[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.The Captain shrugged.“She thinks you’re cute.”Lennier’s lips started to shape the word as the door opened.“Wow!” Chancy said, taking the Minbari’s arm.“What a madhouse.I thought I’d never get out of there.” She smiled up at Lennier.“Thank you for waiting,” she whispered.“Captain,” she called as, with a smile of farewell, he started to turn away.“That was a good move.”“I’m glad you think so,” he replied and began to turn away again.“They’ll go ballistic when they find out I’m going to be there,” she said to his back.He turned around slowly, his mouth slightly open.“You are?” he managed at last.“Absolutely!” She grinned impishly.“You know how the Centauri and the Narn are in regard to families.Something to do with having monarchies, I imagine,” she said to Lennier.“They’re going to find out I’m on the station when I do my interviews, and would be insulted that I wasn’t at the reception.They’ll never buy that fairness policy thing.” She shrugged.“Go figure.”Sheridan laughed lightly.She’s right, he thought, unnerved.But then, she’d been raised to think in diplomatic situationese.You could stop a supernova more easily than this woman.He looked at her with respect tinged with awe.Was I this impressive when I was nineteen? he wondered.“I’ll have you briefed,” he said.“Thank you, Captain.I’d appreciate it.” And she rewarded him with a smile.Sheridan remembered, as he walked away, something he’d once read.The very rich were careful to teach their children to treat underlings with respect.And, he thought, with a little spurt of annoyance, Chancy Clark has learned her lessons well.*Sheridan stopped reading Ivanova’s report and leaned back in his chair, his hand over his eyes.“Why didn’t you tell me in the first place?” he asked, looking at her where she stood with her hands clasped behind her back in a tidy parade rest.“And sit down, for Pete’s sake!”Susan looked behind her and pulled a chair up.She sat stiffly, her hands clasped before her now, her eyes downcast, frowning slightly.“I…” she began.“It was personal,” Garibaldi said.“And we dealt with it that way.”“A man is dead,” Sheridan answered him.“A security man was shot.”“But before that,” Garibaldi said, “it had all the earmarks of just being a particularly nasty piece of psychological sabotage.We’re not psychic.We couldn’t predict what he would do.”“You’re professionals.” Sheridan glared at them both, leaning his arms on the desk before him.“You have people under your command because you’re supposed to be able to predict what they’ll do.Ivanova spread her hands.“I sent him to Franklin for an evaluation.The Doctor told me that he was emotional, but that there didn’t seem to be anything in his makeup that would necessarily interfere with his ability to work.” She rubbed her forehead.“I should have sent him for a psych evaluation, but I didn’t want to put that kind of a mark on his record.”Sheridan leaned back again.“So instead you let him pull you into his sick little world with him.”Susan shook her head.“I should have known better,” she said bitterly.“But he was attacking my family.” She bit her lip and then sighed.“And I reacted emotionally instead of rationally.”“Yes, you did.” Sheridan looked at her severely, tapping his fingers on the arm of his chair.“But there’s nothing in this report that will damage your record, Susan.You have a witness to the fact that you did your best to talk Larkin out of opening that hatch.And the Chief of Security will vouch for the fact that he did all the investigating.”“Well, that’s not-” she began.Sheridan raised a hand to stop her.“And in future,” he said, “when you encounter an unstable compound you’ll treat it with a little more respect.”“Yes, Sir.”“Dismissed.”Ivanova rose and saluted, and Sheridan, seated, returned her salute.She executed a neat pivot and walked away, back straight, eyes front.“You were a little rough on her,” Garibaldi said when she was gone.“Weren’t you?”Sheridan looked at the Security Chief for a moment.“She needed me to be,” he said.“Now she can begin to forgive herself for making a mistake.”“Hey, he attacked her first,” Garibaldi said, pointing at the Captain.“And he hit low.”“You spoke to him,” Sheridan said.“Did he seem dangerous to you?”Garibaldi reflected a moment, remembering Larkin sitting in Ivanova’s office, looking nervous, outraged, alarmed, but never guilty.And certainly not threatening.More of a Milquetoast, actually.A classic wimp.The worm that turned out to have a concealed weapon.“No,” he replied.“He hid his feelings well.Probably something he learned dealing with the Psi-Corps kids
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]