Valour's Choice (38 page)

“Staff Sergeant Kerr, the Human who saved us; he has died?”

“Yes, Ambassador.”

“We are sorry to hear that. We are sorry to hear of any death, but this one we feel responsible for.”

“You’re not. Sergeant Glicksohn chose to save you.”

“Knowing that it put him at risk?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“We find it strange,” the ambassador murmured, almost to herself, “how a species can be able to make such a sacrifice one moment and can kill another sentient being the next. This mix of caring and violence is most confusing—it must be a factor of bisymmetrical species.” Then realizing whom she could count in her audience, she swiveled an eyestalk up toward the Dornagain. “We mean no offense.”

He smiled. “We take none.”

“Staff Sergeant Kerr, will you see to it that we receive the details of Sergeant Glicksohn’s life? We will ensure that he is never forgotten and will live forever in Mictok memory.”

“Every time I see one, this little voice inside my head keeps screaming, Get it off me! Get it off me!”

“You’ll have the download as soon as possible,”’Torin assured her, thinking that Mike would appreciate the irony.

“We thank you for your assistance in this matter.” Ambassador Krik’vir shifted position slightly, causing a ripple effect through her companions. “We understand the Silsviss have offered you the victory and retreated.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“So it has ended. What happens now?”

Torin actually had her mouth open to answer when her implant chimed, letting her know she was back online.

“Staff!” Ressk hobbled in from the front room. “Lieutenant Ghard says the
Berganitan
is back! They’re sending another VTA to evac!”

Feeling somehow separate from the nearly hysterical reaction of Marines and civilians alike, Torin found herself wondering why she wasn’t more surprised by the Navy’s sudden reappearance.

* * *

Med-op stripped the old sealant off Torin’s arm and leg, pronounced the healing well under way, resealed only the leg wound, and released her. Scratching at the dry skin on her arm, she made her way through the crowded outpatient area to the quieter section reserved for those who’d need bed rest to recover.

“Hey, Staff! What’s the word on the lieutenant?”

She stopped at the end of Hollice’s bed. “He’ll make a full recovery. They’re bringing him up slowly, but he should be conscious by 1500.”

“And Captain Daniels?”

“Tanked. But they’re still running tests to determine the full extent of the damage.”

“Maybe now Lieutenant Ghard’ll stop acting like a hen with one chick.”

“Maybe.”

“You think they’re getting it on?”

“I try not to think about the sex life of officers, thank you, Corporal. But since you ask, no. The lieutenant clearly worships the ground the captain flies over. If she should lose her mind and agree, he’d never be able to get it up.” She nodded toward, Hollice’s heavily sealed shoulder. “I expect they’ll be tanking you, too.”

“Yeah. Full body immersion.” He shuddered dramatically. “I hate it. You come out with your fingers and toes all wrinkled, and while you’re in there, it’s like returning to the womb without the room service.”

“The what?”

“Not important. Hey, Staff?” Eyes narrowed, Hollice lifted his head off the pillow, as though he had words for her ears alone. “Is it just me or is there one hell of a lot of medical personnel here? I mean, this is twice the size of what we usually get, they’ve added six Med-op modules to the ship.”

“It isn’t just you,” Torin told him shortly. No one had been able, or willing, to tell her why the remnants of a single platoon were getting so much grade-A attention. It wasn’t that she was complaining, and it wasn’t any more than her people deserved, but the whole thing added to the nebulous feeling she’d had since pickup that something wasn’t exactly level.

No, not just since pickup...

Circling the room, she spent a moment with everyone else, advising Ressk not to get any of the KC’s cleaning solution on his bad leg. “That stuff’ll dissolve the sealant, you know.”

“I know.” He showed her a missing patch about two centimeters square. “But it’s the first chance I’ve had to strip it down, Staff. First time in days I haven’t been actually using it. Although,” he added, “if that chirpy Human medic says ‘
And how are we feeling?’
one more
serley
time...”

“You’ll grin and bear it.”

“Not my first choice,” Ressk grumbled as she walked away.

