Dark Running (Fourth Fleet Irregulars Book 4) by S J MacDonald

pretend to be human. Anyone listening to her conversation with Buzz would realise that she was not an ordinary officer, as she told him enthusiastically about her adventures on leave.
    ‘We had so much fun,’ Shion enthused, in response to Buzz’s enquiry as to how she’d enjoyed her leave. ‘Your worlds are amazing , just so much to see, so much that’s beautiful and so much that’s appalling or just bonkers. We saw birds in a park, you know – ducks. I love ducks! And we called in at the university to look at the students.’ A peal of laughter. ‘They were fun! And we went to Cosmos Park – I ate candyfloss and threw up. Isn’t vomiting weird? Never done that before. And we grav-dived off a sky tower and went to a pie factory and oh, so much – I’ll tell you all about it, later.’
    She was obviously aware of how busy he was, with all the screens open in front of him and several calls awaiting his attention. She was also looking at the bank of screens on a side bulkhead which gave views of all the working areas around the ship. This was one of the Fourth’s most controversial innovations, an open-comms system which enabled anyone aboard to watch and listen in on what was happening on the command deck, whilst at the same time allowing the officers there to keep an eye on what was going on throughout the ship. Shion could take all that in with one glance, identifying everyone and what they were doing. Her attention, though, focussed in on engineering, where Alex was in discussion with Morry Morelle, their engineer. Tina Lucas was standing next to him, making notes on a comp. ‘Oh, is that her?’ she asked, with ungrammatical enthusiasm. Then, answering her own question as she saw the cadet insignia on the girl’s uniform, she looked at Buzz with yearning hope. ‘Do I get to be her oppo?’
    Buzz smiled. Shion’s status was rather irregular, given that she had never been to a Fleet Academy or officially graduated as an officer. She had been given honorary League citizenship by the President, and signed into service with the Fourth on an honorary basis, too, undertaking duties at Alex’s discretion. She was, however, accepted by all of them as a working officer, carrying out all the duties of a junior Sub. It was Fleet custom to assign any newcomer to the ship an ‘oppo’, someone of equivalent rank who would be responsible for settling them in. In the case of cadets on placement, that role was traditionally taken by the most junior Sub aboard. And that, in terms of length of service, was Shion.
    ‘Yes, of course,’ Buzz said, making that decision without hesitation. It would have been insulting to do anything other than assign her to that role as the most junior Sub. ‘And you’ll be expected to help train and mentor her, just like any other officer.’
    Shion gave a most un-princess like crow of delight. ‘Woo hoo!’ She exclaimed. ‘Real! ’
    And with that she was off, leaping down the zero-gee hatchway with a triple somersault.
    Tina was every bit as happy to meet her. She already knew as much about Shion as could be learned from files and Fleet gossip. She had learned even more over the last few days. The first time she had seen Alex von Strada laugh had been just a couple of hours into her shadowing him. He had been checking his mail as they walked across the base, and suddenly just cracked up laughing. She had not been so impertinent as to enquire why, of course, but he had told her, and even showed her the message. It was from the Diplomatic Corps, informing him with a slightly desperate note that Shion and Davie North were currently in a red-light security situation in that they were drawing a good deal of public attention. They were currently exploring the experience of travelling by public transport, something the security team was edgy about in itself. Finding a busker on a sky-train platform, however, they had joined in. Shion could play any instrument, and sing, and was giving a