As one, Krahn and I left the trench and began sprinting for the shuttlecraft, burning Ants as we ran.

I saw Hif by the tunnel opening. She dropped a minigrenade down the opening, stepped back to avoid the explosion, then jumped in herself, blaster at ready. She knew as well as we did there would be no returning from the tunnel, but now our withdrawal was covered from that direction.

Zur and Zome were waiting by the shuttlecraft, pouring fire into a group of Ants pressing them hard from the Southeast. Apparently the Ants had taken up the bulk of the battle after the Leapers had been eliminated.

"Where's Mahz?" I asked, turning to train my weapons on the Ants pursuing us from the West.

"Still in the gun turret, providing cover fire as ordered," replied Zur.

That had not been my intention.

"Mahz!" I beamed.

"Here, Commander."

"Set the destruct mechanism on the fortification, then put the turret gun on auto-target and withdraw."

"Confirmed, Commander."

"Shuttle pilot!" I beamed.

"Here, Commander." I was surprised to hear Horc's voice.

"Stand by for immediate takeoff when our last member reaches us."

There was a hesitation before he replied.

"Confirmed, Commander."

I realized he had been expecting to pick up a larger force than was currently in evidence.

"Concentrate cover fire for Mahz's withdrawal," I called to the rest of the team.

We could tell when the turret gun went on autotarget: It began swiveling randomly back and forth, choosing its targets by Network-triggered priority.

Mahz appeared a moment later. He had to blast his way through several Ants who apparently realized a lone Tzen was an easier target than our group by the shuttlecraft.

We concentrated our fire on the other Ants moving to block his retreat, but as so often happens with uncoordinated group fire, we missed one:

The Network was set to ignore Tzen, and it did. The turret gun swiveled and fired on the remaining Ant, coldly unheeding of the fact that Mahz was in its line of fire as it triggered the beam.

BOOK THREE

CHAPTER ONE

I paced restlessly around the confines of my private quarters. Though theoretically solitude was supposed to aid the thought process, I found it disquieting.

I was not accustomed to solitude. In my entire career, from early training into my combat experiences, I had been surrounded by other Tzen. Even in deep sleep I had shared a rack or a bay with other Warriors. Any moment alone had been both fleeting and coincidental.

Now I and all the other Candidates on the colony ship had been assigned private quarters until we had completed our analysis. Although it was a direct order from the High Command and doubtless for the best, it made me feel uncomfortable.

My tail thumped against the wall, and I realized it was beginning to lash uncontrollably. This would not do. Mental agitation was acceptable only if it did not adversely affect my performance. It was time to curb my wandering thoughts.

I considered eating, but rejected the thought. I was not really hungry, and an intake of food at this time would only make me sluggish.

Sleep was another possibility. We were now required to devote a certain percentage of our time to sleep, whether in regular small allotments or in periodic long slumbers. I also rejected this thought. I had not progressed sufficiently with the analysis for my satisfaction. The sooner I completed my task, the sooner I could leave the isolation of private quarters. I would sleep while my analysis was being reviewed.

Clearly, the best plan of action was to return to my work. I turned once more to my work station, viewing it with mild distaste. There were several racks of data tapes as well as multi-screen viewer, which crowded the small confines of the room.

The tapes were sorted into five groups. The first group was the accumulated data on the Ants, both confirmed and speculative, though carefully labeled to distinguish between the two. The second group contained the Technicians' report on the equipment that would be available for this campaign. The last three groups dealt with specific data on three different Ant-held planets.

The task confronting me and the other Candidates was to devise battle plans for assaulting each of the planets. The High Command's review of these plan would determine which of us would be assigned as Planetary Commanders in the upcoming campaign. There are no guaranteed assignments in the Warriors. Many of my fellow Candidates in this exercise had been Planetary Commanders in the last campaign. They would have to reprove their analytic abilities if they were to retain their rank for this campaign. Also, it was common knowledge that there were many Warriors who had previously been Planetary Commanders who were not included in the current list of Candidates.

There was a rasp of claws on the door. I positioned myself in the doorway and triggered its opening. Zur was standing outside in the corridor holding a small box in his hand. I stood aside to show my willingness to accept his company, and he entered.

"I saw your name on the list of Candidates, Rahm," he stated without ceremony.

"That is correct," I confirmed, "though by the Black Swamps I don't know why. My progress with the assignment thus far verifies my original impressions that I am not qualified for this type of work."

He cocked his head at me in question.

"I should have thought that a Warrior of your experience would be quite adept at this analysis," he commented.

"Perhaps in theory," I replied. "In actuality I find little in my prior experience to assist me in this."

"Explain?" he requested.

"Even though I have held certain lower-level authoritative positions, they have always been of an execution nature. I have been a tactician, not a strategist. I have always been presented with a plan, and my task was to modify it according to existing conditions and put it into action.

I gestured to the racks of data tapes.

"Now, instead of adapting an existing plan, I am required to devise a plan and state its requirements. Instead of being given a plan, an objective, ten Warriors, and three skimmers, and told to deploy them, I am given an objective, and asked how many Warriors and what equipment would be required to achieve that objective. It involves an entirely different logic process, one that I am not sure I possess."

Zur thought about this for several moments.

"I see your difficulty," he said at last, "but I may have a possible solution for you, if I might suggest it."

"Accepted," I said.

"You are being overwhelmed with possibilities. There are so many variables you are unable to focus on any one course of action. My suggestion is this: Choose an arbitrary force, a specific number of Warriors, and a random selection of equipment. Then go ahead and devise a battle plan as if that was all you had to work with. Organize your assault and estimate your casualties. Then halve the force and devise a new plan. Then double the original force and plan it again. If I am correct, you will rapidly discover that in one situation you are handicapped by a shortage of Warriors, in another there are excess Warriors. Perhaps in one situation you will find yourself realizing that two or more pieces of equipment would take the place of ten Warriors. In any case, by establishing some of your variables as constants, you should be able to better analyze the problem.

I considered this. It seemed a logical approach.

"I will attempt to implement this method, Zur," I said. "It seems an efficient approach to problem solving."