“Actually it’s `Captain Jester’ when I’m on duty,” he corrected gently.
“But you are Willard Phule? The megamillionaire turned soldier?”
Phule flinched a bit, as he always did when publicly confronted with his wealth-generated fame, and shot a quick glance at the company. The Legionnaires were ambling off the ship, some gawking at the casino light displays while others started to crowd close to see what was happening with their commander.
“That’s correct,” he said levelly.
“Great!” the man exclaimed, seizing Phule’s hand and giving it a hurried pump. “Jake Herkamer, here. I was wondering if we could have a few minutes of your time for a quick interview on your new assignment?”
As he spoke, he made a magician’s pass, and a microphone appeared in his hand. Simultaneously the portable floodlights came on, alerting Phule to the presence of holo cameras, which, until then, had been undetected.
“Umm … could this wait until I get my troops settled in the hotel?” Phule hedged.
“Good point! Hey, guys! Get some shots of the soldiers before we lose them in the hotel!”
Phule felt his muscles tighten as the camera crew obediently began to pan over the gathering Legionnaires, who mugged or glowered for the cameras depending upon their individual inclination. While he had known all along that this assignment would put his force in the public eye more than ever before, he also knew that there were several Legionnaires who had joined up specifically to escape from their earlier lives, and were therefore quite nervous about having their pictures and current location broadcast by the media.