Stepping outside the medical module, Torin noticed a lock that led out of the Marines’ section of the ship. Not entirely certain why, she walked over to it and hit the release. Her implant chimed.

*Access denied without proper clearances.*

That was new. But somehow not unexpected.

Seemed like the brass didn’t want word of their experience on Silsvah reaching unauthorized ears. Didn’t want it discussed over a jar of beer in the Chief’s and PO’s mess. Interesting.

Rolling various bits of memory over to see the other side, she turned and made her way to the ladder leading down to the platoon’s quarters. Those Marines who’d either come through miraculously unscathed or, like her, able to be patched and released, had cleaned their weapons, eaten a huge meal, and with only two exceptions, crawled into their bunks. Kleers was still eating, and Corporal Conn was deeply immersed in the vid from his wife and daughter he’d found waiting for him.

Torin took the report from Sergeant Chou, told her to get some sleep, and went into her own quarters, where she methodically wrote up the casualty reports, entered a recommendation that Corporal Adrian Hollice and Private First Class di’Stenjic Haysole receive the Medal of Honor, then sat and stared at her reflection on the desktop screen. When no answers were forthcoming from her other self, she called up the military news channel, half-expecting it to be blocked.

There were no reports of the
Berganitan
being in a battle although the Others were moving quickly toward the sector. The Silsviss hadn’t yet signed the treaty, and time was running out. The phrase
vitally important
was used seven times in a ten-minute report. It was vitally important the work on the defense grid begin immediately or it wouldn’t be ready to activate in time. It was, therefore, vitally important the Silsviss sign the treaty. The remaining five occurrences were variations on the theme.

She keyed in the code for Ressk’s slate and, when he responded, sent him an encoded text-only message.

At 1430 Torin’s implant chimed.

*General Morris would like to see you in his office at 1530*

So. General Morris was on board. Another nonsurprise.

She showered, changed into her service uniform, downloaded the reports into her slate, and paused at 1455, one hand raised to activate the door. If she was about to hear her suspicions confirmed, there were others who deserved to be there.

With the familiar weight of her combat vest resting on her shoulders, Torin made her way back to the Med-op modules.

* * *

“The lieutenant is awake, Staff Sergeant. However, I don’t feel that it’s in his best interests to have visitors at this time.”

“Sir, I am on my way to speak with General Morris about a...” The pause was deliberate and went on just long enough for the captain to begin frowning. “...situation where the lieutenant was in command. The general will want to know his condition.”

“The general will find out Lieutenant Jarret’s condition from me, Staff Sergeant.”

“Yes, sir,” Torin acknowledged. “But I also have casualty reports the lieutenant will need to see, and...”

“Let me speak plainly, Staff Sergeant. I have been given orders that no one is to talk to the lieutenant
before
the general debriefs him.” The fuchsia gaze flickered around the room, alighting everywhere but on Torin. “That will be all, Staff Sergeant.”

“Yes, sir.” Wondering why the doctor should be feeling guilty about following what was, after all, a fairly common order, Torin made a quick visit to the general ward.

* * *

“Medical data now?” Ressk snorted. “Oh, come on, Staff, even you could hack into
those
files. But,” he added quickly, as she caught his eye, “since I’m stuck in this bed with nothing to do, I’d be happy to do it for you. Can I ask why?”

“You’ve got all the pieces I have. Just put them together.”

“Will I like what I find?”

“Probably not.”

* * *

General Morris was not alone in his office module.

“Staff Sergeant Kerr, this is Cri Srah,” he announced, nodding to the Silsviss standing by his desk after the barest of military formalities had been observed. “He represents the Silsvah World Council.”

If the Silsvah had a functioning World Council, this was the first Torin had heard about it. As she understood it, their final destination had been intended to assist in the creation of such a body.

The Silsviss misunderstood her expression. “Cri Sssawyesss, whom I believe you know, isss of the sssame firssst egg.”

Wishing she’d taken a moment to have the sibilants in her translation program repaired, Torin nodded.

