Bob Lee Swagger 2 - Black Light by Hunter Stephen

Author:Hunter, Stephen
Language: eng
Format: epub

Bob Lee Swagger 2 - Black Light

“He was a fine officer. He ran a superior program. His people gothundreds, maybe thousands, of kills. They saved the lives of hundreds,maybe thousands, of American soldiers. He’s a fine man, a patriot,probably a father and a Republican. Why would you say I hate him?”

“You hate him.”

“Well .. : it’s just a thing. You wouldn’t understand it.

I’d say it to another sniper and to no one else. What I said to youearlier, that’s what’s important. He’s a fine man, a great officer.”

“You have to tell me. I can’t get through this if you don’t.”

Bob paused. He wondered if he had the skills to articulate what lay athis heart. Or the energy. Damn this kid, with his smart-​ass ways andhis penchant for always coming up with a question that was prettydamned good.

“If you do write a book, you cannot put this in it. Ever.

Do you understand?”

“Yes sir.”

“I don’t want it said. Bob Lee Swagger, he had hard words for anAmerican soldier who in good faith and out of duty and honor risked hislife for his country. I won’t have that. That’s shit. That’s what’skilling the country.”

“I swear.”

“Then I tell you this now, and I will never hear of it again.”

“Yes sir.”

“It’s about killing.”

Russ said nothing.

“In war,” Bob said, “death comes in three forms. Usually, it comesfrom far off, delivered by men who never see the bodies they leavebehind. That’s how we done most of our killing in Vietnam. The B-52sdid the most, man, they’d turn that goddamn jungle into pulp and chewup everything for a square mile. And artillery. On the ground, theartillery does most of the killing. The king of battle, they call it.You may not like it, but that’s how it is.”

“Yes,” said Russ.

“Second is in hot blood. Firefight. You see forms moving, you fire.Some of them stop moving. You may never see them up close, you maynever know if you got a hit or not. Or you may: you see the littlefuck go down, you see the tracers cut him up, that sort of thing.What’s going on is really fighting. It’s you or him. You may not likeit, but goddammit you do it, because if you don’t, you’re the one goeshome in a bag.”

“Yes, I see.”

“The third and last form is cold-​blooded killing. That’s what we do.We, being the snipers. We put a scope on a man from a half mile outand we pull a trigger and we watch him go still. Nothing pretty aboutit, but I would say it’s necessary. I believed it was necessary. Iknow it makes people nervous. You’re death. They call you Murder,Inc., and God knows what they say about you behind your back.

They think you’re sick or nuts or something, that you enjoy it.”

“That’s what you did.”

“I did. But still, distinctions can be made. Somehow distinctions gotto be made. I didn’t shoot women or children and I didn’t shoot anyonethat wasn’t out to kill me. If someone has a hard time with that,well, tough shit. I was a hunter.

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