procurement department. His finger almost pushed the up button to call for an elevator. He had been intending to stop by and present his regards to First Lieutenant Aldamani. He had promised the lieutenant’s parents back on Lazzaroni Station that he would look up their son. Good manners and navy protocol dictated that he make the effort to meet the man, as he had made contact, however slight, with the man’s family. The navy protocol guides also stated that the lower ranking officer should make every effort to present themselves when it was reasonable to assume the senior officer would be present. Whether the lower ranking officer was snubbed and ignored was entirely at the discretion of the senior officer.
So far , Stone had managed to justify to himself about each and every visit he neglected. Once again, he decided, since it was the middle of the first watch he could assume that Aldamani was at lunch. It was not very likely he would find the man in his office, so he was free to bypass the meeting again.
He pushed the down button to call for an elevator. He knew there was an officer’s wardroom just one deck down. Normally, Stone ate in the midshipman’s recreation area near his bunk. He was not really hungry since it was the middle of his sleep cycle. He had discovered the officer’s wardroom near Lieutenant Vaarhoo’s office served ice cream. The mid-rec area did not. Ice cream always went down easily after having to get up in the middle of a sleep cycle to get counseled by his supervisor.
Stone breathed a sigh of relief at not having to face Aldamani. He knew why he was avoiding the man. He was not having very good luck meeting any officer on board the Ol’ Toothless. He was either studiously ignored by other officers, or as in the case of his direct supervisor, it seemed that no matter what he did, he was wrong. He knew he had already put off contacting Aldamani longer than good manners would allow. The navy didn’t say how long you could take to meet a higher ranking officer, just that you did it.
His mother would skin him alive if she heard of him deliberately being rude to a fellow officer. Dad would not care, but Mom always got a bug up about such things. Still, Stone could not imagine how his mother would ever hear about First Lieutenant Aldamani.
The down elevator doors popped open. There were a couple of people exiting on his deck so Stone stepped back and to the side, as regulations dictated. Both were officers, but the man outranked the woman, so Stone looked the man in the eyes and nodded his head, also exactly as regulations dictated. Both of the officers had animals of some sort on leads, ropes, leashes or whatever the things were called. He did not recognize the animals. Stone backed up another step to give the creatures room to get past him.
Stone spoke to the lieutenant, again precisely as regulations dictated. “Good morning, sir.” The smile Stone wore was also regulation issue.
The man almost walked past as if completely ignoring Stone . Then he stopped and spun back around. “Midshipman Stone?” he asked.
Stone froze in mid-step, the ele vator doors closing in his face. He quickly choked down his apprehension at being called by name and his disappointment at barely missing the escape for ice cream. He smartly snapped to attention, performed an about face and spoke in a clear, firm but pleasant voice trying to do everything as regulations dictated. Or rather, that was his intention. He barely stopped his eyes from rolling and he stumbled over his own feet as he turned around.
His voice took the opportunity to break as he stammered. “Yes, sir, I am Midshipman Blackmon Stone, third watch warehouse three-whiskey.”
“Third watch, huh?” The lieutenant grinned. “You must feel like it is the middle of the night.”
“Yes sir. It does seem that way,” Stone nodded. Stone glanced at the man’s nametag. “Oh, Lieutenant Aldamani, I have been meaning to call. I did meet your
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