Chapter 53 – Aftermath
“Well,” General Vernon Gardener said two weeks later, “this is perhaps the worst success story I've ever heard.” He tossed the report back on his desk with a disgusted look. “A rescue mission that leaves the rescued man without any hands and may very well end up plunging us all back into war.”
Jerry was back on Homestead, in the Rifle Intelligence building for debriefing. He and Brandon sat in Colonel Glover's old office. Gardener wasn't actually with RI. Not yet, anyway; there were rumors that might change. For the time being, Ealdorman Brewer had wanted an outsider to clean up the mess, and the general was the one he chose to do it.
Gardener was stocky, but not fat. He was solid muscle, and his squarish head and prominent jaw advertised a man who could hold his
