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

Oh, shit. Here it comes. Torin braced herself as he aimed that I'm looking for someone to
get their tail shot off smile directly at her.
"I need a platoon for a special duty, shipping out ASAP."
"I haven't got a platoon, sir."
He looked momentarily nonplussed, then the smile returned. "Of course, I see. I
should have said, I need you to put together a platoon out of the available Marines."
"Out of what's left of Sh'quo Company, sir?"
"Yes."
"Out of the survivors, sir?"
"Yes." The general's smile had begun to tighten.
Torin figured she'd gotten as much satisfaction from that line of inquiry as she was
likely to. "A lot of them have leave coming, sir, but we should have new recruits
arriving shortly."
"No. Even if I had time to wait for new recruits, I couldn't use them." Folding his
hands behind his back in what Torin thought she recognized as parade ground rest-it
had been a long time since she'd seen a parade ground-the general fixed her with an
imposing stare. "I'm fully aware of your situation, Staff Sergeant Kerr, yours and
Sh'quo Company's, and I wouldn't be canceling leaves if it wasn't absolutely
necessary. The problem, Sergeant, is this; I'm putting together a very important diplo-
matic mission intended to convince a new race, the Silsviss, to join the Confederation
and I need an honor guard. A military escort is absolutely essential because the
political leadership of the Silsviss is dominated by a powerful warrior caste that we
most certainly do not want to insult. After careful consideration, I've decided that
Sh'quo Company is the best available unit."
"As an honor guard?" Torin glanced from the gen-
eral to her captain-who looked so noncommittal that the hope it was some kind of a
joke died unborn-and back to the general again. "We're ground combat, sir, not a
ceremonial unit."
"You'll do fine. All you have to do, Sergeant, is have the troops apply a little spit and
polish and then stand around and look menacing. You'll see new worlds, meet new
life-forms, and not shoot at them for a change." He paused for laugher that never
came, then continued gruffly. "If s a win/win situation. I won't have to pull a company
out of their rotation for planetfall-which means Sh'quo Company won't be rotated in
before it's their turn. As there's no need for heavy artillery, company equipment can
still get the overhaul it requires."
"A full platoon makes quite an honor guard, sir."
"It's essential we make a strong impression, Sergeant." For less than an instant, an
honest emotion showed in the general's eyes, but before Torin could identify it, he
added, "Besides, it'll give you a chance to break in your new second lieutenant."
"My new ..." Unable to think of anything to say to the general that wouldn't get her
court-martialed, she turned to Captain Rose. "Sir?"
"He arrived yesterday afternoon. I asked him to meet us here at 0900. The general
thought you should receive your orders first and then he could give the lieutenant the
overview."
Officers handled the big picture, NCOs handled the minutia. Part of a staff sergeant's
minutia was handling new officers in charge of their first platoon. This would be
Torin's third, staff sergeant having a slightly longer life expectancy than second
lieutenants.
The captain's door announced an arrival just as her implant proclaimed 0900.
"Open."