The lieutenant marched forward, came to attention, and saluted as did Andrew, and they received a lazy return salute from the man with Lieutenant Colonal’s insignia on his collar behind the desk.

“So what’s Michael’s problem now, Geoff?” He asked the Lieutenant after a moment.

“The Captain is convinced that the japs are about to launch a major assault directly on our part of the front, sir. Apparently, half the Japanese army has deployed in front of us, sir.”

“I seriously doubt half their army has deployed in front of us.” He turned his attention to Andrew. “And who are you?”

“Private Andrew Harris, sir. Captain Greaves told me to report to you.”

The man behind the desk eyed Andrew with a speculative look on his face. “One of Greaves’ people, eh? Your uniform looks fairly spiffy; how long have you been at the front?”

“I just got here, sir. I just finished training, sir.”

“Did you now? And why did the good captain send you to me?”

“She seems to think the Japanese are about to assault our positions in this area, sir. She’s gone over to the eastern flank and sent me to you.”

“So she thinks they’re about to attack too, hmmm. And their main attack will be over to the east.” The Lieutenant Colonel muttered as if talking to himself.

“I wouldn’t count on that, sir. She sent me here because I’m the best she has.” Andrew offered and then realized he should probably have kept his mouth shut.

Gray leaned back in his chair and glared at Andrew.

“You’re straight from boot camp.” He said finally.

“Yes, sir. I’m still the best she has.”

Gray snorted but nodded as well. “I like a man who has confidence in himself. Geoff. Run him out to Michael and tell him that I am taking his warnings seriously and have sent him reinforcements.”

At this point, he waved a hand at Andrew in a languid manner. The Lieutenant laughed.

“Righto, sir. Come on, Harris. I’ll run you up to the front line.”

The Lieutenant gave a lazy salute to his superior, but Andrew didn’t feel he should follow suit and instead came to attention and gave the Lieutenant Colonel a proper salute. That worthy glanced at him, gave what could be generously described as a return salute, and turned his eyes back to the paperwork on his desk. The lieutenant was already nearly out the door, so Andrew had to hustle a little to keep up with him. They piled into the Emu and were soon haring back down the road from the direction the car had come originally. The Lieutenant made a show of concentrating on the road, so Andrew held his peace.

It could well be that the Lieutenant was one of those people who were heavily biased against the genies. Andrew had been brought up hearing about the way many people are biased against those with genetic engineering, which was one of the reasons his father was so against him using his magic, but he didn’t have a lot of first-hand experience with that sort of bias himself.