Звездный десант
Chapter 5
TheCaptaintappedonhisdesk."Nowaboutthosebatons—Theyhavetwouses.First,theymarkthemeninauthority.Second,weexpectthemtobeusedonyou,totouchyouupandkeepyouonthebounce.Youcan’tpossiblybehurtwithone,notthewaytheyareused;atmosttheystingalittle.Buttheysavethousandsofwords.Sayyoudon’tturnoutonthebounceatreveille.Nodoubtthedutycorporalcouldwheedleyou,say‘prettypleasewithsugaronit,’inquireifyou’dlikebreakfastinbedthismorning—ifwecouldspareonecareercorporaljusttonursemaidyou.Wecan’t,sohegivesyourbedrollawhackandtrotsondowntheline,applyingthespurwhereneeded.Ofcoursehecouldsimplykickyou,whichwouldbejustaslegalandnearlyaseffective.Butthegeneralinchargeoftraininganddisciplinethinksthatitismoredignified,bothforthedutycorporalandforyou,tosnapalatesleeperoutofhisfogwiththeimpersonalrodofauthority.AndsodoI.NotthatitmatterswhatyouorIthinkaboutit;thisisthewaywedoit."
CaptainFrankelsighed."Hendrick,Ihaveexplainedthesematterstoyoubecauseitisuselesstopunishamanunlessheknowswhyheisbeingpunished.You’vebeenabadboy—Isay‘boy’becauseyouquiteevidentlyaren’tamanyet,althoughwe’llkeeptrying—asurprisinglybadboyinviewofthestageofyourtraining.Nothingyouhavesaidisanydefense,norevenanymitigation;youdon’tseemtoknowthescorenorhaveanyideaofyourdutyasasoldier.
