Suddenly, the floor shook beneath our feet, my hand darting to the doorframe reflexively to keep myself steady. The entire station seemed to quake, th... superstructure making worrying groaning sounds that seemed to emanate from all around us.I saw Vasiliev come jogging down the hallway, still in the process of zipping up his coveralls, the worried trainees turning to him for guidance.“What’s going on, Staff Sergeant?” I heard someone ask.“That’s a battle stations alarm,” he replied, an. She glanced over at the pickup next to them, and she could see Ronnie looking right at her, giving her the thumbs up. “Your friend seems nice,” Lenny said. Sally looked over at him, and said softly, “We’re not really friends. It’s just that… well, Veronica’s really popular, y’know, but she’s a horrible gossip, so I wanted to play nice, I guess.”“Oh, so THAT’S the Veronica I’ve heard about,” Lenny said, taking a swig of his Coke. “Well, Phil’s a good kid. Second string, but he works hard at. The guys at Mark's office always looked forward to seeing Angela too. Her baked goods were not the only thing that was hot about her! Angela was quite attractive, and she had a body that wouldn't quit. She loved to come to Mark's office to talk and flirt with the guys; she was always teasing and flirting with all the guys single and married. It was all in innocent fun and her sexy attention made everyone's day. But Angela had been feeling a little down in the dumps lately. Her birthday was. ..”She growled, “no. They were after you.”I looked at her, “in your room?”She nodded, “your little speech hit close to the mark. Grandfather and I have been talking since the war ended. You were more right than you knew. The officers in Ring should have boarded that ship. Most are now out of the fleet and working for large merchant cartels.”I hissed and pulled my comm, “call mom.”Alexandra hissed but I ignored her and it was not long before the starcomm was completed. My mother growled,.