The Better Part of Valor (44 page)

All things considered, he deserved an honest answer. “Failure.”

“Not being able to do your job?”

“I get it wrong and people die.”

“You said, back in that hole on Big Yellow, that when the job’s done…” His smile returned as suddenly as it left. “It
is
done, isn’t it? I mean, I wouldn’t want to start anything that’ll get me whacked. You probably know twenty-five ways to kill a man with your bare hands.”

“Twenty-six,” Torin told him as he closed the distance between them. “But you’ll like the last one.”

*   *   *

Bitching amongst themselves, a maintenance crew worked to clear the huge net out of the shuttle bay. No one seemed to know why it had been put there or on whose order, although a
couple of the di’Taykans had a few athletic suggestions for its use.

No one noticed the twelve large gray canisters stacked along one bulkhead.

I
n September, 1944, the 1st Marine Division attacked the small, “wretched” Pacific island of Peleliu. The westernmost of the Carolines, Peleliu had an oven-hot climate, a convoluted terrain, an “
ungodly scramble of coral cliffs
,” mangrove swamps, and 10,000 dug in and well-armed Japanese soldiers.

Lack of both time and ammunition made the Navy’s preliminary bombardment short and essentially ineffective. As the amphibious landing craft approached the beach, the enemy opened fire with antiboat guns and heavy machine guns.

It was said to be as deadly a landing as the Marines would ever face.

After the slaughter on the beach, Colonel Lewis “Chesty” Puller, led his men in a
“gallant but fruitless series of frontal assaults”
on the cliffs and sharply angled hills the Marines called Bloody Nose Ridge.

At one point during the six-day battle for the ridge, an excited subordinate reported to Colonel Puller, “We’ve had such heavy losses we have nothing better than sergeants to lead our platoons!”

“Let me tell you something, son,” Puller replied calmly, “in the Marines, there
is
nothing better than a sergeant.”

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Also by:
TANYA HUFF

The Confederation Novels:

A CONFEDERATION OF VALOR omnibus:
VALOR’S CHOICE | THE BETTER PART OF VALOR
THE HEART OF VALOR
VALOR’S TRIAL

********

SMOKE AND SHADOWS

SMOKE AND MIRRORS

SMOKE AND ASHES

BLOOD PRICE

BLOOD TRAIL

BLOOD LINES

BLOOD PACT

BLOOD DEBT

********

THE QUARTERS NOVELS, VOL 1 omnibus:
SING THE FOUR QUARTERS | FIFTH QUARTER

NO QUARTER
THE QUARTERED SEA

********

The Keeper’s Chronicles:

SUMMON THE KEEPER

THE SECOND SUMMONING

LONG HOT SUMMONING

********

OF DARKNESS, LIGHT AND FIRE

********

WIZARD OF THE GROVE omnibus:
CHILD OF THE GROVE | THE LAST WIZARD