Theirs Not to Reason Why 5: Damnation Read Online Free PDF Page A

I can do for you?” Arstoll asked her.
    Reaching behind him, she tapped the box containing his new rank insignia and the datachip she had promised, which he had set down on the tabletop at some point. “Pay attention to my suggestions. Live as long and happily as you care to. Stay Human yourself, admit when you’re wrong, and keep going. Be honest when talking to others about me; let ’em know what you thought of me in Basic, however flattering and unflattering those thoughts may be, as well as what you think of me now. I need to be a legend in order to lead everyone on the right paths to win all these wars, but I need to be a
Human
legend, with failings as well as successes, foes as well as friends. Otherwise, people won’t always believe
in
me, even if they might believe me. Anything else?”
    “. . . Got any medals for my people?” he asked her next. “Or the crew of this ship?”
    Ia shook her head. “Those have to be reviewed by the right departments, based on all your post-battle reports. I can’t hand them out arbitrarily. Not without risking my own hide. But there
will
be medals awarded. You really did fight hard and well here,” she promised him. “I’ll be putting down everything in my post-battle report.”
    “How much damage did your own ship take?” Arstoll asked, curious.
    She grinned. “We scratched the hull in a few places, enough to need swapping out the ceristeel panels so the repair teams can buff them smooth, plus three FTL panels and a shield array. But it’s nothing they can’t fix by the time I’m back on board. Of course, it’s a brand-new ship,” she added in explanation. “Commander Harper—he’s my first officer, my logistics officer, and my chief engineer all in one, as well as Sergeant Tae’s nephew—he was swearing up a storm at me for having to organize fifteen different replacement parts for the hull. You should hear him when I’ve
really
dinged our hide. If I took any of his insults and threats seriously, he’d be court-martialed three ways from Sunday on a monthly basis, if not weekly.”
    Arstoll smiled at that, then frowned. “He’s covering all three of those jobs?” he asked her. “I didn’t see much of it, but isn’t that odd-looking ship of yours big enough to have all the officers you need?”
    “It’s a new class, sized to crew at least 500, but I’m running it with less than 160 at the moment—161 once I get all my replacements. I keep forgetting to count myself,” she confessed. “Everyone runs at least three, four positions on board. Even the chaplain and me—the chaplain, the doctor, even our Company clerks are all combat-ready,
and
combat-proved, from tactical training to hand-to-hand combat skills. There’s a reason why my crew is now the best of the best.”
    “And you want
Garcia
?” he muttered dubiously, thinking about it. “Ia . . . she’s no good here. She’s easily confused. She lags behind in a lot of things . . . I don’t know how she made it through Basic, to be honest. Are you sure you want
her
on your ship?”
    “The thing most people don’t realize, Brad, is that I don’t dare pull anyone away from any other position in the known galaxy who is
needed
in that position,” Ia told him. “I can only take the throwaways, those whose lives
or
deaths wouldn’t make a damned bit of difference spent anywhere else. But on
my
ship, as one of all the men and women I’ve selected? Those lives spent
there
will finally count for something. Garcia passed Basic in the Marine Corps because she was in the right environment, with the right people around her, supporting and encouraging her. She’s failing here because she doesn’t fit in here. It’s not right for her. She will fit in again on my ship, and do great things under my care.”
    “Then I’ll be glad you’re caring for her,” Arstoll said. He offered her his hand. When she lifted hers, he clasped it wrist to wrist, meeting her gaze steadily. “Make sure you