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attempts to open the facility. They work down there every day but our people report they haven't been able to open the entrance door by even a nanometer. Word is they've asked Admiral Carver to come help since it was she who had so much success with the ancient technology in the past."
    "Admiral Carver?" Councilwoman Erika Overgaard said in surprise. "Do they really expect the Commander of the Second Fleet and Military Governor of Regions Two and Three to come to Dakistee to handle a minor issue?"
    "It's not so minor. Who knows what a wealth of secrets and technology awaits behind that sealed door. They've been trying desperately for weeks to open the facility— without success. Anyway, the word is they're doing their best to open the door before Carver, or whoever she sends, arrives so they can get the first look at whatever lies within the facility and because they fear they might be excluded again."
    "Are we ready to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself?" Strauss asked.
    "Not quite yet, but we'll be ready in time to move in quickly when the facility is opened. Our main problem is one of keeping the assets in place without detection. We've located as many people as possible at the dig site as laborers, food preparers, and whatnot, and established a base some two hundred kilometers away in a mountainous, densely wooded area for the rest. The terrain is so difficult to traverse on foot that the area is rarely visited. Within minutes of being summoned, our shuttles can be airborne and arrive at Loudescott quickly. The problem is one of keeping our people bottled up inside the small ships until they're needed. We don't allow them outside because, although there are no surveillance satellites around the planet, they would be visible to passing aircraft. The shuttles themselves are camouflaged to blend in with the surrounding vegetation, and the hulls can mask heat signatures."
    "Do they have all the weapons and supplies they need?"
    "They've been fully outfitted and the shuttle captains have been briefed. They understand their roles. They'll deliver the people to the dig site when called and then ferry them off, along with whatever prizes our people are able to retrieve."
    "So what remains to be done?"
    "We're completing preparations for diversionary actions that will pull every Space Marine on the planet to the opposite side of the globe. These will seem like popular uprisings for better wages. Once the Marines begin to arrive at the distant locations, we'll block all communications from Loudescott so they can't signal for help. With luck, we'll have days before the Marines begin returning to their posts around the planet."
    "Excellent. How large is the Marine contingent at Loudescott?"
    "Quite small, really. It's less than a squad. We estimate their total planetary strength to be only about four hundred."
    "That's a significant number."
    "Not for an entire planet with hundreds of dig sites to watch over. They're actually spread out pretty thin. The Marines posted at Loudescott are responsible for all security at the dig, which encompasses some fifty square kilometers."
    "It would seem they'll not be able to offer much of an obstacle if half their present number have traveled to the other site of the planet when we're ready to move in. Excellent planning, Ahil."
    * * *
    The Roberts arrived at Dakistee right on schedule after a smooth and uneventful trip. Christa had spent part of the time brushing up on her Nordakian by requiring the computer interface in her quarters to speak to her only in that language. She also reread the books that she, Eliza, and Jenetta had co-authored a decade and half earlier to refresh her memory. She had also spent an incredible amount of time plowing through the myriad documents and vids they had found in the underground facility's computer. All top-secret documents had long ago been removed from her computer's database. Space Command had released most of the other documents to the