"-but his presence in a crisis has an impressive maturity."

Beasley/Daniel was addressing what were apparently his officers on the bridge of what might've been a battleship. Certainly it was too spacious for a 1300-ton corvette like thePrincess Cecile.

"Fellow citizens of the great Republic of Cinnabar!" he said. "You've joined me to lift the iron heel of tyranny from the necks of the innocent people of Dunbar's World. I swear to you that we will succeed, even if it means our deaths. As you know, a Cinnabar spacer never backs down!"

"Is the speech from the records also, mistress?" Cazelet asked. He was keeping his voice carefully neutral, but the doubt behind the question was obvious.

Well, it would've been obvious to a pet monkey!

"It is not," Adele said dryly. "To begin with, Cinnabar citizens are a minority in most RCN crews. They were asmall minority on the vessels which we operated in Ganpat's Reach. More important-"

She paused, watching as a delegation from the government of Dunbar's World begged Commander Leary for his support in their struggle against tyranny. Makeup and artfully torn garments emphasized their wretchedness, and the holographic imagery had apparently been manipulated to reduce the height of the civilian players in comparison with the stalwart spacers of the RCN.

Adele snorted. "Goodheavens!" she muttered. "They're in uniform."

"The uniforms are wrong, you mean?" Cazelet asked.

"What?" said Adele. She'd forgotten him again. "No-well, yes, that too. But it's the fact the spacers are wearingany uniform. They'd be in slops of some color that wouldn't show grease too badly. Unless they were going on liberty, of course, and then they'd be covered in so many ribbons and bangles that you'd be hard put to tell what the fabric was underneath."