"I realize it's fiction," he said, "but couldn't they try to make it at least vaguely believable?"

"That's real imagery," Adele said. "Oh, it didn't happen off Dunbar's World, and of course it wasn't theSissie 's guns that were responsible. TheBremse detonated one of her own mines."

"By the Gods," Cazelet said softly. He turned to meet her eyes. "There are safety devices, are there not?"

The false Commander Leary was making another speech. In fact Daniel was a very effective orator, but Adele was sure that hadn't affected the 'documentary' in the least.

"The lockouts were disconnected," Adele said. I disconnected them, thereby killing several hundred Alliance spacers. Though I'm not sure it counts unless you watch them over your gunsight as they die.

Riggers danced up and down theSissie 's antennas in light air suits, probably because the rigging suits they really wore were too stiff and depersonalizing for properly dramatic effects. Commander Leary-who wore Dress Whites under his translucent air suit-leaped into the void to save two spacers who'd slipped from the yard.

The computer-generatedPrincess Cecile was back in action, this time against a heavy cruiser. The enemy vessel crumbled under the lash of incoming missiles.

"That's true too?" Cazelet said. "I'll admit it looks like real imagery, but I don't see how it could be."

Adele smiled faintly. "It can be real if you realize that there's an allied battleship launching from out of the image area," she said. "That was two years ago and nowhere near Dunbar's World. But it was real."

The battles-and the heroic speeches, none of which mentioned loot or sexual partners like the speeches Daniel was in the habit of making to his crews-continued. Adele clipped scenes and made notes, feeling a grim fascination.