"Colonel," Walsh corrected me. "You mustn't forget to say Colonel,
_Major_." He emphasized my rank, and he said it with a sort of ruthless
finality.
I waited. I could see he was just busting to tell me how clever he'd
been. Besides, there wasn't much I could do but wait. Not with Walsh
pointing the stun gun at my middle.
"We've come a long way since the Academy, haven't we, Major?"
"If you mean in miles," I said, looking around at the plants, "we sure
have."
Walsh grinned a little. "Always the wit," he said drily. And then the
smile faded from his lips and his eyes took on a hard lustre. "I'm
going to kill you, you know." He said it as if he were saying, "I think
it'll rain tomorrow."
Joe almost clapped his hands together with glee. He was really enjoying
this. Another of those funny Terran games.
"You gave me a powerful handicap to overcome," Walsh said. "I suppose I
should thank you, really."
"You're welcome," I said.
"It wasn't easy living down the disgrace you caused me."
"It was your own damn fault," I said. "You knew what you were doing
when you decided to cork off."
Beside me, Joe chuckled a little, enjoying the game immensely.
"You didn't have to report me," Walsh said.
"No? Maybe I should have forgotten all about it? Maybe I should have
nudged you and served you orange juice? So you could do it again
sometime and maybe blow up the whole damn Academy!"
Walsh was silent for a long time. When he spoke his voice was barely
audible. The heat was oppressive, as if it were concentrated on this
little spot in the jungle, focusing all its penetration on a small,
unimportant drama.