Honorverse favorite passages

...Returned to fleet duty in 1700 PD and promoted to Rear Admiral of the Red in 1705, D’Orville was dispatched with a small but powerful squadron to the Ingeborg System in 1710, in response to a request from the Terre Haute System government. Terre Haute had received reports that the current Ingeborg regime was developing weaponized nanotech which it intended to employ against Terre Haute.

D’Orville proceeded to Ingeborg, where the authorities initially denied any interest in nanotech research. D’Orville declined to believe them and pressed politely, but very firmly, for a face-to-face meeting with Ingeborg System President for Life Adrian Lipsky. After repeated attempts to delay, Lipsky agreed to meet with her aboard Ingeborg Alpha, the largest of the star system’s three artificial habitats.

Unknown to D’Orville, the laboratory in which the weapon was being developed had lost containment, and the weapon had already contaminated and virtually depopulated the orbital habitat which had contained it, killing over 350,000 people. President for Life Lipsky, who had no intention of admitting that fact to D’Orville (primarily for fear the Solarian League might construe the development of an obviously genocidal weapon as a violation of the Eridani Edict), hoped to meet with D’Orville, convince her that Terre Haute’s fears had been misplaced, send her on her way, and then arrange a plausible “accident” to destroy the contaminated habitat and any evidence of his government’s actions.

Unfortunately for Lipsky, Ingeborg Alpha had also been contaminated, although that fact became evident only after D’Orville and her security detachment had boarded the habitat to meet with the system president. Lipsky immediately attempted to flee the habitat, but was prevented by D’Orville, who took command of the frantic effort to rescue as many of Ingeborg Alpha’s two million plus inhabitants as possible. Although urged by her flag captain to evacuate herself, she remained personally on-station, using her own fleet personnel, small craft, and every available civilian Ingeborgian vessel to evacuate personnel from the path of the nano weapon while simultaneously coordinating the effort to contain and confine the contagion.

Approximately two thirds of Ingeborg Alpha’s personnel had been removed from the habitat when the nanotech breached the final firewall and containment failed. D’Orville’s final message to her flag captain was to destroy the entire habitat with a saturation nuclear strike to ensure the total destruction of the nano weapon. For her rescue of 1.4 million Ingeborgian civilians at the cost of her own life, Ellen D’Orville became the second recipient of the Parliamentary Medal of Valor.

Hutch wrote:OK, one more this week, and a little off-beat, since I do not know if it from the MWW or Bureau 6. I'll let you decide.

From House of Steel, the story behind the Second winner of the Medal of Valor (Edward Saganami was the first) and if RFC ever wants to write this short story....

...Returned to fleet duty in 1700 PD and promoted to Rear Admiral of the Red in 1705, D’Orville was dispatched with a small but powerful squadron to the Ingeborg System in 1710, in response to a request from the Terre Haute System government. Terre Haute had received reports that the current Ingeborg regime was developing weaponized nanotech which it intended to employ against Terre Haute.

D’Orville proceeded to Ingeborg, where the authorities initially denied any interest in nanotech research. D’Orville declined to believe them and pressed politely, but very firmly, for a face-to-face meeting with Ingeborg System President for Life Adrian Lipsky. After repeated attempts to delay, Lipsky agreed to meet with her aboard Ingeborg Alpha, the largest of the star system’s three artificial habitats.

Unknown to D’Orville, the laboratory in which the weapon was being developed had lost containment, and the weapon had already contaminated and virtually depopulated the orbital habitat which had contained it, killing over 350,000 people. President for Life Lipsky, who had no intention of admitting that fact to D’Orville (primarily for fear the Solarian League might construe the development of an obviously genocidal weapon as a violation of the Eridani Edict), hoped to meet with D’Orville, convince her that Terre Haute’s fears had been misplaced, send her on her way, and then arrange a plausible “accident” to destroy the contaminated habitat and any evidence of his government’s actions.

Unfortunately for Lipsky, Ingeborg Alpha had also been contaminated, although that fact became evident only after D’Orville and her security detachment had boarded the habitat to meet with the system president. Lipsky immediately attempted to flee the habitat, but was prevented by D’Orville, who took command of the frantic effort to rescue as many of Ingeborg Alpha’s two million plus inhabitants as possible. Although urged by her flag captain to evacuate herself, she remained personally on-station, using her own fleet personnel, small craft, and every available civilian Ingeborgian vessel to evacuate personnel from the path of the nano weapon while simultaneously coordinating the effort to contain and confine the contagion.

Approximately two thirds of Ingeborg Alpha’s personnel had been removed from the habitat when the nanotech breached the final firewall and containment failed. D’Orville’s final message to her flag captain was to destroy the entire habitat with a saturation nuclear strike to ensure the total destruction of the nano weapon. For her rescue of 1.4 million Ingeborgian civilians at the cost of her own life, Ellen D’Orville became the second recipient of the Parliamentary Medal of Valor.

roseandheather wrote:I would give my eyeteeth for a novel (or even a short story!) about Ellen D'Orville.

