Edge World (Undying Mercenaries Book 14) by B. V. Larson

Author:B. V. Larson [Larson, B. V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Iron Tower Press
Published: 2020-10-10T00:00:00+00:00

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When we arrived, Galina was all business at first. She demanded proper clothing and a sidearm. The techs on Gray Deck rushed to provide these things.

She fondled her pistol for a moment, looking at it in a loving fashion. This kind of alarmed me, as I’ve been shot by any number of superior officers. Sometimes, it had been for good reasons. On other occasions, it had been done out of petty spite.

“Uh…” I said. “Will that be all, Tribune?”

Galina looked at me thoughtfully. “No. I want you to attend a debriefing. Follow me.”

What could I do? I walked in her wake, looking like some kind of a gorilla following his mistress. I was still wearing the combat armor as I figured it might still help me out today.

“Tribune?” I asked. “There are a few things that have gone on since you were kidnapped.”

“I’m sure there are. That’s why I’m taking you upstairs to be debriefed.”

I chewed that over as we reached the elevator and rode it up to Gold Deck. I hated to be the one to tell the brass bad news, but I couldn’t think of an easy way to slip away from her. If Galina got to her office and found it occupied by an angry Winslade with a banged-up head—well, things might not go so well.

“Uh…” I said. “I had to take certain liberties to get you back, see.”

Galina halted. She slowly turned around. “You did?”

“That’s right.”

Her eyes narrowed. “No one ordered you to go down and save me, did they?”

“Well… not exactly,” I said. My visor was open, and I scratched my face with one finger. Armored suits like this tended to be hot and kind of itchy. That went double after you’d almost died and got all sweaty. “You see, uh, the legion has a new commander.”

Her eyes narrowed some more. They were pretty much slits by this time.

“Who?” she demanded.

“First off, Fike took over. He did some ops, got my unit slaughtered… well, anyways, he decided he didn’t have the chops it took to run the legion. He walked through the posts and got another officer from Central.”

Galina’s eyes widened in alarm. “Don’t tell me that bitch Deech is sitting in my office!”

“No, no, things aren’t that bad. Drusus bumped up Winslade to the rank of tribune and then… well, he sort of gave him the legion to run.”

Galina was in shock. I’d seen that expression on her pretty face before. But, as always, it didn’t last long. Her mind switched to scheming again with fresh vigor.

“I see it all now. You decided you wanted me back, so you stole that suit and went down to the planet to find me.”

“Pretty much…”

“Where is Winslade? Is he still alive?”

“What kind of a question is that, sir? Of course he is. I imagine he’s off somewhere, taking a long piss or something…”

She checked her tapper. She looked up at me in alarm. “He’s in my private armory! How the hell did he—oh…”

“What’s wrong?”

“He’s dead. I get it now.

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