"Peter W. Prellwitz - Book 02 - Shards" - читать интересную книгу автора (Prellwitz Peter W)

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"Mike? Shut up."

I must have drifted off again, because suddenly I heard Thawell's gravelly voice chewing rocks right
next to my left ear.

"Where ARE you, Wyeth? We're waiting! It's 0445 and I'm sending Hernandez up to your quarters now
with the override codes. You better be decent!"

He no sooner finished speaking than there was a pounding on the door and I heard it open. I leapt out of
bed, grabbing a pillow to cover my front. I did wear clothes to bed, sort of. They were cloth, and they
hung on me after a fashion. But strong argument could be made about their purpose, or lack of.

"You just stay out there, Drew! I'll be ready in-"

"HA! Gotcha!тАЭ Mike laughed triumphantly. тАЬNow get moving! It's 0335. Oh, by the way: Good
Morning, Abigail!тАЭ He laughed again and shut off.

"Abby? Are you up?тАЭ Susie was propped up on her elbows in the half light, looking toward me. Because
of my skills in the puterverse and our close friendship, Susie and I had been roommates for two years
now.

"Yeah, I'm up. Sorry about the noise."

"You stayed up too late again, didn't you?тАЭ She yawned. тАЬYou've got to cut down your time in the
puterverse when you pull early duty. Sooner or later, Mike will run out of ideas, and you'll oversleep.
Again."

I harumphed and pulled out clean clothes. Snatching up my sidearm and holster, I headed down to the
showers, thinking back to the first-and only-time I'd been late to duty. Thawell gave me such a splendid
five-minute cussing out on the uselessness of a soldier who reported late that I couldn't help but admire
him. The man had a true gift. He never once repeated himself. I should have taken notes, he was that
good. After I finished an additional ten-hour shift cleaning the hanger, I had to look up at least a half-
dozen of his words. Three weren't even listed. One was illegal.

I made it to the hov carrier with plenty of time. I'd met up with Sarah, Kate and Lena in the showers as
usual, so we were in a group when we showed up at the armory to get issue. Dusty passed out short-
range laser rifles to each of them and a nullifier and quiver of holoknives to Sarah. Since this was a
combination rescue and quick strike raid, Sarah had left her heavier armor stowed away, and had on only
four layers of micro armor. I didn't get any extra ordinance. My skills lay elsewhere on this trip.

Thawell was waiting for us at the hover carrier and nodded as we entered. We went in and settled in for
departure. They took seats along the starboard side; mine was the one at the terminal, port side, just

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behind the cockpit.