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"What landspout did you tangle with now? You have that look, the one that
spells trouble."
"That obvious?"
"With you? Yes." The senior commander sighed, then gestured toward the
swivel across the console from him. The older man sank into his own chair.
"Now . . . Can I do anything about your problem?"
"Don't know. Thought I'd ask." Gerswin frowned. "Just finished an analysis of
the outship cost-formulas. Do you know why we're always last drop, or next to
last drop, but why they don't classify us as hardship or special circumstance?"
"Commander Byykr brought that up once, shortly before he retired. I do not
recall the reasons, but I do know that he looked into it rather thoroughly. I'll have
it checked on and get back to you. No sense in your doing anything more until
you see what, if anything, he did."
Manders cleared his throat. "Not sure it makes any difference in any case, since
the shipping costs aren't tabbed against our account."
"Not in the budgetary sense, Commander. Presents a onesided holo. Shows Old
Earth as a conventional base with twice the operating/transport costs of other
comparable bases."
"Are you suggesting that is deliberate, Greg?"
"No, ser. More likely that there's no champion at headquarters. It's not that
anything's wrong. More that Old Earth deserves a special category and hasn't
gotten it."
Manders looked over at the wall holo of the Academy Spire, mirrored in Crystal
Lake.
Gerswin did not follow his glance. He knew the holo well enough. If it were not
a duplicate of the one which had hung on Commander Byykr's wall, it was close
enough that the differences were insignificant.
"I've had some of this conversation before, Greg, with Commander Byykr, and
there's a bit more to this than meets the eye. I just can't remember why at the
moment." He turned back toward Gerswin. "Now. There's something rather more
personally important you should know."
"Something I should know?"
The senior commander turned in his swivel. "I'm sure you've heard the
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rumors." He paused. "About the Hilde-barcH"
"Know she didn't arrive as scheduled," responded- the major, still standing.
"Sit down."
Gerswin eased intd the swivel.
"Do you know the implications?" The base commander leaned back in the
padded swivel. His office was the only one in the entire base with comfortable
chairs for visitors.
"Equipment shortages . . . especially turbine fans. Hardest to get around.
Morale problems for Imperials due for transfer . . _ general feeling of being
abandoned."
"There are a few other difficulties, Greg." The commander paused theatrically.
Gerswin frowned. Commander Manders had used his first name twice in
minutes. The familiarity was unusual. It was also a message, and the
ramifications were even more unexpected.
"The new executive officer?"
Old Earth Base had already gone without an official and permanent executive
officer for more than six months, and not a few of the duties had fallen in
Gerswin's lap, in addition to his own responsibilities as Operations officer.
"That's the second most important."
Forcing himself to avoid frowning, Gerswin tried to figure out what Manders
was hinting at. Usually, the commander was direct, sometimes sarcastically so in
private, and the guessing game implied that it was important for Gerswin to come
up with the answer.
"All right," began the major. "Assuming the Hildebard is a casualty, another
three months is the minimum before we get another transport. If High Command
can juggle the schedules. Nine months is double the time for critical
replacements. Means a rush courier, breaking regulations, or promotion from
base cadre."
He shook his head as the implication hit. "Only one officer here meets
minimum standards, ser."
The commander nodded in return. "That's right. The message torp that arrived
today confirmed that. There's more, Commander."
Gerswin swallowed at the cavalier announcement of his promotion.
Promotions to commander were nearly impossible for non-Imperials to get these
days, with the cutbacks in ships, and the reliance on smaller and smaller craft and
their lower operating costs.
"More?" He knew the statement sounded stupid as he said it and tried to follow
on. "That sounds like it means unpleasant news of some sort."
Manders snorted. "And for what are executive officers being groomed.
Commander? Think a bit, Greg."
The combination of sarcasm and the gentler use of his name momentarily
stopped Gerswin from saying anything.
"Base commander. They need you somewhere else?"
"I wish (hat were true. My stress profile is edging up into the red. That's the
real problem."
Gerswin nodded. If Manders was being pushed off the edge, with his generally
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