“Tankersley won’t smell a rat and warn him?”

“As I said, there’s no love lost between the two of them. Tankersley’s a fairly decent sort. I don’t think Young’s attempt to shaft Harrington sits very well with him, and you can’t be exec to a man like Young without getting to know exactly how useless he really is. Under the circumstances, I sort of doubt Young’s explained his real motives to him, either, so Tankersley can play the uninformed but earnest exec to the hilt, if he wants to. I imagine he’ll screen Young, all right, but probably only to leave a message with his service—and not one with any special priority.” Warner tapped lightly on his desk for a moment, then nodded to himself. “Won’t hurt to make sure, though. My aide’s not just good looking; she’s a very bright young woman, and she’s been spending some off-duty time with Tankersley. That’s one reason I figure he must be all right; Cindy wouldn’t waste her time on him if he wasn’t. Would it be all right if I have her mention to him that I’d appreciate his keeping his next progress report to Young a little vague?”

“We can’t involve Jim or the Government, Craig,” Alexander warned. “If you’re wrong about him, you’ll be the one it comes back to haunt.”

“I don’t think I am wrong, and I’m perfectly willing to run the risk for something like this. Hell, who needs a battle squadron? Carol would rather have me planet-side for good, anyway.”

Warner spoke lightly, though both of them knew the loss of his next command or even half-pay was not merely possible but probable if any of this became official knowledge. Their eyes met for a moment, and then Warner smiled.

“Don’t sweat it, Hamish. I’ll pull it off. And once we get Warlock’s forward hull opened up, I guarantee she won’t leave dock for a good seven weeks. Long enough?”

“Long enough,” Alexander agreed. “And thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. I never liked his father, either. And Carol will be delighted when she hears about this. North Hollow was after her before we were married, you know.”

“No, I didn’t. I wondered why you were so ready to dislike his son, though.”

“Hell, that ancient history didn’t have anything to do with that. Well, not much. This little creep is a disgrace to his uniform all on his own.”

Warner sat for a moment longer, running through his plans, then nodded and stood.

“Well, that’s that,” he said with undisguised satisfaction. “And now, while I wait to put my nefarious plan into effect, why don’t I give you that tour? Then we can finish up with supper in the flag officer’s mess before you head back home.”

“Sounds good to me,” Alexander agreed, and the two admirals headed for the office hatch once more. “By the way, how are the kids?” he asked as they stepped through it. “I saw Carol last week, but we didn’t have time to talk.”