“I wasn’t suggesting we let the lieutenant escape unscathed,” Colonel Battleax interrupted hastily. “I merely think that in this particular situation, it might be wisest if we considered some alternatives to confinement in the stockade for punishment. Perhaps we could find a new assignment for our misfit … a tour sufficiently unpleasant that it would leave no doubt in his or anyone else’s mind as to the opinion this court has of his little Wild West show.”
The officers lapsed into silence then, as they searched their minds of a posting that would fill their needs.
“If he were a captain,” the major said to himself, breaking the silence, “we could ship him off to the Omega crew.”
“What was that, Major?” The colonel’s voice was suddenly sharp.
Joshua blinked as if waking from a dream, jolted into remembering that the court president was from Headquarters.
“I … Nothing, sir. Just thinking out loud.”
“Did I hear you say something about an Omega Company?”
“Sir?”
“Do you know anything about this, Captain?”
“About what, sir?” Captain Humpty said, mentally cursing the major’s loose tongue.
The colonel swept both men with an icy glare before speaking again.
“Gentlemen, let me remind you that I’ve been in the Legion twice as long as either of you. I’m neither blind nor stupid, and I’ll thank you not to treat me as if I were.”
The other two court members squirmed uncomfortably, like schoolboys in a principal’s office, as she continued.
“The Space Legion is smaller and less glamorous than the Regular Army, more like security guards than an actual fighting force. We don’t enjoy the advantage they have of fielding units made up entirely of soldiers from one planet, hence our policy of accepting all applicants, no questions asked.