The Complete Hammer's Slammers, Vol. 2 полностью

"Every five minutes," said Hawes, the fourth man in the bunker and by far the greenest. This was the first time Hawes had been under prolonged bombardment. The way he twitched every time a gun fired indicated how little he liked the experience. "I wish they'd—"

Lieutenant Lindgren's tank,Queen City,fired a five-round burst. Cyan light shuddered through the bunker's dog leg entrance.A pair of shells,probably fired from the Republican batteries on Hill 661 to the northeast, crumped well short of their target.

"Via, Lieutenant!"Des Grieux said in a desperate voice. He stared at his hands, because he was afraid of what he might blurt if he looked straight at the young officer."Look,I oughta be back onWarrior.Anything you gotta say, you can say over the commo, it's secure. And—"

He couldn't help it. His face came up. His voice grew as hard as his cold blue eyes, and he continued. "Besides, we're not here to talk. We oughta be kicking

ass. That's what we're here for."

"We're here—" Lindgren began.

"We're the Federals' artillery defense,Slick,"Broglie said,smiling at Des Grieux. Broglie didn't shout,but his voice flattened the lieutenant's words anyway."Andtheir backbone. We're doing our job, so no sweat, hey?"

"Our job . . ." said Des Grieux softly.Warriorfired three short bursts, blasting a salvo inbound from the Republicans on Hill 504. Des Grieux ignored the sound and its implications. " . . . is to fight. Not to hide in holes. Hey, Luke?"

Broglie was four centimeters shorter than Des Grieux and about that much broader across the shoulders. He wasn't afraid of Des Grieux . . . which interested Des Grieux because it was unusual, though it didn't bother him in the least.

Des Grieux wasn't afraid of anyone or anything.

"We're here to see that Hill 541 North holds out till the relieving force arrives," said Lindgren.

He'd taken Broglie's interruption as a chance to get his emotions under control. The lieutenant was almost as nervous as Hawes, but he was a Slammers officer and determined to act like one. "The AAD in the vehicles does that as well as we could sitting in the turrets, Slick," he continued, "and unit meetings are important to remind us that we're a platoon, not four separate tanks stuck off in West Bumfuck."