Read Online Valkyrie Rising (Warrior's Wings Book Two) by Evan Currie - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Evan Currie
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business.”
“Started that way, sir.”
He grunted, but nodded after a moment. “Got better, did it?”
“Less bad, sir.”
“Yes, I suppose that was about the best you could hope for after that start, Sergeant,” the brigadier said finally. “For god’s sake, relax before you pop your stitches.”
Sorilla marginally relaxed, clasping her hands behind her back. “They don’t use stitches anymore, sir, and the glue broke down weeks ago.”
“You always were a smartass, Sergeant,” Brigadier Maxwell Graves said, nodding to the chair. “Sit down, Sergeant. You’re not here to be debriefed. I know everything I need to know about the mission on Hayden. Should never have happened, you were supposed to be on a training run. You should have been invisible, you should have been a lot of things that didn’t happen.”
Sorilla didn’t know what to say to any of that, so she stayed silent and took a seat.
“You were about due to pick up a rocker before you left for Hayden,” he told her, sliding a case across the desk to her. “Brass decided you earned a bit more.”
She frowned, taking the case and opening it. Her eyes flew open in shock as she recognized the three rockers on the master sergeant’s patch.
“Sir, I…” Honestly, she knew she was due a promotion and had half expected to skip to first class, but a double bump seemed excessive.
“Relax,” he told her again. “If you didn’t earn it already, you’re about to.”
That caught her attention. Her focus flew to him as he went on.
“USF wants a new unit, a SOCOM team to call their very own. Your name was requested,” he told her. “If you accept, you’ll be seconded to Fleet SOCOM for the duration. No more tango hunts in third world countries, but from the sounds of it, you won’t be lacking for action.”
The idea of not traipsing about the world looking for terrorist enclaves was something of an attractive one, despite everything Sorilla defined herself by, but the last she checked, Fleet could barely afford to run their ships and keep their crews paid, let alone an effective strike force. Training costs on good Special Forces teams were enough to break budgets, to say nothing of equipment and combat pay.
She eyed the assignment page on the pad the general was holding with a skeptical eye. “Can they afford to run a team, sir?”
He chuckled. “Things changed while you were slogging about on Hayden, Sergeant. Fleet’s star is in ascendancy at the moment. They’ve got a better budget than I do.”
Sorilla held back a whistle but nodded appreciatively all the same. That really only left one other question. “If I take this, am I out of the Army, sir?”
He took a breath, scowling at the pad. “Officially, no. You’ll be seconded to Fleet SOCOM to fill out your thirty however, so when you’re done, you’re out as a civilian. Something happens, you could be transferred back, but I wouldn’t count on that.”
“I understand, sir.”
“I don’t like losing you, Sergeant,” he told her, “but most of our actions in the foreseeable future will be coordinated through Fleet SOCOM. If you want to be on the sharp end, this is the position that will put you there. Flipside, you take this job, you will be on the sharp end of a lot of nasty missions. Think on it, Sarge. You’ve got a little time, they’re still hunting down those ships that came in through Hayden and nailed the Ares Colony. Probably no need for our like until they hammer them back a step or two anyway.”
“Yes, sir. I will, sir,” she said.
“Good. Dismissed.”
*****
USF Cheyenne
Jump Point Alpha, S9X-53P
The system was barren by human standards, one of very few they’d encountered that never developed even the most rudimentary forms of life. Most systems had an ice moon somewhere that had bacteria living in some crack or crevice, or an old planet with fossils to track. They’d even found a couple planets that were filled with oil fields
“Started that way, sir.”
He grunted, but nodded after a moment. “Got better, did it?”
“Less bad, sir.”
“Yes, I suppose that was about the best you could hope for after that start, Sergeant,” the brigadier said finally. “For god’s sake, relax before you pop your stitches.”
Sorilla marginally relaxed, clasping her hands behind her back. “They don’t use stitches anymore, sir, and the glue broke down weeks ago.”
“You always were a smartass, Sergeant,” Brigadier Maxwell Graves said, nodding to the chair. “Sit down, Sergeant. You’re not here to be debriefed. I know everything I need to know about the mission on Hayden. Should never have happened, you were supposed to be on a training run. You should have been invisible, you should have been a lot of things that didn’t happen.”
Sorilla didn’t know what to say to any of that, so she stayed silent and took a seat.
“You were about due to pick up a rocker before you left for Hayden,” he told her, sliding a case across the desk to her. “Brass decided you earned a bit more.”
She frowned, taking the case and opening it. Her eyes flew open in shock as she recognized the three rockers on the master sergeant’s patch.
“Sir, I…” Honestly, she knew she was due a promotion and had half expected to skip to first class, but a double bump seemed excessive.
“Relax,” he told her again. “If you didn’t earn it already, you’re about to.”
That caught her attention. Her focus flew to him as he went on.
“USF wants a new unit, a SOCOM team to call their very own. Your name was requested,” he told her. “If you accept, you’ll be seconded to Fleet SOCOM for the duration. No more tango hunts in third world countries, but from the sounds of it, you won’t be lacking for action.”
The idea of not traipsing about the world looking for terrorist enclaves was something of an attractive one, despite everything Sorilla defined herself by, but the last she checked, Fleet could barely afford to run their ships and keep their crews paid, let alone an effective strike force. Training costs on good Special Forces teams were enough to break budgets, to say nothing of equipment and combat pay.
She eyed the assignment page on the pad the general was holding with a skeptical eye. “Can they afford to run a team, sir?”
He chuckled. “Things changed while you were slogging about on Hayden, Sergeant. Fleet’s star is in ascendancy at the moment. They’ve got a better budget than I do.”
Sorilla held back a whistle but nodded appreciatively all the same. That really only left one other question. “If I take this, am I out of the Army, sir?”
He took a breath, scowling at the pad. “Officially, no. You’ll be seconded to Fleet SOCOM to fill out your thirty however, so when you’re done, you’re out as a civilian. Something happens, you could be transferred back, but I wouldn’t count on that.”
“I understand, sir.”
“I don’t like losing you, Sergeant,” he told her, “but most of our actions in the foreseeable future will be coordinated through Fleet SOCOM. If you want to be on the sharp end, this is the position that will put you there. Flipside, you take this job, you will be on the sharp end of a lot of nasty missions. Think on it, Sarge. You’ve got a little time, they’re still hunting down those ships that came in through Hayden and nailed the Ares Colony. Probably no need for our like until they hammer them back a step or two anyway.”
“Yes, sir. I will, sir,” she said.
“Good. Dismissed.”
*****
USF Cheyenne
Jump Point Alpha, S9X-53P
The system was barren by human standards, one of very few they’d encountered that never developed even the most rudimentary forms of life. Most systems had an ice moon somewhere that had bacteria living in some crack or crevice, or an old planet with fossils to track. They’d even found a couple planets that were filled with oil fields
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