Trudy was being baited, she could tell. She could always tell. So she leaned casually against the corner of the cell, smiling. "You know what's great about being a civilian, Beardsley? On this boat it means that the Captain gets to decide how to knock your head around when you screw up. I'm not saying I think it was a bad decision, but it wasn't my decision."

She had washed her hands of Allenby already, and had given up on ever fitting her into Command.