Страница 68 из 126
"Yeah." Harkness sat on the unoccupied bed opposite the one Aubrey had spent the last two days in and gri
Being called "kid" by Harkness didn't offend Aubrey the way it did when other old sweats used the term, but he felt a familiar chill at the word "accident." So that was it. Harkness was here to try to get him to talk, and Aubrey felt his face stiffen.
"Yeah," he said, looking away. "I fell."
"Crap." The word came out without heat. In fact, Harkness sounded almost amused, and Aubrey felt a hot flush replace his earlier chill. It was hardly fu
Harkness let silence linger for several moments, then leaned back on his elbows, half reclining across the bed. "Look, kid," he rumbled reasonably, "I know that's crap, you know it's crap, the Bosun knows it's crap, hell, even the Old Lady knows it's crap. You're lying your ass off, aren't you?" He held Aubrey's eyes with that same lazy challenge, then nodded when the younger man said nothing. "Yep, and so is Tatsumi," he went on calmly. "I don't really know as I blame either of you, Steilman can be a nasty SOB, but you don't really think it's going to end here, do you?"
Aubrey felt a fresh, deeper chill as he heard Steilman's name. He hadn't told a soul, and he was sure Tatsumi hadn't, but Harkness knew anyway, and if he went to the Bosun or the Exec, Steilman would never believe Aubrey hadn't.
"I..." he began, then closed his mouth and stared at Harkness helplessly.
"Let me explain something." The senior chiefs deep voice held an odd note of compassion. "See, I'm not here to ask you to name any names, and I'm not go
"Practical?" Aubrey asked hesitantly.
"Yep. What I want to know, Wanderman, isn't what you're go
"Do?" Aubrey sank onto his own bed, pressing one hand to his ribs, and licked his lips. The quick heal was working, but they were still puffy, and he swallowed again. "What . . . what do you mean, 'do about it,' Senior Chief?"
"The way I see it," Harkness said calmly, "Steilman beat the crap out of you, and then he probably said something along the lines of I've got friends, so keep your mouth shut, or else." He shrugged. "The only problem is, if you do keep your mouth shut, then you're go
"I..." Aubrey broke off once more, expression helpless, and Harkness nodded.
"S'what I thought. You haven't thought about that part of it, have you?"
Aubrey shook his head, not even realizing that to do so was to tacitly admit that he had not, in fact, fallen... and that Harkness was right about who'd attacked him. His eyes clung to the senior chief's, and Harkness sighed.
"Wanderman, you're a good kid, but Jesus are you green. You've got just two choices here. Either you go to the Bosun and tell her what really happened, or you deal with Steilman on your own. One or the other. 'Cause if you don't, you can bet Steilman's go
"I..." Aubrey dropped his eyes to the deck and drew a deep breath, then shook his head. "I can't go to the Bosun, Senior Chief," he admitted hoarsely. "It's not just me, and it's not just Steilman. He's got friends... and so do I. If I turn him in, how do I know one of his friends won't go after me or Gin..." He paused and cleared his throat. "Or one of my friends?"
"Okay." Harkness shrugged. "I think you're making a mistake, but if that's the way you feel, that's the way you feel, and I ain't your momma. But that only leaves one option. Are you really up for that?"
"No," Aubrey muttered hopelessly. His shoulders sagged and his face burned with humiliation, but he made himself look up from the deck. "I've never had a fight in my life, Senior Chief," he said with a sort of forlorn dignity. "I don't even know if I'd have the guts to try to fight back next time, but even if I did, I wouldn't be very good at it."
"Guts?" Harkness repeated very softly, then laughed. "Kid, you've got a hell of a lot more guts than Steilman!" Aubrey blinked at him, and the senior chief shook his head. "You're scared to death of him, but you're not exactly falling apart in panic," he pointed out. "If you were go
Aubrey blinked. The senior chief was wrong about his own courage, Aubrey knew that, but maybe he had a point about Steilman. Aubrey had never even considered what had happened in that light.
"See, the thing you have to understand about people like Steilman," Harkness said, "is that they're sure thing players. Steilman likes beating people up. He enjoys hurting 'em, and he likes feeling like top dog. And he's a big bastard, too, I'll admit that. He's bigger'n I am, and strong, and he fights dirty, and I imagine he likes to think he's a tough, dangerous customer. But he's not really very smart, lad. If he were, he'd realize anybody can be dangerous. Even you."
"Me?" Aubrey stared at the older man and then laughed a bit wildly. "He could take me apart with one hand, Senior Chief! For that matter, he already did!"
"You have hand-to-hand in basic?" Harkness countered.
"Of course I did, but I was never any good at it. You're not going to tell me six weeks of training taught me how to beat up someone like Steilman!"
"Nope. But it did give you the basics, that's why they call it 'basic,'" Harkness said with such total seriousness that Aubrey had to listen to him. "Course, you knew it wasn't for real. It was just training, and you figured, hey, I'm a little, wiry guy, and I've never had a fight, and I'm never go
"It sure does," Aubrey said feelingly, and Harkness chuckled.
"Well, looks to me like you were wrong. You are go