Puller said, “He came back to confront Ballard and Jericho?” Coleman nodded.

“This super-soldier program was highly classified but not entirely a secret.

Your father was a one-star stationed at Fort Monroe where this program was

operational. Now, he was not the commandant of the fort, but that didn’t matter

to a man like Fighting John Puller. Wherever he was stationed was his turf and

he would defend it with his life if need be.” Puller said, “So he found out

about the program? Jericho told me that she knew my father. And they didn’t

exactly see eye to eye on things.” Coleman said, “Oh they knew each other all

right. And eye to eye? Let me put it a little more bluntly. Your father

personally thought her work was horseshit, using his term. He told me that war

needed to be fought by real men. Real men had to bleed and die. Only then would

we not want to fight wars. If we could create robots to do our fighting, he

thought, we’d be at war all the time.” “There’s a lot of wisdom in that

philosophy,” noted Robert. “Your father had seen more combat than just about

anyone I knew. He knew how terrible it was. He thought Jericho was a cancer that

the Army should just cut out of itself.” “But he didn’t win that battle?” said

Puller slowly.

 

Coleman shook his head. “Only battle I know the man to have lost. Ballard and

Jericho were too well entrenched. They had too many connections. They managed

huge budgets that got many an officer promoted up the ranks. It was wrong. It

was cronyism at its worst. And it still happened.” “And our father?” “He never

let it drop. Fought it for years.” He eyed them closely. “And it finally cost

him. It cost him dearly.” Robert got there faster than Puller. “It cost him his