Temporary Duty Read Online Free Page B

nearly the end of the first
ande
, you would probably say ‘watch.’ I will return in a little more than a
tle
, perhaps three-quarters of one of your hours, I think. We will take a meal then. Will that be satisfactory?"
    "Plenty of time," said Peters.
    Dee nodded. "Good. I will return." She slipped out the door, swinging it to behind her.
    Peters and Todd looked at one another for a long moment. "Me for a shower, and change into undress, I think," Peters suggested. "We don’t know what we’re gonna be doin’ the next few hours."
    "Right," said Todd. "Head call for me, too." He went through the toilet room door, closing it behind him. Peters unzipped his seabag and started picking spots for his stuff, and after a little time Todd opened the door and stuck his head through. "Hey, did Dee show you how to flush this thing?"
    "Shit, Todd, it shouldn’t be that tough." Between the two of them they figured it out, a square pushplate at about shoulder level above the seat. Then they both went back to unpacking, finding that, even with everything spread out for maximum convenience, their belongings didn’t fill half the space intended for one person, let alone that for both.
    Peters went first for a shower, taking his own soap and finding a recess at waist level to stow it. When he was finished he took a towel from the locker between the sinks, and was back in his room before he realized that he hadn’t even thought about where the towel would be, had simply grabbed one from the logical place. "It ain’t so strange," he breathed to himself, the view out the window giving him the lie as he said it.
    He folded his dress blues carefully, wondering how he was going to get them cleaned, and selected undress, the same color and style but without piping or decorations. Satisfied with his appearance, Peters sat down in the chair, finding that it adjusted through a full range like the seat on the
dli
but had no power assists. He started going through the drawers of the desk, finding nothing but dust.
    A knock on the door a little later proved to be Dee, still wearing her yellow and blue outfit. "Howdy, Dee," Peters said, raising his left hand in the gesture he had seen.
    "Pleasant greetings." Dee returned the salute, adding a little nod of the head. "Are you ready for a meal?"
    "Yeah, I could eat. It feels like a little early for lunch, but that’s all right. Our midday meal," he explained.
    "It is the third meal for us," said Dee.
    Peters shrugged. "Different schedules. We’ll get used to it."
    They collected Todd by knocking on his door, and the three of them went back to the stairway and down to the landing bay. On the other side, by one of the big doors, they found a row of people-sized hatches. Dee selected one, led the way into a small cubicle, pulled the hatch closed, and pushed buttons on the wall. There was a loud whine and clanking sounds, and they felt a little acceleration as the elevator started up. After perhaps half a minute the noise died away, and Dee opened the hatch on another corridor, wider and painted pale blue, but with the same fluorescent lights overhead. Peters had been trying to get his bearings, and thought they headed toward the bow, if they had landed through the stern, which seemed to make sense.
    A few steps up the corridor was an open archway giving on a room with tables and chairs, occupied by Grallt in a miscellany of costumes, some the same style as Dee’s but more skintight overalls or jumpsuits, in a range of colors, mostly bright. Dee picked a table with four chairs around it, and they took seats. A male Grallt in white tunic and red trousers bustled up. "Table service?" Todd inquired with raised eyebrows.
    Dee gave her humanlike shrug and exchanged gabble with the new Grallt for a while, and he moved off, still bustling. "I don’t understand your comment," Dee said to Todd when he was gone.
    Todd shrugged himself, and Peters replied, "Is he gonna bring our food to us?"
    "Yes, that is his