Звездный десант

           Theydidn’twearthembecause,inRasczak’sRoughnecks,itdidn’tmatterintheleasthowmanycombatdropsyouhadmade,norwhichones;youwereeitheraRoughneckoryouweren’t--andifyouwerenot,theydidn’tcarewhoyouwere.Sincewehadcometothemnotasrecruitsbutascombatveterans,theygaveusallpossiblebenefitofdoubtandmadeuswelcomewithnomorethanthatunavoidabletraceofformalityanybodynecessarilyshowstoahouseguestwhoisnotamemberofthefamily.

           But,lessthanaweeklaterwhenwehadmadeonecombatdropwiththem,wewerefullfledgedRoughnecks,membersofthefamily,calledbyourfirstnames,chewedoutonoccasionwithoutanyfeelingoneithersidethatwewerelessthanbloodbrothersthereby,borrowedfromandlentto,includedinbullsessionsandprivilegedtoexpressourownsillyopinionswithcompletefreedom--andhavethemslappeddownjustasfreely.Weevencallednon-comsbytheirfirstnamesonanybutstrictlydutyoccasions.SergeantJelalwasalwaysonduty,ofcourse,unlessyouranacrosshimdirtside,inwhichcasehewas"Jelly"andwentoutofhiswaytobehaveasifhislordlyrankmeantnothingbetweenRoughnecks.

           ButtheLieutenantwasalways"TheLieutenant"—never"Mr.Rasczak,"noreven"LieutenantRasczak."Simply"TheLieutenant,"spokentoandofinthethirdperson.TherewasnogodbuttheLieutenantandSergeantJelalwashisprophet.