“So do we, Sir,” Reumann assured him.

“Well,” the Secretary said, glancing approvingly around the orderly, disciplined boat bay, “maybe we’ll be doing little something about that.”

“Excuse me?” The captain cocked his head, and Theisman grinned, although there was a faint edge of something besides humor—possibly even a trace of worry—in his expression.

“Don’t worry about it, Pat. I promise I’ll explain everything before I head back to the capital. In the meantime, however, Admiral Foraker and I have a few things we need to discuss.”

“Of course, Sir,” Reumann acknowledged, and stepped back as Theisman turned to offer his hand to Shannon.

“Admiral,” the Secretary of War said, and Shannon smiled.

“Admiral,” she repeated, fully aware of how much he preferred to think of himself in his persona as Chief of Naval Operations, someone who was still a serving officer and not merely a political animal. His eyes twinkled as he squeezed her hand firmly, then she cocked her head.

“I’d tentatively scheduled welcoming cocktails in the officers’ mess,” she said, “but none of our plans were set in ceramacrete. Should I assume from what you just said to Pat that I should reschedule the festivities until after you’ve had a chance to tell me just what brings you clear out here?”

“Actually, I think I’d prefer for you to do that, if it won’t inconvenience people,” Theisman said, and she shrugged.

“As I said, none of our plans were really definite, Sir. We didn’t have enough of an idea of what was on your agenda for this trip to make any hard and fast arrangements.” She turned to a chunky captain at her right elbow. “Five, I seem to have forgotten my com again. Would you screen Paulette for me? Ask her to see to it that everyone knows we’re going to Plan Beta.”

“Of course, Ma’am,” Captain William Anders replied with a slight grin. One thing about the old Shannon Foraker which remained the same was a degree of… absentmindedness where the minutiae of day-to-day life was involved. It took a certain talent to “forget” her wrist com, but she managed to do it at least twice a week.

The hirsute captain activated his own com and punched in the combination for Lieutenant Paulette Baker, Foraker’s flag lieutenant, and she turned her own attention back to Theisman.

“Do we need to speak in private, Sir? Or should I assemble my staff, as well?”

“I’ll want to bring all of them up to speed while I’m out here,” he said, “but I think I’d prefer to brief you individually before that.”

“Of course. In that case, would you care to accompany me to my day cabin?”

“I think that would be an excellent idea,” he agreed, and she glanced back at Anders.

“Did you catch that, Five?” she asked.

“I did. And I’ll pass it on to Paulette, as well.”

“Thank you.” She smiled at him with a warmth which transfigured her narrow, severely attractive face, and then gestured respectfully for Theisman to proceed her to the lifts.