SpecOps (Expeditionary Force Book 2) Read Online Free

missed the shower controls several times, and I cursed
out loud.
    "Something wrong, Colonel Joe?" Skippy's
voice had an undertone of genuine concern. "You seem especially clumsy
this morning."
    "Especially? Thanks a lot, Skippy."
    "I meant no offense, Joe. A clumsy monkey is a
dead monkey; when you're swinging from trees in the jungle, the clumsy monkey
falls and gets eaten by a leopard."
    "Ha!" I had to laugh at that. "Not many
leopards in this part of the galaxy, Skippy. My arms are tired, that's all, I
did a tough workout."
    "I know; I was watching you. Don't you think
you're overdoing it a bit, Joe?"
    "Hell no. Those SpecOps guys, and the women,
hell, especially the women, are super high speed, Skippy. Damn it, I'm in good
shape, and I'm younger than most of them, and they're kicking my ass already.
I'd like to train with them, but the first time one of them throws me to the
mat without breaking a sweat, I think I'd totally lose their respect."
    "Wow. You truly are a dumb monkey. How can anyone
be so clueless? Joe, those SpecOps people are completely intimidated by you,
they have a huge chip on their shoulders about you. And about the other members
of the original Merry Band of Pirates."
    "What?" I sputtered under the cascading
water. "Give me a minute to rinse off." With a still shaky hand, I
pressed the button to shut off the water, and backed out to stand up carefully to
reach for a towel. "How do you figure that? Those people have gone through
the toughest military training there is, they're the best, they're all
completely, super confident."
    "Super confident about most things, probably,
yes. About you, no. Think about it from their point of view, Joe. When UNEF
went offworld, they stayed behind. For one reason or another, they were left
behind, they missed out on all the action. Right there, they all think they
have something to prove, to you, Chang and the others."
    "Huh. I guess you're right, Skippy, I hadn't
thought of that."
    "That's just the beginning. You not only went
offworld, you captured two alien starships, brought back priceless intel, and
rescued your entire species from the Kristang. Joe, these SpecOps people are
completely in awe of you, you and all the original crew. Yes, they have passed
an extremely rigorous selection process that requires incredible physical and
mental toughness. However, what have they actually accomplished? What are the
odds, that, during their entire military careers, they will accomplish anything
anywhere close to what you did? The answer is about zero, Joe. And they all
know it. Joe, they all think you look down on them ."
    "Crap." He was right, I had been utterly
clueless. I'd been thinking only of myself, and not considering how the new
crew might think of their situation. Back when I was in the US Army 10th
'Mountain' Infantry Division, and our battalion first went into Nigeria to
boost the 'peacekeeping' efforts in that region, I had been in awe of the guys
in the battalion that was rotating out. They had been there, they had lived it,
they knew the territory, they had been in combat. They'd done it for real, I'd
only been briefed on it. You could see it in their eyes, too, they knew that
many of the guys in our battalion, including me, were green and had never
carried a rifle in a hostile area. It made a difference. And when it was our
battalion's turn to pull out and go home, we'd changed, all of us. We'd been
there. We knew.
    The SpecOps people now aboard the Flying Dutchman had not been there, had not been offworld, had likely never seen an alien in
person. They'd been put through hell on Earth by the Kristang, I'd been spared
that experience, still, I had served in UNEF on Paradise, and they hadn't. Many
special forces units had not made the trip to Paradise, the Kristang hadn't
especially wanted them, and governments on Earth may have been hedging their bets,
keeping most of their elite combat power close to home. At some point, if the Dutchman hadn't appeared in the