"You're a bloody liar." Cooter looked at Suilin, balanced on the edge of the armor, for the first time. "Good. Gimme a hand with McGwire. We'll sling her to the skirts and get a little more space for Chalkin."
Suilin nodded. He didn't trust himself to speak.
"Here, take the top," Cooter said. He reached beneath McGwire's shoulders and lifted the corpse with surprising gentleness.
McGwire had been a small woman with sharp features and a fine shimmer of blonde hair. Her head was bare. A bullet had entered beneath her right mastoid at an upward slant that lifted the commo helmet when it exited with a splash of brains.
McGwire's flesh was still warm. Suilin kept his face rigid as his hands took the weight from Cooter.
"Titelbaum," the lieutenant said, "where's your—oh."
The wounded crewman was already offering a flat dispenser of cargo tape. Cooter thrust it into a pocket and grasped the corpse by the boots.
"Okay, turtle," he said as he raised his leg over the side coaming—careful not to step on the comatose soldier on the floor of the compartment. "Easy now. We'll fasten her to the tarp tie-downs."
Cooter paused for a moment on the edge, using a tribarrel to support his elbow. Then he swung his other leg clear and slid from the bulge of the skirts to the ground without jerking or dropping his burden.
Suilin managed to get down with his end also.It was a difficult job,even though he had proper steps for his feet.
Gear—stakes, wire mesh, bedding, and the Lord knew what all else—was fastened along the sides of all the combat cars. Cooter spun a few centimeters of tape into a loop and reached behind a footlocker to hook the loop to the hull. He took two turns around McGwire's ankles before snugging them tight to the same tie-down.
A trooper carrying a submachine-gun and a bandolier of ammunition jogged up to
"Yeah,try 'n keep Titelbaum trackin', will you?"the lieutenant said."He's takin' it pretty hard, you know?"
"Aw, cop," the newcomer muttered, looking past Suilin. "Nandi bought it? Aw, cop."
"Foran's not in great shape neither, but he'll be okay," Cooter said.
The lieutenant's big, capable fingers wrapped tape quickly around McGwire's shoulders.
The corpse leaked on Suilin's hands and wrist. The reporter's face didn't move except for a slight flaring of his nostrils.
