Family Law 2: The Long Voyage of the Little Fleet Read Online Free PDF Page A

And strutting like they are special forces. I asked, but damned if any of them will tell me who's idea it was. At least they didn't take up something even more provocative, like the Jolly Roger."
    "If you take the Fargoer's complaint literally, then it's true," Gordon pointed out. Thor just rolled his eyes. He didn't say anything when Gordon wore a black silk scarf worn as an ascot next shift. A day later Thor too had a black wrist band, rather than appear to reject his own crew's custom. The Fargone General staff couldn't have found anything more damaging to their own forces' morale.
    The move back to Derfhome allowed Gordon and Lee to make one last visit to the Red Tree Keep. There wasn't time to travel by surface like their last visit. They arrived by air car and if anyone thought it too fancy they'd just have to swallow it.
    Lee was shocked when they arrived to see all the trees near the Keep dead, bare limbed in mid-summer, killed during the war when the USNA landed four combat shuttles full of Space Marines in front of the empty Keep. The Great Champion of Red Tree , William had stayed to challenge them and when the Marines refused to surrender William had triggered the enhanced radiation weapon killing them all, himself included and the trees across a couple kilometer circle. Lee knew the soldiers were dead, but hadn't realized trees were that delicate.
    At least most of the grasses and weeds survived, but there was still a charred circle in front of the Keep where one pilot had tripped the self destruct charges on his shuttle after he knew the Fargone supplied neutron bomb had doomed them. The wreckage had been cleared, but the locals took up bringing stones to the scorch mark and making a cairn. It was growing to be a memorial to both William and the battle. Lee approved and found a stone she could lift and lugged it to the pile. That gesture didn't go unnoticed by the Derf. The Mothers said nothing either way about the growing stone pillar, content to let the people follow their feelings on the matter.
    The other three intact combat shuttles had been temporarily moved, lined up neatly as far away from the Keep as the area of flat ground allowed. Gordon asked the Mothers permission and was allowed to recover the three combat shuttles. They seemed pleased to be rid of them, asking nothing of Gordon for them. Two went to the Retribution and one for the Sharp Claws to be externally grappled and taken along on their expedition. They only had room inside for Human crews, but that was fine, a majority of their personnel were Human.
    A Derf crew was systematically felling the dead trees, saving the main trunks for lumber and planting replacements that would take years to mature. There were several square kilometers of dead trees, so it looked as if they would be busy clear through the winter and into the spring.
    As the fleet's departure date approached there was a steady stream of news people and academics asking to go along. The news people seemed to be of an opinion that none of the fleet personnel could operate  a common video camera competently. The academics all seemed to be of obscure disciplines, unrelated to any need they had as an expedition. They'd have welcomed a really good linguist or an historian dealing with the modern space era, but none volunteered. Nobody from the news organizations or academia was willing to work a necessary menial job when their expertise wasn't needed.
    On literally the last day, their number two cook and missile magazine technician for the Retribution announced he had sudden remorse for his enlistment and didn't want to be isolated from society for several years. The number one cook privately informed Gordon that the real reason was the fellow had acquired a new and very serious girlfriend the last week he'd spent on Derfhome. The man had also blown most of his enlistment bonus on said Honey, so they pretty much had to write that off too. There was no point in being vindictive about