Звездный десант
Chapter 9
Somebody,theproprietorIguess,musthavecalledthepoliceassoonaswestooduptoleave,sincetheyarrivedalmostatoncewhilewewerestillstandingaroundwonderingwhattodowiththemeat—twopolicemen;itwasthatsortofaneighborhood.
Theseniorofthemwantedustoprefercharges,butnoneofuswaswilling—Zimhadtoldusto"stayoutoftrouble."Kittenlookedblankandaboutfifteenyearsoldandsaid,"Iguesstheystumbled."
"SoIsee,"agreedthepoliceofficerandtoedaknifeawayfromtheoutflunghandofmyman,putitagainstthecurbandbroketheblade."Well,youboyshadbetterrunalong...fartheruptown."
Weleft.IwasgladthatneitherPatnorKittenwantedtomakeanythingofit.It’samightyseriousthing,acivilianassaultingamemberoftheArmedForces,butwhatthedeuce?—thebooksbalanced.Theyjumpedus,theygottheirlumps.Alleven.
Butit’sagoodthingwenevergoonpassarmed...andhavebeentrainedtodisablewithoutkilling.Becauseeverybitofithappenedbyreflex.Ididn’tbelievethattheywouldjumpusuntiltheyalreadyhad,andIdidn’tdoanythinkingatalluntilitwasover.
Butthat’showIlearnedforthefirsttimejusthowmuchIhadchanged.
WewalkedbacktothestationandcaughtashuttletoVancouver.
WestartedpracticedropsassoonaswemovedtoCampSpooky–aplatoonatatime,inrotation(afullplatoon,thatis—acompany),wouldshuttledowntothefieldnorthofWallaWalla,goaboard,space,makeadrop,gothroughanexercise,andhomeonabeacon.Aday’swork.
