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Slide bolt into receiver This is always tricky and usually involves sole, s rod back into the housing, slide it back to make sure it catches the rod Then the follower asse rod catch, holding pin, check the , lever the asseuard, lock it down, check the bolt, squeeze the trigger to earn a pleasantly layered metallic click and

“Five ht seconds,” Geer says “Hell, I can beat that, Richlin”

“Not my best,” she mutters, and when she looks up, Strand’s expression is not congratulatory but serious His forehead wrinkles, his broer over his eyes, shadowing them His er than she would like for him to ease it into a pleasant smile

“Okay,” Rio says with false cheer to conceal her unease, “let’s see if Sarge is feeling generous”

She takes Strand’s arm, actually claht and heat and dust She looks around for someplace private, any place, but she is surrounded by a half a squarefires, male soldiers naked to the waist, piles of discarded crates that once held canned food, the cans that came fro by in clouds of dust

One of the parked jeeps apparently belongs to Strand, at least for now, and he has a corporal dozing in the driver’s seat, helmet tilted forward to shield his eyes, feet up on the dashboard

Sergeant Cole is sitting on a caeant Rio says, “Come on,” and hauls Strand over

“Sarge, meet Lieutenant Braxton, a friend of eants Cole, O’Malley, and Alvarez”

Cole stands, pivots, salutes, then shakes Strand’s outstretched hand “Good to meet you, Lieutenant”

“And you, Sergeant, I’ve heard a bit about you through Rio’s letters” He raises a finger, forestalling a response, and reaches into his inner pocket to pull out a small parcel wrapped in newspaper “Rio happened to ar I don’t know if these are any good, I picked them up in a little shop in Casablanca”

Strand unwraps the parcel, revealing six fat brown cigars Cole ss hard “Those are Cubans Those are the real thing!”

“Well, they’re yours,” Strand says

“Thanks, Lieutenant I take that very kindly So, just what is it I can do for you in response to this very, very, very welcome bribe?”

“Well, I’” He shrugs

“I see” Cole pretends to consider this carefully “Sergeant O’Malley, I wonder if we ht be able to rustle up a twenty-four-hour pass for Private Richlin”