Звездный десант

           Factwas,littleCarmenwassoornamentalthatyoujustneverthoughtaboutherbeinguseful.

           "We—Uh,I,"saidCarl,"amheretojoinup,too."

           "Andme,"Iagreed."Bothofus."No,Ihadn’tmadeanydecision;mymouthwasleadingitsownlife.

           "Oh,wonderful!"

           "AndI’mgoingtobuckforspacepilot,too,"Iaddedfirmly.

           Shedidn’tlaugh.Sheansweredveryseriously,"Oh,howgrand!Perhapsintrainingwe’llrunintoeachother.Ihope."

           "Collisioncourses?"askedCarl."That’sano-goodwaytopilot."

           "Don’tbesilly,Carl.Ontheground,ofcourse.Areyougoingtobeapilot,too?"

           "Me?"Carlanswered."I’mnotruckdriver.Youknowme—StarsideR&D,ifthey’llhaveme.Electronics."

           "‘Truckdriver’indeed!IhopetheystickyououtonPlutoandletyoufreeze.No,Idon’t—goodluck!Let’sgoin,shallwe?"

           Therecruitingstationwasinsidearailingintherotunda.Afleetsergeantsatatadeskthere,indressuniform,gaudyasacircus.HischestwasloadedwithribbonsIcouldn’tread.Buthisrightarmwasoffsoshortthathistunichadbeentailoredwithoutanysleeveatall...and,whenyoucameuptotherail,youcouldseethathehadnolegs.

           Itdidn’tseemtobotherhim.Carlsaid,"Goodmorning.Iwanttojoinup."

           "Me,too,"Iadded.

           Heignoredus.Hemanagedtobowwhilesittingdownandsaid,"Goodmorning,younglady.WhatcanIdoforyou?"

           "Iwanttojoinup,too."

           Hesmiled."Goodgirl!Ifyou’lljustscootuptoroom201andaskfor

           MajorRojas,she’lltakecareofyou."Helookedherupanddown.