The next morning, as Mira took her station for a search-and-rescue drill, the new Commander—a transfer from the Navy who didn’t know her—walked by. He glanced at her epaulette, paused, and nodded.
“You’ve been staring at that page for ten minutes,” said Chief Petty Officer Hendricks, her mentor, as he toweled off his bald head. “The manual isn’t poetry, Bessette.” canadian coast guard uniform manual
At 0300, she finished. She slipped the uniform on and stood in front of the small, scratched mirror by the lockers. The patch gleamed. It was straight. The thread was tight. The next morning, as Mira took her station