“Affirmative,” he said flatly. “Between the volunteers for undercover work, and trying to pair the stand-ins with legitimate Legionnaires, I figure a lot of the normal partners in the company will have to be split up.”
Utter silence reigned in the room.
Of all the information he had passed on this evening, Phule knew that this was probably the most unsettling of all. One of the first things he had done upon assuming command of the company was to pair the Legionnaires off with partners or “wingmen.” While there had been some resistance at first, the company was now used to the system, and the partner teams had grown into more than friendships. Telling the Legionnaires that the partners would be split, particularly on top of the other bad news, was roughly like telling them he wanted to cut off their arms.
“Look,” he said, making no effort to keep the regret out of his voice. “I know it’s asking a lot … and I can’t expect you to like it. To tell you the truth, I don’t like it much myself. Still, it’s the only way … if we’re even going to have a chance of success on this assignment. I, for one, want to at least give it a shot before we run up the white flag.”
He ran his eyes slowly over the assembled company, then sighed and pulled himself back up into a position of attention.
“Well, that’s the bare bones of it … the bitter and the sweet. As I said, there are still a lot of details to be worked out.
Think it over … talk it over. I’ll be in my office if any of you want to be considered for the volunteer mission. That’s all for now.”