Ship's Boy by Phil Geusz

hearty for the first time since entering the room. Then he turned to me. “And now you, David.” He smiled insincerely. “I must admit that your situation has caused me even more worry than that of his Lordship’s. I mean, no one anywhere knows how to properly raise a free Rabbit. Or at least not that I know of.”
    I nodded and said nothing.
    “Well…” he said eventually. “I see that you’re playing with a datapad too. Can you actually read?”
    I nodded slowly. “Uh-huh.”
    Blaine beamed. “Excellent! Far better than I feared. Good bunny!” Then he reached out for the instrument and I handed it over. He stared at it for a long, long, time. “What in the world?” he asked eventually. 
    “That’s an equation representing the current state of your engines, approximated to six dimensions,” I explained. “I’m trying to figure out how much power we’ve actually lost due to that warped control rod in the number nine warp generator.” I blushed. “It’s only an approximation, sir. To obtain reliable figures you need to work an n-dimensional formula. And I don’t know enough calculus to do that yet.”
    “I see,” the captain replied, his voice flat and hard. He handed the datapad back, then crossed his arms. “Well… What I had in mind was to offer you the chance to learn something more practical for a Rabbit. Something that might actually help you earn your keep as a freedman, in other words.”
    I let my ears rise in curiosity. “Sir?”
    Blaine sighed. “Pedro is overworked,” he admitted. “I meant to buy another Rabbit, but that cursed factor on Magus Prime…” He shook his head and frowned. Then he turned to James. “It’s good for a Rabbit to work,” he explained. “They must work, you see, in order to be truly happy. It’s how they’re designed. If they don’t work they go to seed and die young.” He looked away. “I’ll rate him the same as a human ship’s boy—he is free, after all. Wages and everything. And I’ll make a special note in the log that he’s to be discharged when you leave the ship. But.. My Lord, you’ll ruin him if you let him lie about all day in here and…” He pointed at my datapad. “Draw squiggles.”
    I turned to James, who was already looking at me with eyebrows raised. “I am bored,” I admitted. “Nor afraid to work. He’s right about that part.”
    James nodded. “I only wish I could go with you. It sounds like it might be fun, at least sometimes.” Then he turned to Captain Blaine. “He agrees.”
    The baronet looked immensely relieved. “Excellent!” he declared. “David will report to the galley at the beginning of the first watch tomorrow for instruction in his new duties.” He looked down at my “squiggles” again, his eyes blank. Then he smiled one last time. “I’m sure you’ll make something of yourself given a chance, David. After all, milord clearly thought well of you.” Then he was gone.
    There was a long, long silence in the cabin before James finally spoke again. “What do you know about the ranks of nobility, David?” he finally asked.
    “Not much,” I admitted.
    “Well…” James continued. “Do you know exactly what a baronet is? Or how somebody gets to be one?”
    I shook my head. 
    “A baronetcy is a purchased rank. A hereditary title that can be bought and sold. Usually those who buy the silly things are incredibly vain and small-minded. It seems to run in the families, too. For generation after generation.”
    “I see,” I replied, understanding beginning to dawn.
    “You can also purchase rank in the navy,” James observed. “Though those who buy it are usually assigned to jobs where they can’t do much harm. Like commanding revenue cutters, for example, teamed with highly-experienced and long-suffering first officers who can be trusted to carry them along.” He shook his head. “Dad absolutely despised some things about our system, David. Baronetcies and purchased rank among them. He