Clay must have slept because he woke up, but he certainly wasn't rested. Breakfast, coffee and several stimulants perked him up a little, but he still felt as if a black cloud had settled into his mind.
Now he was in a briefing room with seventy or so other pilots, waiting for the meeting to start. Half seemed to know each other well, laughing and joking in a group which clearly excluded the rest. The other half were formed of a few small groups and several pilots sitting alone, as Clay was.
Despite their apparent happiness the large group kept shooting glances at the rest of the room’s occupants. Not a good situation. In combat you had to depend on your comrades. If this distrust continued when they flew then the force would be seriously weakened. Clay found himself wondering wha
