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But that was only part of the proble supply of ae had been fired; except for the stockpiles in Tifty’s bunker, which were vacuum-sealed, the primer and cordite didn’t last more than twenty years All of the Army’s rounds had been either reloaded fros taken from two munitions plants, one near Waco and a second in Victoria Casting lead for bullets was easy; far trickier was engineering a propellant Weapons-grade cordite required a co large quantities of nitroglycerine It could be done, but it wasn’t easy, and it necessitated both manpower and expertise, both of which were in very short supply The Army was down to just a couple thousand soldiers--fifteen hundred spread throughout the townships, and a garrison of five hundred in Kerrville They had no che about here," Peter said

Apgar, seated across the paper-stacked expanse of Peter’s desk, was looking at his nails "I didn’t say I liked it But the trade has thecapacity, and it’s not like we haven’t dealt with them before"

"Dunk’s not Tifty"

"What about Michael?"

Peter frowned "Sore subject"

"The guy was an OFC He kno to cook oil--he can do this"

"What about this boat of his?" Peter asked

"He’s your friend You tell me what it’s all about"

Peter took a long breath "I wish I could I haven’t seen the guy in over twenty years On top of which, we tell the trade we’re out of a in this chair in a weekend"

"So threaten hih for us or that’s it, the deal’s off, we storm the isthmus and put him out of business"

"Across that causeway? It’d be a bloodbath He’ll s"

Peter leaned back in his chair He iar’s terh in his face?

"This is all stick There’s no way it’s going to work What can we offer hiuns, and whores? Last time I checked, Dunk had all of those in plentiful supply Plus, the guy’s practically a folk hero You knohat happened last Sunday? Out of the blue, a five-ton full of women shows up at the enca the road crews The driver has a note ‘Co Sunday"

"Did they send theh his nose "No, they took them to church What do you think?"