Candle by Barnes John

Author:Barnes, John [Barnes, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Science Fiction, General
ISBN: 9780812589689
Google: lSnpCL0s8y8C
Amazon: 0812589688
Publisher: Tor Science Fiction
Published: 2000-12-14T13:30:00+00:00

“For dependents, I send whatever part of your pay you request to them, but if you want them to move around and follow BTJ, that’s all at your expense. I do pay a bonus if you’re killed while following an order or during enemy attack, but that’s usually not how your dependents want to get money from you, and it’s my opinion that the bonus I offer just isn’t worth dying for.” From the slight twitch of his mouth, I realized that that was probably a joke.

He continued. “And if you were planning to enlist and get married, well, son, I’ll be happy to perform a ceremony for anybody, in my unit or not. It’s legally binding if I’m outside any superseding jurisdiction, which is a fancy way of saying that if you and your girlfriend want to get married, we can just go outside the Dome and I’ll do it for you—you don’t have to enlist. Though I’d rather you did.”

Mr. Farrell said, “You do know that these two are fourteen?”

Burton shrugged. “I’ve married a thirteen-year-old boy to a twelve-year-old girl, because he wanted to enlist and he looked like soldier material to me. So far he’s made corporal and their marriage looks happy. Life is short, these days, sir, especially for the young. A couple in love doesn’t have much time to wait. Not to dwell on morbid things, but chances are that a soldier and his bride won’t both live to regret being married, but one of them may well live to regret not having married. That’s how I see it, anyway. And if they’re fourteen, I believe you have to throw them out of the orphanage soon, anyway, since Spokane Dome won’t let them stay here past their fifteenth birthdays.”

Farrell shrugged. “I won’t try to stop them; I tend to agree with you, for what that’s worth, much as I regret it. Just wanted to make sure everyone knew the whole story.” He turned to us and said, “Knowing Currie, he probably didn’t bother to propose formally, did he?”

“This is the first I’ve heard of it,” Tammy said.

“Well, I think you’ve heard everything you need to know about Mr. Burton’s organization. So would you two like to go up to one of the bunk rooms and talk about it a bit? I think Mr. Burton will be here for at least an hour longer—”

“And you can call me—I have a secure com for that—if you need to,” Burton added. “So you have up to three days. But it would be great if you can decide more quickly.”

“We’ll go up and talk,” I said, and Tammy and I, still holding hands, left the room. As I went, I could hear another kid asking, “Is there any officer program?” and Burton explaining that he wanted every officer to have spent at least a year as a noncom. That was reassuring too.

When we got up to the dorm room, Tammy said, “If I say yes, will you try not

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