"Hey, Herzer," the sergeant replied, grinning. "Coming up in the world."
"Edmund had to decide whether to charge me or promote me," Herzer said with a
shrug.
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"Well, there's always killing you," Graf noted.
"He keeps trying and trying," Herzer snorted. "Like now. I'm soliciting
volunteers, by the way."
"Not on your life," Graf replied. "I wanna live to spend my pay. Vaston will
show you to your quarters," he added, gesturing at one of the guards on the
inside of the gate. "After that, you'll need to go by camp security and get
your badges."
"Badges?" Megan said.
"We don't wear them on the gate," the sergeant said, reaching into his armor
and pulling out a badge on a lanyard. It was blue paper encased in plastic and
had a rather bad picture of the sergeant on it along with his name and ID
number, but not rank. "But you have to have them to move around the camp and
to get back in if you go out. Both entrance and exit are restricted. You,
ma'am, obviously have free run, although you'll be required to show your badge
in various areas. But your aides will require specific, written, permission,
to leave the camp or return."
"I see," Megan replied, musingly.
"What's with the lake, private?" Herzer asked as they proceeded through the
camp.
"Sir, we're pretty careful about what questions we ask," the private replied,
tightly. "The short answer is: I don't know. And I don't want to know, sir, if
you get my drift."
"Got it," Herzer said. "Good answer."
They seemed to be the only people stirring in the base and Herzer realized
that with the exception of themselves, the guards and whatever support
personnel had been scraped together, the campwas empty. He'd never looked at
the total of the slain but the scorpions must have killed over a hundred
highly trained personnel in their attack.
The quarters, when they reached them, were in a two-story wooden building
that showed all the signs of hasty construction. The room Megan was shown to
was probably one of the best on the base and it was furnished with a small
couch, a single bed, a footlocker and a small kitchen area, all in one room.
It had its own bathroom, consisting of a porcelain sink, a commode and a
shower.
"Sorry, honey," Herzer said, looking around the room and shrugging.
"Well, they haven't been wasting funds on accommodations," Megan said,
shaking her head. "It'll do. I have to wonder what the guard barracks are
like."
"Bays, ma'am," Vaston replied. "Thirty to a bay. And there were only half the
guards that we've got here, before, so we're hot-bunking about sixty to a bay.
Most of us sleep outside anyway; it's bloody hot in the barracks."
"Sorry I asked," Megan said, shaking her head. "And sorry you're cooped up
like that, private."
"Not a problem, ma'am," the Blood Lord replied, grinning. "We're rotating out
of here to Blackbeard."
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"Fun in the sun," Herzer said. "Guard stands are hell down there, but the
rest of the accommodations are first rate."
"And the mergirls like the guards," the private added, grinning then looking
stricken at joking about that subject with the council woman present. "Sorry,
ma'am!"
"Not a problem," Megan replied.
"The rest of the rooms are singles," the guard continued, gesturing the
others out of the room. "You share bathrooms."
Herzer's room was adjacent to Megan's, but not adjoining. He figured he could
find someone to put in a door.
"We need to go by base security," Vaston said when they'd been shown their
quarters. "Are you going to have more luggage following?" he asked, noting
that they'd brought nothing with them.
"Lieutenant Tao is going to be bringing it," Herzer said. "We came on ahead.
Let's get the rest of the details over with, we're on short time."
"Yes, sir," the private said, leading them out of the building.
"What's on the top floor of the building?" Herzer asked as they were walking
across the base.
"More rooms, sir," Vaston replied. "For others on the team."
"That was one of the buildings that got hit, wasn't it?" Megan asked.
"Yes, ma'am," the private said.
"No stains on the floor," Herzer noted.
"We had a bit of cleaning when we arrived, sir," Vaston said. "Replaced some [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]