My Dearest by Susan Sizemore Page A

Seyemouth, perhaps he is home on leave at last and has told you more of that adventure than I can relate in a few words.
    Megere glanced up, and her attention was caught by the night sky beyond the cabin's octagonal side port. Not only was the sea calm, as she had told her mother, it was an absolutely beautiful night. She rose to look out the thick glass pane. Two of the three moonswere high in the sky. Gray Moon was half full, much larger Green moon was on the wan. Green Moon had a misty sheen to it tonight. She peered intently at it, knowing she could make out no details without a spyglass, and even then she'd only be able to see the faintest of swirls that might be clouds on the distant moonscape. Some said there was life on Green Moon. Why else would the surface be green? Some astronomers, looking through large crystal lenses, claimed that they could sometimes make out lights on the moon, but most people scoffed at these claims. Megere had not thought much about the moons - other than that they were always there and Red Moon's pull on the tides made the seas dangerous for navigation every dozen generations or so. They were safe from the danger of Red Moon for her lifetime, at least.
    She went back to her letter.
    I was just looking at the sky arching grandly over the middle of the ocean. I have not thought much about what goes on over our heads until recently. I have voyaged out on the wide seas before, but it is only within the last few days that I have seen the vision of infinity that we only have to look up to encounter. You often speak of the Infinite, and the All, but I am only beginning to realize the hugeness these concepts encompass.
    Megere put the pen down. She read what she had just written. For a moment she was tempted to scratch the words out. She was tempted to start the letter over altogether. She was tempted to tell all she had seen and experienced in the last several days.
    Which was exactly what Lord Adrew Osprey, her commander as much as her lover, did not want her to say.
    She put pen to paper again.
    A year ago I was not certain I would take up the duties of a ship's surgeon. The surprise Framin attack on Seyemouth resulted in my being pressed into service on board the Ironbound and I have not regretted this despite the complications it forced upon our family at home. Though I had no doubt of my medical abilities before circumstances put me in my current positions, I was not sure I had the strength of character to act as the advisor and conscience to the commander of the ship I was assigned to. Well, I have learned that I can dispute as strenuously as is necessary in the line of duty as I must.
    Technically, I do not report to Captain Ram, the master of the Ironbound, but am assigned to Admiral North's flag staff. But since I am the only accredited surgeon on board, the sickbay is mine. Dr. Vine has the care of Captain Ram's conscience in his purview. I work well with Dr. Vine - who tells me he is a relation of the admirable Mr. Vine, who you will recall designed our best gowns for the Seeker Season. I also have an apprentice I am training in surgery - this is the position I held myself not so long ago on my tour of duty aboard the Moonrunner. I sometimes think I am living a dream, what with all the sudden changes in my life
    The last few days had certainly had a dreamlike quality at times, Megere reflected as she paused to rest her wrist for a moment. A scratch on the door between the bedroom and the Admiral's office caught her attention. She went to the door to let in her terrier, Star. While Lord North was nearly as fond of her pet as Megere, he preferred the humans be alone when they went to bed. He claimed having Star watching them make love put him off. Since one or the other of them was likely to get up during the night, due to the call of duty or the call of nature, Star rarely spent the whole night in her basket in the office.
    Megere sat back at the desk, and Star immediately jumped into her