Read Online Loralynn Kennakris 3: Asylum by Owen R. O'Neill, Jordan Leah Hunter - Free Book Online Page B

it was a shambles.”
    Just about everything . “There’s a report, sir. I really can’t comment.”
    “I heard there was trouble coordinating with the relief force.”
    The problem was no relief force. Anandale—officially Operation Avalon —had been the proposed invasion of Wolf-Rayet in neighboring Cepheus. The colony was nominally independent, but by controlling it, the CEF could launch an attack on the much richer and more important settlement of Port Mahan, which had been seized by Halith early in the war. Occupying Port Mahan allowed Halith to threaten both the Andamans and the vital junction at Winnecke IV. Getting it back was a League priority.
    Lewis’s battalion was the tip of the spear. They were to land at Anandale, where Wolf-Rayet’s security forces were based and, having ensured they would not (or could not) interfere, move south to link up with the rest of their regiment and a division of New-UK ground forces to secure the starport of Naxos, at which the main force would land.
    As it turned out, Halith, who’d initially thought Wolf-Rayet’s neutrality worked to their advantage, had changed their minds on this point and, through the offices of a sympathetic high commissioner in the colony’s administration, had deployed two divisions of irregulars at Anandale and dispatched the Ilion Fleet to secure the system.
    On landing, Lewis’s battalion found itself almost immediately surrounded, while the appearance of the Ilion Fleet’s lead elements forced the invasion to be aborted. A relief force was standing by to extract the battalion under just such an emergency, but the comms protocols had been incautiously changed at the last minute and a transcription error had been introduced (by some little shit who’d better pray he never met any of the battalion’s survivors) which kept them incommunicado for nine crucial hours. The battalion managed to fight its way clear and cover the two hundred klicks to Naxos, where they were able to seize a motley collection of craft and evacuate the survivors, including all the wounded. Once clear of the planet, a plain language request for assistance, sent in the guard band, finally brought the relief force in, and completed the rescue.
    The after-action report, which Lewis herself submitted, tabulated the final result like this:
    Forces Deployed: 850 of all arms
    Killed: 169
    Wounded: 396
    Missing/Unaccounted for: 51
    Total Casualties: 616
    Fit for Duty: 234
    “That’s true, sir,” Lewis flatly answered the lieutenant colonel’s question.
    “You took command, I believe. After Major Walker was killed?”
    “Incapacitated, sir”— shot once through the chest and twice through the gut . “She died on the way back”— holding my hand and biting through her lip to keep from screaming ‘cuz there weren’t enough pain meds to go around, and she wouldn’t take a single dose away from her people .
    “Damn shame. Caitlyn Walker had a reputation as a fine officer.”
    Better’n you’ll ever be. Rest ye gentle, Kate .
    “Well—” He gave his smooth hands a little toss and sat up straighter. “You did save six hundred of our people.” The corner of Lewis’s mouth twitched at the words our people . “All in all, a remarkable accomplishment, under the circumstances.”
    “Thank you, sir.” As if you’re in a position to judge .
    Leaning forward, Kerr laced his hands on the desktop. “Now, about this promotion . . .”
    Oh, that’s what this is all about—he thinks I’m gunning for his job . It was true the regimental commander, Brigadier ‘Long John’ Henderson, had put her up for promotion. There’d even been loose talk of giving her a brevet rank so she could retain command. That obviously hadn’t happened.
    “I’m afraid I have bad news. Or perhaps I should say, less-than-welcome news. It hasn’t been denied exactly, but the decision is being held in abeyance. For the time being.”
    “I understand, sir.”
    “All good things in their