Sharlan summoned Smithen and sat down across from him early in the morning. 0

“Whew! I got a briefing from the unit commander last night, not a written report.”0

Sharlan glanced at the paper that he had scribbled on and looked up with a troubled expression. 0

“According to Chan’s report, the 11th unit killed more enemies than two Foreign Legion regiments and two special forces units combined. And that’s despite the fact that they kept one of the men out of combat.”0

Sharlan paused, his gaze sliding to Smithen’s shoulder. 0

“The act of stabbing you in the shoulder is punishable, but it’s hard to punish him. The DGSE has high hopes for him, and as you saw last night, all of the soldiers admire him greatly. We can’t ignore that.”0

Rustle. 0

Sharlan pushed the paper aside. 0

“If word gets out that you acted cowardly, it’ll get tough for you here, especially with Haller and Forman killed in action. Do you know what the first thing Kang Chan did after he lit his cigarette?”0

“I don’t sir.”0

“Ahem. Even though he was still covered in blood, he went to Haller and stayed by his side for half an hour. Thirty other men stood silently with him. If he tells anyone about your cowardice…” Sharlan trailed off and slid his right hand across...0