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Danny and Steve stood on the tarmac leaning against the black Camaro watching the foreign Admiral General ascend the jet way stairs with his daughter for the long flight back to their country. It had been a harrowing 72 hours but the team had managed to foil the terrorists’ plot to over throw the fledgling republic’s government by kidnapping the daughter of their leader, in the hopes that he would accede to their wishes rather than risk her life.
While the uniforms worn by U.S. military personnel appeared sharp and crisp, to Danny’s eye, the departing dignitary’s outfit seemed gaudy. “Whaddyou say those gold fring-y things on his shoulders were again?”
“Epaulets,” Steve supplied.
“What kind of grown man wears fringe, anyway?” Danny wondered sarcastically.
Steve replied without a hint of amusement, “The kind that can call up an Army to assassinate you for making fun of his uniform.”
Danny simply snorted in derision at the idea that the Admiral General would kill him over a fashion choice. Cupping his own biceps, Danny continued, “And these things?”
“Chevrons,” Steve defined all the stripes and patches which decorated the officer’s sleeves.
“But that hat. That hat . . .” Danny began gearing up for a rant.
Steve cut him off, “Cover.”
“You want me to cover you?” Danny asked confused looking around for the threat and reaching for his gun.
“A military ‘hat’ is called a cover,” Steve clarified.
“Hat. Cover. Whatever. It was ridiculous with all that gold braiding and jazz all over the brim.”
“They are laurels.”
“Laurels, smorals. It was ridiculous. The guy looked like a freaking peacock. I mean really. Who dresses like that?”
“Military personnel. Some countries simply like to adorn the uniforms with more foofaraw, that’s all. They think it enhances the leaders' sense of importance. ”
Danny’s eyes widened and he stared at Steve in mild disbelief. “Foofaraw?”
“It means. . .”
“I know what it means, Steven. I just . . . I didn't know you knew what it meant.”
“I did graduate from Annapolis,” Steve replied smugly, thinking how grateful he was that Catherine put that word of day calendar on the desk in the home office.