The Better Part of Valor Read Free

see and was banging both fists against the seat in front of him, nose ridges so dark they were almost purple. The di’Taykan were nowhere to be seen—all three of them had probably crammed themselves into the tiny communal chamber the moment the shuttle had entered Susumi space—which left, of the original six privates, only a Human who seemed to find the whole thing very funny.
    He spotted Torin first. By the time she’d covered half the distance, his eyes had widened as the chevrons on her sleeves penetrated past the beer. By the time she’d covered the other half of the distance, he’d stopped laughing and had managed to gasp out something that could have been a warning.
    Too late.
    Transferring forward momentum, Torin wrapped her fist in the female Krai’s uniform, lifted her off the corporal, and threw her back into a seat.
    The sudden silence was deafening.
    She reached down and helped the corporal to his feet.
    Someone cleared his or her throat. “Staff, we…”
    Her lip curled. “Shut up.”
    The silence continued.
    “If I hear one word from any of you while Corporal Barteau…”
    No one seemed at all surprised she knew the corporal’s name.
    “…is telling me what the hell is going on back here, I will override your seat controls and you will spend the rest of the trip strapped in.” Eyes narrowed, she swept the silent trio with a flat, unfriendly stare. “Do I make myself clear?”
    “Yes, Staff Sergeant.”
    “Good. Corporal.”
    They walked back to the wall dividing the lower ranks from the NCOs.
    Torin pitched her voice for the corporal’s ears alone. “You all right?”
    “Just a little winded, Staff. I didn’t expect her to jump me. They’d been drinking, and I think she was showing off for Private Karsk. I was studying.” He nodded toward the schematics spread out over the last two seats. “I asked them to keep it down. Next thing I knew…”
    An unidentifiable sound from the back of the compartment pulled Torin’s head around. All three privates, sitting exactly where she’d left them, froze, wide-eyed like they’d been caught in a searchlight. She held them there for a moment—half hoping they were drunk enough to cause more trouble—then turned slowly back to Corporal Barteau.
    He shrugged. “They’re on their way home, Staff.”
    “I know.”
    “Privates Karsk and Visilli were at Beconreaks and Private Chrac, she was aircrew, Black Star Evac. They flew at…”
    “I know, Corporal, I was there. Your point?”
    “I don’t think they deserve to be put on report. Not for celebrating the fact that they’re going home.”
    “I agree.”
    He looked surprised. “You do?”
    Torin exhaled slowly and forced the muscles in her jaw to relax. From the corporal’s reaction, she suspected she’d looked like she was chewing glass. “Yes. I do. I’ll have a word with them and,
if
we get to MidSector without any more trouble, that’ll be the end of it.”
    “You’ve already scared the piss out of them,” the corporal acknowledged.
    “Yeah, well, I’d say that was my intent except the shuttle service would make me pay for having the seats cleaned.”
    *   *   *
    Feeling considerably more clearheaded, Torin accessed the hospitality screen and a moment later pulled the tab on a pouch of beer.
    Ours is not to question why.
    I’ll do
, she said silently, with a sarcastic toast to absent brass,
but I’ll be damned if I’ll die.
    *   *   *
    The detoxicant Torin had taken when they folded out of Susumi space had done its job by the time the shuttle docked at MidSector. Although the military and civilian passengers had been kept separate during the trip, exit ramps emerged into the same crowded Arrivals’ Lounge.
    There were a lot fewer uniforms in the crowd than Torin was used to.
    “Excuse me.”
    Torin had a choice. She could stop, or she could walk right over the di’Taykan standing in front of her. She stopped. But it was a close decision.
    The di’Taykan