The Road to the Rim - A. Bertram Chandler [27]
"Even so . . . I don't see any reason why we shouldn't . . ."
"Why we shouldn't what? Oh, all right, all right. I know what you mean. But it's out of the question. I'll tell you why, in words of one syllable. In a ship such as Delta Orionis discreet fun and games were permissible, even desirable. No shortage of women—both crew and passengers. Here, I'm the only female. Your friend Mr. Baxter has been sniffing after me. And Mr. Wolverton, the Interstellar Chief. And his Second. And even, bereaved though he is, the Bearded Bastard. He might get away with it—the privileges of rank and all that. But nobody else would—most certainly not yourself. How long would it remain a secret if we went to bed together?"
"I suppose you're right, but . . ."
"But what? Oh John, John, you are a stubborn cow."
"Cow?"
"Sorry. Just Rimworldsese. Applicable to both sexes."
"Talking of sex . . ."
"Oh, shut up!"
"I'll not." She looked desirable standing there. A small smudge of grease on her flushed cheek was like a beauty spot. "I'll not," he said again. She was close to him, and he was acutely conscious that beneath the thin uniform shirt and the short shorts there was only Jane. He had only to reach out. He did so. At first she did not resist—and then exploded into a frenzy of activity. Before he could let go of her a hard, rough hand closed on his shirt collar and yanked him backwards.
"Keep yer dirty paws off her!" snarled a voice. It was Baxter's. "Keep yer dirty paws off her! If we didn't want yer ter let off the fireworks I'd do yer, here an' now."
"And keep your dirty paws off me!" yelped Grimes. It was meant to be an authentic quarterdeck bark, but it didn't come out that way.
"Let him go, Mr. Baxter," said Jane, adding, "please."
"Oh, orl right. If yer says so. But I still think we should run him up ter the Old Man."
"No. Better not." She addressed Grimes, "Thank you for your help on the ATREG, Mr. Grimes. And thank you, Mr. Baxter, for your help. It's time that I started looking after the next meal."
She left, not hastily, but not taking her time about it either. When she was gone Baxter released Grimes. Clumsily the Ensign turned himself around, with a wild flailing motion. Unarmed combat had never been his specialty, especially unarmed combat in Free Fall conditions. But he knew that he had to fight, and the rage and the humiliation boiling up in him made it certain that he would do some damage.
But Baxter was laughing, showing all his ugly, yellow teeth. "Come orf it, Admiral! An' if we must have a set-to—not in here. Just smash the UV projector—an' bang goes our air conditioning! Simmer down, mate. Simmer down!"
Grimes simmered down, slowly. "But I thought you were out for my blood, Mr. Baxter."
"Have ter put on a show for the Sheilas now an' again. Shouldn't mind puttin' on another kind o' show with her. But not in public—like you was goin' to. It just won't do—not until the shootin' is over, anyhow. An' even then . . . . So, Admiral, it's paws off as far as you're concerned. An' as far as I'm concerned—an' the Chief Time Twister an' his sidekick. But, if yer can spare the time, I propose we continue the conversation in my palatial dogbox."
Grimes should have felt uneasy as he followed the engineer to his accommodation but, oddly enough, he did not. The rough friendliness just could not be the prelude to a beating up. And it wasn't.
"Come in," said Baxter, pulling his sliding door to one side. "Now yer see how the poor live. This is . . ."
"No," protested Grimes. "No."
"Why? I was only goin' to say that this is me 'umble 'umpy. An' I'd like yer to meet a coupla friends o' mine—and there's more where they came from."
The "friends" were two drinking bulbs. Each bore proudly no less than four stars on its label. The brandy was smooth, smooth and potent. Grimes sipped appreciatively. "I didn't know that we had any of this aboard Delia O'Ryan."
"An' nor did we. You'll not find this tipple in the bar stores of any merchantman, nor aboard any of yer precious Survey Service wagons. Space stock for the Emperor's yacht,