Which should give you all a fairly sizable hint as to what I'd trade for a series all about Grayson...

...never mind Haven.

Hutch wrote:OK, one more this week, and a little off-beat, since I do not know if it from the MWW or Bureau 6. I'll let you decide.

From House of Steel, the story behind the Second winner of the Medal of Valor (Edward Saganami was the first) and if RFC ever wants to write this short story....

...Returned to fleet duty in 1700 PD and promoted to Rear Admiral of the Red in 1705, D’Orville was dispatched with a small but powerful squadron to the Ingeborg System in 1710, in response to a request from the Terre Haute System government. Terre Haute had received reports that the current Ingeborg regime was developing weaponized nanotech which it intended to employ against Terre Haute.

D’Orville proceeded to Ingeborg, where the authorities initially denied any interest in nanotech research. D’Orville declined to believe them and pressed politely, but very firmly, for a face-to-face meeting with Ingeborg System President for Life Adrian Lipsky. After repeated attempts to delay, Lipsky agreed to meet with her aboard Ingeborg Alpha, the largest of the star system’s three artificial habitats.

Unknown to D’Orville, the laboratory in which the weapon was being developed had lost containment, and the weapon had already contaminated and virtually depopulated the orbital habitat which had contained it, killing over 350,000 people. President for Life Lipsky, who had no intention of admitting that fact to D’Orville (primarily for fear the Solarian League might construe the development of an obviously genocidal weapon as a violation of the Eridani Edict), hoped to meet with D’Orville, convince her that Terre Haute’s fears had been misplaced, send her on her way, and then arrange a plausible “accident” to destroy the contaminated habitat and any evidence of his government’s actions.

Unfortunately for Lipsky, Ingeborg Alpha had also been contaminated, although that fact became evident only after D’Orville and her security detachment had boarded the habitat to meet with the system president. Lipsky immediately attempted to flee the habitat, but was prevented by D’Orville, who took command of the frantic effort to rescue as many of Ingeborg Alpha’s two million plus inhabitants as possible. Although urged by her flag captain to evacuate herself, she remained personally on-station, using her own fleet personnel, small craft, and every available civilian Ingeborgian vessel to evacuate personnel from the path of the nano weapon while simultaneously coordinating the effort to contain and confine the contagion.

Approximately two thirds of Ingeborg Alpha’s personnel had been removed from the habitat when the nanotech breached the final firewall and containment failed. D’Orville’s final message to her flag captain was to destroy the entire habitat with a saturation nuclear strike to ensure the total destruction of the nano weapon. For her rescue of 1.4 million Ingeborgian civilians at the cost of her own life, Ellen D’Orville became the second recipient of the Parliamentary Medal of Valor.

roseandheather wrote:I would give my eyeteeth for a novel (or even a short story!) about Ellen D'Orville.

Which should give you all a fairly sizable hint as to what I'd trade for a series all about Grayson...

...never mind Haven.

“He's not even an 'agent' at all, Sir," Thandi half-protested. "Nowadays he's supposed to be a cop."
Captain and lieutenant commander, simultaneously, bestowed a certain look upon the most junior lieutenant on Rozsak's staff.
"Okay, you don't have to rub it in," she grumbled. "Sir and Sir. I was born yesterday, almost.”

Crown of Slaves wrote:"...She even managed—barely—to stay on her feet when, at one point, she stumbled out of one of her high-heeled sandals. But only by kicking off the other, forcing Victor to delay a moment while he scooped up the abandoned footwear.

That moment's delay prevented him from stopping Ginny before she could commit her Major Diplomatic Incident of the Minor Variety.
...
Ginny staggered up to the table, bumped against it, braced herself on spread hands, and bestowed a green-faced smile on the six diplomats assembled at the table.

They all stared back at her, frowning slightly as diplomats will do when in the presence of gaucherie.

"Don't believe 've been introduced," Ginny blurted out. Words were at a premium now, running out like water on a beach before

the tidal wave hits. "You people really make me sick."

The tsunami arrived, then, washing across five of the six before it was done. Some portion of Victor's brain decided he was witnessing a miracle. Two miracles, in fact—first, that any of the six diplomats had emerged unscathed, given the volume of the torrent and its volcanic energy; second, that a woman as small as Ginny could produce such a volume in the first place."

SharkHunter wrote:Target selection a la Ginny Usher...

--snippping--

Crown of Slaves wrote:"...She even managed—barely—to stay on her feet when, at one point, she stumbled out of one of her high-heeled sandals. But only by kicking off the other, forcing Victor to delay a moment while he scooped up the abandoned footwear.

