Guns of the Temple (The Polaris Chronicles Book 1) Read Online Free

contaminate my dinner, I’d knock you on your ass, but you don’t have the sand to complete the job. Stop preening like an idiot and pay attention.”
    “All rise and salute, you dogs! There’s a flag officer present!” Lotte snapped, and kicked Draco in the shin.
    The newly-arrived woman exhaled in disappointment and stepped around him to put a booted foot up on a nearby bench. She lit a hand-rolled cigarette and focused a feline stare on her subordinates. Crow’s feet framed a pair of sun-flecked eyes that probed the innermost recesses of whoever she fixed her gaze on without regard for consent.
    Strange , Taki thought—when she had accosted him a few weeks ago those golden irises had seemed so enchanting. Now, the silver-haired woman was pushing him to the verge of nervous incontinence.
    “H. K. Mezeta: the Hundred Arms of the Mountain,” he murmured under his breath.
    Hecaton’s ears pricked up. “The ‘H’ is for annihilation.”
    “But that’s not the right spelling,” Hadassah said.
    “You’ve got a big mouth for someone who can barely read,” Hecaton said.
    The redhead fumed with anger and shame.
    “Major, do you have orders for us?” Lotte asked. It was the captain’s role to serve as a buffer between high command and the grunts. That job was doubly important when dealing with this particular major.
    Hecaton actually visited her squad in the kitchens on a regular basis, though it seemed that she only did so to gloat. However, she was also tasked with assigning them to missions. Battle orders were a rare and precious event that meant the chance to leave the Cloud Temple and potato duty, at least for a short while. They meant keeping Draco and all the others from suiciding, deserting, or going stir-crazy. War with the Imperium was the best thing to happen to Tirefire the Lesser in a long time.
    “Mmm, yep,” Hecaton said, and handed a calfskin envelope to Lotte. “Details in the folder. Bottom line is that you infants are on guard duty at the Vergina town armory, and I’m babysitting you. The bigwigs think the Imperium will try to take the stupid rock. Rumors are they’ll send their new crop of spetsnaz. What a stupid name. Anyway, your job is to spank them and drive them away. Like you would a cat pawing and purring at you in the morning because it’s being a little shit.”
    “Understood, Major. Thank you... And, speaking of cats, how is Babu doing?” After Hecaton’s third refusal to change the name of the squad, their mascot privilege had been revoked.
    “Don’t worry, I’m keeping that useless male fed, but he’s become annoying the way he carries on and humps everything with four legs. I know a woman who has a way of dealing with that. She ties a string really tight around the little sack and just leaves it there until everything dries up and falls off.”
    “How charming.” Lotte cast a sideways glance at Draco. “And, one more thing. Considering that my senior corporal just tried to off himself over potato duty, would you consider changing the unit name?”
    Hecaton exhaled in annoyance as she regarded the tub of peeled potatoes.
    “You lot are polaris of the Cloud Temple, are you not? You are inheritors of the power that destroyed the Golden Age of mankind. Each of you is worth an entire legion of the regular army. So I’m sure you can handle killing a few potatoes. Look, they don’t even shoot back!” She picked one up and crushed it. Starchy gore dribbled between her fingers and spattered on her boots and the floor. “Anyway, haven’t you ever considered this as a valuable training opportunity? You should thank me for my gift.”
    She was rewarded with stultified expressions as she departed the room. “You all need to take a good, long, hard look at yourselves in the mirror.” The door to the storeroom shut on her words.
    “A... gift. This is... a gift?” Draco whispered.
    Hadassah raised an eyebrow.
    “Should we, uh, report him to the surgeons or something?”