"William Forstchen - Article 23" - читать интересную книгу автора (Forstchen William R)

greetings to all of you. Now, you've heard this before but you're going to hear it again call it my yearly
ritual speech."

He paused for a moment, his features set in a serious expression.

"You are the best of the best. Gathered here today are seven thousand young men and women from
Earth, the Moon, the orbital colonies, and outward to the farthest reaches of the solar system" he paused
again for a brief instant, "and yes, even from Mars."

No one spoke at his mention of the breakaway colony.

Justin quickly scanned the room. Only two weeks ago word of Mars' Declaration of Secession from the
UN and Colonies Space Commission had come, and over a dozen cadets from his scrub summer class
had withdrawn to return home. The holo news had dwelt on little else while he was at home on Earth,
and speculation was high that the crisis could very well spread and perhaps even erupt into a civil war.

"All of you have a tough year ahead. You upper-classmen have heard me say that every year, and you've
thought nothing could be tougher than what you just went through; and you've learned that I was right.
Those of you who recently survived scrub summer know that you started out with over two thousand
classmates back in June, you're returning now in September with a class of thirteen hundred twenty-two.
This year's senior class started out just like you and this morning we have two hundred and three sitting in
the front rows, with another sixty-seven still out on assignments. I expect that around two hundred and
fifty will finally graduate. You can figure out the math on your own.

"Remember the most basic rule'In space there are no second chances.' You first-year plebes, if you
screw it up at this stage of the game, at worst you'll wind up just killing yourself, but by the time you
reach your senior year you'll be taking on the full responsibilities of an officer with the USMC and a
mistake could cost the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands."

He again stood silent. Justin knew what was coming.

"Yesterday's incident with the Daedalus illustrates that well enough."

A low murmur swept the room. Six senior cadets and one hundred eighty colonists were killed when a
section of an orbital unit suffered a massive decompression. Indications were that one of the six might
have been responsible, from a failure to thoroughly check an internal airlock system just moments before
a meteor impact punched through three decks. Once the bodies were recovered the six would receive
full military honors, but if the fault was ever pinned on any one individual the name would be made public
and the mistake openly reviewed. No one ever wanted to be another Cadet Hansen, who was
single-handedly responsible for the accidental destruction of the Oak Forest colony and the nearly three
thousand residents on board. His name was now synonymous with being a major screw up; "to pull a
Hansen" was one of the worst insults an instructor could hand a cadet.

"You are the best and I expect the best from you at all times," Thorsson continued. "This is a dangerous
life you've signed on for, but as they used to say, 'it goes with the territory.' Our territory is space, die
endless frontier, the beginning of an adventure that will take us outward into the eternal sea of stars. No
frontier has ever been settled without a price and you are the ones who will, more often than not, have to
pay that price. We lost eighty-seven cadets last year, and a hundred and twenty-nine were seriously
injured. Now, there are some on Earth who whine that the price we expect of our next generation is too
high and you know what I have say about that."