Like the nearby chairs, the desk was almost covered with books, folders, and separate pads of signals, arranged in order of importance or urgency. He stared around the day cabin, where he had been working without a break since he had been piped aboard only this afternoon. The cabin was huge, but Reliant had been built at a time when allotted space was often measured by rank. And so quiet. Even with half the ship’s company on a week’s leave, there were still enough people aboard to be heard. Reliant carried a total of twelve hundred officers, ratings and marines, and yet beyond the cabin bulkhead he could barely hear the occasional tannoy announcement, or the twitter of a boatswain’s call. He tried to remember the ship as she had appeared when he had first stepped aboard in peacetime. The Mediterranean, regattas, parties, and receptions. Showing the flag. Like the time when the squadron had been at Naples: he could see it as if it were yesterday, perhaps because he wanted to erase what had happened so recently.
