The Forever War #4
4 „Now I know you got lectured back on Earth on what a fighting suit can do.“ The armorer was a small man, partially bald, with no insignia of rank on his coveralls. Sergeant Cortez had told us to call him „sir,“ since he was a lieutenant. „But I‘d like to reinforce a couple of points, maybe add some things your instructors Earth side weren't clear about or couldn't know. Your First Sergeant was kind enough to consent to being my visual aid. Sergeant?“ Coitez slipped out of his coveralls and came up to the little raised platform where a fighting suit was standing, popped open like a man-shaped clam. He backed into it and slipped his arms into the rigid sleeves. There was a click and the thing swung shut with a sigh. It was bright green with CORTEZ stenciled in white letters on the helmet. „Camouflage, Sergeant.“ The green faded to white, then dirty gray. „This is good camouflage for Charon and most of your portal planets,“ said Cortez, as if from a deep well. „But there are several other combinations available.“ The gray dappled and brightened to a combination of greens and browns: „Jungle.“ Then smoothed out to a hard light ochre: „Desert.“ Dark brown, darker, to a deep flat black: „Night or space.“ „Very good, Sergeant To my knowledge, this is the only feature of the suit that was perfected after your training& The control is around your left wrist and is admittedly awkward. But once you find the right combination, it‘s easy to lock in. „Now, you didn't get much in-suit training Earth side. We didn't want you to get used to using the thing in a friendly environment. The fighting suit is the deadliest personal weapon ever built, and with no weapon is it easier for the user to kill himself through carelessness. Turn around, Sergeant. „Case in point.“ He tapped a large square protuberance between the shoulders. „Exhaust fins. As you know, the suit tries to keep you at a comfortable temperature no matter what the weather‘s like outside. The material of the suit is as near to a perfect insulator as we could get, consistent with mechanical demands. Therefore, these fins get hot- especially hot, compared to darkside temperatures-as they bleed off the body‘s heat.
