Free Hellfire (THEIRS NOT TO REASON WHY) by Jean Johnson

ideal partner for you, Private Second Class Davies,” Ia stated, keeping her expression pleasant but using an implacable tone. “He is an excellent engineer, a very good triage corpsman, and he is a touch-sensitive empath. There is no way that he could possibly assault you without himself getting an equally unpleasant amount of feedback from that assault.
You
, on the other hand, have the hands-on combat training
he
will need to learn.
    “By sparring together as teammates, you will learn to trust men, and he will learn to defend himself properly against someone who sees him emotionally as a threat. I require your roommate to be fully functional in hand-to-hand combat, andI require
you
to be fully functional in an emergency. The Department of Innovations and its psychology personnel have agreed to this pairing. You therefore have zero grounds for objection, Private. With all of that carefully considered in advance,” Ia finished, “your intended demand for a female roommate is, as I said, denied.”
    Davies stared at her for a few more seconds, then finally shut her sagging mouth. She blinked a couple of times, managed to pull herself back together enough for a brief glare, and marched off again without another word. Ia let her go. “Request denied” wasn’t exactly the same as “Dismissed,” but she wasn’t going to argue the matter. The enlisted woman would just have to come to terms with her new situation.
    Harper started to resume his earlier words but was forestalled by the approach of two more soldiers, this time a man and a woman. The man nodded to her, introducing himself and his companion as soon as they reached the edge of the table. “Captain, I am Private First Class Bei Ninh, and this is my wife, Corporal Jana Bagha.”
    “Ey! I know you!” Spyder exclaimed, interrupting the other man before he could say anything more. He grinned. “Choo’re th’ silver an’ bronze medalists from th’ Winter Olympics, Mass Biathlon two winters ago, ainchoo? Lookidat! Celebrities in our midst.”
    Ninh blinked, nonplussed a little. Ia stepped into the breach, answering his unspoken request as well. “To answer your question in advance, Private Ninh, I have zero problems with the two of you continuing to be teamed together. In fact, I am counting on the close cooperation and camaraderie between the two of you to help pull off some very tricky Sharpshooting in the coming years,” she confessed. “That is why I pulled the pair of you out of that ridiculous athletic tour circuit and back into full active duty.
    “As important as sporting events like the Olympics may be, demonstrating peaceful competition and the bonds of athletic brotherhood across the species of the Alliance, I will need the two of you ready to shoot at mobile targets that
are
going to be shooting back at you by the time we launch in two months,” Ia told both of them. “I will also need you to be far more accurate shots than your enemies will be while doing so. You twohave always worked best together, and you have been lucky to have enjoyed tolerant commanders in your past. Serving under my command will be no different. Dismissed.”
    “Thank you, sir,” Bei Ninh told her, giving her a thankful nod.
    “Yes, sir; thank you,” Jana Bagha murmured, moving away with her husband.
    Ia watched them go, then looked over the others. More would drift her way with questions or comments, or just under the urge to get a closer look at their new commanding officer.
    Lieutenant Rico, who had been surveying the men and women receiving their chips a few meters away, turned his attention to Ia. “Tell me, Captain, what
is
your exact policy on fraternization?”
    She shrugged. “I prefer to follow the relaxed rules most combat commanders use while on extended patrols. Mainly because we won’t have that many opportunities for off-ship Leave.”
    “And that means…?” Doctor Mishka asked her, lifting one blonde brow.
    “Between privates of either rank,