Penny looked rebellious.  Kurt reached out and gave her a hug, then turned to face Molly.  His wife looked tired, but grimly determined.  Kurt silently thanked God that he wouldn't be there to hear the coming argument.  Molly would know, even if Penny didn't, just how vital it was that she stayed in the expensive school.  If nothing else, they would lose the rest of the year’s payments if Penny was expelled.

Walking outside, he saw a taxi moving along the street and waved, hastily.  The taxi pulled up beside the curve, allowing him to climb inside.  He gave the address of the nearest aerospace base – he could report in to any military base, whereupon he would be directed to his muster point – and settled back, feeling his headache slowly fade away.  Being away from the children and his wife certainly seemed to make him feel better, no matter how unpleasant it sounded.  Just what had he been thinking, he asked himself, when he’d married her?

You were distracted by her enormous knockers, he thought, ruefully.  No, that wasn't entirely fair.  Molly had been charming as well as attractive – and she could still be charming, when she wanted to be.  But she spent most of her time with the kids while he was at work, which made it harder for them to relax and just be themselves.  Maybe the break would do him good ... but what the hell was going on?  The last time he’d reported for training exercises had been seven months ago.  It was way too early for another one.

There was a bleep from the taxi’s radio as the music cut out, replaced by a nervous-sounding voice.  “Please stay tuned for a message from the Prime Minister,” it said.  The cabbie swore and changed the channel, but it made no difference.  Kurt leaned forward as he realised that the message was going out on all channels.  “The Prime Minister will address the nation in ten minutes.”

Kurt waited, impatiently, for the Prime Minister to begin to speak.  Combined with the call-up, it suggested bad news.  It suggested war.  He didn't make a habit of following international and interplanetary affairs, but he hadn't heard anything that suggested war was on the verge of breaking out.  There were bouts of trouble on colony worlds, brief disputes on Earth between smaller nations, yet nothing that should have demanded a full mobilisation ...

The radio bleeped again, then a familiar voice came over the airwaves.  Kurt realised, as he listened, that the Prime Minister sounded dreadfully tired.  Something was definitely wrong.

“We have received news from the very edge of settled space,” the Prime Minister said, in a manner that suggested he wasn't quite sure he believed his own words.  “A number of human settlements have been attacked by a force of unknown origin.  We do not know why these ... aliens attacked us, or what they want.  All we know is that they are hostile.”