Звездный десант
Chapter 8
Butsuppose,asseemedmorelikely,thathewassocrazythathehadneverbeenawarethathewasdoinganythingwrong?Whatthen?
Well,weshootmaddogs,don’twe?
Yes,butbeingcrazythatwayisasickness—
Icouldn’tseebuttwopossibilities.Eitherhecouldn’tbemadewellinwhichcasehewasbetterdeadforhisownsakeandforthesafetyofothers—orhecouldbetreatedandmadesane.Inwhichcase(itseemedtome)ifheeverbecamesaneenoughforcivilizedsociety...andthoughtoverwhathehaddonewhilehewas"sick"—whatcouldbeleftforhimbutsuicide?Howcouldhelivewithhimself?
Andsupposeheescapedbeforehewascuredanddidthesamethingagain?Andmaybeagain?Howdoyouexplainthattobereavedparents?Inviewofhisrecord?
Icouldn’tseebutoneanswer.
IfoundmyselfmullingoveradiscussioninourclassinHistoryandMoralPhilosophy.Mr.DuboiswastalkingaboutthedisordersthatprecededthebreakupoftheNorthAmericanrepublic,backintheXXthcentury.Accordingtohim,therewasatimejustbeforetheywentdownthedrainwhensuchcrimesasDillinger’swereascommonasdogfights.TheTerrorhadnotbeenjustinNorthAmerica—RussiaandtheBritishIsleshadit,too,aswellasotherplaces.ButitreacheditspeakinNorthAmericashortlybeforethingswenttopieces.
"Law-abidingpeople,"Duboishadtoldus,"hardlydaredgointoapublicparkatnight.
