Hunter's Will (Colonial War Book 9) by Richard Tongue

Author:Richard Tongue [Tongue, Richard]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-03T16:00:00+00:00

“I guess that makes sense. From what I heard, the politicians did just about everything they could to keep all of the credit for themselves. Sure as hell they didn’t earn any in their own right.” He smiled, then said, “Though that applies just as much to the Free Worlds as it did the Republic. He was at all of the key battles in the Rim Campaign, first as a company commander, then with a ship of his own.”

“Just how does a Marine get to command a starship anyway?”

“Desperation on just about everyone’s part,” Rao said. “By the end of the War, everyone just wanted it over. Nobody was going to ask too many questions about how it could be brought about.” He grimaced, and said, “If you ask me, it hasn’t ended yet.”

“But…,” Ingalls said.

“We’re in a warship, about to launch a commando raid against a well-prepared enemy installation on the surface of a hostile world, while our ship engages a squadron of warships in orbit. That sounds like war as far as I’m concerned, or as close enough as makes no realistic difference.” He grimaced, then said, “I suppose all of this is relative, after a fashion, but no sooner were the ceasefires in place, all of the Free Worlds started arming for the next round in the fight. It’s not as if there are any peace treaties, either.”

“Be fair,” Ingalls countered. “It’s not as if there is anyone left to sign them. Neither of the warring powers still exists. I doubt the dead give a damn whether we fight or not.” He paused, then added, “I think it could start again. I know that’s what the Commander thinks. What about you, Doctor?”

“I think if the genie gets out of the bottle down there, it’s going to get a hell of a lot worse, but I also think that it’s inevitable.” She sighed, then said, “Two sites, two samples of hyper-tech that could change the face of the galaxy if they’re deciphered. Sooner or later someone is going to find something and get it out there, someone is going to think they have an advantage that disrupts the balance of power…”

“And we’ll be at war again, whether we like it or not,” Rao said. “This time a fight with no allies, no treaties, but a fight to the death, and with the sort of weapons that the deadliest maniac could never have dreamed of wielding in action. Bombs that can destroy planets. Weaponized singularities.”

“No wonder those aliens are extinct,” Ingalls said, gloomily. “They used to say that about life on Earth, you know, that we’d hit a level where our very intelligence doomed us. I suppose back in the Twenty-First we almost did before we stepped back from the brink. This time I’m not sure we’ll be so lucky. Hell, after what we’ve just been through, a twenty-year war, I’m not sure that we deserve to.”

“Maybe that’s the problem,” Rao said. “A generation has known only war, cannot conceive of what peace could truly be like.

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