... and yet Arthur Wallman never knew the events as they occurred, closer to the truth than anyone before him as he was.

#

"Steady now. Steady. There she goes. Commander, we have a shuttle drop. Estimated time to surface is thirty seven standard minutes."

Launch reports were coming in from all shuttle bays. They had dropped the last two hundred shuttles in less than a minute. Almost perfect. Rear Admiral Hirotaka Ashakawa smiled. He was running a well-trained crew on the TSS Indomitable. Better trained than the one on the flagship, the Shieldbreaker, but Dimitri Panopilis, his fellow commander would never agree to that of course.

#

Lieutenant Erwin Radovic checked his com unit one last time. Everything was in order. They shuttle dropped.

"Listen up now! This is what we've trained for. Secure perimeter first. Equipment shuttle will come in with body walkers and drop tanks. Drop tanks are parachuted one klick from touchdown. Equipment shuttle lands within perimeter so you have exactly one seven five seconds to take a position one fifty meters from touchdown. Any questions?"

They were all silent.

"Good! Goldberger, you're first. Remember, climb your body walker and wait until the next man is inside the equipment shuttle before taking your position again. Clear?"

"Clear sir!"

#

Captain Vivian McAdams, acting commander of Theta 47, glared at the holo screen. The station was far from ready to be used as an orbital station, but the mining plant was the only thing big enough to use, and the TSS Shieldbreaker had towed it to geostationary orbit. Now she was responsible for making sure the thrusters kept it there during the conversion from mining plant to orbital station.

Since the arrival of the carriers it had been used as a supply depot, and all unused space was filled with food, spare parts, munitions, power cells and other items the ground forces could need. Those troops were on their way down now, and she was ordered to follow the deployment of an affair she considered foolhardy. She gave the screen a second glare.

At least her quarters were in order now, and in a couple of weeks the mag train between the docking cradle in the center of the disk and the living quarters at the rim would be converted to carrying humans not wearing pressure suits.

Vivian sat back in her chair and waited for reports to come from planet side. There wouldn't be any for another twenty minutes, and she idly wondered if she dared to take a nap. She decided against it and set the primary com channel to watch shuttle 27. Her only son was on that shuttle.

#

John McAdams read the data in disbelief. "Lieutenant, problems."

"What is it?"

"Hull's heating up, sir."

"Check it again! Shields shouldn't have any problems at this altitude."

John obeyed. He set the sensors to display data from the shields only. It only took a couple of seconds. There were no readings.

"Sir, I don't understand, it's as if there are no shields."

"Impossible! Check again!"

John was about to do so, but the console burned his fingers as he tried.

We're burning up.

He turned and met panicked expressions all around him.

"Oh my God!" A faint memory from childhood reached him and he had just enough time to voice it. "Momma, a shooting star. Make a wish!"

#

Hirotaka growled at the holo screen. "Get me Admiral Panopilis, now!"

"Immediately, sir."

There was a slight tone of fear in the voice, and Hirotaka disapproved of it. He would discipline the lieutenant later. Currently they required confirmation of whether they were losing shuttles or not. Incoming data indicated an impossibility. Shuttles, all of them, flared up as friction burned them to cinders on their way down.

A single lamp suddenly flashed red in front of him.

What the bloody hell?

"Sir, reactor breach sir!"

The last thing Rear Admiral Hirotaka Ashakawa saw was the bright white sun in the place where the TSS Shieldbreaker had been just a moment ago.

#

"Sir, contact down."

Erwin frowned. "Down?"

"Yes, sir. Nothing."

"Call the Indomitable! See if they know anything!"

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"Yes sir."

Something was amiss. He corrected himself. Everything was going to hell. Erwin was trained to handle emergencies, not hell. He silently prayed this was only an emergency.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Goldberger."

"Nothing at all. The only signal is from Theta 47."

"Patch her in!"

The loudspeakers blared. At first Erwin was unable to make any sense of the wailing. Then he realized it was a woman's voice, and she was screaming, and screaming...

#

... and screaming. There was nothing in the universe that could stop her from screaming now.

Shieldbreaker gone, Indomitable gone, almost twelve hundred shuttles gone. Her only son gone, and his last gift to her would never come true.

#

A few hours passed before they tried to reestablish contact with Theta 47, but Erwin had the distinct feeling he commanded the only remaining assault group. It did make sense in a horrible way. They had been ordered to land within an area specified by some kind of government here. He had orders to do just that. Not to follow any directives given, but rather to find out what made this small spot of land so special. There was no answer to that question. A flat piece of land, a mountain ridge a klick to the west and not a single living being in sight. It was simply a perfect landing place for an untrained drop shuttle pilot even without proper landing strips laid out.

He had to make contact with Theta 47 now. He could no longer prolong the inevitable. Erwin stared angrily at the mobile holo screen before he switched it on.

"Orbit one, IG seven calling."

No answer.

"Orbit one, orbit one, IG seven calling."

He waited, and then, finally, "Orbit one, here."

"IG seven establishing holo connection, over."

"Orbit one, confirming holo connection, over."

Erwin stood in the command center of Theta 47, or rather it looked as if he was. Captain McAdams faced him. Traces of tears lined eyes ringed with red no water could wash away.

"I need... ," he faltered. A superior officer was where he found strength, not grief. "I need orders sir."

An uncomfortable silence followed, and he could only patiently wait for an answer.

"I have received orders for you. Dismantle your shuttles and prepare to begin constructing a launch port."

Erwin stared at the captain in disbelief but kept his silence.

Nothing, nothing at all about what's happened. It's like it never occurred.

"You'll have shuttles with construction units and material sent to you within a standard month. I'll strip this station of anything that can be used as a drop shuttle in order to keep you supplied."

He noted grim determination in her face and allowed himself to smile in relief. They weren't going to be abandoned. One last question then, just to confirm that the federation was playing out a great maskirovka.

"Is there anything more we need to know, sir?"

"No, that would be all, Lieutenant."

"Confirmed, sir. IG seven, over."

"Orbit one, over and out."

After he had stowed the holo screen away he called his men.

#

"...and we are responsible for guarding this installation until we are replaced. Any questions?"

"There isn't one scheduled, is there?"

Erwin smiled at the man. "No, not really. I guess we are staying here for a while."

"I have a question, sir."

"Yes?"

"What about the others? Do you know what happened to them?"

Erwin was prepared for the question. There had been no communications apart from the one with Theta 47, and even though he knew what that meant he still refused to acknowledge it. The most obvious answer scared him the most, and he was useless to his men if they felt his fear. That alone decided his response.

"Others? What others? I have received no information, what so ever, concerning anyone but the members of this group. Any more questions?"

He didn't know it at the time being, but with that single sentence he was paving the grounds for a stunningly brilliant career.