Read The Heart of Valour Online
Authors: Tanya Huff
“No idea, sir. You need to ask the alien.”
His voice dropped, and he leaned closer still. “Can’t. It’s gone. Every piece of it the Corps had in custody, including the bit you cleverly trapped in the body bag. Officially, they’ve left known space to rejoin Big Yellow. Unofficially, though?” He tapped his skull. “I’m scanning my brain at frequent intervals.”
Torin bit down on her brand-new tongue.
* * *
From her position on one of the upper galleries, Torin braced her forearms on the railing and studied the Humans, di’Taykan, and occasional Krai filling the public terminal from bulkhead to bulkhead. They were so young. She didn’t think she’d ever really noticed that before.
“We have to stop meeting like this, Gunnery Sergeant. People will start to talk.”
She straightened, turned, came to attention, and snapped off a perfect salute.
“Knock it the hell off, Gunny.”
Her new mouth felt stiff when she smiled. “Glad to see you up and around again, Major.”
“I’ve been up for a while.” As she rested her weight back on the railing, he took up an identical position beside her. “Arms take less time to regrow. I wouldn’t have been tanked at all except…” They watched a group of di’Taykan surging close then apart, looking like some kind of multicolored undersea creature from above. Eventually, he said, “Apparently, there’ve been no lasting effects. Psych just cleared me for light duties.”
“Light?”
“Nothing sensitive.”
“Nothing sensitive about combat, sir.”
“That’s what I told them, Gunny. They weren’t amused.”
“Psych’s a tough room, sir.”
He stared at his left wrist, the skin pale at the edge of his cuff. “I hear Intell’s been all over you.”
“They’ve been… thorough. There was a rumor going around that they wanted the H’san to come in and lift the memories right out of my head.” She felt the original half of her lip curl. “Commandant shot them down.”
“Why do you figure, Gunny?”
“I suspect there may be things in my head she doesn’t want the Elder Races to know, sir.”
“Major, do you ever wonder if the Elder Races are screwing us over?”
“It’s interesting to note that not one of the diplomatic attempts to negotiate an end to this war have ever included a member of the three races actually fighting this war. Since hostilities started before we got involved, all we have is the Elder Races’ word for it that they don’t know why the
Others
are fighting.”
He switched his gaze to his right wrist and made a nonspecific noise.
* * *
Torin rubbed the inert trim along the edge of her desk and waited for the call to go through. He’d already have been contacted, of course, but this was still something she had to do.
The desk chimed. The man on the center screen, frowning up at her in some confusion, looked tired.
“Dr. John Sloan?” When he nodded, she took a deep breath and rolled both hands into fists down on her lap where he couldn’t see them. “My name is Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr; I was with your wife on Crucible…”
* * *
Her new implant had the same old codes.
*I’ve docked. Section 12, slip 9.*
Craig Ryder made it back to Ventris as soon as the Corps allowed.
* * *
The bunk on the
Promise
wasn’t really big enough for both of them for any length of time, not if they weren’t actively using it, but they’d stayed there to watch the recording of the premier’s speech, and it didn’t seem like they were going to move any time soon.
Torin suspected they were stuck together, but she was comfortable so she didn’t mention it.
“So, you’ll be rejoining Sh’quo Company.” Craig’s not-a-question was warm against the top of her head.
“The premier said we were going to take up our lives again. That’s where my life is.”
He shifted just enough to prove her suspicions, then pulled her in closer still. “You know, your life could be…”
Time passed.
She was tempted to ask
Could be what?
just to hear what he’d actually say, but looking around the cramped, worn cabin she realized that maybe it could.
Just not quite yet.
I
’d like to thank Steve Perry for artillery and general military advice, Steve Stavitzky, Dave Alway, and Gary McGath for helping find the words that gave the aliens a voice, and Bill Sutton and Bill Roper for assistance with metaphors. I’d also like to thank Olympic gold medalist Xeno Mueller, who graciously explained the dynamics of rowing machines.
T
ANYA SUE HUFF
is a prolific Canadian fantasy author of over 25 novels, including
The Silvered
,
The Enchantment Emporium
series and the
Confederation
series, also published by Titan Books. Her stories have been published since the late 1980s, including five fantasy series and one science fiction series. One of her best known series, the
Blood Books
, featuring detective Vicki Nelson, was adapted for television under the title
Blood Ties
. Follow Tanya on Twitter
@TanyaHuff
.
In the distant future, humans and several alien races have been granted membership in the Confederation—at a price. They must serve and protect the far more civilized species who have long since turned away from war. When her transport ship is shot down, a routine diplomatic mission across the galaxy becomes anything but, and Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr must fight to keep her platoon alive.
When Staff Sergeant Torin Kerr makes the mistake of speaking her mind to a superior officer, she finds herself tagged for a special mission to act as protector to a scientific exploratory team assigned to investigate an enormous derelict spaceship. Along with her crew Kerr soon finds herself in the midst of danger and faced with a mystery that takes all her courage and ingenuity to solve.
Unexpectedly pulled from battle, Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr of the Confederation Marines finds herself in an underground POW camp, where her fellow marine prisoners have lost all will to escape. Now, Torin must fight her way not only out of the prison, but also past the growing compulsion to lie down and give up—not realizing that her escape could alter the entire course of the war.
Available April 2014
Having left the Marine Corps, former Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr is attempting to build a new life with salvage operator Craig Ryder. Turns out, civilian life is a lot rougher than she’d imagined. Torin is left for dead when pirates attack their spaceship and take Craig prisoner. Determined to rescue Craig, Torin calls in her Marines.
Available June 2014
The sixth novel in Tanya Huff’s critically acclaimed Confederation series.
Available November 2014
“An intriguing alien race, a likeable protagonist, a fast moving plot, and a rousing ending. What more could you ask for?” —
Science Fiction Chronicle
“Rousing military adventure”—
Locus
“Fast-paced military SF… The intriguing and well-designed aliens and intricate plotting keep the reader guessing.” —
Publishers Weekly
“Riveting… The notable Tanya Huff proves herself equally adept at military SF as contemporary fantasy. Don’t miss this one.” —RT Book Reviews
The Gale family can change the world with the charms they cast. Alysha Gale is tired of having all her aunts try to run her life. So when her Gran leaves her a junk shop in Calgary, Alysha jumps at the chance. It isn’t until she gets there that she realizes her customers are fey. And no one told her there’s trouble brewing in Calgary—trouble so big that even calling in the family may not save the day…
Alysha Gale’s cousin Charlotte is a Wild Power, who allies herself with a family of Selkies in a fight against offshore oil drilling. The oil company has hired another of the Gale family’s Wild Powers, the fearsome Auntie Catherine, to steal the Selkies’ sealskins. To defeat her, Charlotte will have to learn what born to be Wild really means in the Gale family…
Available March 2014
The third volume in Tanya Huff’s critically acclaimed urban fantasy series.
Available May 2014
The Empire has declared war on the were-ruled kingdom of Aydori, capturing five women of the Mage-Pack, including the wife of the Pack-leader. With the Pack off defending the border, it falls to Mirian Maylin and Tomas Hagen—she a low-level mage, he younger brother to the Pack-leader—to save them. But with every step into enemy territory, the odds against their survival grow steeper…
“Huff delves into an overwhelming yet improbably seamless mix of steampunk, epic fantasy, and paranormal romance… Huff fans who prefer her second-world fantasy tales (e.g., the Quarters series) will be pleased by this return to the form.” —
Publishers Weekly
“This is an exciting romantic quest fantasy… Fans will enjoy the trek of the werewolf and the mage into the heart of the enemy.” —
Midwest Book Review