"... otherwise," the Colonel was saying. "The press people have said we were more than fair, miss. We let them set up a headquarters beyond the Mandmooranian sun's eighth planet: our experts said the nova won't explode that far, you know. Headquarters will be safe there. We've even agreed to let the last ship out stop at press headquarters for an interview before it goes subspace for the dash to Deneb. What could be fairer?"
"Nothing, I guess," Jane said. "Well, thank you for your time, Colonel."
"Not at all, young lady." The Colonel touched something on his desk and a door at the other end of the office opened, irising with a faint hissing sound. Through it Jane could hear the sounds of office machinery, think-writers and duplics and a subspace ticker coming in with the news from the rest of the galaxy.
A woman, thought Jane. Maybe if I was a man it would have been different, but they wanted a woman's viewpoint because it's a heartstring-plucking story. She recalled the Colonel's first incredulous outburst. "But I can't send a woman out there, Miss Crowley. A woman!"
As she reached the door, impulse became idea and idea came to the surface for execution. "Thank you very much, Colonel," she said in a clear, loud voice. "Interstellar News Alliance knew it could count on you."
"What's that?" demanded the Colonel in a voice barely audible across the large room. He was busy now with a mountain of last minute paperwork and was listening only with one ear, the rest of him already hard at work.
"Thanks again, Colonel," Jane said, and stepped through the irised shutter of a door. She turned to show her best smile to the sergeant-major at the desk immediately outside the door. "There, sergeant," she said, smiling. "You see? I told you the Colonel would give me an unlimited pass."
"I never would of believed it," the sergeant said, looking at the smile and daring a glance at the rest of Jane Crowley, which was every bit as delightful as the pretty way she showed her teeth.
"An unlimited pass, sergeant. Make one out for me, please."