The Black Guard: Book III: The Black Mamba (Black Guard series 3) by CR Daems

Author:CR Daems [Daems, CR]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Talon Novels
Published: 2020-11-14T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Sassor Mountain: New Contract

I was disappointed when, after a month at Sasser Mountain, my adopted sister, Hada, had a new assignment although back less time than I was, and I didn't.

"Don't be disappointed, Rivka," Hada shouted, shaking my arm as we sat at our favorite spot. It had rained the previous two days and the torrent of water poring over the cliff roared as it fought through the narrow gorge, making it hard to talk. "You didn't get this assignment because it's pretty traditional. Commander Wexler is saving you for one of those non-traditional contracts the Jax Contract Committee has been prone to approve, because my crazy sister manages to complete them successfully, and they tend to be very lucrative."

I nodded, thinking she was probably right. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad. It was a good thing for the Jax, as much of our income came from contracts, but could be bad for the Black Guard, as those types of contracts were potentially more dangerous. Even our traditional contracts produced five to eight deaths yearly, which was only a few less than the yearly number of qualified recruits. Numerically that was good, but it meant replacing experienced Black Guards with inexperienced ones, slowly lowering the overall experience of the Guard and resulting in more deaths. A very troubling trend made worse by taking on non-traditional contracts that could result in four or more deaths on any one of those contracts.

"I suppose you're right," I said with mixed emotions. I liked the challenge and they were more interesting than the more traditional body-guard duty. But like Hada, each Guard's death weighed heavily on me. One death was tragic but multiple deaths was a nightmare scenario which loomed on every non-traditional assignment. Like command, a two-edged sword. You could control the response, and were therefore were responsible for the outcome.

Fortunately, I didn't have long to wait. A week later, Corporal Yardon appeared while I was eating breakfast.

Captain Sapir, Commander Wexler would like to talk with you," Corporal Yardon said, after a low bow.

"Good timing, Yardon," I said, having just finished my breakfast and had nothing on my schedule until after lunch, when I planned to instruct several captains on the use of the whip. Now that everyone was interested, the stories of incidents where the whip had proved an advantage were growing, creating even more interest than before. I walked back with Yardon in silence, wondering if it were an assignment and whether it was traditional or not.

I bowed low when I entered Wexler's office. "Sir, Corporal Yardon said you wanted to see me."

"Yes, Sapir, sit," he said, and took a sip of coffee. "The Jax Committee has another contract for us to write. In a way, I prefer them letting us create the contract and them determining the price, especially for non-traditional contracts. I can't make up my mind whether this is a traditional contract or not. On the surface it is, but it has the potential to turn very non-traditional.

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