Now Makris proceeded yet again to demonstrate her enormous natural talent for making any Queen’s officer detest her. She cleared her throat loudly and gave the captain a pointedly reproving glare for daring to usurp her authority. With that out of the way, she officiously straightened the sheets of hardcopy in front of her, jogged them sharply (and nosily) on the table just in case anyone had missed the point of her glare, and turned her attention to Kare.

“Yes,” she said in a hard-edged, slightly nasal voice which suited her sharp-featured face quite well. “What do we know, Doctor?”

It was remarkable, Zachary mused. Makris obviously had a detailed checklist of Things to Do to Piss Off Survey Ship Captains, and she was determined not to leave any of them undone. The captain couldn’t decide which irritated her more: Makris’ usurpation of her own authority… or the peremptory, almost dismissive, mistress-to-servant fashion in which she’d just addressed Kare.

“Excuse me, Dame Melina,” Zachary said, and waited until the civilian turned to give her a look of pained inquiry.

“What?” Makris asked sharply.

“I believe that I was speaking.”

Jefferson and Thatcher looked at one another, but Makris didn’t know Zachary nearly as well as they did. She only tossed her head dismissively with a grimace of distaste.

“I hardly think—” she began.

“Regardless of what you may believe, Dame Melina,” Zachary interrupted in calm, measured tones, “you are not in this vessel’s chain of command.”

“I beg your pardon?” Makris quite obviously couldn’t believe she’d heard Zachary correctly.

“I said that you’re not in this vessel’s chain of command,” Zachary repeated. Makris stared at her, and Zachary smiled thinly. “In point of fact, you’re a guest aboard my ship.”

“I don’t believe I care for your tone, Captain,” Makris said coldly.

“You may find this difficult to credit, Dame Melina, but I don’t particularly care whether you do or not,” Zachary informed her.

“Well you’d better!” Makris snapped. “I warn you, Captain—I’m not prepared to put up with insolence!”

“How odd. That’s precisely what I was just thinking,” Zachary replied, and something seemed to flicker in Makris’ eyes. She opened her mouth again, but Zachary leaned forward in her chair before she could say anything more.

“I understand that you’re aboard as the Government’s representative, Dame Melina,” the captain said flatly. “However, I am the captain of this ship; you are not. Neither are you the chairwoman of this meeting. That, too, is my role. In fact, you have no standing whatsoever in the chain of command aboard this ship, and I’m becoming rather tired of your manner. I think—”

“Now, see here, Captain! I’m not about to—”

“Be quiet.” Zachary didn’t raise her voice, but it cut through Makris’ outraged splutter like a chill scalpel. The other woman closed her mouth with an almost audible click, her eyes wide with astonishment that anyone should dare to address her in such tones.

“That’s better.” Zachary’s hard eyes considered the bureaucrat as if she were inspecting some particularly loathsome bacterium. “As I was saying,” the captain resumed, “I think you would do well to practice a certain minimal courtesy while you’re aboard my ship. So long as you do, I assure you, the members of the ship’s company will reciprocate. If, however, you find that to be beyond your capability, I feel sure we could all dispense with your presence. Do I make myself clear?”