5. The Guns of Tanith by Dan Abnett

Author:Dan Abnett
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: BL Publishing
Published: 2012-05-03T14:06:26+00:00

“Shoot.”

“He’s a fine soldier. One of the best”

“Agreed.”

“Good leader too.”

“No arguments.”

“We’d never have pushed the assault as far as we did if it hadn’t been for him. He really… he did a real Corbec, if you know what I mean.”

“I do. You men pulled off a great victory. Getting in as far as the mill to support Domor and Haller’s squads. Lucky break for us all. I hear Gaunt’s going to commend a bunch of you. Don’t tell him I told you.”

“It’s just well… Kolea was taking risks. Big risks. Crazy risks. Like he didn’t care if he lived or died. I mean, he was insane. Running into enemy fire. It was a miracle he wasn’t hit.”

“Some men deal with battle that way, Varl. I refer you to our previous conversation about Corbec.”

“I know, I know.” Varl struggled for the words. “But this wasn’t brave. This was… mad. Really fethed up. So mad, I said something to him, said I’d tell Gaunt what a crazy stunt he’d pulled. And he swore me not to. Begged me not to.”

“He’s modest—”

“Doc, Gol lost his wife and his kids on Verghast. I think… I think he doesn’t care anymore.

Doesn’t care about his own life. I think he’s looking for the reunion round.”

“Really?”

“I’m sure of it. And if I’m right, he’s not only going to get himself dead, he’s going to become a risk to the men.”

“It’s good you told me this, Varl. Leave it with me for now. I’ll be discreet. Let me know if you catch any more behaviour like it from him.”

Varl nodded and made his way out.

The canvas curtain behind Dorden slid back and Curth came through, peeling off bloody surgical gloves and tossing them into a waste canister.

“I didn’t know you were there,” Dorden said.

“Assume I wasn’t.”

“That was a confidential chat, Ana.”

“I know. It’ll stay that way. I’m bound by the same oaths as you.”

“Good.”

“One thing,” she said, moving across to a trolley rack and sorting through data-slates. “What’s a reunion round?”

Dorden shook his head with a sigh. He scratched the grey stubble of his chin.

“Guard slang. It means… it means Kolea doesn’t want to live without his lost loved ones. His dead wife, kids. He wants to be with them again. And so he’s throwing himself into every fight that comes along without heed for his own safety, doing whatever he can do, until he finally catches that reunion round he’s praying to find. The one that will kill him and reunite him with his family.”

“Ah,” said Curth. “I had a nasty feeling that’s what it was.”

“What did you do?”

Caffran slowly rose to his feet mystified. The shackles linking his wrists clanked and drew tight where they ran down to his ankle-hobble. He’d been stripped down to his black vest and fatigue pants. His boot laces and belt had been removed.

“What do you mean?” he asked. His voice was dry and thin. The air in the dingy cell was damp and the light bad. A hunted look on Caffran’s face showed that he was still dealing with the shock of the accusations.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.