"Shuddup," said Axel. He turned to me. "What does a good commander do in a case like this, Bill?"
Even though I'd been in the Army, the generals had never confided their methods to me. But you do pick up a few military principles, even as a buck private. "Send out a patrol," I said.
"What good does that do?"
"Well, if we sit here like lame ducks, we won't know when they're coming, how many, and we certainly won't find out what they have in mind," I said. "But if we scout them, and view their potential, maybe we could figure out some way of defending ourselves."
"You don't think we could fight a whole planet? Or even a small company of armed soldiers, do you?" Joel asked nervously.
"If it looks like they're coming to get us real quick, we can lift off," I said. "Maybe they figure they'll need a pretty big force which will take a couple of weeks to organize. If that's the case, we can do a lot of scientific work before we leave."
"Okay, Bill," said Axel. "You're the patrol."
"Now?"
"The sooner the better," said Axel.
I got my helmet. Then I picked up the rifle Spartan had carried on his trip. It was loaded with two rounds of explosive shells and eighteen rounds of ordinary bullets. I slipped a couple of spare clips for my automatic into my pocket. Then I went into the locks.