“Damn, sorry. Right, get Hillary Beaton instead. Get around to the crew and chill them out. I need engineering to give me an answer. Are we going to save the ships or not? I suspect not, so we need to work up a plan to evacuate the crews and salvage everything we can. If it turns out we’re stuck here, even the smallest things could make a difference. We need to strip this ship down to bare bones, take off every piece of technology we possibly can. We’ll need to coordinate that with Kolhammer.

“Commander Evans, no offense, but I suggest that there’s nothing worth saving on your ship. Nothing that can’t be replaced, at least. You should have all your men either pumping out the flooded decks or throwing as much weight as possible overboard to lighten the load. If you have any spare bodies, we can use them over here for our salvage work.”

Evans had deep, gray bruises under his bloodshot eyes. Every line in his face looked like it had been gouged there. Anderson saw she’d offended him when those lines stretched and his eyes flared with anger. She instantly regretted her blunt Sagittarian ways. Evans was only just holding it together, and she needed him to stay the course.

Evans listened to the Negro woman’s speech with mounting distress. He couldn’t believe she was just writing off the Astoria like that. After all, there were some decent holes punched in her own ship, courtesy of the old girl’s eight-inch batteries. He could feel his anger building, but it never came to a head. He suspected the drugs they’d given him for his injuries might have been damping down his temper, as well. He had a strange feeling, like a fine head of fury was trying to build somewhere inside him, but every time it threatened to break, the anger slipped away.

He rubbed at his eyes with his good hand. They felt gritty and hot. The bruises on his face ached painfully, despite the drugs.

“I’ll have to confer with Admiral Spruance,” he said flatly. “He’s already lost a few cruisers tonight. He won’t be happy about scratching another one.”

Anderson opened her mouth, ready to argue, but she held her peace.