Грань будущего
Chapter 3
Theywereearlytobed,earlytorise,alwaysbrushingtheirteethaftereverymeal,neverskippingamorningshave-goddamnedmessiahs.Generalswentintobattlefacingdeathwiththeirchinsheldhigh,calmasyouplease.Hell,alltheyhadtodowassitbackinNaganodrawinguptheirbattleplans.Oneorderfromthemandusmortalsonthefrontlineswouldmovelikepawnsacrossachessboardtoourgrislyfates.I’dliketoseejustoneofthemherewithusinthemud.Wehadourownrulesdownhere.Whichisprobablywhytheystayedaway.Hell,ifoneofthemshowed,I’dseetoitastraybulletputthemontheKIAlist.Thiswastheleastdamningthoughtrunningthroughmyhead,anyoneofwhichwouldhavebeenenoughtosendmetoafiringsquad.
Thebrassinthetentweren’ttheonlyspectatorsaroundtowatchourtorture.
Theguysin4thCompanywerereallylaughingitup.Awhilebackwebeattheminanintramuralrugbymatchbymorethanthirtypoints,soIguesstheyfeltthiswassomesortoftwistedpayback.Theliquorwe’dswipedwasforthemtoo,sothisdisplayofsolidaritywastouching.Whatabunchofassholes.IftheygotintotroubleonKotoiushi,Isureashellwasn’tgoingtobailthemout.
TheU.S.SpecOpsandsomejournalistimbeddedintheirsquadhadgatheredaroundthefieldtowatchusfromasafedistance.Maybetheydidn’tdoisopush-upswheretheycamefrom,butwhateverthereason,theywerepointingtheirfatfingersatusandlaughing.Thebreezecomingoffthewaterpickeduptheirvoicesanddumpedthemonus.
