2
The base had come alive during their absence. Identically clad men and women were walking to and fro across the wide courtyard-type open space between the buildings, stopping to salute when meeting their superiors. The color and style of their hair were the only things setting them apart and even that was pretty uniform, men with regulation short hair, and women with the same, or tight buns. Mark stood by the side of the jeep, shielding his eyes from the sun and admiring the efficiency of it all. There was no frenzy, no rush to the purposeful way soldiers moved around, yet there was no dawdling either. Everything worked like a well-oiled machine and that was another thing he liked and missed about army life. It had been months, maybe as long as a year since he stayed on an actual base.
