"Simon Hawke - Time Wars 01 - The Ivanhoe Gambit" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

four week long forced march to prime you for facing Hannibal and his damn elephants. If it wasn't for the
historical preservation regs, I'd have murdered that bastard, Scipio."
"That rough, huh?"
"Don't ask."
"I don't have to. You look all done in." He glanced at Priest's insignia. "I see you made sergeant
major."
"And you've been bumped a grade or two as well. How long has it been?"
"It's been a while," said Bobby, grinning. "I haven't seen you since this morning."
They sat down to compare notes. The last time they saw each other, it had been at 0900 September
17, 2613. But that was Plus Time. Since then, Lucas had sailed with Lord Nelson, fought under General
Pershing, picked up a saber scar in the Crimea and helped to kill Custer at the Little Big Horn. Now he
had just clocked in from fighting in the Punic Wars and it was 1435 September 17, 2613. Lucas Priest
had aged ten years. He and Johnson had been the same age five Plus Time hours ago, but now Lucas
looked older. He had put in much more Minus Time. Lucas had about three days of Plus Time left to
serve and Bobby had four days to go.
"It's great to see you again, Lucas," Bobby said. "I wish to hell we had time for a drink, but my
code's on stand-by."
"I know," said Lucas, lifting his tags out and twirling them between two fingers. Bobby made a grab
for them.
"Green 44! We've got the same departure code!"
Lucas smiled. "Well, fancy that."
"You knew!"
"Of course I knew," said Lucas. "I checked the data on you as soon as I clocked in. I told you I'd be
doing it, didn't you believe me?"
"Yeah, well, everybody says that, you know? But it gets depressing, seeing all the KIAs and
MIAs...."
"I know," said Lucas softly. "My list of friends keeps getting shorter."
There was an awkward pause. Bobby finally broke the silence, anxiously trying to change the
subject.
"How in hell did you come up with Green 44? You had a code choice? You look okay, butтАФ"
"I never exercised my option after I got wounded in the Crimea," Lucas said. "I decided to hold off
until the time was right."
"But why did you go for a code choice instead of bonus Plus Time?"
"If you had a choice between a lousy hour of bonus time and friendship time, what would you
choose?" Lucas said.
"Well, since you put it that way, I guess I'd opt for spending a hitch together with a friend. But I'd still
cry about the bonus."
"So you pick up another wound."
"Thanks, but if I can, I'll pass. I've been lucky so far, knock on wood." He glanced around. "You see
any wood anywhere?"
Lucas grinned. "Tap on some plastic and cross your fingers."
He turned to see his squire pulling up on a dolly with his gear all packed. He had left word where he
could be found so that he wouldn't have to wait around to meet whomever it would turn out to be. It was
one of the few advantages of being a non-com. You could get an enlisted man to draw your supplies. In
this case, the enlisted man was part of the supplies, since he would be going along as Priest's orderly.
Lucas Priest's squire was a whipcord thin young corporal named Hooker. It came as a surprise to
him that he was not expected to call Lucas "sir" or "Mr. Priest." Where they were going, the term was
probably going to be "milord," but Lucas tried to avoid military protocol as much as possible. He passed
Hooker a cup of coffee. The corporal cracked the seal on it and the cup began to steam. They woke up
Finn Delaney. It took some doing. Delaney was a surly lifer who was built like a gorilla. He immediately