He looked up as Midshipwomen Lopez entered, pushing a trolley in front of her.  Two of the younger reporters actually helped to pile up the dirty plates for disposal, something that puzzled Ted – good manners were not something he associated with reporters – until he realised that they were trying to impress the young lady.  So far, there had been no actual trouble, but Fitzwilliam had quietly told him that several of the reporters had tried to lure crewmen and women into their bunks.  Ted had no objections, as long as it was a willing liaison, but some of the reporters he’d met didn't seem to know the meaning of the word no.

The terrifyingly thin young reporter looked over at him, nervously.  “Are we going to run into trouble?”

“We’re looking for it,” Yang said, before Ted could say a word.  They exchanged glances of mutual understanding.  Yang, whatever his faults, was an experienced embed.  If the other reporter had any qualifications for her position, Ted had no idea what they were.  “This isn't a pleasure cruise, you know.”

The reporter’s face seemed to colour, very slightly.  Ted couldn't help wondering just how much work she’d had done on her body; her face was unnaturally pale as well as thin.  There were no shortage of humans who modified themselves to cope with the dictates of fashion or to live on marginally habitable worlds, but the reporter seemed to have taken it to an extreme.

“I know,” she said, finally.  It was almost a whisper.  “I know.”

Ted shrugged, inwardly.  He’d suffered through four years at the Academy, plenty of time to come to terms with his own mortality.  The Royal Navy’s highest losses – before the aliens had arrived – hadn't come from combat, but training exercises and simple shoddy maintenance.  Each student had been told, time and time again, that they couldn't afford to take their eyes off the ball, not even for a second.  Some of the horror stories had been exaggerated, but they’d still sunk in.  Death was always a constant threat for young crewmen.

But the reporter had grown up in a safe world, where there had been no real danger.  She was lucky, Ted knew, but she was also ignorant.  Did she honestly believe, he asked himself, that her reporter ID would save her from alien missiles?  The aliens hadn't bothered to check ID cards before opening fire in previous battles.  They would hardly start now.  Or had she accepted the theoretical danger and only just realised that it was real?