"Elizabeth Moon - Familias 04 - Once A Hero" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moon Elizabeth)

Once A Hero
Elizebeth Moon

ISBN: 0-671-57842-1

Copyright й 1997 by Elizabeth Moon

A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471

CHAPTER ONE

R.S.S. Harrier, near Xavier


Esmay Suiza had done her best to clean up before reporting as
ordered to the admiral aboard her flagship, but the mutiny and the
following battle had left her little time. She had showered, and run her
uniform through the cycler, but it wasn't her dress uniformЧthe fight
aboard Despite had put holes through interior bulkheads and started
innumerable small fires, including one in the junior officers' storage
compartment. She herself, though clean, had not slept well in . . .
however many days it had been. She knew her eyes were bloodshot
and sticky with fatigue; her hands trembled. She had the
stomach-clenching feeling that her best wasn't good enough.
Admiral Serrano looked like an older edition of Captain Serrano,
the same compact trim frame, the same bronze skin. Here the dark hair
was streaked silver, and a few lines marked the broad forehead, but she
gave an impression of crackling energy held just in check.
"Lieutenant Junior Grade Suiza reporting, sir." At least her voice
didn't shake. Those few days of command had ironed out the uneasy
flutter she used to struggle against.
"Have a seat, Lieutenant." The admiral had no expression Esmay
could read. She sat in the appointed chair, glad that her knees held and
she made it a controlled descent. When she was down safely, the
admiral nodded, and went on. "I have reviewed your summary of events
aboard Despite. It seems to have been a very . . . difficult . . . time."
"Yes, sir." That was safe. In a world of danger, that was always
safe; so she had been taught in the Academy and her first ship postings.
But her memory reminded her that it wasn't always true, that a "Yes,
sir," to Captain Hearne had been treason, and a "Yes, sir," to Major
Dovir had been mutiny.
"You do understand, Lieutenant, that it is mandatory for all
officers participating in a mutiny to stand before a court to justify their
actions?" That in a voice almost gentle, as if she were a child. She would
never be a child again.
"Yes, sir," she said, grateful for the gentleness even though she