Звездный десант
Chapter 8
Ridiculous,ofcourse,butnothingaboutthecasemadesense—whydidn’theresign?Desertion,naturally,isoneofthe"thirty-onecrashlandings"buttheArmydoesn’tinvokethedeathpenaltyforitunlesstherearespecialcircumstances,suchas"inthefaceoftheenemy"orsomethingelsethatturnsitfromahighlyinformalwayofresigningintosomethingthatcan’tbeignored.
TheArmymakesnoefforttofinddesertersandbringthemback.Thismakesthehardestkindofsense.We’reallvolunteers;we’reM.I.becausewewanttobe,we’reproudtobeM.I.andtheM.I.isproudofus.Ifamandoesn’tfeelthatwayaboutit,fromhiscallusedfeettohishairyears,Idon’twanthimonmyflankwhentroublestarts.IfIbuyapieceofit,Iwantmenaroundmewhowillpickmeupbecausethey’reM.I.andI’mM.I.andmyskinmeansasmuchtothemastheirown.Idon’twantanyersatzsoldiers,draggingtheirtailsandduckingoutwhenthepartygetsrough.It’sawholelotsafertohaveablankfileonyourflankthantohaveanallegedsoldierwhoisnursingthe"conscript"syndrome.Soiftheyrun,let‘emrun;it’sawasteoftimeandmoneytofetchthemback.
Ofcoursemostofthemdocomeback,thoughitmaytakethemyears—inwhichcasetheArmytiredlyletsthemhavetheirfiftylashesinsteadofhangingthem,andturnsthemloose.Isupposeitmustwearonaman’snervestobeafugitivewheneverybodyelseiseitheracitizenoralegalresident,evenwhenthepolicearen’ttryingtofindhim.
