Read Online Exultant by Stephen Baxter - Free Book Online Page B

“Why, I’ve no desire to take another of your child soldiers. The corvette isn’t provisioned for an extra mouth—”
    “I’ve seen to that.”
    “Captain, I’ve no use for this girl.”
    “She’s not for you. She’s for Pirius.”
    “Pirius?”
    Seath’s face was hard, disrespectful. “Commissary, take my advice. You’re taking this ensign out of here, away from everything he knows, dragging him across the Galaxy to a place he can’t possibly even imagine.” She spoke as if Pirius wasn’t there.
    Nilis’s mouth assumed a round
O
of shock, an expression that was becoming familiar to Pirius. “I see what you mean. But this base is so”—he gestured—“inhuman. Cold. Lifeless. The only green to be seen anywhere is the paintwork of warships!”
    “And so you imagined our soldiers to be inhuman, too.”
    “Perhaps I did.”
    Seath said, “We’re fighting a war; we can’t
afford
comfort. But these children need warmth, humanity. And they turn to each other to find it.”
    Pirius’s cheeks were burning. “So you knew about me and Torec the whole time, sir.”
    Seath didn’t respond; she kept her eyes on the Commissary.
    Nilis seemed embarrassed too. “I bow to your wisdom, Captain.” He turned his avuncular gaze on Torec. “A friend of Pirius is a friend of mine. And I’m sure we’ll find you something gainful to do.”
    Torec stared back at him. For the ensigns, this was an utterly alien way to be spoken to. Torec turned to Seath. “Captain—”
    “I know,” Seath said. “You spent your whole life trying to get to officer training. You made it, and now
this.
Well, the Commissary here assures me that by going with him, Pirius will fulfill his duty in a manner that might even change the course of the war. Though I can’t imagine how,” she added coldly. “But if that’s true,
your
duty is clear, Ensign Torec.”
    “Sir?”
    “To keep Pirius sane. No discussion,” Seath added with soft menace.
    “Yes,
sir.
”
    Nilis bustled forward, hands fluttering. “Well, if that’s settled—come, come, we must get on.” He led the way through the open port into the ship.
    Captain Seath stared at the ensigns for one last second, then turned away.
    Pirius and Torec followed Nilis aboard the corvette. Sullenly, they avoided each other’s eyes.
    They had both been aboard Navy vessels before, of course—transports, ships of the line—for training purposes. But they had never been aboard a ship as plush as this before. And it was clean. It even
smelled
clean.
    In the corridor that ran along the ship’s elegant spine, there was carpet on the floor. A two-person crew worked in the tip of the needle hull, beyond a closed bulkhead. In the central habitable section, the outer hull was transparent, and if you looked into the sections beyond the rear bulkhead you could see the misty shapes of engines. But two compartments were enclosed by opaque walls.
    Nilis ushered his hovering cases into one of these cabins. He looked uncertainly at the ensigns, then opened the door of the other opaqued compartment. “This cabin was for you, Pirius. I suppose it will have to do for the two of you.” There was only one bed. “Well,” he said gruffly. “I’ll leave you to sort it out.” And, absurdly embarrassed, he bustled into his own cabin and shut the door.
    In the cabin there was more carpet on the floor. The room was dominated by the bed, at least twice as wide as the bunks they had been used to. Pirius glimpsed uniforms in a wardrobe, and bowls of some kind of food, brightly colored, sat on a small table.
    They faced each other.
    “I didn’t ask to be here,” said Torec. She sounded furious.
    “I didn’t ask for you.”
    “I’ve better things to do than to be your squeeze.”
    Pirius snapped, “I’d rather squeeze that fat old Commissary.”
    “Maybe that’s what he wants.”
    They held each other’s gazes for a second. Then, together, they burst out laughing.
    Torec crammed a handful of the