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I recited it in my head, the words forming a shield around my temper. \u201cA fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.\u201d<\/p>\n
Or in this case, a prudent woman.<\/p>\n
I unclenched my jaw. I looked Mark dead in the eye. I didn\u2019t step back. I didn\u2019t look down. I just looked at him with a cold, flat stare that usually unsettled people.<\/p>\n
But Mark was too drunk on his own ego to notice.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you done, Lieutenant?\u201d I asked softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust trying to help you save face, Jules,\u201d he sneered.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, the door at the front of the room\u2014the one reserved for command staff\u2014slammed open. The sound cracked like a gunshot.<\/p>\n
\u201cRoom, ten\u2011hut!\u201d a voice bellowed.<\/p>\n
The laughter died instantly. The silence that followed was heavy, suffocating. The sound of a hundred bodies snapping to attention filled the air, the rustle of flight suits and the stomping of boots. Mark stiffened, his smirk vanishing, his eyes darting to the front.<\/p>\n