"Carey Rockwell - Tom Corbett Space Cadet 01 - Stand By for Mars!" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rockwell Carey)

cars, they froze to quick attention, their eyes turned to the main exit ramp.
They saw a short, squat, heavily built man, wearing the scarlet uniform of
the enlisted Solar Guard, staring down at them, his fists jammed into his hips
and his feet spread wide apart. He stood there a moment, his sharp eyes
flicking over the silent clusters, then slowly sauntered down the ramp toward
them with a strangely light, catfooted tread.
"Form up! Column of fours!"
Almost before the echoes of the thunderous voice died down, the
scattered groups of boys had formed themselves into four ragged lines along
the platform.
The scarlet-clad figure stood before them, his seamed and weather-
beaten face set in stern lines. But there was a glint of laughter in his eyes as
he noticed the grotesque and sometimes tortuous positions of some of the
boys as they braced themselves in what they considered a military pose.
Every year, for the last ten years, he had met the trains at the monorail
station. Every year, he had seen boys in their late teens, gathered from Earth,
Mars, and Venus, three planets millions of miles apart. They were dressed in
many different styles of clothes; the loose flowing robes of the lads from the
Martian deserts; the knee-length shorts and high stockings of the boys from
the Venusian jungles; the vari-colored jacket and trouser combinations of the
boys from the magnificent Earth cities. But they all had one thing in common-a
dream. All had visions of becoming Space Cadets, and later, officers in the
Solar Guard. Each dreamed of the day when he would command rocket ships
that patrolled the space lanes from the outer edges of Pluto to the twilight
zone of Mercury. They were all the same.
"All right now! Let's get squared away!" His voice was a little more friendly
now. "My name's McKenny-Mike McKenny. Warrant Officer-Solar Guard. See
these hash marks?"
He suddenly held out a thick arm that bulged against the tight red sleeve.
From the wrists to the elbow, the lines of boys could see a solid corrugation of
white V-shaped stripes.
"Each one of these marks represents four years in space," he continued.
"There's ten marks here and I intend making it an even dozen! And no bunch
of Earthworms is going to make me lose the chance to get those last two by
trying to make a space monkey out of me!"
McKenny sauntered along the line of boys with that same strange catlike
step and looked squarely into the eyes of each boy in turn.
"Just to keep the record straight, I'm your cadet supervisor. I handle you
until you either wash out and go home, or you finally blast off and become
spacemen. If you stub your toe or cut your finger, come to me. If you get
homesick, come to me. And if you get into trouble"-he paused
momentarily-"don't bother because I'll be looking for you, with a fist full of
demerits!"
McKenny continued his slow inspection of the ranks, then suddenly
stopped short. At the far end of the line, a tall, ruggedly built boy of about
eighteen, with curly brown hair and a pleasant, open face, was stirring
uncomfortably. He slowly reached down toward his right boot and held it,
while he wriggled his foot into it. McKenny quickly strode over and planted
himself firmly in front of the boy.
"When I say stand to, I mean stand to!" he roared.