Звездный десант

           andpresentlyI’llhavemytwentyyearsinandretireandgetoneofthereservedjobs—cop,maybeandmarryanicefatwifewiththesamelowtastesIhave,andI’llfollowthesportsandfishandgopleasantlytopieces."

           Acestoppedtowethiswhistle."Butyou,"hewenton."You’llstayinandprobablymakehighrankanddiegloriouslyandI’llreadaboutitandsayproudly,‘Iknewhimwhen.Why,Iusedtolendhimmoney—wewerecorporalstogether.’Well?"

           "I’veneverthoughtaboutit,"Isaidslowly."Ijustmeanttoservemyterm."

           Hegrinnedsourly."Doyouseeanytermenrolleesbeingpaidofftoday?Youexpecttomakeitontwoyears?"

           Hehadapoint.Aslongasthewarcontinued,a"term"didn’tend—atleastnotforcaptroopers.Itwasmostlyadifferenceinattitude,atleastforthepresent.Thoseofuson"term"couldatleastfeellikeshort-timers;wecouldtalkabout:"Whenthisflea-bittenwarisover."Acareermandidn’tsaythat;hewasn’tgoinganywhere,shortofretirementorbuyingit.

           Ontheotherhand,neitherwerewe.Butifyouwent"career"andthendidn’tfinishtwenty...well,theycouldbeprettystickyaboutyourfranchiseeventhoughtheywouldn’tkeepamanwhodidn’twanttostay.

           "Maybenotatwo-yearterm,"Iadmitted."Butthewarwon’tlastforever."

           "Itwon’t?"

           "Howcanit?"

           "BlessedifIknow.Theydon’ttellmethesethings.