Звездный десант
Chapter 10
"Headded,"AtleastIdon’tthinkyou’lleverbeabletobuyonehere—Ihope.ButItellyouwhat—whenwereachaplacewhereyoucanbuyoneofyourown,I’llseetoityouknowaboutit.That’sapromise."
"Uh,thanks!"
"Don’tmentionit."
Isawseveralofthetinyskullsthereafter,somewithmore"bones,"somewithfewer;myguesshadbeencorrect,thiswasjewelrypermittedwithuniform,whenonpassatleast.ThenIgotmyownchanceto"buy"onealmostimmediatelythereafteranddiscoveredthatthepriceswereunreasonablyhigh,forsuchplainornaments.
ItwasOperationBughouse,theFirstBattleofKlendathuinthehistorybooks,soonafterBuenosAireswassmeared.IttookthelossofB.A.tomakethegroundhogsrealizethatanythingwasgoingon,becausepeoplewhohaven’tbeenoutdon’treallybelieveinotherplanets,notdowndeepwhereitcounts.IknowIhadn’tandIhadbeenspace-happysinceIwasapup.
ButB.A.reallystirreduptheciviliansandinspiredloudscreamstobringallourforceshome,fromeverywhere--orbitthemaroundtheplanetpracticallyshouldertoshoulderandinterdictthespaceTerraoccupies.Thisissilly,ofcourse;youdon’twinawarbydefensebutbyattack—no"DepartmentofDefense"everwonawar;seethehistories.Butisseemstobeastandardcivilianreactiontoscreamfordefensivetacticsassoonastheydonoticeawar.
