”Meanwhile, I was monitoring the ship’s engines. Even warships were not designed to run full emergency power for hours on end. We had an upgraded ...ngine, but we were asking a LOT of the engines to run full-throttle for this long. Thankfully, our recent maintenance had it running in top shape, but some of the components were beginning to show signs of stress, as a couple of the normally green icons on my board would flicker yellow every now and then.Since Melissa didn’t have an action station,. Gifted with possibly the most outstanding cook in the county, though her own Mrs. Donnely was a very close second. She smiled, the competition between their cooks was legendary. Mrs. Porter had outdone herself this evening and each course outshone the previous. And as usual, the wines chosen by Bradley were a flawless match to every course. Lord Carrington and the other men excused themselves after the meal ended to avail themselves of the late Lord Stirling's collection of fine cigars which. I raised my hand as if I didn't want to hear it. I wasn't finished. "No I'm not going to fire you. But I don't think we can let these recent mishaps go unaccounted for can we?" I said. "Errm..."I didn't need an answer, I was just enjoying watching her squirm. "We did lose a 100 grand contract because I missed that meeting last week. Now I could dock your wages until you pay it off. But I don't want you to lose your flat. And I don't want you working too much overtime and burning yourself out.". Just as I was about to let go I felt the log shake and Little Buck appeared, walking out and using the log for a clear view of the river.I froze. After a few minutes, he turned to go back and looked down, right into my face. I saw the shock in his eyes. Then he drew in a breath, getting ready to yell for his friends. I rose up out of the water and grabbed him, falling back. He didn’t have time to use his bow and I felt his hand go to his waist, searching for his knife. I jammed a finger into.