No Quarter Given (SSE 667) by Lindsay McKenna

serious, and he knew it would interfere with her flying.
    Angry at himself, he slammed the pen down on the papers and glared around his small office. Dana. Why couldn't he think of her as Coulter? Last names were generic, less intimate. She was a woman. And women meant nothing but trouble in his book. And he sure as hell wasn't going to wind up like Toby—dying in the rear seat of a cockpit because a woman screwed up on a flight. No way.
    ***
    Dana couldn't contain her surprise when the corps Wave at the dispensary picked up an order with her name already on it.
    "Lieutenant Turcotte has ordered you to see Dr. Collins, the flight surgeon. He has concern that your left eye will interfere with your ability to fly, ma'am."
    Nodding, Dana took a seat in the crowded dispensary, waiting her turn. So Griff had ordered her to see Collins. As she sat, hands clasped in her lap, she wrestled with her feelings. Why hadn't he sent her over here yesterday? With a sigh, Dana realized that even if Griff had an impersonal hatred of her because she was a woman, he had a streak of decency, too. Another part of her worried that being put on flight waivers upon her arrival at Whiting might look bad on her record.
    Looking around, she studied the other waiting student pilots. They all looked frightened. Some moved around nervously, crossing and uncrossing their legs. Others wiped sweat from their faces. Others sat stoically, their eyes dark with fear. Fear, Dana wondered, of what? Flying? Possibiy failing? Maggie had told her last night that the big illness going around Whiting Field was gastroenteritis—a stomachache. She'd heard from a tenth-week student that the dispensary was always filled to capacity early in the morning with students who were afraid to face their instructors or a grueling flight test.
    Well, it wasn't going to happen to her, Dana decided. As soon as she saw Dr. Collins, she'd be sitting on the Turk's doorstep, letting him know she wasn't afraid of him, of that trainer or of flying with him. This was only the first skirmish in a long six-week war, as far as Dana was concerned. And she wasn't going to let him win round one.
    ***
    Griff heard a firm knock at his office door. He'd just gotten off the phone with Dr. Collins, who had put Dana on flight waivers for an entire week. Part of him was relieved. He had to admit that another part of him wanted to see her; but that was a stupid and immature reaction.
    "Enter," he growled. His next student, Ted Dunlop, wasn't scheduled until 1030. He had the whole morning to catch up on the unending paper chase that crossed his desk daily.
    Dana stepped into Griff's office and came to attention in front of his desk. She didn't dare look at him. "Ensign Coulter reporting for duty, sir."
    Griff sat back, stunned. This morning her flight uniform fit her a little better. It was obvious she'd trimmed the sleeves and pant legs and done quite a bit of sewing last night, but she still looked small and vulnerable in the olive-green uniform. He shoved back his response.
    "What the hell are you doing here? Dr. Collins put you on flight waivers, Coulter."
    "I may be on flight waivers, sir, but that doesn't stop me from learning what I can on the ground. I don't like missing a week of flying."
    "This just goes to prove my previous point. Women can't take it. You're weak, Coulter, and that's why you were placed on waivers."
    Dana glared down at him. Ordinarily, Griff should have told her to move to parade rest, but he hadn't. Standing at attention for a long time was tiring, but she wasn't going to say anything. "Women aren't weak, sir."
    Griff reared back in his chair and held her blazing blue gaze. "The hell they aren't."
    "The injury to my eye prevents me from flying only," Dana hurled back at him.
    "I wonder what it will be next, Coulter?"
    "There won't be anything else."
    Griff managed a twisted smile. "Bet me."
    "Any amount you want, sir."
    He measured her for a long moment, the silence growing