"You wouldn't have a shower in here somewhere?" Sime asked Valentine. He had an entourage of sixteen, personal security types and drivers and communication staff.
"There's hot water in the washroom. Best I can do. You're going to have difficulty finding accommodations in town, unless you want to squat in a rat run or take charity. You're welcome to stay on base, but it's a two-hour drive to Fort Seng."
"We can sleep in the vehicles. They're rigged for it."
"I don't suppose they're rigged to carry medical goods and antibiotics. We could really use some."
"Yes, we'll spare what we can. I've brought you the latest ravies vaccine too."
"New strain loose?"
"You'll have to ask the doctor. I believe it's just this year's booster," Sime said.
"We could really use a doctor at the post."
Sime pursed his lips, and Valentine knew the man well enough to know when his patience was wearing thin. "I thought you had support from Evansville."
"It's a small manufacturing city, and even that's not much good without raw materials. I don't want to strip the town of what little they have for their own people. And it helps to have a doctor who has to obey orders."
"Personnel isn't my specialty. Remember, I'm not here to support your guerrillas or legion etrangere or whatever you're running here."
"What are you going to tell the Assembly?" Valentine asked.
"What do you think I'll tell them?" Sime asked.
"A rousing speech promising the friendship of the Free Republics, as long as that friendship doesn't get measured in bootheels over the river," Valentine said.
Sime had a good poker face. No tells gave away whether he was angered or amused. "I may just surprise you. I hope you come and hear it."
"I'm afraid they won't let me in."
The lips tightened again. "The man handling security for the town? I'll see what I can do."
"Seems to me everything you've been involved in has been a disaster for Southern Command," Valentine said. Sime's smooth exterior made Valentine want to stick a pin in him just to see if he would pop. "Kansas, Javelin . . . what about the offensive in the Rio Grande Valley? Your handiwork too?"
"You earned your dislike, Valentine. Maybe one of these days you'll grow up and realize I'm in the same fight as you. I can't swing a blade and I shoot like a cross-eyed man and I'd be dead in a week if I had to eat preserved ration concentrate and WHAM! But I know people and I can read my audience."
"Bet that comes in handy when a Reaper tears the roof off your house."
"Maybe I'm better equipped for fighting the kind of battles the Kurians wage. They don't put-what's that phrase?-shit on target. They'd rather make their target give up and go home, or do a deal that swaps a few lives, a few towns, for a generation's security."
He stared at Valentine. Valentine recognized the challenge and tried to meet his eyes, held them for a long moment, and then found an old lighting fixture over Sime's shoulder suddenly of great interest.
Perhaps he had been unfair to Sime.
"Like you, I'm ready to make sacrifices for victory," Sime continued. "I was ready to give you up to get Kansas. And if I could trade your life for a different outcome in Kansas, I would, like a shot."
"The feeling's mutual."
"Would you, now, if it came to it?" Sime said. "If you could get the high country of Kansas back for us by just putting that pistol to my head and squeezing the trigger, would you?"
Valentine took his hand away from his belt and crossed his arms.
"It's never that easy," Valentine said.
"Your father would have."
"You knew him?"