she came back aboard, delighted to see everyone again and to meet the new people. Alex had half an eye on how they reacted to being introduced. Some of them were rather tongue-tied, gazing at her in rather obvious wonderment, but most were just as excited as she was, frankly thrilled to meet her. Shion quickly had them at their ease with her, too, joking about what she called ‘the alien princess thing’.
    She was not, in fact, a princess in any human cultural terms. As she’d explain herself, patiently,  she had been of very minor importance on her homeworld even before she’d quit her job, and the titles that went with it, to come exploring in the League. The only title she used now, and the only one that had any significance for her, was that of Sub-lt.
    Jonas Sartin was evidently well prepared for meeting her. His calm, courteous manner was exactly the same with her as with every other junior officer being introduced to him. Nothing in his manner betrayed any sign that he might find her superhuman intellect intimidating. It was almost as if he didn’t know that she was alien.
    She certainly didn’t look alien – tall, slender and graceful, she would be accepted as human in any company. She was attractive, too. Her complexion was richly black, her features delicate and her eyes warm and dark under their thin arched brows. Her hair was cropped into a youthful geometric style, her manner cheerful and confident. Only displaying her multi-cognitive intelligence or super-fast reflexes would give her away – that, or someone realising that her physique was so very different internally that her heart was where her liver would be in a human, beating with a slow triple thump.
    In this company, though, she did not need to