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have time to nursemaid you around the ship. I also need to review any recordings you take before they are transmitted back to Earth.”
    So I can't talk to anyone who would give me an unofficial line , Adrienne thought, without rancour. She’d expected as much. It would take some time to build up her own network of informants, people who would talk to her even without a minder. The trick would be in figuring out what was true and what was crap put forward by someone who resented not being promoted.
    “You can have some time to freshen up and then there’s a video briefing with Brigadier Jones, the CO of 1 Federation Marine Brigade,” Barbie continued, after a moment. “I understand that you have already met the Brigadier...?”
    “Only a brief meeting while I was on Luna,” Adrienne confirmed. “He congratulated me on my reports from Saudi and said that he hoped I’d do as well here. But what are we going to do?”
    “Exercise, of course,” Barbie said. She grinned, again. Several crewmen took more than casual notice of her chest, despite her uniform. “This is the most complex exercise the Federation Navy has ever carried out. It is   important   that the Galactics understand that humanity isn't a small power, barely capable of hanging onto its own homeworld, but a formidable race capable of making its will felt in the sector. Your reports will help shape their impressions of our power.”
    “I see,” Adrienne said. It seemed like a great deal of effort for a very small return, but the Federation Navy presumably knew what it was doing. Another passing crewman checked her out, and then had the grace to blush when she looked back at him. “Aren't there many women on this ship?”
    “The Marines are all men,” Barbie said. “The Federation Navy gives women equal opportunities, but there is no guarantee that there will be equal outcomes. Men outnumber the women twelve to one.” She shrugged. “Not everyone in the Navy comes from a culture that accepts women as equals in the military. A Russian Captain was relieved of duty and discharged for harassing one of his female subordinates, which was one of the nastier incidents.
    “And there   are   strict rules on fraternising between the sexes while the ship is away from home,” she added. “You’re forbidden to sleep with anyone in your chain of command, or someone senior or junior to yourself. The Navy generally ignores sex between equals, but the commanders come down like a hammer on anyone who violates the regulations. For an officer, it can ruin their career; for a crewman, it can mean discharge or time in the brig.”
    They stopped outside a cabin door. “These are your quarters for the next few months,” Barbie said, changing the subject. “Like I said, stay inside when you’re not with me. In the unlikely event of the Captain requiring my services in another position, I’ll see to it that someone brings you food from the mess.”
    “I feel like a prisoner already,” Adrienne commented.
    “I’ll tell you the same thing that officers have been telling their grumblers for years,” Barbie said, more seriously. “You volunteered for this. If you didn't want to be under harsh discipline and work like a mad bastard for the next five years, you shouldn't have joined the military. Or embedded yourself in the military, for that matter.”
    “I suppose,” Adrienne said. She stepped into the cabin. “And thanks for showing me around.”
    “You’re welcome,” Barbie said. “I live to serve.”
     
    * * *
     
    Joshua looked down at the control panel and then tapped a key, activating the quantum gate generator. It came to life quickly, ready to hurl the starship into quantum space. Each of the Clunkers had a surprisingly modern quantum drive, but perhaps that should have been expected when the ships had been refurbished so often. Besides, it would be harder to operate if they had to wait ten minutes between opening gates and slipping into quantum