Free Last Measure of Devotion (TCOTU, Book 5) (This Corner of the Universe) by Britt Ringel Page A

the
disorientation of Caracaras’ dive overtook him.
    *  *  *
    Heskan
stood in his quarters and stared at himself in the mirror.  While some may have
thought his Seshafian naval coat looked sparse, a mere two medals rested across
his left breast, Heskan preferred the sleek look of a uniform unburdened by
rows of awards.  Given the corporate system’s standard policy of permitting
medals awarded from past navies on their uniforms, Heskan certainly could have
significantly augmented the meager line had he not wanted to conceal his
origins.  The truth, however, was that even if Heskan could obtain the Brevic
medals awarded him, he felt those medals would be somehow diminished by placing
them on his current coat.  Those medals were paid for with Brevic blood, he thought.  They deserve a Brevic uniform .  Besides, I don’t mind
making a fresh start here .  He looked again in the mirror and for the first
time in many years, his eyes did not linger over the location where he refused
to add a certain awarded medal.  Fresh starts are good .  Heskan took a
final check of his uniform starting at his shoes.  Critical eyes moving slowly upward,
he inspected every line and thread to ensure compliance with AmyraCorp’s dress
and appearance standards.  He was pleased to see the uniform’s occupant smiling
when he reached the top.  A knock on the door punctuated his ritual.
    “Enter,”
he said loudly.
    The
door to Heskan’s cabin opened to reveal the lithe form of Vernay.  The dark
blue of her service dress counterbalanced the striking blue in her eyes.  With
a smile, she walked in.  The smile twisted roguishly as she brought her right
hand up to the single, gold braid that wrapped under her right shoulder’s
epaulette.
    “Nice
to see you found the time to fit the command braid to your coat, Stacy,” Heskan
quipped.
    She
ran slender fingers delicately over the cord.  “Oh, this?  Is that what this
is?”
    Heskan
returned her playful smile.  “I saw your latest report on Ajax.”
    “She’ll
be ready, sir.  We’ve been working like mad since I’ve taken command. 
Midshipman Pruette has cracked the proverbial whip with the gunnery crews,
although he may never forgive you after you promoted and transferred PO Thomas
off Ajax,” she teased.  Former Gunnersmate Second Class Tyler Pruette had
accepted his commission and subsequent elevation to the fourth-rate’s WEPS
position with aplomb.  The new status helped him swallow the bitter pill of
losing Gunnersmate Third Class Lee Thomas.
    “Did
that sub-lieutenant cope with the fact you placed a midshipman over her?”
Heskan asked.
    Pruette’s
promotion to Ajax’s weapons section commander came with the
uncomfortable task of explaining to a Seshafian sub-lieutenant why a junior
officer would be installed above her.  Ship captains inside the Republic held
wide latitude on arranging their ship’s command hierarchy however they saw
fit.  However, Seshafi practiced a much more traditional naval regime and the sub-lieutenant
had taken the perceived slight poorly.
    “I took
the Chief’s recommendation and transferred her off Ajax, sir,” Vernay
admitted.  “However, I did give her a good OPR before she left.  I didn’t end
her career or anything but she wasn’t going to adjust and I don’t have time for
babying her ego.”  Her smile widened.  “I think it also sent a message that the
times are a-changin’ on Ajax.  My ship will be the best ship in the
navy.”  The determination in her voice was easy to perceive.
    “Hey,
hey, hey,” Heskan warned.  “I think that distinction will be reserved for Dioscuri.”
    “Have
you told Nguyen yet?”
    Heskan
shook his head.  “I want to wait until after this ball.”
    “Captain,
don’t you think you’d be safer on the C-Three ship?”
    Heskan
growled lightly.  “Stacy, I’ve already told you that in order to inspire, you
have to lead from the front.  I’m not hiding in the rear echelon and