Night was falling across the planet as it completed one of its thirty-seven hour rotations. Up in high orbit, crews manning the System Defence Fleet changed shifts and listened with boredom to the news filtering up from the surface. Wraith squadrons out on distant patrols through the asteroid belt returned to their carriers to let their pilots get some rest, while on frigates on permanent deep station near the system’s LaGrange points, the surveillance teams started new hands of poker or slice, or brought out small bottles of beer to numb their minds to the tedium of sentry duty.