"Laumer, Keith - Bolo Shorts 01 - Honor of the Regiment" - читать интересную книгу автора (Laumer Keith)

BOLOS: HONOR OF THE REGIMENT

CREATED BY KEITH LAUMER

EDITED BY BILL FAWCETT

Copyright (c) 1993


LOST LEGION

S.M. Stirling

"Shit," Captain McNaught said.

The map room of Firebase Villa had been dug into the soft friable rock
with explosives, then topped with sheet steel and sandbags. It smelled of
sweat and bad coffee and electronic components, and the sandbags in the
dog-leg entrance were still ripped where a satchel charge-a stick grenade
in a three-pound ball of plastique-had been thrown during the attack six
months ago.

"Captain?" the communications specialist said.

"Joy, wonder, unconfined happiness, shit," the officer snarled, reading
the printout again. "Martins, get in here!"

Lieutenant Martins ducked through the entrance of the bunker and flipped
up the faceplate of her helmet. The electronics in the crystal sandwich
would have made the bunker as bright as the tropical day outside, but also
would have turned her face to a nonreflective curve. Human communication
depends on more than words alone to carry information, as anyone who meets
face-to-face for the first time after telephone conversations learns.

"News?" she said.

"Look." He handed over the paper.

"Aw, shit."

"My commandante, is this the right time for the raid?"

Miguel Chavez turned and fired a long burst. The muzzle blast of the AK-74
was deafening in the confined space of the cave. The other guerilla's body
pitched backwards and slammed into the coarse limestone wall, blood
trailing down past fossilized seashells a hundred and twenty million years
old. Pink intestine bulged through the torn fatigues, and the fecal odor
was overwhelming.

None of the other guerilla commanders moved, but sweat glistened on their