tion by using its full name. Security, you
know."

"I understand," Corina said. "Deck Three North, Ring Two, Segment One,
Cabin B."

"Very good!" Sunbeam exclaimed. "If this was the Academy, I'd make you
explain the system."

"If I am fortunate, I will go to the Academy when this is over. May I
practice?"

Sunbeam assumed a mock-fierce expression. "All right, plebe. Recite!"

A stern-looking Sunbeam Yamata seemed so incongruous, even on short
acquaintance, that Corina purred briefly in amusement. "We came in on
Deck Zero, known as the Equator. Other decks are numbered away from
that, south being toward the drive pod, north toward the bow. The
Bridge is at the center of Deck Zero, fully protected. The rings are
numbered outward, toward the hull. There are twelve segments, numbered
clockwise from an arbitrary beginning, and compartments in each segment
are given alphabetic designations."

When she finished, Sunbeam was grinning again. "Not quite by the book,
but you're close, and you've got all the facts right. Are you a Navy
fan, or something?"

The shuttle door opened, and the two stepped out into a cool-looking
green corridor before Corina replied. "I would not use that term, but
you could say so."

"D . . . C . . . here we are." Sunbeam motioned Corina into the cabin.
"So was I. It makes a lot of the first year easier. But don't get
used to this--cadet quarters aren't anywhere near this nice, and
neither are junior officers' quarters. Which you probably already
know."

"Yes." Corina looked around. It was more like a small apartment than
a cabin, with the part they were in both lounge and office. A panel
labeled "Ship's Services" covered one wall above a table which had an
L-shaped extension housing a computer terminal and viewscreen. Storage
and display cabinets lined two other walls. The fourth was a
translucent screen with a curtained-off opening.

She brushed past the curtain into the sleeping area. A standard bed
covered in glimmercloth was the only furniture here; the clothing
storage and fabricator were both built into the wall across from the
bed. A door in the wall opposite the divider proved to lead to a small
but well-designed 'fresher room--though Corina remembered that aboard
Navy ships, for some obscure reason, they were called "heads".

She returned to the lounge area, testing one of the two armchairs it
held--yes, as soft as it looked--glad that if she was to spen