Lamsoe handed her off to Hogg, who wrapped her hand around a stanchion with gentle pressure and then vanished into the wardroom. They were treating her like a sack of grain, but at least she was valuable grain.
A pair of unfamiliar officers wearing dress uniforms similar to Daniel’s came up the corridor skillfully though without Lamsoe’s panache. One was a woman in her mid-twenties; the other merely a boy, probably no more than fifteen.
They halted by gripping the hatch coaming and swung upright. The woman saluted Daniel. “Lieutenant Bara Enery reporting aboard, sir!” she said.
Daniel returned the salute. “Welcome aboard the Princess Cecile, Lieutenant Enery,” he said. “I think you’ll be pleased with what you find here.”
He sounded not only friendly but mildly pleased. Adele had heard sailors muttering about “the bitch slotted to replace Mr. Leary.” Daniel himself, the one time he’d mentioned Enery, referred to her as a very professional officer with a good head for astrogation.
“Before you read your orders, Lieutenant Enery,” he said now, “may I present my officers?”
“Please do, captain,” Enery said in an accent that marked her as a member of the best circles of Xenos. “But I should emphasize that I don’t bring orders of any sort with me. My understanding is that a courier will be arriving from Admiral Ingreit in a few minutes, but I wanted to speak briefly to you before that event.”
Daniel nodded as though the statement didn’t surprise him. Adele kept her frown internal. She didn’t doubt Ms. Sand’s good intentions, nor that Sand would make good her hinted promise eventually; but a great deal depended on the intelligence of Admiral Ingreit. If Ingreit was the dunce his employment of Elphinstone implied to Adele, Sand’s brilliantly indirect approach might pass right over the gold braid on the admiral’s hat.
“This is my first officer, Ms. Mundy,” Daniel said, gesturing with a cupped hand to Adele. “You will have heard of the way she captured the Alliance defensive array.”
Enery nodded politely, but the youth beside her goggled at Adele. Adele gave him a cold smile. He’d probably been wondering what a worn-looking civilian was doing on the bridge to begin with.
“And this is Lieutenant Mon,” Daniel continued. Mon wore a loose-fitting service uniform. His formal wear had been aboard the Aglaia when she sank in the Floating Harbor. “He’s been seconded to the Princess Cecile to take charge of repairs. Without his expertise there would be several weeks’ work yet to complete.”
“Courier from the flagship boarding!” the general communicator announced. A detail under a petty officer was on duty at the main hatch. Adele thought the voice was that of Dasi.
As if he hadn’t heard, Daniel turned and said, “Mon, Ms. Mundy, I don’t know whether you’ve met Lieutenant Enery. She’s Admiral Ingreit’s signals lieutenant at present, but I understand she’s due for a posting that will use her considerable talents better.”
“Mistress,” Adele said, nodding acknowledgment.
Enery lifted her chin in the direction of the boy. Despite her good breeding, Enery was obviously embarrassed by Daniel’s honest graciousness. “My nephew Piers,” she said. “Admiral Collodi’s grandson, you may know.”
Which made Enery herself an admiral’s niece. Not surprising, of course.
“As a matter of fact, Leary,” Enery went on, “that’s what I’d like to discuss with you. There’s rumors going about and of course one doesn’t like to take them seriously. But if I should be offered a command, I’d be honored if you’d become my first officer.”
The sound of the hatch releasing rang through the Princess Cecile.
Enery raised her hand. “Now, don’t misunderstand,” she added. “If you’d prefer to have nothing more to do with, with any ship I happen to command, no one would blame you in the least. But I want you to know that I have the sincerest regard for your abilities.”
Daniel swallowed. “Ms. Enery,” he said, “I would be pleased to accept a line appointment under an officer of your abilities. Greatly pleased.”
The courier was an officer wearing what she had heard Daniel call a 2nd Class uniform. That gave the corvette’s crowded bridge a remarkable range of clothing styles. Adele wondered whether the same thought had caused the smile at the corners of Daniel’s mouth.