Page 33 of Commander’s Mate

“Those become rules if enough people need the same thing.”

I stared at the slate.

Door.

Food.

Sleep.

Privacy.

No surprise touch.

Same meal time.

Choice about medical.

Choice about lights.

Someone asked for the overhead lights to remain on.

Three people complained.

We compromised with wall lamps.

Someone wanted the washroom door guarded.

Someone else panicked at the idea of a guard near the washroom.

We put the guard at the corridor intersection instead.

Someone asked whether they were allowed to leave the room.

No one knew the answer.

That was bad.

I found Tivid.

He arrived ten minutes later looking as if sleep was a concept he had delegated.

“Movement restrictions?” I asked.

“No restriction within the protected deck.”

“Can they go anywhere?”

“No. Engineering, weapons, bridge, flight operations and command decks remain controlled.”

“Are those rules written somewhere?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“Crew security procedures.”

“Can rescued people read them?”