“You made a lot of loud assumptions at Gate C27 about why a senior officer was traveling in full Service Dress,” General Vance said.

I looked down at the bright red circle on my travel papers.

The round ink impression had four distinct stars set around a central division seal.

“This red command stamp is my personal authorization mark,” General Vance said.

“I put it on at headquarters to require an immediate formal briefing at destination headquarters the moment your transport lands.”

The paperwork puzzle that had been nagging at me since morning fell completely into place.

The unit clerk hadn’t made a mistake on my orders; General Vance had personally issued the travel directive to make sure I arrived in full uniform for the surprise evaluation.