By Blood Alone Read Online Free

looked a lot like the people who lived in the grid that surrounded the academy. Her expression was serious.
    “This just in ... a military court found Legion Captain Matthew Pardo, son of Governor Patricia Pardo, guilty of stealing government property and sentenced the officer to twenty years hard labor at the Confederate correctional facility on Pitra II.
    “The conviction, which rested heavily on testimony provided by Pardo’s commanding officer, seems proof of the Legion’s ability to police itself. Or does it? Critics wonder if Pardo was railroaded as part of an attempt to distract the public from other problems within the Legion.
    “Now, with more from the man and woman on the street, here’s ... ”

    Booly didn’t care what the man or woman on the street had to say. He ordered the tank to turn itself off. The image collapsed.
    So, the verdict was in. The thief would get twenty on Pitra-and what would he get? Twenty on Caliente? Probably, although there were worse things, like forced retirement.
    Having already accepted his fate, Booly found himself surprisingly cheerful as he made his way across the campus and up to General Loy’s office. He knocked, heard the traditional “Enter,” and stepped inside.
    Loy was seated at his desk. He no longer needed anything from Booly ... and saw no reason to posture. His tone was neutral, and his face was impassive. “Excuse me for not inviting you to sit, Booly, but I’m late for a meeting.
    “You’re familiar with the base at Djibouti? Yes, of course you are. Home to the 13th DBLE and all that. Well, it seems that the CO, a woman named Junel, died in some sort of accident. Rough crowd out there-you might want to look into it.
    “In any case your presence is a god send. We’ll slide you into Djibouti, promote your XO into the Caliente slot, and have done with it. Questions?”
    Booly looked into the other officer’s coal-black eyes and saw they were easy to read. “Go ahead,” the look seemed to say. “Question these orders, and see what happens next.”
    Booly thought about it. Djibouti. A pesthole located on the east coast of Africa. A place to stash troublemakers. Worse than that, an assignment without purpose, where each day would stretch into a long, monotonous hell.
    But to say that, or to give even the slightest hint of it, was to lose. Booly stood ramrod straight. “Sir! Yes, sir! Will there be anything else?”
    Loy felt a slight sense of disappointment. Maybe the breed was stupid ... or one hell of an actor. Djibouti was a master stroke. A punishment from which there was no appeal-and no possible escape. He nodded. “No, that should do it. Your gear will be shipped from Caliente, and my adjutant has your orders.”
    There was no “Good luck,” no effort to ease the moment, so Booly said, “Thank you, sir,” did an about-face, and marched out of the room. They never saw each other again.

2
    If thou follow thy star, thou canst not fail of glorious heaven.
    Dante
Divine Comedy: Purgatory
Standard year circa 1308
     
     
    Somewhere on the Rim, the Confederacy of Sentient Beings
    The ready room had been painted orange, green, and blue over the last thirty-six years and all three layers of paint had started to peel. The names of long-gone crew members had been stenciled over empty suit racks and never removed. Not out of respect, or sentiment, but because Jorley Jepp didn’t care.
    The space armor had clocked more than ten thousand hours and was no longer covered by anything other than carefully applied patches. The warranty was little more than a memory, nobody would write a policy on it, and Jepp was broke.
    That being the case, the prospector ran the diagnostics twice, mumbled “Good girl” when the readouts came up green, and entered the Pelican’ s main lock.
    The name stemmed from the way the vessel was shaped. Unlike many of the ships owned and operated by Jepp’s peers, the Pelican had actually been designed for mining asteroids, which