General Morris cleared his throat, re-establishing himself as the center of attention. “In light of what your platoon went through, Staff Sergeant Kerr...” His gaze dropped down to her combat vest. Although his eyes narrowed slightly, he continued without mentioning her peculiar combination of uniforms. “...I thought you should know that the Silsviss have decided to join the Confederation.”

He thought she should know? A general thought a staff sergeant should know?
Nice to be thought of, but that’s not how it works.
Not usually anyway.

Cri Sawyes had said that the Silsviss governments would be impressed.

She looked from Cri Srah to General Morris and back again, and she remembered what Haysole had told her about the general after her first meeting with him.
I’ve heard the general’s looking for a chance to be more than he is.
He had to have set things up so that he was certain the Silsviss would sign. But the only significant thing he’d actually done was to send the remnants of Sh’quo Company down to the planet.

“This was a test, wasn’t it, sir?” The silence waited for her to continue. “The entire battle was a setup from the beginning. The Silsviss are a...” Cri Srah shifted position and Torin made a diplomatic edit. “...have a warrior culture and wanted to be certain that they weren’t aligning themselves with the weak. That was the real reason why you sent a combat platoon on a ceremonial mission. The Silsviss decision to join was based on the way we performed when under attack.”

“I’d be interested to know how you arrived at that theory, Staff Sergeant.” The general leaned back in his chair, confirming her suspicions by not denying them.

“It was all just a little too convenient, sir.” Although the muscles of her shoulders and back were rigid, training kept her growing anger from showing as she outlined all the little coincidences that could be piled into something that stank of a setup. Their Silsviss escort had gone back to base just before the missile shot them down, but the escort from their destination had never shown up. They’d been shot down not only over a wilderness preserve but over a swamp that would cushion the crash. The various small packs of Silsviss adolescents in the preserve had come together into what amounted to an army far, far too quickly. There had been a full platoon’s worth of extra weapons on the VTA for no good reason.

A frown cracked the expressionless facade. “Was Lieutenant Jarret aware of the true nature of our mission, sir?”

“No. But his psychological profile was such that the odds were very high he’d not blow the armory. Or allow himself to be overruled by his NCOs.” The general’s tone was light, conversational, almost amused. “If you figured this out in the midst of that battle, I’m very impressed.”

“No need to be, sir.” And her inflection added,
because your opinion means less than nothing to me.
“Although I’d begun to doubt the string of coincidences early on...”

Where there’re two viable theories, there could easily be a third or a fourth.

“...my suspicions were fully aroused when the Silsviss in the reserve had no reaction to our appearance. The largest mammal on Silsvah is about the size of a Human infant and yet they showed no curiosity about us. They had to have seen, if not live mammals, some sort of representation previously.” She remembered Cri Sawyes mentioning his fear of how an unscrupulous power could use the teenage males. General Morris had certainly proved his point. “My suspicions were strengthened when the
Berganitan
showed up so quickly after the battle was over. They solidified when I saw the medical facilities that had been added to the ship.”

“The medical facilities?” For the first time the general looked surprised.

“Far too great a commitment of equipment and personnel for a single platoon, and the only possible reason for it could be guilt—at a very high level. So I did some checking.” Technically, Ressk did the checking, but working on the military’s need to know basis, that was something the general didn’t need to know. “You ordered the
Berganitan
away from Silsviss and instructed the captain to lie.” Which made General Morris not only responsible for the deaths of good people but for ensuring they died without knowing why. The first was something officers had to do every day, and the strength that took was one of the few things Torin respected them for as a group. The second was unforgivable.

The weight of Cri Srah’s regard pulled her gaze from the general’s face.

The Silsviss leaned forward, almost in anticipation. “Your general dissshonored your warriorsss by deliberately sssending them into an ambush.”

No. Not almost in anticipation. Very definitely in anticipation.

Which was when Torin understood why she hadn’t been allowed to see Lieutenant Jarret. According to his medical data, once the antidote had been neutralized, he’d made a nearly instantaneous recovery. He should be standing here, not her. He was the commanding officer.