Звездный десант
Chapter 6
Whowastheworstunspankedyoungcubinyoursection?"
"Mmm..."Zimansweredslowly."Iwouldn’tgosofarastosayyouweretheworst,Captain."
"Youwouldn’t,eh?Butyou’dhavetothinkhardtonameanothercandidate.Ihatedyourguts,‘Corporal’Zim."
Zimsoundedsurprised,andalittlehurt."Youdid,Captain?Ididn’thateyou—Iratherlikedyou."
"So?Well,‘hate’istheotherluxuryaninstructorcanneverafford.Wemustnothatethem,wemustnotlikethem;wemustteachthem.Butifyoulikedmethen—mmm,itseemedtomethatyouhadverystrangewaysofshowingit.Doyoustilllikeme?Don’tanswerthat;Idon’tcarewhetheryoudoornot—or,rather,Idon’twanttoknow,whicheveritis.Nevermind;IdespisedyouthenandIusedtodreamaboutwaystogetyou.Butyouwerealwaysonthebounceandnevergavemeachancetobuyanine-oh-eight-ohcourtofmyown.SohereIam,thankstoyou.Nowtohandleyourrequest:YouusedtohaveoneorderthatyougavetomeoverandoveragainwhenIwasaboot.IgotsothatIloatheditalmostmorethananythingelseyoudidorsaid.Doyourememberit?IdoandnowI’llgiveitbacktoyou:‘Soldier,shutupandsoldier!’"
"Yes,sir."
"Don’tgoyet.Thiswearymessisn’tallloss;anyregimentofbootsneedsasternlessoninthemeaningofnine-oh-eight-oh,aswebothknow.
