Rogue(129)
“Hello,” he said.
“Yes,” I said simply.
“You did well. I’m sorry the circumstances were so tough.”
“No, you’re not, and I wish you wouldn’t say so.”
He looked a little perturbed. Only a little.
He said, “While I am less emotional than many, I don’t lack an understanding of it.”
“No, it’s just an intellectual exercise for you. One more skill you’ve cultivated to bend people to your will.”
“That’s true enough.”
“I’m done.”
“Absolutely. I do need a summary, though, for follow up.”
Yeah, the debriefing and after action was the part I always hated. Not enough to have adminwork before the mission, there had to be more afterward, while reviewing every splash of blood and spatter of guts.
He said, “You may want to know that Timurhin has decided this is not a system he cares to operate from.”
“Good, I suppose. None of his targets mattered to us either way, and most had illicit connections. I can’t say it was a bad thing overall.”
“It’s bad that we can take the blame from several directions. A crime figure living here. A rogue operator using our training.”
“So it’s done.”
“Yes. What do you plan to do after you heal?”
The conversational inquiry, so casual, seeking intel, really pissed me off.
“Naumann, I don’t like you.”
“There is no reason you should,” he said. “I am not very likeable.”
“You owe me.”
“Within reason, yes,” he agreed.
I snarled, “‘Within reason’ dogshit. You fucking owe me.” He actually twitched. And I was in a hospital bed. Damn. I thought for a moment and realized, yes, I really was that angry.
“As I know you don’t want money, what is it to be?”
The bastard. Actually, I did plan to ask about my back pay. I also knew families who deserved some help. But that was for later.
“Kimbo Randall. Mark him killed in action on Earth. Add him to the list. And apart from that Citizens’ Medal we all have, you will award the Valorous Service Medal I’m going to write up.”
“I believe I understand,” he said. Yeah, he probably did.
It was ten of our years later, but that battle on Earth had killed him as surely as it had killed the rest of us. I could despise what he’d done since then, but he’d done all his nation asked of him and more. For all of that, he was a hero. His illness was not a crime.
I hated his actions. I respected, and loved, the man.
Then I came out of self-absorption again.
“Oh, yes. Silver gets a Meritorious Action Medal. She went far beyond material support, to intel and operations. And she did it while dealing with me.”
He nodded.
“I can see how that would be tough.”
I wasn’t sure if the bastard was joking. I was too tired to care.
I drifted back out, and woke muzzily awhile later. Naumann was gone. He didn’t come back.
Chel was there, and looked much more relaxed and rested. That made me feel better.
“Hi, Dad,” she said, once she was sure I was awake.
“Chelsea, I can’t do anything except talk. But I need to tell you a few things now. You’re old enough. We’ll go into my background later.”
She nodded. “There’s a lot of that on the hypernodes. No names, but it has events and activities.” She looked a bit distant. Yes, one more person who had to personally wonder what kind of man I was. My daughter.
I nodded, then stopped when pain shot through me. Then I sighed. “I need to tell you what it felt like. I don’t know that I can, and you shouldn’t have to know. But you need some small measure of it to understand me.”
“I don’t need to understand you,” she said, gripping my hand until it hurt. “You’re the best father I could ever have and I know how much you love me.” She was crying now. No one could go through what we’d just gone through the day before and not feel something.
“I love you, kid,” I said. “We’ll talk about that later. I will also tell you everything about your mother, as I promised you five years ago. For now . . . I need to tell you about your godfather.”