"Are you ready to be commissioned?"
"Er- I don't think so, sir. Not quite."
"So? Well, come see me soon."
"Yes, sir. Thank you."
The Commodore turned away and headed rapidly for the stage exit, with his aide's sleeve brushing his. "Well, John," asked the senior, "What did you think of them?"
"A fine bunch of boys, sir."
"That was my impression. All youth and eagerness and young expectation. But how many of them will we have to eliminate? It's a sorry thing, John, to take a boy and change him so that he is no longer a civilian, then kick him out. It's the crudest duty we have to perform."
"I don't see a way to avoid it."
"There is no way. If we had some magic touchstone- Tell the field that I want to raise ship in thirty minutes."
"Aye aye, sir."