"David Drake - Hammer's Slammers 01 - Hammer's Slammers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

No problem, though. The fellow's quirking grin
suggested that he was as glad of the company as
Tyi was.

It was real easy to embarrass yourself when you
didn't know the rulesтАФand when nobody wore
the rank tabs that helped you figure out what
those rules might be.

From within the shelter, the windows had an
extreme clarity that proved they were nothing as
simple as glass or thermoplastic. The shelter was
unfurnished, without even benches, but its con-
struction proved that Bamberia was a wealthy,
high technology world.

There was a chance for real profit on this one.
Colonel Hammer must have been delighted.

"Hammer's Regiment?" the waiting soldier asked,
spreading his grin into a look of welcome.

"Captain Tyi Koopman," Tyi agreed, shaking
the other man's hand. "I'd just gotten E Company
when I went on furlough. But I don't know what
may've happened since, you know, since we've
shifted contracts."

He'd just blurted the thing that'd been bother-
ing him ever since Command Central had sent the
new location for him to report off furlough. He'd
sweated blood to get that company commandтАФ
sweated blood and spilled it ... and the revised
transit orders made him fear that he'd have to
earn it all over again because he'd been gone on
furlough when the Colonel needed somebody in
the slot.

Tyi hadn't bothered to discuss it with the folks
who'd been his friends and relatives when he was
a civilian; they already looked at him funny from
the time one of them asked about the scrimshaw
he'd given her and he was drunk enough to tell
the real story of the house -to-house on Cachalot.
But this guy would understand, even though Tyi


didn't know him and didn't even recognize the
uniform.