Burden of Proof (39 page)

"Yes, sir."

"That'd better be correct. I will be keeping an eye on you, Mr. Sinclair. God help you if you harm my daughter or her career."

"I will never do that, sir."

"I'll be watching. Dismissed."

Paul saluted, but Jen suddenly lunged forward and hugged her father. "Thank you, dad. Sorry we fought."

Captain Shen's face actually revealed a brief, gentle smile. "Me, too."

Jen stepped back, saluted, then followed Paul out the hatch. The messenger escorted them back to the quarterdeck, and they left the USS
Mahan
behind.

Paul strode along, his thoughts focusing on Captain Shen's last words to him.
Great. Commander Herdez is watching supportively from afar to see if I measure up to
her
impossible standards, and now Captain Shen will be watching antagonistically from afar to see if I measure up to
his
impossible standards. Maybe I should just dive out an airlock in my gym shorts. That way I'd only be subjected to impossible pressure for a few seconds.

"A buck for your thoughts," Jen stated with a smile.

"You don't want to know."

"I can imagine. My father isn't going to forgive and forget anytime soon that you made him look real bad."

"Pardon me all to hell. How can such an intelligent man fail to see I was trying to do right by Chief Asher and prevent anyone else suffering because of an officer who failed in his duties?"

"He knows that, Paul. He respects what you did. That's why he shook your hand. He just doesn't like it."

"Is this supposed to be helping me understand?"

"Paul Sinclair, I've spent my entire life trying to understand my father and I'm a long ways from achieving that goal. He's proud and he's smart, too proud and too smart sometimes to realize he can be wrong." Jen sighed. "This all complicates things. I wanted to be able to tell you my answer to your proposal by now."

"Proposal? What proposal?"

"Your
marriage
proposal. Did you forget about it already?"

"Oh." Paul felt his face warming. "I'm sorry, it's just so much has been going on and I'm still pretty distracted and -"

"Uh-huh. Probably thinking about that sweet little lawyer commander of yours."

"Jen, I swear -"

Jen started laughing. "Anyway, with my father still on the warpath I don't want him thinking I'm marrying you just to spite him. Believe it or not, I'm hoping to fully mend this rift someday."

"I believe you're hoping, yeah."

"Can you wait a while longer for an answer, Paul?"

He smiled and held her close, unworried about observers for a moment. "Jen, I can wait. No problem."

Her voice was slightly muffled against his shoulder. "What happened to the fear of losing me?"

"I'm not afraid anymore, Jen. You stuck with me through this, and like you said you came back."

"Oh, great." Jen pulled back a bit and glared up at him. "So now you're complacent and confident."

"That's not how I meant it."

"Let's see. You've alienated my father, and now you've told me you feel secure in taking me for granted. What's next? Are you going to go for three and ask me if I've gained weight recently?"

"No! I meant -"

"It's not like I've been all that wonderful to begin with."

"Jen, that's not true. You've been fine."

"
Fine
? I've been
fine
?"

"No! That's not what I meant to say. You've been great. Wonderful. The greatest, most wonderful -"

"Too late. That's strike three. If this was a baseball game you'd be out."

"It's not a baseball game. It's real life. No, it's not real life. It's the Navy. Different rules."

Jen grinned. "Very different rules. When you make admiral, I'm going to take credit."

"I'll never make admiral at the rate I'm going. I'm beginning to wonder about making full lieutenant."

"You'll make it. Just try to stay away from courts-martial from now on." The quarterdeck of the USS
Michaelson
loomed ahead. "I know you need to get back aboard."

"Yeah. Duty calls."

"Does it ever stop calling?" She leaned closer and smiled. "I can't kiss you with the quarterdeck of your ship watching us, but I can tell you I'm proud of you. Like dad said, you did a good job."

"Thanks, Jen. See you tomorrow?"

"Count on it. And stay out of courts-martial!"

She waved and walked rapidly toward where the USS
Maury
was docked. Paul watched for a moment, then walked toward the quarterdeck of the
Michaelson
.
Stay out of courts-martial? It's not like I've ever sought them out
. He saluted the national flag, saluted the officer of the deck, and requested permission to come aboard.

Kris Denaldo returned the salute. "I'm glad you're back. Ensign Gabriel wants to hand over the duty to you, you've got a message to see the captain as soon as possible, Lieutenant Kilgary says you've got the 0400 quarterdeck watch, and Commander Garcia, Lieutenant Bristol, Chief Imari and Petty Officer Sharpe are all looking for you."

Paul found himself laughing.
Life in the Space Navy's back to normal. I wonder how long that'll last this time
?