?I don’t like you,?the superintendent repeated. ?You’re unpredictable, insolent, possibly dangerous. You have a certain amount of education and are undeniably intelligent, which makes you more of a threat than the average prisoner. You question everything and spend too much time alone. 93

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Always a bad sign. I’ve survived in this business a long time and I speak from experience. I know what to look for. Your typical incarceree will revolt, sometimes even kill, but it’s always the quiet, smart ones who cause the really serious problems.?He went silent for a moment, considering.

?But you were assigned to this posting and I have to live with that. I just want you to know that if I didn’t need a medical officer I wouldn’t let you within light-years of this operation.?

?I’m very grateful.?

?How about trying something new, Clemens? Something really different. Try keeping your sarcasms to yourself.?He squirmed slightly in his chair. ?Now, I’m going to ask you one more time. As your intellectual equal. As someone you respect if not like. As the individual ultimately responsible for the safety and well-being of every man in this facility, yourself included. Is there anything I should know??

?About what??

Andrews silently counted to five before smiling. ?About the woman. Don’t toy with me anymore. I think that I’ve made my position clear, personally as well as professionally.?

?Why should I know anything other than the self-evident about her??

?Because you spend every second you can with her. And I have my suspicions that not all of your concerns are medical in nature. You are far too solicitous of her needs. It doesn’t fit your personality profile. You just said yourself that she’s fit and able to get around fine on her own. D’you think I’m blind? Do you think I’d have been given this post if I wasn’t capable of picking up on the slightest deviations from the norm??He muttered to himself. ?Deviates’ deviations.?

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Clemens sighed. ?What do you want to know??

?That’s better.?Andrews nodded approvingly. ?Has she said anything to you? Not about herself personally. I don’t give a damn about that. Wallow in mutual reminiscence all you want, I don’t care. I mean professionally. About where she’s come from. What her mission was, or is. Most particularly, what the hell was she doing in an EEV with a busted droid, a drowned six-year-old kid, and a dead corporal, and where the hell is the rest of her ship’s crew? For that matter, where the hell is her ship??