Kalico checked the time; Margo Abibi was going to be disappointed. Her shuttles were so far behind schedule, they were going to be hours late for their orbital rendezvous with Turalon.

“What have you got, Abu Sassi?” she asked as she lifted the mic and shot the lanky Two Spot a “who knows?” look.

“Got my bird on visual, Supervisor. It’s coming in from the west, taking a turn to the north now. They’re kind of hovering. Curving more to the north. Wait . . . uh . . . Shit, yeah. They’re setting down maybe a klick and a half north of here. Up on that ridge. But, ma’am, I swear. I’m standing right on the dot. One foot on each side of the coordinates you gave them.”

“Figures.” Kalico curled her lip at the mic. “All right, Corporal, go find your errant charges.”

“Yes, ma’am. You sure we shouldn’t have brought them in on a beacon?”

“That wouldn’t have taught us that whoever made the final decision on that landing spot was a dickhead, would it?”

“A big fat gagging roger on that, Supervisor. Abu Sassi out.”

Kalico shifted the frequency, asking “Corporate One, where are you? Your contact is standing on the coordinates you were given for deployment. Repeat: What is your position, Colonel?”

“About a kilometer and six hundred meters north of the LZ, Supervisor. I made the decision to set down on a rocky prominence that gave us better visibility and—”

“Colonel, you will deploy your marines and their tech, and you will re-board that shuttle. Your people will wait for Corporal Abu Sassi’s arrival and will continue the mission under his command. After dust-off, you will present yourself to me, here, at Port Authority within the next fifteen minutes. Is that understood?”

A silence.

Then, the bitter words: “Yes, Supervisor!”

From the corner of his eye, Two Spot gave her a wary look.

Kalico lowered the mic, arched an eyebrow. “We were going to bump heads anyway, right? Might as well knock him on his ass with the first head-butt.”

Flipping back to her military net, she asked, “Briah, report.”

“My team deployed without issue, ma’am. Textbook. Shuttle’s on its way to rendezvous.”

“Roger that. Proceed with the exercise.”

“Roger that.”

“Dina? Report.”

“My team is down, shuttle’s dusted for orbit. My, but they have some nice equipment! All clean and shiny.”

“Well, go get them dirty, but try not to get any of them killed.”

“Roger that, Supervisor!” And in the background, Kalico heard Dina Michegan holler, “Come on, marines. Let’s hump it. Tech up, weapons hot. And welcome to Donovan!”

Kalico cut the connection, still aware that Two Spot—slumped back in his chair—had curiosity written all over him. Not that he’d ever dare to overstep his bounds and ask outright.