Звездный десант

           "Uh—"

           "Somethingstilltroublingyou?Speakup.That’swhatI’mherefor,toansweryourquestions."

           "Uh,yes,sir.Yousaidthesentrydidn’thaveanyH-bomb.ButhedoeshaveanH-bomb;that’sjustthepoint.Well,atleastwehave,ifwe’rethesentry...andanysentrywe’reupagainstislikelytohavethem,too.Idon’tmeanthesentry,Imeanthesidehe’son."

           "Iunderstoodyou."

           "Well...yousee,sir?IfwecanuseanH-bomb—and,asyousaid,it’snocheckergame;it’sreal,it’swarandnobodyisfoolingaround—isn’titsortofridiculoustogocrawlingaroundintheweeds,throwingknivesandmaybegettingyourselfkilled...andevenlosingthewar...whenyou’vegotarealweaponyoucanusetowin?What’sthepointinawholelotofmenriskingtheirliveswithobsoleteweaponswhenoneprofessortypecandosomuchmorejustbypushingabutton?"

           Zimdidn’tansweratonce,whichwasn’tlikehimatall.Thenhesaidsoftly,"AreyouhappyintheInfantry,Hendrick?Youcanresign,youknow."Hendrickmutteredsomething;Zimsaid,"Speakup!"

           "I’mnotitchingtoresign,sir.I’mgoingtosweatoutmyterm."

           "Isee.Well,thequestionyouaskedisonethatasergeantisn’treallyqualifiedtoanswer...andonethatyoushouldn’taskme.You’resupposedtoknowtheanswerbeforeyoujoinup.Oryoushould.DidyourschoolhaveacourseinHistoryandMoralPhilosophy?"

           "What?Sure—yes,sir."

           "Thenyou’veheardtheanswer.ButI’llgiveyoumyown–unofficialviewsonit.