Звездный десант
Chapter 1
Thesegeezersarehumanoid,eightorninefeettall,muchskinnierthanweareandwithahigherbodytemperature;theydon’twearanyclothesandtheystandoutinasetofsnooperslikeaneonsign.TheylookstillfunnierindaylightwithyourbareeyesbutIwouldratherfightthemthanthearachnids—thoseBugsmakemequeezy.
Iftheseladdieswereuptherethirtysecondsearlierwhenmyrockethit,thentheycouldn’tseeme,oranything.ButIcouldn’tbecertainanddidn’twanttotanglewiththeminanycase;itwasn’tthatkindofaraid.SoIjumpedagainwhileIwasstillintheair,scatteringahandfuloften-secondfirepillstokeepthembusy,grounded,jumpedagainatonce,andcalledout,"Secondsection!Evennumbers!...Advance!"andkeptrightongoingtoclosethegap,whiletryingtospot,everytimeIjumped,somethingworthexpendingarocketon.IhadthreemoreofthelittleA-rocketsandIcertainlydidn’tintendtotakeanybackwithme.ButIhadhadpoundedintomethatyoumustgetyourmoney’sworthwithatomicweapons—itwasonlythesecondtimethatIhadbeenallowedtocarrythem.
RightnowIwastryingtospottheirwaterworks;adirecthitonitcouldmakethewholecityuninhabitable,forcethemtoevacuateitwithoutdirectlykillinganyone—justthesortofnuisancewehadbeensentdowntocommit.Itshould—accordingtothemapwehadstudiedunderhypnosis—beaboutthreemilesupstreamfromwhereIwas.
ButIcouldn’tseeit;myjumpsdidn’ttakemehighenough,maybe.
