Free Of Treasons Born by J. L. Doty Page A

like the one that had carried him up from Dumark to Dauntless . “Pretty much marine country.”
    She led him to an office with a marine officer seated behind a desk. He had a thin face, dark hair cut short, and piercing brown eyes that appraised York carefully as he stood there. He shook his head and said, “They didn’t teach you shit, did they?”
    York said, “I studied the regs.”
    The man continued to shake his head as he said, “I’m Cap’m Shernov. The marine rank of captain is different from the naval rank captain. It’s equivalent to naval lieutenant, senior grade, but to make sure it’s never confused with the captain of this ship, you never call me captain. It’s cap’m. Got it?”
    â€œYes, sir.”
    â€œCaptain Jarwith wants me to teach you manners.” He looked at Cochran and said, “Show him how to do it proper.”
    Cochran led York out of Shernov’s office, stopped there, and said, “When you enter an officer’s office, you first knock politely. If the door is closed, you may open it a crack, announce your name and rank, and request permission to enter.” She then walked him through an elaborate exercise. York had to repeat it several times, but eventually he learned to knock politely on the open door and wait for Shernov to say, “Enter.” Then he marched into the cap’m’s office following a purely square path, using parade-ground steps that were completely new to him. Two steps straight in, turn right, take one step, turn left, take one step forward, and stop facing the man squarely. York threw his shoulders back, saluted, and said, “Spacer Ballin reporting as ordered, sir.”
    â€œThat’s better,” Shernov said. “Still not good enough, but better. At ease, Spacer.”
    York relaxed. Shernov and Cochran shared a look and frowned. York learned then that “ at ease ” meant a very specific stance. Cochran showed him how to put his hands behind his back and spread his legs slightly, but still stand squarely.
    â€œOkay, Ballin,” Shernov said. “You fucked up really bad. But us marines, we’re different. You fuck up like that here, Captain Jarwith is never gonna hear about it. But you won’t survive, probably just have a fatal accident. Got it?”
    Bad situations frequently turned out that way on the streets. “Yes, sir.”
    That prompted another lesson about the difference between “Aye, aye, sir,” and “Yes, sir.” York also learned that while under Shernov, he was supposed to answer a question like that by screaming at the top of his lungs, “Sir, yes, sir.”
    Shernov leaned back in his chair and gave York an appraising look. He looked to Cochran and said, “He ain’t stupid.” It sounded more like a question.
    York didn’t look her way, but he heard Cochran say, “I’m guessing they just didn’t pay any attention to teaching him anything.”
    Shernov asked York, “Did they teach you anything, Ballin?”
    York screamed, “Sir, yes, sir.”
    Shernov grimaced and muffled his ears with his hands. “Tone it down, Ballin. What did they teach you?”
    â€œHow to work a pod, sir.”
    â€œNow we’re getting somewhere,” Shernov said. “Cause we need another gunner for our boats. Lost one last trip out. That’s one of the reasons the captain’s lending you to us.”
    Under the marines, York spent a little time scrubbing decks but not that much. He spent a lot of time running simulations in one of the gunboat turrets. Many of the turret’s systems were identical to those of a pod, and York took to it immediately. It had local systems for gravity, environmental control, targeting, and fire control. The biggest difference was that he had to wear a vac suit as a safety precaution against the turret taking a hit and losing pressure. It also had some