Survivalist - 15 - Overlord by Jerry Ahern Read Free Book Online

empty at any event.
    “This can’t wait, Commander.”
    Kurinami stood his ground. Dodd seemed to weigh his words, then waved the young German officer on with a salute. The German returned it and moved off, Dodd’s smile fading as he spoke. “Now, Lieutenant, what is so important that it takes precedence over the defense of Eden Base at a moment of crisis such as this?”
    “Two dozen assault rifles and three thousand rounds of ammunition. Two lots of botanical samples and about fifteen per cent of available emergency rations. Add lighting, medical supplies—we have a problem, sir.”
    “I don’t understand, Akiro,” Dodd began. “I mean —what are you trying to say?”
    “Missing, sir—all of what I mentioned and more. No accounting of its whereabouts. And the master onboard computer was used and the file which contained the locations of all the supply caches was blanked. The computers on all the other shutdes were similarly altered.”
    “What are you saying, man?”
    “I made back-up files.”
    Dodd was silent for a moment. “Thank God for that,” he said, exhaling loudly. It seemed like a stage gesture, Kurinami thought, but dismissed the idea since he didn’t like
    Dodd and looked for such things in the man. “These back-up files,” Dodd began again. “What prompted you to make them?”
    “I felt the locations of the supply caches were so important and that if something should happen to the Shuttles with a set of back-up files we could always get the Germans to modify one of their computers to bring up the data.”
    “Good thinking, Lieutenant. Thank God you were on the ball. Where are these files?”
    Akiro Kurinami licked his lips. “I don’t know if I want to let that information out, sir.”
    Dodd cleared his throat, looked at his feet for a moment, then looked up. Sand was swirling in the heightening wind, and the temperature was dropping with the night. Dodd said, his voice low, “That could make you a very powerful man, Akiro.”
    “It could make someone very powerful, Commander, someone who wanted to be very powerful.”
    “Yes — exactly. Don’t get yourself killed when the attack comes, Akiro. Should the files be lost, well, I shudder to think what Eden Base might do without them.”
    “The Germans would help us,” Kurinami blurted out.
    “Oh, I’m sure they would.”
    “But the weapons, Commander.”
    “You’re sure it wasn’t a miscount then, something wrong in the inventory?” “I’m sure.”
    Dodd seemed to consider his words again. Then, “Perhaps we have a saboteur among us.”
    Akiro Kurinami thought of Elaine’s counsel to speak prudently. But he said it anyway. “Or a revolutionary.”
    Kurinami turned and walked away, the blowing sand stinging his eyes despite the hand he held before his face.

Chapter Seven
    Sarah Rourke started to cry. “Damnit!”
    The zipper on her faded blue Levis would not close no matter how she tried to suck in. It was the baby. She had almost forgotten about the swelling of her abdomen with the high waisted skirts and dresses which were the fashion here, the baby merely giving a certain roundness to her abdomen.
    But the jeans were hopeless.
    And she felt stupid going into battle wearing a dress. But it was either that or wear nothing but panties.
    She backed toward the bed, plopped down and started skinning the blue jeans off her legs. And you couldn’t wear a T-shirt with a long skirt without looking stupid. “Shit,” she snarled through her tears.
    Sarah Rourke had discovered that the web pistol belt which she used to carry the beat up old .45 automatic that she had taken from the bureau drawer on the very Night of The War, one of the last things remaining which survived from their house, which had burned to the ground the next morning—the belt just didn’t fit either and extra minutes had been needed to expand the belt.
    She’d broken a nail on the fasteners which interlocked to
    determine the size of the belt. Chipped a