The small starship lurked just behind the terminator line of Iridonia's smaller moon, its systems powered down to the absolute minimum required to sustain its two human occupants. The pilot, a native of the recently-bombarded world of Telos IV, maintained a grim vigil at the helm, while his passenger, ensconced in the seat behind him, sat so still that she appeared, at first glance, to be dead. It wouldn't have been the first time. “Ready to call it a day, ma'am?” Carth Onasi, the pilot, asked as the Marine captain brought herself back to the realm of 'ordinary' consciousness. — — —