"Well, sir," Private Hodicky said brightly, "the plastic sheeting for waterproofing the insides of dug-outs came in yesterday. We'll use it ourselves instead of issuing it. And I just checked stores. There's thirty liters of spray epoxy, that'll be plenty to tack the sheets down with." He frowned. "Now, we're not talking blast-proof, but a quick fix to keep out most of the rain-that we can have up whileit's still daylight."

"Well, I'll be damned," Waldstejn said. He nodded his head in agreement. "Just the two of you, though? You don't need some more bodies?"

Hodicky snorted. "You think they're-" he thumbed in the general direction of Headquarters- "going to assign more men becauseyou ask them, sir? No, Q and I'll handle things, don't you worry."

The Private glanced upward. The roof quivered thinly to the touch of boot soles. "Ah, sir," Hodicky said as he eyed the roof, "you wouldn't mind if a couple bottles of gin evaporated from the boozelocker, would you?" Immediately within the main storehouse were two large steel cabinets. One held small arms andammunition, the other held the battalion's medical supplies and the officers' liquor rations. Their hasp locks would open to Waldstejn's thumbprint alone. "There was a lot of stuff flying around a few minutes ago. Some it it probably busted a bottle or two, don't you think?" Hodicky hopefully met his superior's eyes.

"I think,"said Lieutenant Waldstejn very carefully, "that if anything evaporates from that locker, you will get the same three years in the glasshouse that Quartermaster Stanlas got when I caught him."

The silence was broken only by the measured pad of Quade's boots, coming nearer along the ridge line. "However," the Supply Officer continued, "I will very cheerfully withdraw two bottles of gin from my own ration as a present for you and Private Quade when you've finished with the roof."