"Ringo,.John.-.Honorverse.SS.-.Mitchell,.Victor.-.A.SHIP.NAMED.FRANCIS" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ringo John)

pouring a shot into his tea again.

"So, what's your impression so far?" he asked, taking a sip.

"You only lose one guy a week?" Sean said with a quivering laugh.

"You noticed," the warrant said, lifting the bladder. "Medicinal belt?"

"Not yet," Tyler said, deeply tempted. "Is it just me, or is everyone
on this vessel insane?"

"Certainly the entire chain of command," the warrant replied, taking
another sip. "You haven't even met the Chief Engineer, who at
least is competent."

"And . . . the Chaplain?" Sean asked, carefully.

"Chaplains, by law, have the run of the ship and are an entity to
themselves," Doc replied with a grimace. "In the case of Chaplain
Olds, he has two problems: an overactive imagination, and
insomnia. I can't do anything about the former but I've tried to
prescribe sleeping pills. No luck, he considers them to be a Devil's
Brew. So he lies awake all ship's night, imagining all the horrible
things that can, and very occasionally do, go wrong on the ship.
He's also . . . egged on by some of the ship's company that have
more of a sense of humor than common sense. Ribart, down in
Engineering, is forever coming up with new things that 'need your
prayers, Chaplain.' I've considered just tranking Ribart to get him
off the ship, but that seems over the top. Then there's the
automatic deference to chaplains that is instilled in Grayson at the
bone."

"I'll admit that after the morning prayer I'm a little . . . apprehensive.
And I've never considered that an astrogator might just forget that
there is a planet around. But I still think that what the Chaplain
needs is a good lay; he seems really uptight."

The chief grimaced and Sean realized what he'd said.

"I hadn't meant to impugn your faith, Chief . . ." Tyler said formally.

"Oh, it's not that," the warrant replied wearily. "You weren't here for
the infamous STD incident." Doc took a healthy slug of his tea and
then poured a straight-up refill.

"STD?" Tyler said. "I'm not sure what that stands for."

"Sexually transmitted disease," the warrant said dryly. "I'm aware
that they've been wiped out among the Manticorans, but they do
occasionally crop up in Silesia. We had a little . . . incident on our