The Better Part of Valor Read Online Free PDF Page A

do your job?”
    Best to ignore two star sarcasm.
    “Yes, sir.”
    He nodded and continued. “As you’re well aware, politics are a part of my job. The balance of power in Parliament is very tenuous right now. Many of the old races feel the Confederation isn’t making enough effort to deal with the Others diplomatically—in spite of the fact that diplomacy so far has resulted in nothing but dead diplomats. There’s a very real possibility that the arguments between the various factions could result in the same crippling of the government as happenedback in ’89 when, with defense spending stalled, the Others took over most of SD38, including the Ba’tan home world. It would be nice,” he continued dryly, and Torin got the impression he was talking as much to himself as to her, “if this time, things could stabilize without such a drastic kick in the collective ass. Surprisingly enough, it’s been the Krai who’ve been causing the most trouble of late, throwing one faction against the other so that the military will take notice of their complaints that there aren’t enough of their people in top positions. They’ve been insisting Krai officers, Navy and Marine, receive more chances to serve in those places where promotions are most likely.”
    “The front lines, sir?”
    The general looked startled by her question. “No, not the front lines. They’re looking for a higher survival rate.”
    Aren’t we all.
    “Sir!”
    Torin wondered if Stedrin stood at attention when he addressed the general over the comm. It certainly sounded like he did.
    “Yes, Lieutenant?”
    “The captain is here, sir.”
    “Send him in.” General Morris stood, tugged his tunic into place, and came around the desk, shooting Torin a look that seemed almost apologetic.
    Bugger it. That’s not good.
She’d been standing easy, so when the door opened behind her, she came around ninety degrees, presenting her back to neither the general nor the entering officer.
    He looked vaguely familiar. Which wasn’t necessarily relevant since the Krai as a whole had very little color or size variance and, to any species without a highly developed sense of smell, all seemed pretty much the same.
    “Staff Sergeant Kerr, I’d like you to meet your commanding officer for this mission, Captain Travik.”
    Oh, crap.
    Captain Travik’s rescue of the besieged research station on Horohn 8, his reckless charge through the Others’ perimeter recorded by the station’s sensors, had captured the attention of the public and made him a celebrity. He’d been feted all through the sector, his image turning up every time the Corpsgot mentioned on any kind of a popular broadcast, his reputation growing as every new program fed on the one before it, his ego growing with his reputation.
    Most of the Marines who landed under the captain’s command hadn’t survived.
    To the public, that made him even more the hero.
    To the Corps, particularly those who’d studied the recording, that made him a reckless hotshot who knew how to manipulate the media.
    And here he was.
    Because the Krai government wanted more Krai in top military positions.
    Torin glanced over at the general and thought of a few more things to call him.
    *   *   *
    They folded into Susumi space early evening ship’s time when the last two members of the recon team finally arrived. According to the data on the desk in Torin’s small office, the twelve Marines had been detached from as many different units for security reasons. A decision had been made at the highest levels to keep the media away from the alien vessel and individual Marines moving about the Sector were deemed a lot less noticeable than a squad taken from one location.
    From a combat perspective, it
was
inefficient, but Torin couldn’t fault the security reasoning. She only hoped they’d be spending enough time in Susumi space to make the word
team
relevant. Even with specialized training in common, it was going to take a