“You’ve got the IQ for it,” the first sergeant admitted, leaning back. “Ever read any science fiction, Berg?”

“Yes, First Sergeant,” Bergstresser replied. He knew that that was as much an admission that he was a “geek” but the first sergeant had insisted on honest answers.

“What?” the first sergeant asked. “Or, rather, how much?”

“Quite a bit,” Berg admitted, knowing that it was probably going to be a downcheck.

“Define quite a bit,” the first sergeant said. “How many books? How many dealing with space travel? What sort of background on it do you have? Books, not TV shows or movies.”

“I have a library at home of over a thousand books, First Sergeant,” Berg admitted reluctantly. “I read all the time, both paper and ebooks. I’ve written game programs for space combat maneuvers. I’m a gamer and have played board games, role playing games and computer games that deal with space combat. I’m aware that that categorizes me as a ‘geek,’ First Sergeant, but I also—”

“Made it through the new qual course,” the first sergeant said, smiling tightly. “Shiny. You’re just what I was looking for.”

“Huh?” Berg said, astounded. It was hardly the response he was expecting.

“For your general FYI, Berg, my IQ is higher than yours,” the first sergeant said mildly. “So you seriously have thought about what it would be like to be in death pressure?”

“Yes, First Sergeant,” Berg replied. “Space is a stone cold bitch. I wrote a paper on it in high school as part of a book report on Have Spacesuit — Will Travel. The book is about a young man who wins a space suit—”

“I’m familiar with it,” the first sergeant said dryly. “Now the big question. This unit is going to be going on long deployments off-planet. The risk of loss of life is high. Most of it is going to be boring as hell with occasional moments, I am certain, of sheer terror. Actual conditions are unknown, but I would be unsurprised if casualty rates exceed thirty percent per mission. I’m saying that in my professional opinion, you, PFC Eric Bergstresser, have a one in three chance of dying. Possibly higher. Possibly much higher. And I cannot tell you the nature of the mission until you volunteer for said mission. So I’m asking, knowing the risks, do you wish to volunteer?”