He woke early, eyes open but body motionless as he tried to sort his memories. He lay on his back wearing a t-shirt soaked with sweat. Throwing the covers off his legs to combat the heat, he sat up on the edge of the cot and rubbed his face as he recalled that he was safely ensconced underground.

The source of his discomfort was the single UV heat lamp set up in the corner of his small room that bathed the inert form of the Tracker drone. The warm light recharged it through the splayed solar panels protruding from its flanks.

There was another knock on the door before it opened to reveal Soares entering and releasing the handle with his elbow to stand tall and reveal a cup held in each hand. Wordlessly, Cole reached out and took one, inhaling the aroma deeply before sipping the coffee and letting it diffuse into his cells to wake him fully.

“You good to go in five?” Soares asked him, earning a nod of agreement from Cole.

“Where are we off to?” he asked after he’d enjoyed another long pull of the dark liquid.

“Zhao has a little surprise to reveal. Not that I don’t know what it is, but hey, we all need a little amusement, am I right?”

Cole nodded again, not feeling like enjoying himself much. He hadn’t felt like that ever since the failed attack on the Gateway, when Tom, a man he’d only recently discovered to be his blood, threw his life away in a heroic attempt to rally the survivors of their race to fight the enemy.

Soares, evidently much closer to the man, was positive and smiling. Deep down, Soares was probably in as much turmoil as he was, but infinitely better at hiding it.

“You bringing that?” he asked, pointing at the sleeping drone. In response, Cole stood and stretched before setting down his cup and reaching to flick the power switch on the lamp. Seconds after the glow subsided, a whirring noise sounded from the Tracker as the panels folded and retracted before the start-up sequence woke it to fully alert. It stood, unfolding the legs it nestled on neatly, scanned the room with an economic turn of the head, and took two paces toward Cole to watch him.