"No officers. Suppose an emergency came up?"
Johnny felt like saying, _An emergency did come up, two of them in
fact. That's why we were all gone at once._ But for some reason he
decided against explaining current happenings at Bidon Cinq until he
had a clearer picture. He said, "There are only three of us here, Mr.
Mellor. We have to stretch our manpower. Derek Mason had to go over to
Amérene el Kasbach with Mohammed Mohmoud and his men to clear out those
nomads and their livestock."
"What did they find? Where were the Tuareg from?"
"They haven't returned yet." Automatically, Johnny took up his can of
beer and took a swallow from it.