Some general was due to tour
intelligence
sites in the region and sent word ahead
to keep operations up to speed.
He wanted to observe, not be a
hindrance.
At Echo site, the colonel in command
prepared for full inspection, pulling
men
from duty stations to mop the floors,
then
set the night shift dusting shelves and
hand-
buffing doorknobs. The duty sergeant's
request
to keep a crew at work on reports of
hostiles
massing near Fire Base Margo brought
orders for doubled door guards to insist
all boots be checked for mud. Echo's
halls
gleamed: Margo's fall cost
seventy-eight.
(c) Copyright R. S. Carlson 1988
First published in Cube 1.3 (Fall 1988):26.
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