Grant yelled, "LIEUTENANT ASHLEY!!"
"Yes, sir, major."
"Would you please wait in the outer office for just a moment?"
"But—"
"For just a moment, lieutenant."
"Yes, sir."
Grant waited until the door closed before he tried communication with the general. The officer still teetered in his chair, his eyes bulging from his reddened face.
"They sent me a shape," he sputtered. "That I could take. Shapes I don't mind, even with authority. But this one— You know where she's from, Grant?"
Grant sighed hopelessly.
"She's from syk," the general was beginning to roar, "with a blank check of authority from Washington. She stood there and called the losses pilot-error. My pilots, Grant, the ones I trained!"