Chapter 12: Is it a Break?

It was a quiet walk as both Linda and I were concentrating on the various pieces we had of a very incomplete picture. We were both so deeply lost in thought that neither of us heard the man shouting at us until he ran up and put his arm on my shoulder.

"What the fuck are you guys doing?" he screamed at me as he spun me around.

I was tempted to throw a punch at the irate officer, but kept calm and found myself looking at Commodore Pruitt. He was about to scream again when I raised my right hand. He paused while looking at my hand.

"You need to get it straight, Ensign," I growled dangerously. "Trying to intimidate me puts one of a very short career path. Now unless you want to keep the rank I gave you permanently, you better start explaining yourself."

The man deflated. "You come here and start investigating and everything is going crazy. My friends on the ship barely talk to me now, and I'm sure that once the news of your arrival hits the training stations the officers there won't want to talk to me either. And I've done nothing to deserve that."

"That explains nothing," I said.

"Yeah," Linda added. "I mean we aren't here to punish someone who is trying their best, but you have to help us. Now what caused you to grab the Commander."

Commodore Pruitt looked down and blushed. "Sorry. I'm just overwhelmed. I know I'm struggling quite a bit in my post. When you arrived and no one knew why I was sure it was for something I had done, but you never approached me directly."

"You have a guilty conscience then?" I asked.

The man blushed. "No, but I definitely am feeling like I'm in the wrong post. I enjoy working on the training schedules and such, but right now all of the complaints from the training centers route through me, and..."

Linda put a gentle hand on the man's arm. "Are you that sensitive to the complaints of the training base commanders?"

To my surprise the man sank down to the ground. "God yes! I was barely an acquaintance to the commanders when there was a pickup in the bar they drank in. Honestly, I'm puzzled by how quickly I gained rank. Most of them were majors and colonels on Earth and have basically the same rank. I was just starting out in my career and I'm equal to many of them in rank now."

Linda looked at me as I smiled. "Son, one thing I learned is that the Confederacy AIs make unusual promotion suggestions at times, but they do so based on all of the test and training results. Often their suggestions are extremely good. I think you'll find that your Rear Admiral is very happy with the work you do. So you have a choice, you can be less sensitive to the complaints from the training officers, or you can see if the AI can suggest another post," I said kindly.

The man shook his head. "No, I don't want to leave here yet. I have reasons to stay."

Linda was looking at him and suddenly asked. "Does one of those reasons wear a business suit and dislike lower scoring citizens?"

The man turned to glare at her and then sighed. "She's my cousin. I promised our parents that I would protect her and guide her, but she doesn't listen to me anymore."

I looked over at Linda for a moment and she gave me a faint nod. "Are you saying you are related to Jennifer Gates?" I asked.

Once again the man sighed. "Please don't tell anyone. Her rank in DECO makes most of the navy hate her and if they knew I was related to her ... No one knows, except the two of us and now you. And since Jennifer avoids me now..."

His speech trailed off. His mournful expression made it clear how much he missed his cousin. At the same time I realized that additional talking in public might be unwise so I turned to Linda. "Let's take him back to our place for a more private talk."

Linda agreed and moments later we were guiding the still distraught Commodore Pruitt towards our stateroom. As we walked I noticed a few questioning gazes. Linda must have noticed the same because she subtly took the Commodore's arm in such a way that from a distance had to look like he was under arrest in some way. In fact the man came along willingly and seemed content to allow Linda and I to guide him through the passages until we reached our room and entered.