Звездный десант

           Gotanyideawhatittakestomakeasoldier?"

           "No,"Iadmitted.

           "Mostpeoplethinkthatallittakesistwohandsandtwofeetandastupidmind.Maybeso,forcannonfodder.PossiblythatwasallthatJuliusCaesarrequired.Butaprivatesoldiertodayisaspecialistsohighlyskilledthathewouldrate‘master’inanyothertrade;wecan’taffordstupidones.Soforthosewhoinsistonservingtheirterm—buthaven’tgotwhatwewantandmusthave—we’vehadtothinkupawholelistofdirty,nasty,dangerousjobsthatwilleitherrun‘emhomewiththeirtailsbetweentheirlegsandtheirtermsuncompleted...orattheveryleastmakethemrememberfortherestoftheirlivesthattheircitizenshipisvaluabletothembecausethey’vepaidahighpriceforit.Takethatyoungladywhowashere—wantstobeapilot.Ihopeshemakesit;wealwaysneedgoodpilots,notenoughof‘em.Maybeshewill.

           Butifshemisses,shemaywindupinAntarctica,herprettyeyesredfromneverseeinganythingbutartificiallightandherknucklescallusedfromhard,dirtywork."

           IwantedtotellhimthattheleastCarmencitacouldgetwascomputerprogrammerfortheskywatch;shereallywasawhizatmath.Buthewastalking.

           "Sotheyputmeoutheretodiscourageyouboys.Lookatthis."Heshovedhischairaroundtomakesurethatwecouldseethathewaslegless."Let’sassumethatyoudon’twindupdiggingtunnelsonLunaorplayinghumanguineapigfornewdiseasesthroughsheerlackoftalent;supposewedomakeafightingmanoutofyou.