“I’m sorry to hear that,” he said.  “Tell Penny to ignore the silly girl.”

Molly gave him a sardonic look.  “And were you so easily able to ignore taunts when you were a child?”

Kurt scowled, recognising her point.

“They’re just driving me mad,” Molly added.  “I almost slapped Penny this morning, after she started to throw a tantrum.  Please ... when are you coming home?”

“I don't know,” Kurt admitted.  “I ...”

“You’re a goddamned hero,” Molly snapped.  “Can't they gave you a few days of leave?”

“All leaves have been cancelled,” Kurt reminded her.  “We aren't allowed to leave our posts ...”

“And yet they let you down to London,” Molly thundered.  “How many girls did you eye there?”

Kurt gritted his teeth.  “Molly ...”

A window flashed up on the display, warning him that his session was about to expire.  “Molly, I will be back as soon as I can,” he promised.  “But I don't get to choose my timing ...”

The session expired.  He swore out loud as the screen went blank, then stood up and left the privacy cubicle.  He’d have to write out an email or record a v-mail ... and then hope that she was in a forgiving mood.  Molly bore grudges for eternity, digging them up at the worst possible moment and rubbing them in his face.  The last thing he wanted was her screaming at the children because of him, not when the family was already under so much stress.  It was one of the reasons most junior naval personnel were not advised to marry.  A military family could be torn apart by constant separations and not having any real control over their own lives.

“You don’t look well, sir,” Rose said, as he entered their quarters.  “Bad news from home?”

Kurt sighed.  “What do you say to a teenage girl who keeps picking fights with her teacher and who fell out with her best friend, purely because her father is a starfighter pilot?”

“My father would probably have yelled at me for an hour,” Rose said, after a moment.  “But I had to work desperately just to meet the requirements to enter the Academy.  What’s her problem with the teacher?”

“She isn't very good,” Kurt sighed.  “Once, she was proctoring an exam and she changed the examination papers, midway through the session.”

Rose blinked.  “Is that even permissible?”

“She seems to have gotten away with it,” Kurt observed.  “I think she was the one who wrote the exam too.”

“I see,” Rose said.  “It strikes me that you could file a formal complaint ...”

“It was a little hard to do it when Penny got in so much trouble,” Kurt admitted.  It had smacked of blaming the victim.  Kurt’s father had been a firm believer in not trying to hide behind excuses, no matter how accurate they were.  “But I suppose you’re right.”