Remnants of Trust. Elizabeth Bonesteel
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Название: Remnants of Trust
Автор: Elizabeth Bonesteel
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Научная фантастика
isbn: 9780008137847
isbn:
At least I’ve made him curious. “Why were you transporting Niall MacBride?”
He did not look surprised that she knew. “That’s classified. But I’m guessing you know that, or you wouldn’t be so pissed off.”
“He wouldn’t even have been arrested if it wasn’t for me,” she told him.
“So I understand. By the way, I found it fascinating that he ended up losing his career for not killing people, while you managed to stay on your feet after—what did they call it? ‘Unauthorized equipment damage’? I love military understatement, don’t you?”
Privately, she did not disagree with him. MacBride could have followed orders and made his life much easier; instead, he did the right thing. “Why did they take him, sir?”
His eyes slid away from hers. “How the fuck should I know?”
“I’m supposed to believe that?”
“Do you think it matters to anyone what you believe?” He turned back to her, his eyes bright and piercing. “Why does it matter, anyway?” he asked, curious. “What is MacBride to you, except the guy that took the heat for you?”
“It matters,” she replied deliberately, “because he’s the reason you were hit. And you know it.”
He watched her for a moment, eyes still bright; and then he relented, leaning one elbow on the bar. “Yes,” he said, suddenly serious, “I do know it. And whether he was kidnapped or rescued, it’s my responsibility, Commander. Not yours.”
It crossed her mind, then, that he might be trying to do her a kindness. Along with all of his less pleasant personality traits, he had always had a streak of military honor—a calculated form of chivalry—that surprised her. For an instant she looked at him and saw beyond his abrasive persona to a man, nearly fifty years old, body badly injured, psyche nearly mortally wounded. His rank, his patriotism, his loyalty to his command chain would seem like lifelines right now. And she could respect that.
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