“And after that?”
“I’m not sure. I’d been thinking about going into teaching.”
She nodded. “I’m not surprised; you’d be a good teacher. You read people extraordinarily well. But you’d also be good at what you’re already half trained for. Reading people is a big part of our work, too. And the pay is a little better.”
“It shouldn’t be.”
“I know. You’d also get training I think you’d enjoy.”
“Training in—?”
“Many things. How to break electronic codes, for starters; you seem to have an aptitude.”
He shrugged. “Suppose I take you up on your offer. You say there’s work to be done. What sort of work?”
She frowned. “There are things—”
“Excuse me. I asked that because I have some ideas of the sorts of things this department does, and—”
“And you want no part of them.”
Kit nodded.
“I think we’ll be able to find you work you’ll be happy to do.”
“Can you be a little more specific?”
“Not really; not until you’re sworn in.”
“By which time it’ll be too late.”
“You can always quit.”
“Can I?”
“Yes.”
Kit sighed. “You’re good at your job, ma’am.”
“Meaning?”
“In spite of all reason, something in me wants to trust you.”
“Colonel, we’re just not getting the supplies.”
“I know.”
“And, so far, we’ve had four regiments assigned to the same position, with nothing but empty space on each side.”
“I know.”
“If they do try to come through—”
“They will. They’re massing. If it isn’t the biggest and stupidest bluff of the century, they’ll be coming.”
“Well, we aren’t in any position to stop them.”
“You spoke with Captain Baur?”
“Yes, sir. She gave me permission to talk to you directly.”
“But couldn’t be bothered to herself?”
Mal shrugged. “She has enough on her hands. She’s trying to scavenge ammunition. And boots. And convince three other captains to take positions that weren’t assigned to them, with no orders from upstairs.”
“Okay.”
“So, what in the gorram hell is going on, Colonel?”
“They’re panicking, that’s what.”
“Who?”
“The high command.”
“Great.”
“But the good news is, they sent me.”
“Yes, sir.”
“And it is my intention to hold this valley.”
“I don’t—”
“Sergeant, you can tell Captain Baur, from me, that ammunition will be running by noon tomorrow. And we’ll have the line straightened out by this evening.”
“And if they attack this afternoon?”
“We’re humped. But they won’t; they always launch their attacks in the morning. You know that.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh, and plan on retreating.”
“Sir?”
“We’re out too far, which is fine, so we drop back. Slowly.”
“Suck ’em in?”
“Whenever possible. Let them win a little, then hit them when they’re taking a breath. We’re holding the ground, not the positions. So be ready to fall back, in an orderly way. We’ll be keeping our flanks connected, and hitting them every time they think we won’t. The rest of the time, we make it hard for them to hit us.”
“Yes, sir. But if we aren’t dug in, I mean, if we retreat from our positions—”
“I came with fifteen batteries of anti-aircraft guns, and with a big bundle of SAMs. And I’ve been promised air cover.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Okay. Go do your job, and let me do mine.”
“Yes, sir. And sir…”
“Yes, sergeant?”
“It’s good to see you again.”
Supervisor White said, “Sorry to keep you waiting, Mister Merlyn. Kit. Mind if I call you Kit?”
“No problem, Supervisor.”
“Call me Jerry.”
“All right, Jerry.”
“What’s on your mind?”
“I don’t think I’m right for this kind of work.”
White frowned. “What do you mean? Are you thinking of resigning?”
“Thinking about it.”
“Can you tell me what’s caused this?”
“My last mission.”
“Hmm. I’m familiar with that mission; I was just looking over the report. Seems to have been completed satisfactorily.”
“Thank you, Jerry.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
“When I was recruited, I was promised that I’d be doing work I could be happy about.”
“Happy?”
“Work I could feel good about.”
The supervisor frowned, as if Kit had just started speaking a border world dialect.
“I don’t understand, Kit. What is there about that mission you don’t feel good about?”
“Jerry, what was the net result of the whole fourteen months of work?”
“An entire region was opened up for settlers. And now it’ll be irrigated, made fertile—”
“Jerry, it was irrigated before we started. And fertile. And there were settlers there. Families.”
“And, according to your own information, at least ninety percent of them were Independent sympathizers.”
“But they were—”
“That was a region that never surrendered, Kit. Until order was established, the war was ready to break out all over again. You want to fight the war all over again?”
“Not especially.”
“We could have moved in and just slaughtered everyone there. Would that have been more humane?”
“No.”
“Then exactly what should we have done?”
“Just what we did.”
“And so?”
“But I want no part of it.”
“You admit it needs to be done, but aren’t willing to do it?”
“Well put, Jerry. That’s exactly it. Like I said, I don’t think I’m right for this kind of work. I do the right thing, and I’m sick to my stomach afterwards. You want a tougher sort of guy than I am.”
“According to your record, you’re plenty tough.”
Kit just shook his head.
“Okay,” said the supervisor. “Look. I’d rather not lose you. You’re good at this work, and I respect that you have a conscience. Speaking for myself, I’d rather these operations were carried out by people with some qualms now and then, instead of the polished thugs who usually go in for it. So let me make a suggestion.”
“I’m listening.”
“What if I give you an operation you’ll like, and approve of, and be able to feel good about? You do it, and when it’s done, we’ll talk again.”
“What’s the operation?”
“It’s on Hera, collecting evidence to arrest and convict a very bad man.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
Chapter 4
My Own Kind of Stupid
He found her in the engine room, of course. She was fiddling with something that required a large wrench in one hand and a dirty rag in the other. She looked up as he came in and gave him a big smile.
“Hello, Simon.”
“Hello, Kaylee. Are you hungry?”
“A little. What did you have in mind?”
“I thought I might cook us up something to eat.”
“Simon! You cook?”
He tried to decide if he ought to be offended. “There are some things I can make.”
“And you want to cook for me?”