"James Alan Gardner - League of Peoples 01 - Expendable" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gardner James Alan)

personal appearance.

I showered, shampooed, depilated, and deodorized every morning without fail. Nothing stood in the
way of my morning ritual: not the fuzz of a hangover, nor the arms of a beckoning bed-partner. My
discipline was absolute.

I exercised more than forty hours a week, and always complete workouts: martial arts, running,
gymnastics, tai chi... even mountaineering when the opportunity presented itself.

My body fat ranked at the lowest percentile considered healthy. People said they envied my figure. For
all I know, they might have been telling the truth.

I chose my civilian clothes with the care of an entertainer dressing for the chips. Even when I was in
uniform, fellow officers said that black fatigues suited me.

Their very words: "Festina, that outfit suits you." They did not say, "Festina, you look good."

My name is Festina Ramos and even before I was given that name, I was given a lurid port-wine
birthmark covering the right half of my face from cheekbone to chin. Years of operant conditioning gave
me great pride in my disfigurement.




The Doctors


Each doctor began by saying my condition could be corrected. How would they cure me? Let me count
the ways. They would cure me with electrolysis, with lasers, with cryogenics, with plastic planing, with
"sophisticated bio-active agents conscientiously applied in a program of restoration therapy." Some even
set a date when I would be booked in for treatment.

Then the appointments were canceled. Sometimes the doctor apologized in person. Sometimes the
doctor invented excuses. Sometimes it was just a note from a secretary.

Here is the reason my birthmark endured with purple defiance in the face of twenty-fifth century
medicine:

It had military value.




My Calling in Life
 Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html




My calling in life was to land on hostile planets. I made first contacts with alien cultures.