A call from Jada had gotten Matt out of bed earlier than his normal routine. Three of Abdallah’s cruisers were reported to already be in the water next to their vessel, with more being extracted. They had obviously been working overnight to accomplish this. Matt wondered that his watchers, now a dozen outside at night, had not noticed the unloading. The workers on that ship had probably gone “lights out” and labored by the glow from the planet’s smallish moon.
Was an attack imminent? Matt expected Carson to return at any time now. He’d order those three cruisers into immediate defensive positions.
Matt looked at his book of call numbers. Carson’s next-in-charge was a burly officer who had been in the Navy back home, a first-class petty officer there with twenty years experience on all types of ships.
“Mr. Rowland,” Matt ordered. “I need you to unload three more cruisers. How long will that require?”
“Aye, Captain. Probably a day or so.”
“Can you make it sooner than that? Use your full crew.”
There was a pause.
“I will do my best, sir. I will get started immediately.” Another pause. “Are we in any danger, Sir?”
“I’m not sure yet, Iggy. I just want to be prepared, in case.” He grimaced, wishing he had not been…
