Звездный десант

           Whatistheonlyfactorthatcansaveyouwhentheloadistooheavy?Anyone?"

           Nobodyanswered.

           "Oh,comenow!"ColonelNielssensaidscornfully."Youaren’trecruits.Mr.Hassan!"

           "Yourleadingsergeant,sir,"theAssassinsaidslowly.

           "Obviously.He’sprobablyolderthanyouare,moredropsunderhisbelt,andhecertainlyknowshisteambetterthanyoudo.Sinceheisn’tcarryingthatdreadful,numbingloadoftopcommand,hemaybethinkingmoreclearlythanyouare.Askhisadvice.You’vegotonecircuitjustforthat.

           "Itwon’tdecreasehisconfidenceinyou;he’susedtobeingconsulted.Ifyoudon’t,he’lldecideyouareafool,acocksureknow-it-all—andhe’llberight.

           "Butyoudon’thavetotakehisadvice.Whetheryouusehisideas,orwhethertheysparksomedifferentplan—makeyourdecisionandsnapoutorders.Theonething—theonlything!--thatcanstriketerrorintheheartofagoodplatoonsergeantistofindthathe’sworkingforabosswhocan’tmakeuphismind.

           "ThereneverhasbeenanoutfitinwhichofficersandmenweremoredependentoneachotherthantheyareintheM.I.,andsergeantsarethegluethatholdsustogether.Neverforgetit."

           TheCommandantwhippedhischairaroundtoacabinetnearhisdesk.Itcontainedrowonrowofpigeonholes,eachwithalittlebox.Hepulledoutoneandopenedit."Mr.