Phule’s Company by Robert Asprin

If anything, his expression held all the warmth and affection one normally reserves for the deposit left on one’s new carpet by a wormy dog, which would be a generous interpretation of his feelings for the slim figure in black who had come to roost in his office.

“Let me see if I’ve got this straight, General …”

“Captain,” Phule corrected gently, but Goetz continued without acknowledging the interruption.

“You’ve moved some two hundred of your soldier boys into the settlement while the barracks and grounds the Legion rented are being remodeled …”

“That’s right.”

“And in the meantime, they’re going to be strutting and swaggering around my streets, in uniform, like trouble looking for a place to happen.”

“I wouldn’t put it that way …

“Well, I goddamn well would!” Goetz snarled, surging forward in his seat. “Those tin soldiers of yours are going to be like red flags in the face of every street-tough bull who wants to see how he stacks up against a genuine army type.”

Phule let the army label slide for the moment.

“Really, Chief Goetz. My Legionnaires have been in town before. I don’t see why there should be any difference now …”

“The difference is that there weren’t two goddamn hundred of them before!” the chief roared. “Before, they were outnumbered and stayed the hell away from rough-and-tumble with the locals! Now you’ve evened up the odds, so they’re going to want to go anywhere and do anything they want, and you can bet your ass there’s going to be trouble when they try.”

“I see.” Phule- smiled thinly. “I guess I overestimated the control the police have of the streets. The information I had gave no indication that the settlement was a hotbed of crime ready to explode.”