Not For Glory Read Online Free PDF Page A

head, "I don't think you've got a concussion."
    I opened my eyes, slowly. It was dark—and it took me a moment to realize that some of the lights dancing in my eyes were stars overhead.
    Somewhere in the darkness, Shimon Bar-El chuckled. "It's probably my fault. I took the wrong hypo out of the medician's kit Morphine. Didn't just put you under, Tetsuki, it almost killed you. Yonni, you sure he's going to live?"
    "Good chance."
    "Let's get him up."
    Far away, there was a rustling, as though a ship's sails were flapping in the wind. Sails?
    Hands grasped my arms, pulling me to my feet. It was hard to tell, but at the opposite end of the clearing, next to the ledge, it looked like the shelter halves were being . . . thrown off the edge?
    I blinked, trying to clear my eyes and head. I was still muzzy from the morphine.
    "They're called hang gliders, Tetsuki," Shimon Bar-El said, puffing on a tabstick, then handing it to me. "You take a specially designed piece of cloth—say, one that's been camouflaged as a shelter half—and then you attach it to three spears, one at each leading edge and one down the middle. And then you attach cables and bracing spars, and re-rig the pack harnesses to hold a soldier up instead of a pack down."
    He chuckled. "Instant air power. Then you have your men practice for a few hours, taking short flights across the clearing, before you make it real."
    I turned. He was rubbing at his chin.
    "Frankly," he said, "I doubt that one in ten will actually be able to control the silly things well enough to put their gliders down inside the walls. But the village is vulnerable now—most of the men of fighting age are up here, chasing shadows. Once we get the gates open . . ."
    He shrugged, then smiled. "Not as bloody as the Casa wars, eh?"
    "You did it."
    He actually laughed. "You, my dear nephew, have a keen eye for the obvious." He clapped a hand to my shoulder. "Of course I did it. Come morning, the few effectives inside the city will be captured or dead, and then we can see how much the Ciban horsemen like exchanging bowshots with their wives and children tied to the walkways around the walls. I think we'll be able to persuade them to move on. Lots of other places to settle on on this continent." He looked up at me, quizzically. "You like it?"
    "You intended this from the first."
    He spat. "Of course I did. The only worry was whether we were going to sneak the sails past the Commerce Department. I thought the messkits made a nice distraction, didn't you?" He looked at me long and hard. "Don't underestimate me again, Tetsuo. It wouldn't be safe." He brightened. "I do have a job for you, though. If the local horsemen try being stubborn, it would be kind of handy if they start fighting among themselves. The leader taking a crossbow bolt in the chest might be a nice way to start things."
    He grinned. "Get going."

Indess, Gomes's Continent
    Pôrto Setubalnôvo
    Thousand Worlds Port Facility
    8/11/40, 2043 local time

    I met him at the port a few weeks later. The regiment was loading itself onto shuttles, preparatory to leaving. Leaders are first down, last up; we had some time to talk.
    "Nice bit of work with the crossbow, Tetsuki. Old Yehoshua taught you well."
    I shrugged. Moving through the dark is something I do well; the crossbow shot that had taken the Ciban leader in the throat had been a lucky one. "No problem, General."
    He started to turn away.
    "Uncle?"
    He turned back, startled. "Yes?"
    "You knew from the beginning, didn't you?"
    "Of course, and send my regards to the deputy premier. A nice idea," he said, nodding, "arranging an all-contingencies contract where Metzada gets paid whether or not we win, and then working out a way to lose cheaply, without losing face, sacrificing only an old irritation."
    He thumped himself on the chest. "An old irritation. I can just see you explaining it to Regato: 'Sorry, Senhor, but the only one who could have successfully generaled such a campaign was Shimon