Read Online Rich Man's War by Elliott Kay - Free Book Online

hand. “Call me Stan,” he said. “XO here just likes to show off the fact that he can pronounce my last name.”
    “Good to meet you,” Tanner nodded, shaking hands.
    “Stan’s the old man in the forward berth,” Booker explained, “so he’ll make sure you’re all set up. There’s seven of you now with only six racks, but I’ll let you all sort that out.”
    “I’ve got it, XO,” Stan assured him.
    “Hey,” Sanjay spoke up, “I could always just share a rack with Ord—ow!”
    She had to reach up to hit him on the back of the head as she passed, but the gunner’s mate seemed to have practiced that. Her short black hair bounced along as she moved. “Ordoñez, hi,” she smiled by way of introduction to Tanner. The young woman never broke her easy stride, raising her middle finger up over her shoulder in Sanjay’s direction before she left the compartment.
    Tanner glanced around, wondering if he’d finally found a source of tension between the crew, but no one seemed the least bit bothered by the exchange. “Anyway, that’s it,” said Booker. “Tanner, we’re still working you into the stations bill for damage control and all that. We’ll probably have it by morning. If anything happens before then, just stick with Stan or Sanjay, okay?”
    “Yes, sir,” Tanner nodded.
    With that, the XO moved out. Tanner followed Stan and Sanjay out as well, turning with them to head for the forward crew berth. This, too, was unlike Tanner’s experience on St. Jude. Joan of Arc had the exact same narrow compartment holding three stacked-up bunks embedded on either bulkhead, with the same small lockers and the same tiny head opposite the entry hatch, but the space looked and smelled considerably better than Tanner’s old living space. They found Ordoñez already in one of the top bunks, reading something from her holocom. The others were mostly empty, though one of them held Tanner’s few bags.
    “I’ve already been told we can’t just grab one of the cots from the cargo bay and put it on the deck for you,” Stan explained. “I hate to say it, but you’re gonna have to hot-rack with someone. Which is going to require some extra shuffling, too, since you won’t be in the same watch rotation as everyone else until you qualify for helmsman.”
    “What do you mean by hot-rack?” asked Sanjay.
    “It means he has to use someone else’s rack while they’re not in it,” said Ordoñez, looking over from her reading. “Stan, they’re seriously sticking him in here with us? Don’t they have an extra space back in the NCO berth?”
    “He’s not an NCO,” Stan shrugged.
    “Sorry about this,” Tanner offered. “I know it’s gonna be a pain.”
    Ordoñez shook her head. “I don’t care if you use my rack when I’m not in it, long as you don’t do anything gross. We’re all sleeping in vac suits, anyway, it’s not like the mattresses ever get sweaty. Just make sure you swap out pillows and it’s fine. I just half expected they’d put you in the chiefs’ stateroom or something.”
    “Why would they do that?”
    “Don’t you get extra privileges with an Archangel Star? Officers having to salute you first and stuff?”
    Blushing fiercely, Tanner said, “That’s only if I’m actually wearing the medal. Or the ribbon. It’s never supposed to be a privilege thing. Honestly, the whole saluting deal just gets confusing, too . I get officers staring at me wondering why in the hell I don’t salute. Anyway, it’s fine, I’ll take whatever rack is open. There’s locker space for me at least, right?”
    “Yeah,” said Sanjay, “right over here.”
    Ordoñez seemed to frown a little as she rolled onto her back again, calling up a new article on her holocom. The others set to sorting themselves out, mostly crawling into their own racks as Tanner stuffed his bags away. “Which rack is open now?” Tanner asked, gesturing to the empty spaces.
    “Mike’s on watch and Teddy tends to stay up