"Williamson, Michael Z - Freehold 03 - Better to Beg Forgiveness" - читать интересную книгу автора (Michael Z. Williamson - Freehold (BAEN) (v5) [htm jpg])

No one commented. It was a place. That was all that could be said.

"So who's our escort? Paras?" Bart asked.

"Just an infantry convoy," Alex said.

"Great. A moving wall of raw meat to soak up fire. I hope they're large as well as stupid." He said it
mostly to twit Anderson, and it worked. Bart could see his teeth grind. That made them even for the navy
jokes the boy had been telling. "Sheep would be obvious" indeed. Humor was only funny when you
intended it to be.

They sat on their crates. They had their personal gear and water, with a few rations in case of long delay.
Ideally, they would have armed up at once. Unfortunately, a combination of factors prevented that.

First, the crates were heavily sealed and would require equipment to open. That was to prevent theft of
their very high-value items by assorted elements. BuState was also worried about "weapons in civilian
hands," which was very annoying. The team would not be the agents of that distribution. Still, until they
were on-site, they were "civilians" and couldn't touch their own gear. Always politics, always in the way


of getting the job done.

of getting the job done.

"It would," Vaughn replied with a nod, "but there aren't proper facilities. They never had a pad at the
palace, and the only aircraft here so far are the Army's. They're trying to avoid this whole 'BuState mess,'
as they call it."

"Well, their priority is fighting the war," Anderson said. "You can't blame them for that." He was picking
at loose pieces of plastic on the crates.

"I am not blaming them," Bart said. "I would do the same. But it would be nice."

"Give it a month," Vaughn said confidently. "It'll change."

"Must be our convoy," Sykora said, pointing across the high, dusty apron to an approaching line of
vehicles, most of them military.
* * *

"Probably," Jason agreed. He hadn't done this for long, but he had been in the military for years, and his
assessment of the convoy wasn't a pleasant one. Mostly wheeled vehicles, almost no tracks, thin-skinned
and fine against small arms but no good against any kind of support weapon. Inadequate crew-served
weapons aboard. Likely great air support nearby, but that took seconds in which troops could die. The
UN didn't want to appear like an occupying force, so they were using the minimum amount of armed and
armored military gear. Yet another way to sacrifice troops for appearance. He was again thankful he'd
accepted retirement.

He couldn't wait to get to somewhere where he'd have Ripple Creek's own drivers and support. What a
sad statement that he trusted them better than the troops.