Stark's Command by John G. Hemry

Author:John G. Hemry [Hemry, John G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Science Fiction
Publisher: Baen Books
Published: 2001-04-01T05:00:00+00:00

"Sergeant Stark?"

Stark frowned, looked toward the query, then stood quickly. "Lieutenant Mendoza. What brings you here?" He checked the time, stifling a yawn. "At this hour?"

"I will state my reason simply, Sergeant. I fear your social occasion was cancelled to avoid any appearance of impropriety in dining with an officer."

"What?" Stark's fatigue shifted to aggravation. "Who the hell told you that? Sir?"

"No one stated a reason explicitly . . ."

"That's 'cause they didn't know any reason." Stark shoved his palmtop aside, collapsing back into his chair. "Please have a seat, Lieutenant. Hasn't word of our little Navy problem made its way around yet?"

Lieutenant Mendoza took his own seat gingerly, still moving carefully in the low gravity. "Of course."

"Then people should know that's why I couldn't spend tonight socializing. Wish I could've, but the Navy screwed things up for me. We'll reschedule."

"Then you have no concerns about meeting with an officer?"

"Lieutenant, I never cared much what people thought about what I did before, so I sure ain't gonna start caring now. My apologies for having to cancel, and we will reschedule."

"Thank you, Sergeant."

"But," Stark continued, forestalling Lieutenant Mendoza as he began to rise from his seat, "as long as you're here, there's something I'd like to ask you." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "Your son's a real sharp soldier. He could be a lot more aggressive, but he thinks good and he's dependable."

Lieutenant Mendoza smiled with restrained but obvious pride. "Thank you again, Sergeant."

"No. Thank you. It's been a pleasure to have your son in my unit. And I figure you've got to be sharp, too, but you've also been trained as an officer, with a lot of experience."

"I have spent many years in the field, yes."

Stark hunched forward, speaking with quiet intensity. "Here's the deal. We got rid of our old officers, so now we need a lot of new officers. Good officers. We want to do things right. Promote for the right reasons, train the right way, all that stuff. We know what we don't want; a lot of politicians in uniform just looking to please their bosses by saying and doing whatever they think their bosses will like the most. And to hell with the job and the people they command if they think their bosses want that. Getting what we want means doing things different. I hope you can help us figure out how to do that."

Lieutenant Mendoza nodded once, slowly, his eyes fixed on Stark. "I will be happy to offer suggestions, Sergeant. Like you, I have had much experience with the negative side of the current system." He smiled, brief and bitter. "I still recall the particular document that triggered my decision to retire. The Pentagon issued a directive whose purpose, in these exact words, was to 'enable process improvement in warfare and warfare support.' "

"Process improvement." Stark repeated the words, his voice flat. "In war? They actually said that?"

"I have never been able to forget the phrase, Sergeant."

"Well, Lieutenant, I've gotta tell you, I've

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