Kikaru fitted the eyepiece over her right eye.
Numbers adjusted across her vision, then folded into a clean feed from Captain Jiece's helmet. Distance, squad tags, motion indicators, and command markers settled along the edges. It was good equipment. Too good for the casual contempt in his briefing.
"Understood, Captain, and we will remain on standby unless ordered otherwise," she said.
Jiece walked off the ramp without answering.
For nearly an hour, standby meant waiting while soldiers became smaller shapes on the road below. The Arclight stayed quiet behind them. Paul sat on a supply crate and pretended not to check the feed every few seconds. Colby paced ten steps one direction, ten steps back, then stopped when he realized he was wearing a path into the grass.
A craft cut across the sky above the lake, fast and low.
Kikaru looked up in time to see a face mashed briefly against the side window before the aircraft vanished into the clouds.
