XVI
DeploymentDarkness still covered the camp like a shroud when reveille came for the Sharks the next morning. The nights were longer on Gaia, Tom realised, but it didn't matter. No rescue ship answered their call during the night, confirming his suspicions their signal was too weak to penetrate Gaia's heavily charged atmosphere. In the end, it didn't matter. Within a few hours past dawn, they would be overdue. The Olympia would send another ship to investigate and their first mission to Gaia would be over.
In the meantime, the city awaited, and they had a job to do.
“How's it going?” Tom asked by way of greeting as he and Derick approached the spot Luke and Shiny had chosen to set up the Mercator UAV. The unmanned aircraft would provide a bird's eye view of the ancient city as well a