That moment's delay prevented him from stopping Ginny before she could commit her Major Diplomatic Incident of the Minor Variety.
...
Ginny staggered up to the table, bumped against it, braced herself on spread hands, and bestowed a green-faced smile on the six diplomats assembled at the table.

They all stared back at her, frowning slightly as diplomats will do when in the presence of gaucherie.

"Don't believe 've been introduced," Ginny blurted out. Words were at a premium now, running out like water on a beach before

the tidal wave hits. "You people really make me sick."

The tsunami arrived, then, washing across five of the six before it was done. Some portion of Victor's brain decided he was witnessing a miracle. Two miracles, in fact—first, that any of the six diplomats had emerged unscathed, given the volume of the torrent and its volcanic energy; second, that a woman as small as Ginny could produce such a volume in the first place."

Showing a surprisingly limited lexicon for people whom a literary critic might call expansively ironic, Captain Tsang used the same words when Anderson and her two people suddenly drew their side-arms. Simultaneously, the tri-barrel mounted on a bulkhead in the cargo bay swiveled to bring its deadly muzzles to bear on the Ramathibodi’s contingent. And—a final insult—the three pleasure units drew tiny pistols from who-knows-where on their scantily-clad persons.

“What the fuck?”

“Hey, look, I just thought she was cute,” Sergeant Supakrit X later explained to the battalion commander. “There she was, surrounded by apes armed to the teeth and armored to boot, but she still insisted on getting a weapon herself. If you can call a glorified toothpick a weapon.”

“Cute,” said Kabweza, looking disgusted.

Supakrit X made a face. “Look, Chief, I’m sorry. I misjudged.”

“Cute,” Kabweza repeated. “Glorified toothpick.”

<snip>

Still, they were pretty helpless. Takahashi obviously thought so. No sooner had the four slavers assumed the position than the freed slave screeched pure fury, raced forward and stabbed one of them in the kidney with her little paring knife.

The wound was not fatal. Given modern medicine, it wasn’t even very serious. But the shock and pain was enough to cause the slaver to jerk back, whereupon he tripped over Takahashi and the two of them went down—the large slaver on top of the small slave.

Ironically, he’d have done better if their positions had been reversed. If Ayako had been on top, she would have stabbed him with full force; very dramatically, her hand rising above her head before she drove down the blade. She would have cut him up quite nicely, but the assault troops would probably have hauled her off before she could have done any lethal damage.

As it was, with her underneath, Kabweza and her people couldn’t get to her. And since she was now driven by necessity she eschewed any dramatic stabbing and just pushed the blade as far as she could into the closest target, which happened to be the man’s left eyeball.

Nine centimeters is not very long—but the skull of a human male isn’t much more than twenty centimeters across in the long axis from front to back. Driven by the sort of rage possessed by Takahashi Ayako, the blade went almost halfway into the slaver’s brain. And then, shrieking and cursing, she twisted and drove the blade back and forth and up and down.

It took the Torch soldiers no more than four or five seconds to get the slaver rolled over and haul Takahashi off him, but by then she’d pretty well transformed a third of his frontal lobes into hash. The autopsy ’bot later reported that she’d carved up part of the limbic system as well.

Modern medicine is not actually miraculous, although the term is often used. For all practical purposes, the man was gone before any aid could be given him.

Or as now-corporal Supakrit X put it with great satisfaction over the troops’ evening meal, “I’m telling you, that fucker was dead-dead-dead."

He wasn’t especially upset by his lowly new rank. For one thing, he knew his demotion had been mostly done as a matter of principle, rather than because Kabweza was really mad at him. He figured he’d get his rank back soon enough. Besides, the way he looked at it, he’d been busted in a good cause. It wasn’t like getting demoted for being drunk and disorderly.

“And I still say she’s cute,” he added. “Although you’d really want to be on your best behavior on a date.”

“I have met the woman. I was just being formal. Seeing as how this is supposed to be an employment interview.” Ruth looked simultaneously cross and a bit embarrassed. “Of sorts,” she added.“

“’Employment interview’!” Artlett said mockingly. “Oh, yeah. I can see it in the want ads now.” He mimicked holding up a reading tablet. “’Wanted. Damn fool mechanic for desperado duties aiding and abetting Audubon Ballroom sociopaths—”

He glanced at the huge figure of Hugh Arai, who was lounging in a nearby armchair in the princess’ suite. (Ruth called it a working office, but that was the obliviousness to luxury of someone born and raised in Mount Royal Palace in Manticore’s capital city of Landing. It was a no-fooling suite, on the top floor of the finest hotel in Beacon.)

Ruth had her own opinion—well-formed; cured; tempered; hardened; sharp on all edges and corners—as to which of the two human genders was actually prone to flightiness, inconstancy and indecision. Shakespeare’s greatest play wasn’t about a princess of Denmark, now was it?