Chang's team was taking way too long. Crap, they expected me to make this call; send Giraud's team to speed up the search for the comm node, in hope of speeding up the search? Diverting Giraud's team risked exposing them to danger longer, that risked us losing the wormhole controller module. Did I consider bailing on trying to find Skippy's comm node, now that we had the wormhole controller module? Not really. I'd thought about that issue over the last week, it had kept me awake at night. We cared about shutting down the wormhole, it was all I cared about, it was the entire purpose of the mission, I would sacrifice anything to achieve it. We humans truly did not care whether Skippy   I cared a little bit, because I liked Skippy and felt we owe him, and I sometimes thought I understood his terrible, ancient, aching loneliness. My personal feelings had to be put aside, as the commander I needed to focus on the mission and my people. What I'd decided ahead of time was that, regardless of my promise to Skippy, if there was any way we could shut down the wormhole without Skippy, I was not going to risk people's lives, and the mission, to get his magical radio. We had no way to shut down the wormhole on our own, making my decision easy, if hard to swallow.

"Lieutenant Giraud, take your team to assist Colonel Chang, we need to move as fast as possible."

Whatever Giraud thought of the wisdom of my decision, he didn't argue. "Acknowledged. We're on our way."

On the display, I saw Chang, Putri and Darzi were sorting through the piles of junk as fast as they could, Chang had ordered a combot into the room, not to touch anything, but to use it's cameras, hoping Skippy could find the thing. It was all taking way too long. Skippy telling me he'd lost track of the Kristang, that even he was mostly blind, had me extremely anxious "Skippy, this comm node thing is for communications, right?"

"Yeah, duh, so?"

"So, can you contact it, use it to send out a signal that you can use to find the damned thing?"

"Shit. Yes."

"Duh." I couldn't resist, partly from nervous energy.

"Damn it, I don't know what is wrong with me sometimes. Of course, yes. Have Chang, Putri and Darzi spread out so I can use their suit radios to triangulate."