The Starwolves by Thorarinn Gunnarsson

doing out there."
    "My duty," Velmeran replied evenly. "And I would like to know
what you thought you were doing while I was out there."
    "That is beside the point..."
    "Is it?" Velmeran demanded. "My pack and I did your duty as
well as our own. If you believe that you are better than I am, then you tell me
why you were not there when you were needed."
    "So we made a mistake," Barthan snapped impatiently.
"Well, you made a bigger one when you decided that you could give us
orders."
    "You are not a senior pack leader," Train added. "In fact,
you are the most junior pack leader on this ship. Baressa was senior, and
she was out there with you. Why was she not giving the orders?"
    "Perhaps because Baressa is smart enough to recognize a superior
leader when it counts," Baressa answered for herself, seeming to appear
out of the very air behind the three disgruntled pack leaders. She walked
around them to stand beside Velmeran, obviously casting her support with him.
"All this talk about junior and senior pack leaders is foolish. A few
extra years of sitting in a fighter or wearing a rank does not make you better
than anyone else. A good leader comes that way, ready-made, and you know it because
you listen when he or she gives an order. And from now on I listen to
him."
    Shayrn was so moved by that endorsement that she abandoned her previous
group, edging around to stand close to Baressa. Even Train looked doubtful.
Only Barthan remained unconvinced.
    "You could be Commander-designate if we pushed it," he reminded
her.
    "I know that," she agreed. "But if Valthyrra says that he is
the one, then I believe her. You will see. Or else you will find yourself
another ship."
    "I will not take orders from him," Barthan insisted.
    "Yes, you will," she said with icy firmness. "If Valthyrra
or the Commander indicates that he can, then you are going to listen. Refusing
his orders under those circumstances is the same as refusing their own.
You know that. You would lose your rank, and you might find yourself without a
ship, if Valthyrra turns you out, because no one else will take you in. If you
do not like the way things are, then get out while it is your idea."
    "But things do not have to be that way," Barthan argued with
equal force. "If we stand together on this..."
    "You still do not understand," Baressa interrupted him, her tone
cold enough to be intimidating. "Management wants it this way, and I
agree. Too many of the senior pack leaders – which you are not –
stand with him in this matter. You cannot gather enough support to have your
own way, so you had better shut up before you get yourself in trouble."
    "I believe that I have had enough of your game," Shayrn agreed.
    "Train, you need to take your young friend aside and make a few matters
clear to him," Baressa continued. "I thought that you, at least, were
old enough to know better."
    With that she took Velmeran by the arm and led him down the broad corridor
toward the pilots' apartments. The younger pilot was too stunned to know what
to think. He could only recall that Baressa had been his stern teacher only a
few years before. For her to champion him so firmly left him speechless.
    "Barthan is a fool and he always will be," she complained
aloud, more to herself. "Rank and seniority are all-important to him, now
that he has a measure of his own, and he would like to forget that the only
pack leader he is senior to is you. I guess that means a lot to him, since he
does not have a fourth of your talent or quick wits. You threaten him, you
might say, not that I am offering that as an excuse. And I certainly do not
want you worrying about trouble from him. Train is our other resident fool, but
he just needed to have things spelled out for him. He will keep Barthan under
control now."
    She paused, noticing that Velmeran was staring at her, and smiled. "I
would not have you intimidated by me, either. It was one thing for me to
be a little strict with you when I was teaching you how to run