Virtues of War Read Online Free PDF Page B

spoke, but otherwise was surreptitiously looking around the room. Her eyes met his for a moment, with the flash of a smile before she looked away.
    Soma squeezed up to his arm again. “I’m going to get us some drinks,” she murmured. “I think Uncle Eric has something very exciting to discuss with you.”
    In a gust of sweet scent his wife disappeared, and Thomas turned his eyes to his mentor. Chandler’s easy rapport, reserved for the media, was gone, and Thomas recognized the grim set of his jaw only too well.
    “Thomas,” he said without preamble, “I’ve got a situation. The Fleet Marshall is launching a formal investigation into the way the Astral Force conducted the war.”
    Instinctively Thomas glanced back toward the receiving line, and the man whose hand he had just recently shaken. A Fleet Marshall Investigation, he knew, was a rare and frightening thing.
    “What’s being investigated, sir?”
    “Basically, Parliament’s decided that somebody in the military has to pay for this war,” Chandler growled, his voice low. “As far as they’re concerned, the whole thing was a disaster for the State, and they’ve decided it cost us too much, both in terms of resources and prestige.”
    Thomas nodded thoughtfully, mind racing even as he swallowed the bitter taste of betrayal by their political masters.
    “I suppose the recent Astral trial was part of that?”
    Chandler glanced around, further lowering his voice.
    “From what I heard through the command channel, that officer was just a hard-working ape who did his best in a bad situation. I’m not surprised the lawyers got him off. The fact that he walked is even more embarrassing for the State, and the Fleet Marshall’s been ordered to ensure that the next trial doesn’t end the same way.” He looked as if he’d tasted something bad. “Parliament wants to know why it took so long to win, and why we took so many losses.
    “They want someone to blame. And that person is going to die.”
    Chandler’s blunt words seemed to chill the air between them. Thomas had only ever seen the result of one Fleet Marshall Investigation before, while still a cadet at the Astral College. He’d stood silently in his rank while an admiral was led out to the dais at the front of the parade ground and, in front of several thousand cadets, summarily shot. It had been a very effective lesson in obedience.
    “Yes, sir.”
    “We’ve convinced the Parliamentary defense committee to use one of our own to lead the investigation,” Chandler continued, “since civilians don’t have the expertise to know where to look. They wouldn’t allow a combatant—too close to the decision-making—but they accepted my suggestion of a senior support officer.”
    Thomas listened carefully. He wasn’t a support officer—unless Chandler intended to bury him in the rear echelon. He wasn’t a senior officer either—again, unless Chandler had plans…
    “The careers of a lot of people can be made or broken by this war,” Chandler concluded. “The last thing we need is for the politicians to start blaming my expeditionary force. I need this problem to go away. Fast.”
    “I understand, sir,” Thomas said slowly, trying very hard not to look at Chandler’s new admiral’s rank. Thinking quickly, he lined up his pitch. “I think I might be able to help.”
    “Oh?”
    “As I understand it, there’s been a program established to conduct in-depth research on the Dark Bomb, and I’ve also heard that the research isn’t going very well.” At that Chandler stiffened almost imperceptibly, but his voice remained neutral.
    “Of course there’s research underway,” he said cautiously. “We need to develop that big stick to keep the Centauris in line, in case they decide to get ambitious again. As to how it’s going, that’s a problem for some fat admiral in the Research Squadron.”
    Chandler had already maneuvered himself to be assigned the head of the project, Thomas knew.