Phule’s Company by Robert Asprin

“Hmmm … That may have been the problem.”

“Ma’am”

“Nothing. Go on with your story, Captain. I’m starting to see what happened, though. About your name?”

“Well, she was looking for me by name. This is actually a fairly common occurrence for me, Colonel. The media often has spotters in hotels to be on the lookout for celebrities, and like it or not, my family name is one which tends to draw media attention, even if it’s just the gossip columns.”

“And why did you give your name to the hotel?”

“It was on my credit card, ma’am. The banking community is very conservative and will not issue credit cards for nicknames or aliases, and while the colonel knows I am financially well off, I rarely carry sufficient cash to register an entire company of Legionnaires at a good hotel. If I might point out, ma’am, while the Legion encourages and utilizes aliases, I’m not aware of any regulation which requires their use or forbids Legionnaires from using their given names.”

“Hmmm … An interesting point, Captain. Let’s take a step back for a moment from your failure to use your Legion name and focus instead on this hotel thing. Why have you moved your company into a luxury hotel?”

“Again, Colonel, I’m not aware of any regulation forbidding a company commander to house his Legionnaires wherever he wishes, especially if he absorbs the expense personally.”

“I’m not questioning whether or not you had the right to do it,” Battleax put in. “I’m asking why you did it.”

Phule glanced at the hand com unit again.