Baz paused, straightened, bit off the end of the cheroot and spat it bravely on the deck. He eyed it a moment. "I slipped on one of those damned disgusting things once. Nearly broke my neck. Tarski. Right."

He clenched the cheroot between his teeth at an aggressive angle, and marched into the main engineering bay.

* * *

Miles assembled the entire ship's company in their own briefing

room, and took center stage. Bothari, Elena, Jesek, and Daum waited in the wings, posted in pairs at each exit, lethally armed.

"My name is Miles Naismith. I represent the Dendarii Free

Mercenary Fleet."

"Never heard of it," called a bold heckler from the blur of faces around Miles.

Miles smiled acidly. "If you had, heads would roll in my security department. We do not advertise. Recruitment is by invitation only.

Frankly," his gaze swept the crowd, making eye contact, linking each

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face one by one to its name and personal possessions, "if what I've seen so far represents your general standards, but for our assignment here you'd have gone right on not hearing of us."

Auson, Thorne, and the chief engineer, subdued and weary from

fourteen hours of being dragged—raked—over every weld, weapon,

tool, data bank, and supply room from one end of the ship to the

other, had scarcely a twitch left in them. But Auson looked wistful at the thought.

Miles paced back and forth before his audience, radiating energy

like a caged ferret. "We do not normally draft recruits, particularly from such dismal raw material. After yesterday's performance, I

personally would have no compunction at disposing of you all by the swiftest means, just to improve the military tone of this ship." He scowled upon them fiercely. They looked nervous, uncertain; was

there just the slightest hangdog shuffle there? Onward. "But your lives have been begged for you, upon a point of honor, by a better

soldier than most of you can hope to be—" He glanced pointedly at Elena who, prepared, raised her chin and stood in a sort of parade

rest, indicating to all the source of this unusual mercy.

Actually, Miles wondered if she wouldn't have personally shoved

Auson, at least, out the nearest air lock. But having cast her in the role of "Commander Elena Bothari, my executive officer and unarmed

combat instructor," it had occurred to him that he had the perfect setup for a fast round of good guy-bad guy.

"—and so I have agreed to the experiment. To put it in terms you are familiar with—former Captain Auson has yielded your contracts

to me."

That stirred them into outraged murmuring. A couple of them rose