He turned to Commander Hay, whose face was even more expressionless than usual.

‘Commander Hay, if you would be good enough to arrange my son’s discharge papers, I’ll sign them immediately.’

There was a long pause and then she said, ‘Regretfully, I am unable to comply with your . . . demand.’

He rocked back on his heels and stared down at her. ‘Ah, yes, of course. How remiss of me. How much, Commander?’

A chair creaked in the corner as Captain Farenden got to his feet.

Meeting his gaze, Commander Hay shook her head fractionally.

‘An interesting question, Mr Parrish, but as I said, I’m unable to comply with your demand and I meant it. Unless he is being dishonourably discharged – which he certainly is not – only Trainee Parish himself can initiate his own discharge. Concerning the amount of money required, I regret to inform you that without his written request, even you will not have enough money to secure his discharge against his will.

‘Conversely, if he does wish to leave us, then the answer is no money at all. Before you so propelled yourself into our meeting, Trainee Parrish was just about to favour us all with his decision regarding his future here. Parrish, I hesitate to put you on the spot like this, but if it helps your decision in any way, let me assure you that whatever action you take will have my full and unqualified support, together with that of the organisation I command. My full and unqualified support.’

Wow, thought Jane. She really doesn’t like you, Mr Parrish.

Luke was staring at Commander Hay, who sat calmly back in her chair, one eyebrow slightly raised – which, to be fair, was about the most expression she could manage.

‘Blue,’ she said. ‘And no.’

Parrish senior snapped his gaze back to her. ‘What?’

She ignored him, saying to Luke, ‘Am I right, Trainee Parrish?’

He grinned the full Parrish grin. ‘Spot on, ma’am.’ He turned to his father. ‘Did you kick out Sally Yang just to give me this post?’

‘Ms Yang is retiring. On a very generous pension, I might add.’

‘Dad, you can’t do that. She’s worked for Parrish Industries for years. She’s been with you almost from the beginning and you’ve just chucked her on to the scrap heap to make room for me?’

‘Ms Yang is about to enjoy a comfortable retirement which will enable her to pursue any future interests she may develop.’

‘She has stood by you through any number of crashes, scandals, crises . . .’

‘Ms Yang’s past performance is not the issue here. I’ve spent enough time on this already, Luke. You will come with me.’

All eyes switched back to Luke, who was looking his haughtiest and most unpleasant. And, coincidentally, not unlike his father.