After the horses were watered and staked out to graze on a grassy slope by the river, the soldiers sat by the fire.
“How are you feeling, Kawalski?” Sarge asked.
Kawalski sat on a log, polishing his new sword. He rubbed his side. “Not bad. I was just thinking about asking for a five-day pass, to go...um...recuperate on the beach.”
“Yeah, right,” Kady said. “You think you’ll find some Riviera bikini babes down there?”
“Maybe.”
“Hello, this is Commander Burbank, calling the Seventh Cavalry.”
Sparks ran to the radio and picked up the mic. “Hello Commander, this is Sparks.”
“We’ve packed everything we can into the escape pods, and now we’re getting ready to climb in and start our descent.”
“Commander, this is Sergeant Alexander. Do you have any weapons?”
“No, not unless you count a co
