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Chapter One

It wasn’t the danger Suka had a probleh to handle the multiple data streams that poured into her Coraduated at the top of her class in the Acadereatly contributed towards her selection for the crew of the Ulysses IV

No, what Suka struggled as the rules Endless, relentless regulations to follow and obey, seely pointless, in many cases There were rules about bedtimes, rules about how , rules about how to address officers of various ranks within the starship Suka had always been one for following the spirit, rather than the letter, of the law, and this tendency wasdiscovery for her

Eventhan the rules themselves was their enforcement by one Commander Azed Paul, a ue Commander Paul was accustomed, over several turbulent years in the outer rihtest of ships One speck of lint on an officer’s skintight dermolex trousers would be noted and remarked upon He had found and destroyed Suka’s box of contraband sugarfizz within one hour of her embarkation His motto was ‘discipline or doom’ Suka was inclined to favour doom just now

She crouched low over herthat her apparent commitment to it would htly braided now after an earlier contretemps over ‘professionally appropriate styles’, pulled at the skin above her ears and temples every ti to lowstick at so with a bit of reading in bed Was she supposed to abandon all her extraneous interests in life, sacrifices to the efficient running of the ship? It was too big a thing to expect of a twenty-two-year-old woman

Paul was busy, bent over the shoulder of another ensign, her friend Callil, checking that everythis heap of junk was correctly calibrated Fro uniforly irresistible fashion Whatever else she ht think of him, she couldn’t deny he had one of the finest arses in the Quadrant

Suddenly, he straightened up and spun on his boot heel, catching her in her s Suka’s head dropped so swiftly she aled her forehead on the screen, but it was too late His keen blue-glass eyes had registered her interest, and he s her

“Ensign De habits,” he proclai hardware towards her station

Ie, preparing to defend her position

“Is reading against the rules now? I’ist—if you expect e, then…” She broke off, unable to finish the sentence, fearfully reluctant to take it to its logical conclusion of ‘you’re a stupid bastard’

“You know very well that reading isn’t against the rules Reading after Lights Out is against the rules,” said Paul, his voice teasingly light “As for anthropology, you have studied it for six years, and now you have the chance to put your knowledge into practice in the field It’s why you’re here, isn’t it, Suka, or am I mistaken?”

“Yes, no, yes, e’re cataloguing and analysing the new planets, that’s great But all this in-between ti”

Cothy few seconds

“Boring, Ensign Demontel?” he said eventually “Well, I’m so sorry not to provide you with the non-stop circus you evidently crave, but I thought you ht have been prepared for the fact that space exploration requires a great deal of time in space What do they teach you at the Acaderi of his jaw and a narrowing of his eyes She sed, aware of her hair prickling her skin “You won’t be seeing the glowstick until we return to port And, for the remainder of this shift period, you will catch up on lost sleep by going to bed at the start of Association Time”

“Oh, don’t ly aware of how bratty and pathetic she sounded “It’s the only thing to look forward to most days”

“You can sulk all you like, Ensign,” said Paul briskly “I won’t have deliberate rule-breaking in my crew, and the sooner you process that lesson, the better for you I had such high hopes for you when I read your reference from the Academy, and I don’t take disappointment well”

“Neither do I,” whispered Suka, half-hoping Paul wouldn’t hear her The half-hope was in vain

“I beg your pardon?” He turned back fro and fixed her eyes uncoly with his

“Nothing Doesn’t matter,” she muttered

“Yes, it does,” he said, deceptively gently “What my crew thinks matters very much to me Tell me”

“It’s just, well, I thought I was joining an elite crew of enlightened intelligent explorers I wasn’t prepared for Sparta in space”