“Sergeant Dixon reporting as ordered, sir!” His voice cracked a bit in spite of his best efforts to control it.
The colonel looked at him coldly. “Nice of you to drop in, Dixon,” he said. “Shall we go ahead with our little chat?”
Kurt nodded nervously.
“I have here,” said the colonel, shuffling a sheaf of papers, “a report of an unauthorized expedition made by you into Off Limits territory.”
“Which one do you mean, sir?” asked Kurt without thinking.
“Then there has been more than one?” asked the colonel quietly.
Kurt started to stammer.
Colonel Harris silenced him with a gesture of his hand. “I’m talking about the country to the north, the tableland back of the Twin Peaks.”
“It’s a beautiful place!” burst out Kurt enthusiastically. “It’s… it’s like Imperial Headquarters must be. Dozens of little streams full of fish, trees heavy with fruit, small game so slow and stupid that they can be knocked over with a club. Why, the battalion could live there without hardly lifting a finger!”
“I’ve no doubt that they could,” said the colonel.