"Stephen Goldin - The Eternity Brigade" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goldin Stephen)

and brushed Hawker aside to deal with the next man in line.

The uniform was a chocolate brown, one-piece jumpsuit with a
pressure seam up the front and a red armband on the left sleeve. Hawker
struggled into it, hopping first on one leg and then the other while being
jostled by the other soldiers around him, all struggling to get into their
own uniforms. He found that the jumpsuit was at least a size and a half
too large, and almost found himself wishing this were a world with a
hostile environment; at least the army took slightly better care to see that
battle armor fit the wearer.

The only place where the size of this uniform was crucial was in the
gloves; he'd be handling weapons, and he didn't want the excess material
getting in his way. He pulled the gloves down as tightly as he could,
making a slight tuck at the wrists to hold the fabric in place. The
fingertips were still too long, but there was little he could do about that
right now. Maybe if he was issued a knife he could cut the tips off
altogether.

He fastened the mess kit to his waist and hurried after the woman he'd
spoken to. He found himself standing in another lineтАФthis time for
weapons disbursement. Two other soldiers had gotten into line between
her and him, though, and he had no languages in common with either of
them, so he could only stand impatiently and wait for his turn at the head
of the line.

When he finally reached the front, the clerk asked him a question.
Hawker shook his head to indicate he couldn't understand. Nodding, the
clerk half turned and gestured at the rack of weaponry behind him.
Obviously Hawker was being given a choice of what he wanted.

Unfortunately, Hawker didn't know the precise conditions under which
he would be working. He didn't know how close he'd be to the enemy, nor
what their arms or defenses would be like. He'd have to choose
general-purpose weapons, ones with the broadest possible application,
and hope to use them to his advantage. His choice was limited, too, in that
there wasn't much selection. His side, the forces defending this town, were
obviously pressed to the wall, and were trying to hang on with the
scantiest of resources.

Of those weapons with which he was familiar, he chose four grenades,
an energy rifle, a wide-dispersion laser pistol and a pair of throwing
knives. He would be prepared to fight anything coming within a hundred
meters of him; beyond that range, it was someone else's concern.

Dressed and armed, now, he looked around to see what came next.
People were organizing themselves into squads of ten. Hawker looked
about and found the alienтАФa Spardian, he suddenly recalledтАФwho had
talked to him in Vandik. Her group was not yet complete, so he went over
to join her. If worst came to worst, he'd at least have one member of his