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

centered in the door, we're in no condition to be sent back out.
The presence of a two star general in the captain's office did not come as a pleasant
surprise. In Torin's experience, when generals ignored the chain of command to speak
directly to sergeants, it was never good news. And smiling generals were the worst
kind.
"You must be Staff Sergeant Kerr." She nodded as he stepped forward. "Sir." "Staff,
this is General Morris." The regeneration tank around the lower half of his left leg
kept Captain Rose from standing, but his voice, unexpectedly deep from such a small
man, was enough to stop the general's advance. "He has new orders for you."
"Say rather an opportunity. But don't let me interrupt." He gestured at the slate under
Torin's arm.
"I understand you've been acting First. We'll talk once you've finished your morning
report."
"Sir." Her face expressionless under the general's smiling regard, she crossed to the
desk and downloaded the relevant files. Right now, with no more information to go
on than his smile and two dozen words delivered in an annoying we're-all-in-this-
together tone, she'd be willing to bet that, first of all, General Morris had never seen
combat and, second, that Captain Rose liked him even less than she did. As the
captain appeared to know what was going on, her sense of impending disaster
strengthened.
"Doctorow's no longer critical?"
"Regained consciousness at 0300. Woke up and demanded to know what..." Given the
general's presence, she rephrased the quote. ". .. idiot had taken his implant off line."
"Good news." Quickly scanning the rest of the report, the captain looked up, brows
rising. "No one got arrested?"
"Apparently some vacuum jockeys off the Redoubt got into a disagreement with some
of our air support in Haligan's, and betting on the fight provided a sufficient
diversion."
"Wait a minute," the general interrupted, one hand raised as if to physically stop
further discussion. "Am I to understand that you expected your people to get
arrested?"
Together, Torin and the captain turned, Torin shifting position slightly, unable to
move to the captain's side but making it quite clear where she stood as he answered.
"I'm sure I don't need to tell the general what kind of planetfall we had. After some-
thing like that, I expect my people to need to blow off."
The general's broad cheeks flushed nearly maroon. "You've been on station for six
days."
"Half of us have. Sir." Like many combat officers, Captain Rose had come up through
the ranks and he'd retained the NCO's ability to place inflection on that final sir.
The two men locked eyes.
General Morris looked away first. "They say another company wouldn't have got that
many out," he admitted.
"I have good people, sir. And I lost good people." The quiet reminder drew Torin's
gaze down to the captain's face, and she frowned slightly. He looked tired; his fair
skin had developed a grayish cast, and there were dark circles under his eyes. Had
they been alone, she'd have asked how the regeneration was going; as it was, she
made a mental note to check his condition with Med-op as soon as possible. As acting
First, he was as much her concern as the company.
"Yes. Good people." General Morris straightened and cleared his throat. "Which leads
us nicely into what I'm here for."