Between Planets
“PSALM XXXIX:3 THE GOVERNMENT did do something; the draft act was passed the next day. Don heard about it at noon; as soon as the lunch hour rush was over he dried his hands and went uptown to the recruiting station. There was a queue in front of it; he joined its tail and waited.
Over an hour later he found himself facing a harried-looking warrant officer seated at a table. He shoved a form at Don. “Print your name. Sign at the bottom and thumb it. Then hold up your right hand.”
“Just a... minute,” Don answered. “I want to enlist in the High Guard. This forms reads for the Ground Forces.”
The officer swore mildly. “Everybody wants the High Guard. Listen, son, the quota for the High Guard was filled at nine o’clock this morning—now I’m not even accepting them for the waiting list.”
“But I don’t want the Ground Forces. I’m—I’m a spaceman.”
The man swore again, not so mildly.MoreLess
Over an hour later he found himself facing a harried-looking warrant officer seated at a table. He shoved a form at Don. “Print your name. Sign at the bottom and thumb it. Then hold up your right hand.”
“Just a... minute,” Don answered. “I want to enlist in the High Guard. This forms reads for the Ground Forces.”
The officer swore mildly. “Everybody wants the High Guard. Listen, son, the quota for the High Guard was filled at nine o’clock this morning—now I’m not even accepting them for the waiting list.”
“But I don’t want the Ground Forces. I’m—I’m a spaceman.”
The man swore again, not so mildly.MoreLess
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