51�Թ�

First, however, he procured his new rating badge and, after consulting with a petty officer, sewed it on his sleeve.

He'd been wearing his first-class rating badge a month now, and before his enlistment was out he intended to be a chief petty officer; which was why he was working after-hours.

For you"—he laid a forefinger against the big rating badge on his coat sleeve—"that I've been shipmates with for fifteen years—off and on—I reckon will be detached.