Mortimor stepped around Penny and came to Cole’s side. He took Cole’s new arm by the wrist and looked it over. “You shore up the collar-bone?” he asked Arthur.

Arthur sighed. “Yes, but please don’t tell him that.”

Mortimor smiled and nodded.

“How did the salvage go?” Arthur asked Mortimor.

The smile faded. “Not good,” he said. “What’s left of the skimmers, usable anyway, could fit in a bucket.”

“Sorry about that,” said Cole.

Mortimor sat on the edge of Cole’s cot and gave him a stern look. “Apology accepted. Now, I don’t know what you were trying to prove, but you don’t rush off by yourself like that. You wait for help, understand?”

Cole peered down at his lap and nodded.

“No more flying solo, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Alright.” Mortimor patted Cole’s knee and stood up. “Having said that, you did good out there. If those two had gotten clear . . .” Mortimor left the sentence unfinished. He looked from Cole to Arthur.

“Speaking of those two, what were they?” Cole turned to Arthur. “Did you make the metal one?”

Arthur laughed and shook his head. “Above my pay grade, I’m afraid.”

“A Bern?”

“Made by the Bern, from what you described. A tool they like to use.” Arthur finished his adjustments and put the computer away. He turned to Mortimor. “Maybe we should call off this raid and do another sweep through the crew to look for moles. Among the Humans, especially.”

“We can’t abort,” Mortimor said. He rubbed his beard with the towel and leaned back against the wall. “I talked to the Seer and let her know what happened. She said we should go as planned. Seemed insistent, actually.”

Penny finished loading the tools and surgical instruments into a drum sanitizer. She looked up at the mention of the Seer. “Did she say anything else?”

Mortimor glanced her direction, then looked to Cole. “Just that she enjoyed her visit with our new friend here.” He set his towel aside and scanned the room. “And . . .”

“And what?” Penny asked.

Mortimor nodded to Cole. “She reiterated what you told me. She said everyone goes. I’ve already told Ryke to plan accordingly.”

“Everyone goes on the raid?”

“That’s right.” Mortimor frowned. “She said not to leave anyone behind.”

“What does that mean?” Penny asked.

Mortimor shook his head. “I think it means we’re done here, for good or bad. It probably means we were too late, or there were too little of us, or that this whole blasted enterprise has been an exercise in futility. It means we’re giving up. Running away.”

Arthur stepped back, as if physically struck by the words. “Did she say when?”

“As soon as we can. I’m ordering a synchronized sleep schedule effec-tive immediately with a briefing at oh six hundred. No more shifts. No more perimeter defense. Everybody is resting up for this one and it’ll be our last.”

Arthur shook his head. “I can’t sleep. There’s too much to do.”