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He picked up the empty pistol magazine, examined it, and set it firmly between his legs, open end up.
The eight completed bullets felt good in his hand.
Of course, a piece of him would live on, barring complications with Malia's pregnancy. Valentine couldn't decide if this made ending it easier or harder.
"The Valentine family," he said, feeding the one with the omega on it against the spring. First in would be last out.
"Dorian Helm, Gil, Selby, Poulos, Gator. .. Caroline Smalls," he finished, as reverently as if he'd been saying the rosary, kneeling in his room next to Father Max. He put the magazine in the gun and worked the slide, chambering Caroline. He extracted the magazine again, and took the last bullet. There was space for it now.
"Gabriella Cho," he said. "Thought I'd forgotten you, didn't you?" He blinked the moisture out of his eyes. The magazine slid back into the gun and he checked the safety. Handling the automatic with a shell chambered could be dangerous. He set the weapon down, admiring its simple lines. Then he placed it back in his holster. The holster was an ugly thing: canvas-covered something that felt like plastic within, TMCC stenciled on the exterior.
Valentine put out the light. Time passed, then Ahn-Kha was at the door.
"My David. The men are waking up. The review is in two hours. It would be best if we ate now."
"Coming."
Valentine put on the pistol belt. Ahn-Kha's ears went up in surprise when Valentine opened the tent flap.
"You still haven't shaved, my David? It's not like you."
"You're right, old horse. Let's hit the sink before breakfast."
Post was up already, shaving in a basin. Valentine took one just like it, filled it at the spigot and went to one of the shards of some greater mirror that the men looked into when cleaning their teeth or shaving. Valentine soaked his head for a moment to clear the cobwebs, and then shaved his face and skull.
"My David, is all well?"
"Right as rain, my friend."
"You've nothing to regret," Ahn-Kha said. "What happened was out of your control. Narcisse has spoken to the Smalls. They understood."
Post watched them for a moment before abandoning the officers' washroom. Valentine was glad of it; he was in no mood for his pity.
Ahn-Kha checked to see the room was empty before continuing. "You haven't been sleeping well. You're hardly eating."
"We have a review this morning. Let's look the part, old horse. Put a tent or something around you. I don't want to present one of my best men in just a loincloth."
"Tell me what holds your mind in such a grip."
"Hell, Ahn-Kha, things are looking up. The men are-armed. Clean clothes, good food, they're getting healthier every day. All courtesy of Consul Solon. There's talk that in a few weeks we'll be transferred across the river. Once we're in the front lines ..." He left the rest unvoiced.
"You have another agenda."
"Nothing for you to worry about."
* * * *
He brought Styachowski her breakfast as the men turned out, sergeants checking the polish on their weapons and the state of their shoes. She'd been making herself useful in her tent with paperwork, since she could not move without aid of her crutch for weeks yet. Her cast was one blue-black smear of signatures and well wishes.
"Think you can hobble out for the review?" Valentine asked.
"I suppose."
"I want to introduce you as my second in command."
She frowned. "I've never been a line officer. The only command action I've ever seen was on the big bugout."
"Technically, you outrank Post and you're known better around here. You're familiar with the Ozarks. He isn't."
