Free Starhunt: A Star Wolf Novel by David Gerrold

meager quarters.
    Opposite the table, on the other wall, is a large painting—a silvery battle cruiser orbits below a swollen and red globe. At other times, it is a viewscreen; but for now it remains an image of his first command.
    On the shelf below is a typer. A single sheet of stiff gray paper sits in the machine. Abruptly Brandt remembers what it is. He steps over the typer and pulls the letter from it:
FROM:
Georj Brandt
 
Captain, U.S.S. Roger Burlingame
TO:
Vice Admiral Joseph Harshlie
 
United Systems Command
SUBJECT:
Request for transfer
    Admiral Harshlie,
    Again, I would like to repeat my request for a transfer to a less active command. As I have stated previously, I feel that my services could be more valuable in a position closer to home.
    While I can understand the position you are in politically, I would like to point out that
    Brandt lays the unfinished letter aside. Next to the typer are two other letters; the paragraphs are only blocks of familiar phrases:
FROM:      
Joseph Harshlie
       
Vice Admiral, United Systems Command
TO:      
Captain Georj Brandt
       
U.S.S. Roger Burlingame
SUBJECT:      
Request for transfer
    Captain Brandt,
    Much as I would like to honor your latest request for transfer, I regret to inform you that it is still impossible at this time. The situation as I outlined it to you in my last communication still has not changed appreciably, nor do I foresee any change in it for some time to come.
    When a request such as yours again becomes practical, I will immediately let you know. Thank you for your continued interest and for communicating with us on this matter.
    Cordially,
    JOSEPH HARSHLIE,
    Vice Admiral
    And then the other letter:
    Dear Georj,
    You know there isn’t a thing in the world I wouldn’t do for you if I could. You know that. Certainly there is nothing more I would like than to be able to grant your request.
    But, Georj, take my word for it—it is impossible. There are just too many starship commanders who have grown weary of the war, men who are every bit as qualified as yourself.
    Many of them—too many—are long overdue even for Rest and Recovery. You at least are lucky enough to have both a ship and a crew in reasonably good condition. (I know of men who would gladly trade places with you.)
    You are not the only one who has grown weary of this war. We have all grown tired of it. God, how I wish I could tell you what it is like to have a casualty report waiting on your desk for you every morning. (And the war doesn’t stop on weekends either. Monday’s list is always the worst.)
    Other men get tired too, Georj, but if I were to give a transfer to every man who got a little tired, I would have a hundred empty ships on the docks tomorrow. I don’t have to tell you we can’t afford that.
    I can’t order you to stop making these requests, but as a personal friend I can advise you that you are only wasting your time. While the Burlingame ’s record has never been substandard, neither has it ever been outstanding. There is nothing in your record to warrant a transfer.
    In your present assignment, at least, we can depend on you to keep your ship aloft—and in that capacity, you cannot easily be replaced. (You yourself have said that your first officer is still not ready for a command of his own. Personally, I don’t agree; but if you say he still needs more experience, I’ll have to take your word for it.)
    Once more, I ask you to please stop sending in these requests. You know as well as I that in your case a transfer would necessitate a promotion. While I (personally) would like to approve such a request, this office is not in a position to be able to do so. Your requests are creating no goodwill for you among the admiralty; they are most painful for me to read and even more painful to have to submit to a sure and certain negative answer. Georj, the board is hostile to these requests; please let this be the last.
    I know it is