"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Alliances" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

“So I cross the Cactus Corridor, fight my way through an uncharted section of
space, find out the damn thing exists, come back, tell you, and you’ll send me out
again?”
“I’d rather take your first suggestion,” Galland said.
“It wasn’t a suggestion,” she said. “And I won’t steal for you or the Alliance. I’m
not that dumb.”
All the humor left Galland’s face. “Really, Roz?” he asked. “Your record suggests
otherwise.”
“It does not. I’ve been one of the best officers in this fleet, and you know it.”
“I know it,” he said. “But it doesn’t show in your record. In fact, the last eleven runs
you did for me were off the books. Officially, Captain, you’re grounded.”
Her mouth went dry. “What?”
He shrugged. “We’re pretty much an isolated outpost here, Roz. No one knows
what happens out here unless we choose to tell them. For the past several years all
your communications, all your assignments, and all of your command decisions
have been run through me.”
Of course it had. That was standard policy. She was feeling light-headed. He had
manipulated standard policy to his own advantage? That was even lower than she
had expected him to go.
“There aren’t that many starships,” she said. “Patrol Headquarters has to know that
someone has been running the Millennium.”
“Someone has,” Galland said. “Just not you.”
She licked her lips. They were dry, too. “What have I been doing then?”
“Penance, just like you were supposed to. Working dock-side with me.”
“You son of a bitch!” She started across the desk at him, but he caught her by her
shoulders.
“Don’t fly off, Roz,” he said. “You don’t dare. Or I’ll report your usage of the
Millennium. All of it illegal.”
“That’s not true. We’ve done surveys for the Patrol. We’ve gone on assignment-”
“True,” he said. “All of it logged in under the new captain’s name. The only runs
that bear your signature are the eleven I asked for.”
“All illegal,” she said.
He shrugged. “All insurance.”
She eased herself out of his grasp. “What about my crew?”
“Loyalty is a two-edged sword, Roz,” Galland said. “They’ll say anything for you.”
“You’d ruin their careers, too?” she asked.
He smiled. “It seems that you already have.”
She clenched her fists and had to walk around the office once to keep herself from
flattening him. Asshole. She had been right. She should have trusted her instincts,
should have believed in that feeling she had every time he gave her an assignment.
But she had wanted her ship back so badly, she had been willing to believe him.
Willing to become his patsy.
Dammit, this was her fault. She willingly blinded herself so that she could have the
command she felt she deserved.
Now she wished she could go back in time. She wouldn’t refight the battle in the
Cactus Corridor. She’d done that right. No. She’d report the entire thing to
Headquarters when she got back to the base, just like she had planned.
But Admiral Galland had talked her out of it. He had said that he had taken care of
the report, and he had told her to keep her information to herself because he thought
he could save her command and maybe even give her the Millennium.