CHAPTER ONE
IEUTENANT MARK PALMER allowed himself this one
bit of baiting -- playing dumb while the CO of the USS
Modoc waited for him to ask the obvious question -- even
at the risk of irritating his commanding officer. The skip-
per held a manila envelope near his face， as if inviting
comparison to his own skin tone. The envelope wins，
Mark thought. Mark pushed a lock of straight brown hair
off his forehead and leaned forward， expectation shining
in his hazel eyes. The captain s expression faded， along
with any hint of theatrical tension.
\"Well， it s a letter，\" the captain said.
Mark tightened the jaw muscles of his lightly tanned
face and drew down the comers of his mouth to strangle a
smile. His ears popped.
\"And not just any old letter，\" the captain continued，
attempting to save the moment. \"I want you to read it.
Carefully. You ll be action officer on this， Mark.\" Com-
mander Morgan Baxter Bennett III leaned back and waved
a match over a briar from the rack on his cluttered desk.
Mark stepped forward to receive the letter， then
settled back in the metal chair and regarded Bennett. He
and the skipper were the same height， about six feet， but
|
内容加载中，请稍后...
商品评论（0条）