The Treasure of Lei Fong Wu

Chapter Twenty-Four

“I’ve just received a wave from Colonel Campbell,” General Lei said, smiling broadly through his beard as he came into the kitchen. “He’s perfectly on schedule to meet us. Very punctual. He’s led the Alliance on a wild chase through three systems, but lost them around Eden.” He sighed, a rare look of satisfaction on his face. “Brilliant man, Campbell. If we’d had a thousand of him in the war, I’d be . . . well, maybe not Emperor, but probably Imperial Regent somewhere. Is that coffee?”

“Just made it. About to go on watch. Quality never was a problem with us, either,” Zoe said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. “We won plenty o’ battles we were s’posed to lose, on account of a few brilliant folks. ‘Course, punctuality wasn’t our strong suit. Or discipline. Or most o’ the other stuff that makes a real military – but we had some great warriors.” She took a long sip. “Didn’t help much, I guess, when the enemy insists on having more. And better armed. And better led.”

“Ah, give yourselves some credit,” Lei said, pouring a cup for himself. “You should be proud. What the Independents did, that was magnificent. We had an existing military, at least, with a long tradition. We had munitions factories. We had shipyards. What General Orvis and his people put together . . . nothing short of miraculous. When he captured the Alliance spaceport on Persephone, that strike was nothing short of brilliant. And that was the first of many.”

“I appreciate you sayin’ that, General,” Zoe said, smiling a little. “Mal an’ I, we were part o’ several o’ those impossible missions. Kind of a shame, there not bein’ a chain-of-command to recognize what we did at the end. Closest we come to that was Colonel Brevard. He’s the one who ordered us to lay down arms. Met him in a prison camp on Hera, not long after Serenity. Said he couldn’t give us a medal, but he woulda recommended one for what we done there. He was able to give us ‘battlefield promotions’, th