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.”“It worked last time,” the Commandant said.He reached out and clapped her on the shoulder.“Good luck, Operative.”“Thank you, sir,” Belinda said.She felt a strange queasy excitement, a sensation she hadn’t felt since her first combat mission.It had long since become routine to go to war and place herself in dreadful danger.But now.she felt excited and nervous, determined to prove herself and yet terrified to screwing up.And there’s one definite advantage to going in alone, her thoughts reminded her.There’s no one else to be put at risk by your failures.She was still mulling over her thoughts when she was shown into Major Quincy’s cabin.The Marine Intelligence officer nodded to her, then reached for a terminal and clicked a switch, activating a holographic display.This time, instead of a star chart, it showed a biography.“We went backwards and forwards on what kind of cover to give you,” Quincy said, cheerfully.He had a zest for life that Belinda had once shared, before the disastrous mission on Earth.“It was deemed inappropriate for you to have anything linking you to the Corps, not when it might earn you more attention than you might wish.Instead, we decided to give you a very loose profile, but one with military ties.”He tapped a switch.“Lieutenant Belinda Lawson,” he said.“Native to New Washington, but joined the Imperial Army instead of the local self-defence force.You spent seven years as a military policewoman, then you had an.accident and retired, choosing to seek employment on tramp freighters rather than returning home.One of our covert operations starships will drop you off on Terra Nova, adding to your cover story.”Belinda frowned as she took the datapad and read the cover story.It was as complete as it was likely to be, without inserting details directly into local databases.Sending an inquiry to New Washington would probably raise red flags, but it was unlikely anyone would dig that far into her cover.If they did, she’d have to leave the planet before they zeroed in on her and started asking awkward questions.“There should be a copy of the Imperial Army’s records on Terra Nova,” she said, slowly.“What happens if they check these records against my cover story?”“That’s the beauty of it,” Quincy assured her.“The.details of your accident are classified, so the records won’t be copied to Terra Nova.They were on Earth when the planet died, so they can ask questions all they like and.well, there will be no answers.Unless they hire a medium, I suppose.”“Very funny,” Belinda said, crossly.“And what sort of accident am I supposed to have had?”“I was going to suggest that you claimed to have been molested or raped by someone with powerful connections,” Quincy said.“It would explain why the records are sealed – we can probably add a record hinting that you received a colossal payoff for keeping your mouth shut.”Belinda grimaced.It was vanishingly rare for female marines to be sexually harassed, certainly not by their male comrades.The men knew that the women had been through the same Slaughterhouse as themselves, without any allowances made for their gender.But it was far from uncommon for female soldiers outside the Marines to be harassed, not least because the Imperial Army did reduce the training program for them.And rapes were not unknown.The Civil Guard had no female soldiers at all.“It will do,” she said.On Greenland, her homeworld, there had been one way of dealing with rapists.The bastards were shot – and if the would-be victim shot him herself, before he could knock her down, she would receive a medal for improving the human gene pool.But it wasn't a standard of justice known in the Core Worlds, where defending oneself could lead to criminal charges.“I don’t suppose you could add something about me defending myself?”“Not really,” Quincy said.“It would attract attention.”“Then leave it as it is,” Belinda said.She sighed [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]