"Tanya Huff - Valor 1 - Valor's Choice" - читать интересную книгу автора (Huff Tanya)

companion was a lithe lump under the blanket and a moving fringe of uncovered hair.
Relieved, she moved silently toward the door, pausing only long enough to turn off
the lights. A di'Taykan considered, "Once more before breakfast?" to be a reasonable
substitute for "Good morning." and, with no time to spare, she was just as happy not
to have to test her willpower.
Outside in the corridor, the familiar "something's leaking somewhere" smell of the
station's recycled air drove the last of the pheromone-induced haze from her head.
*0547* her implant announced when she prodded. Thirteen minutes before her liberty
ended and her flasher came back up on screen. Thirteen minutes to get to a part of the
station that wouldn't incite prurient speculation among the duty staff.
"I should've reset wake-up for five. What was I thinking?" she muttered, diving into
the vertical- fortunately empty at this hour-and free-falling two levels. Grabbing a
handhold, she swung out onto the lock level. Easy answer, actually. She'd been
thinking that she needed to forget the carnage, forget those they lost limping back to
the station on a ship that had won its battle but nearly lost its own little slice of the
war, forget the messages she'd sent to family and friends, and forget that new faces,
always new faces, would soon be arriving to replace those they'd lost.
And she had been able to forget. For a while.
A di'Taykan wouldn't feel used. She didn't think they could.
Considering the time, it was a good thing station guest quarters were on the same side
of the core as the barracks. Another vertical, another lock, and she was in NCO
country.
*0600*
Heading for her own quarters, Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr had her implant scan the
night's reports for any of the names she kept flagged. Apparently, no one had died and
no one had gotten arrested.
Things hadn't fallen apart while she was gone.
No harm done, and it wasn't as if she'd ever see that particular di'Taykan again....
At 0758, showered, changed, and carrying her slate, Torin approached the captain's
door, turning over the possible reasons he'd moved their morning meeting up an hour.
As senior surviving NCO, she'd been his acting First Sergeant since the battered
remnant of Sh'quo Company had arrived back at the station. Clearly that wasn't going
to last, but it was unlikely Battalion HQ would send out a new First before the recruits
needed to bring the company up to strength-unlikely but possible, she admitted after a
moment's reflection. Battalion HQ had shown what could only be called unique
leadership in the past.
It was also possible that they were promoting her and the captain needed to tell her in
time for her to make the 1000 shuttle. With a war on, it didn't take long to make
sergeant, but after that, promotions tended to slow down, common wisdom suggesting
that by the time a grunt got that third chevron, they'd learned to duck. Still, with the
company losing their First, there'd be a Gunny moving up and that'd leave room for
her.
She'd have rather had First Sergeant Chigma back. The few Krai who went into the
Marines usually opted for armored platoons or air support- their feet just weren't built
for infantry-so those few who not only chose to be grunts but rose in the ranks left big
shoes to fill in more than merely the literal sense. Unfortunately, since Chigma had
ended up on the wrong end of an enemy projectile weapon their last planetfall...
*0759*
Maybe Med-op had scheduled the captain for new treatments at nine.
Look at the bright side, she reminded herself, laying her palm against the sensor pad