I hit him with the blade, and he joined Eli on the mat with a pained groan.

Eli chuckled through split lips.

My rage turned incandescent and I pointed the blade at him. “Do you think this is funny, Bruck? Do you think I wanted to come down here and put you in time-out because you couldn’t act like a damned adult for two seconds?”

Eli froze and his eyes flashed to mine. Whatever he saw in my face caused him to wince, but I was too mad to care. “No, Captain.”

“I might’ve expected this from them, but I expected better from you. What happened? Why aren’t you on the bridge?”

“He insulted Kee.”

Ah, that made more sense. Eli would let insults run off him like rain, but he’d go to war for those he cared about. I deactivated the plas blade and clipped it back into place against my leg.

“I meant no insult,” Varro rasped with a cough.

Kee’s expression was bright with worry and her gaze kept flickering between the two men on the ground. “What did he say?” I asked her.

Her eyes slid away from mine. “Nothing important.”

Whatever it was had hurt her. No wonder Eli had lost his head. I sighed and pressed my fingers to the spot between my eyebrows. My head hurt, my knee hurt, and my rage had burned out, leaving weariness behind.

“A week’s extra cleaning for everyone involved, including the spectators. This ship will damn well sparkle by the time you’re done. Kee, take Eli to the medbay and patch him up. Havil, take Varro. After that, all of you are confined to quarters until dinner. If I see you out of your room, you’d better be on your way to the head.”

I looked at each of them. “I will not tolerate insults and fighting on my ship. If you have an issue, come to me. If you want to spar, that’s fine, but you will take appropriate precautions to prevent injuries. You won’t duke it out like meatheads in a bar fight. Next time, I won’t be so lenient. Am I clear?”

One by one, they nodded. The Valoffs had the slightly distant look they got when they were communicating. Their expressions remained impossible to read, but I didn’t see any open mutiny. Kee and Eli both looked abashed, but they didn’t argue about the punishment. They were my family, but they knew that a captain had to run the ship, and they’d fucked up.

“Clear out. I’ll send an alert when dinner is ready. I don’t want to see any of you again until then.” I glanced at Kee and Havil. “Let me know if these two are more hurt than they let on.”