"Still nothing," said Marceaux "I can't find a trace of them through whatever disturbance is in the atmosphere. It's worse than we realized when we first scanned the planet."

His console was feeling a little crowded. The Captain had risen from her chair several minutes ago and was looming over him while he worked.

"You don't need to say it," said the Captain, defeat all over her face "I know. Armstrong: unblock Dr. Kang from paging me."

The confirmation chime had barely finished when a page came in.

"Dr. Kang to the bridge," came Dr. Kang's voice.

"Yes Doctor?" asked the Captain.

"My treatment thus far has been outrageous. Is this what you call sanctuary? Where is your sense of Martian hospitality?"

"I'm from Enceladus," Littlecrow deadpanned.

"If I am to be treated as a prisoner on this ship I might as well surrender to the kangaroo courts back home and at least be deprived of my liberty in comfort on my homeworld."

Her voice wasn't being deliberately transmitted, but through Dr. Kang's connection the Captain could faintly hear McAfree saying "Like they're not going to execute you immediately."

"Dr. Kang I hear your criticism and I'm willing to discuss this with you, but at the moment I could use your help," replied Captain Littlecrow.

"Aha! I should have known. Now that you have need of my genius suddenly I'm worthy of your time. Maybe now I am too busy to speak with you."

"You aren't," said the Captain "Report to the bridge."

* * *

Mitzner stood on a hill, addressing a crowd of soldiers whose weapons had just leapt forward 50 years or so of development in a day.

"They may outnumber us, but with these more accurate firearms each of us is worth 5 of them. If their weapons are at all similar to your old ones they're not going to have a range much further than 50 meters."

"What's a meter?" asked Hur.

"A unit of measurement. All you need to know is that with these weapons and a good eye you can expect to hit them 100, 150 even 200 meters away. Play a range advantage like that right and you can break their morale before they get close enough to properly shoot back."

"We can really win this?"

"You're not going to inspire any future generations to revolt with a defeatist attitude like that. From this point forward we are fighting this battle with the full expectation that we will win. This is because we are going to win and in addition to being winners we like to be right."

* * *

Gibson and Gul returned to the Dux's tent much earlier than he had expected. Although he had expected them.

"We're willing to provide some aid in the battle to come," said Gibson "But we're going to hold you to your claims of civilized behavior. The first one of your soldiers to step out of line and we will immediately withdraw our support."

"I know you mean that as a threat," said the Dux "But it heartens me to hear you say it. What help can you offer us?"

"Before I became an explorer I fought in the most apocalyptic war humanity has ever waged on the most technologically sophisticated side," Gibson explained "A surprising percentage of my body has been weaponized. Many of these weapons systems have non-lethal settings. I believe I am personally more than a capable of neutralizing large numbers of troops at your particular level of weapons development without undue loss of life."

To the shock of Dux Simmons, Commander Gibson held up the palm of his hand to reveal a circuit-shaped tattoo that was glowing bright blue.

"It's your turn to trust me," said the Commander.

* * *

Littlecrow didn't think Dr. Kang was even paying attention when Marceaux explained the problem to him.

"Have you tried extending the Armstrong's shields down towards the planet to create a shield corridor?" offered McAfree.

The looks the Captain and Marceaux exchanged showed that, no, they hadn't.

"The injustice of my de facto imprisonment doesn't warrant your attention, but somehow this children's activity book puzzle was so urgent you had to drag me all the way to the bridge? Why do you even have a command crew? If I didn't need her to run my errands I'd tell you to just have McAfree run your whole bridge."

"Are you finished?" asked the Captain "Because I have a shield corridor to make. Thank you McAfree."

"No I am not finished," said Dr. Kang "There is still the matter of my confinement aboard this ship!"

"If you're willing to assume the risk," said Littlecrow "You can go where ever you like. Satisfied?"

"I suppose," said Dr. Kang.

"Then go back to the Science Department and plot to undermine me. I'm busy."

She waved the two off.

"Come on, Doc," said McAfree "Just take the win."

Unsatisfied, Dr. Kang turned his nose up and marched off.