"Dafydd ab Hugh, Brad Linaweawer DOOM: Knee Deep in the Dead (english)" - читать интересную книгу автора

honestly answer no.
Funny thing is, I always hoped I'd go to space one
day . . . but not like this. My idea was to be on a
deep-space exploratory ship, pushing out beyond the
bounds of the known solar system. But when I scored
only a 60 on the MilSpaceAp test, the chances of me
receiving a deep-space assignment ranged somewhere
between infinitesimal and "forget it." The big surprise
was that one right upper cut to the concrete jaw of
Lieutenant Weems opened my pathway to the stars.
Not only would I do it over again, I'd still enjoy it!
I stared at the two men whose job was to guard me, and
had a strange feeling of unreality. "Want some coffee?"
one of them asked with something that sounded like
actual concern. His thin face reminded me of one of the
monks.
"Yeah," I said. "Black, if you don't mind." He smiled.
We'd run out of cream back in Kefiristan, and when he
hopped up to Phobos, the supply situation was no
improvement.
The guard's name was Ron. The other guard's name
was Ron, tooЧI called him "Ron Two," but they didn't
see the humor in it.
We didn't talk much. It seemed a little insulting only
having two Marines protecting such a dangerous type as
Yours Truly; but the other men were busy figuring out
what had gone wrong on Phobos.
After we up-shipped to Mars Base, we sat for a solid
day, trying to find out why the UAC miners on Phobos
had sent a distress callЧand why they didn't answer
now. In the Marines, you spend eternity so bored you'd
look forward to your own court-martial as a break in the
tedium. Then an unexpected danger with huge, jagged
edges comes rolling over all the set routines, a reminder
that the universe is a dangerous place.
The last message we received from Phobos was:
"Things coming through the Gate." When something
that serious hits the fan, boredom is returned to its
proper place as a luxury. The court-martial of a corporal
was deemed less important than a potential threat to
MarsЧand not important at all compared to an imme-
diate threat to the profits of the Union Aerospace Corpo-
ration.
With a ringing cry of "sounds like they're smoking
something up there," Lieutenant Weems boldly led his
men into the transport. At first I thought I'd be left
behind on Mars Base; but either Weems thought I might
prove useful to have along, or else he just didn't want a
loose end. I volunteered to go along. Sometimes I'm not
very bright.