Звездный десант
Chapter 13
ButtheC-in-Cwasnotwastingmen;thisgiantraidcoulddeterminewhowonthewar,whethernextyearorthirtyyearshence.WeneededtolearnmoreaboutBugpsychology.MustwewipeouteveryBugintheGalaxy?Orwasitpossibletotrouncethemandimposeapeace?Wedidnotknow;weunderstoodthemaslittleasweunderstandtermites.Tolearntheirpsychologywehadtocommunicatewiththem,learntheirmotivations,findoutwhytheyfoughtandunderwhatconditionstheywouldstop;forthese,thePsychologicalWarfareCorpsneededprisoners.
Workersareeasytocapture.ButaBugworkerishardlymorethananimatemachinery.Warriorscanbecapturedbyburningoffenoughlimbstomakethemhelpless—buttheyarealmostasstupidwithoutadirectorasworkers.Fromsuchprisonersourownprofessortypeshadlearnedimportantmatters—thedevelopmentofthatoilygasthatkilledthembutnotuscamefromanalyzingthebiochemistriesofworkersandwarriors,andwehadhadothernewweaponsfromsuchresearchevenintheshorttimeIhadbeenacaptrooper.ButtodiscoverwhyBugsfightweneededtostudymembersoftheirbraincaste.Also,wehopedtoexchangeprisoners.
Sofar,wehadnevertakenabrainBugalive.Wehadeithercleanedoutcoloniesfromthesurface,asonSheol,or(ashadtoooftenbeenthecase)raidershadgonedowntheirholesandnotcomeback.Alotofbravemenhadbeenlostthisway.
Stillmorehadbeenlostthroughretrievalfailure.
