Грань будущего
Chapter 2
TheoneItoldyouabout."
"Isignedityesterday."
"Really?That’sweird."Icouldhearhimriflingthroughpagesaboveme."No,nothere.Well,signoneformeagain,willya?"
"Youtryingtopullafastoneonme?"
"Onlyifyoucomebackinabodybag.Besides,youcanonlydieonce,sowhatdifferencedoesitmakehowmanycopiesyousign?"
UDFsoldiersonthefrontlinehadatradition.Thedaybeforeanoperation,they’dsneakintothePXandmakeoffwithsomeliquor.Drinkandbemerry,fortomorrowwedie.Theshottheygaveyoubeforebattlebrokedownanyacetaldehydeleftinthebloodstream.Butifyouwerecaught,they’dbringyouupbeforeadisciplinarycommittee-maybeacourtmartialifyouscrewedthepoochrealbad-aftertakingstockofinventoryoncethefightingwasoverandeveryonewasbackonbase.Ofcourse,itwashardtocourt-martialacorpse.Whichiswhywe’dallleavenotesbeforethebattleexplaininghowtherobberyhadbeenouridea.Sureenough,whentheinvestigationstarted,itwasalwayssomepoorsapwho’dgothimselfkilledwhohadmastermindedthewholething.Itwasagoodsystem.ThepeoplerunningthePXwerewisetotheracket,sotheymadesuretoleaveoutsomebottlesthatwouldn’tbemissedtoomuch.You’dthinkthey’djustgoaheadandgiveeveryoneafewdrinksthenightbeforeabattle-formorale’ssake,ifnothingelse-butno,itwasthesameoldsonganddanceeverytime.Goodideasdon’tstandachanceagainstgoodbureaucracy.
ItookthepaperfromYonabaru.
