Stars of Blood and Glory
lucrative enough that I decided to make an
exception. If there are no more questions, we leave in forty-five
minutes.”
    Roman chuckled. With everyone thinking of the
ways that they would spend their money after the mission was
completed, the meeting was all but finished.
    As the officers filed out of the room, Danica
gave Roman a brief but meaningful glance. He nodded and stayed
behind the main group, waiting for the rest of them to leave. When
they were gone, Danica walked over to the door and keyed it shut,
so that they were alone.
    “ How is Lieutenant Al-Najmi
doing?” she asked, folding her arms.
    “ She seems to be reasonably
competent,” said Roman, carefully choosing his words. “I have not
yet seen her in action, so of course I cannot be certain, but I
think she will be strong asset.”
    “ Do you trust her?”
    He hesitated. “Do you?”
    Danica sighed and rubbed her forehead,
betraying a degree of human weakness that she didn’t normally let
the others see. Roman recognized it as the normal tension that one
always felt in the air before every new mission. For his men, that
tension translated into excitement and boyish anticipation, but for
the commanding officers such as Danica and himself, the weight of
responsibility tempered their enthusiasm.
    “ Of course I trust her, Roman.
It’s the rest of the men I’m worried about. She’s the only Gaian on
a crew of hardened Tajji soldiers—it’s going to be hard for her to
fit in.”
    “ This is true,” Roman grunted. He
remembered how she had sat at the back of the room during the
briefing, watching impassively without saying a word.
    “ If there’s any disunity between
her and the others, that’s going to hurt our fighting
effectiveness,” said Danica. “I want you to try to reach out to her
and build some rapport. I know she’s not technically under your
command, but if you could take her under your wing, I think it
would help tremendously.”
    Roman clenched his fingers into a fist and
bristled. “You wish for me to become mentor to this girl?” A
strange warmth grew in his chest, making his muscles cringe and
sending short bursts of pain through the non-cybernetic parts of
his body.
    “ Not a ‘mentor,’ exactly. But if
the other men see you both take to each other, that would help them
warm up to her.”
    He opened his mouth to respond, but realized
he had nothing to say that wouldn’t contradict her. He drew in
another long breath, and realized his natural arm was shaking.
    “ I know that your prejudices run
against her,” said Danica. “But you’re also in a unique position to
understand each other. For example, your neurological implants are
very similar to hers, and I’m sure that affects how you both see
things. At the least, it’s something you have in common with
her.”
    “ Perhaps,” said Roman, not
committing to anything.
    Danica sighed. “I don’t want to ask anything
that’s too difficult of you. This is more of a personal request
than an order, so if it’s too much to ask, please let me know. But
as one old friend to another—”
    “ Of course,” said Roman. “For
you, of course I will do it.”
    Danica smiled and put a hand on his natural
arm. “I have no doubt you’re the right one for this task, Roman.
The men all say you’re like a father to them.”
    “ Perhaps, Captain. But you—you
are their mother.”
    She laughed in a clear, honest way that was
only reserved for her closest friends. “A stern old hag of a
mother, I’m sure.”
    “ It is why they feel so much at
home.”
    “ Well, may it long be so. Thank
you, Sergeant.”
    Roman saluted before stepping out of the
room. Even though the gesture was as crisp as it ever had been, it
was all he could do to keep his hand from shaking.
     
    * * * * *
     
    Katsuichi tried not to think of Hikaru as his
admirals and commanders filed into the board room. Several of them
eyed Colonel Webb with suspicion, but the Federation officer merely
smiled in

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