“Yeah, but look at some of the plug-uglies in his crew, though. They scare me just looking at them.”
“Those aren’t the really mean ones,” Jennie put in. “Wait until you see …”
Her voice trailed off to silence as she stared at the monitor, focusing now on the figures in the formation behind Phule rather than on the commander himself. As if reading her thoughts, the camera did a slow pan of the force, showing the formation from one end to the other.
A small frown appeared on the reporter’s forehead as she studied each face in turn. Something was wrong here. While she was interviewing them, not to mention while she was dating their company commander, she had gotten to recognize many of the Legionnaires on sight-and there were faces missing in the formation!
Where was Chocolate Harry? He would stand out in any crowd. And the woman standing next to Tusk-anini was small, but she wasn’t Super Gnat. For that matter, where was Brandy? The company’s top sergeant should be standing prominently in front of the formation, yet she was nowhere to be seen.
“Are you taping this?” Jennie asked, not taking her eyes from the screen.
“Yeah, I figure it might have some local interest if we want to replay it here. Why?”
“Oh, nothing.” Jennie was suddenly all smiles and innocence. “I just forgot to ask Willard for a picture before he left, and this might make a nice remembrance until we see each other again. Can you make me a copy when it’s over?”
“You got it.”
As the technician turned his attention to the screen once more, however, Jennie’s smile vanished and she edged backward out of the group.