But don’t make mistakes, either. AndI suddenly realized I had made a great mistake. I had placedcompleteconfidence in Stephanie. I had no backup plan. If something wentwrong I had less than one week to devise another military option tokeep the Aristolans and my own men from getting slaughtered.
I wondered if I should go talk toJaclyn. I needed a little serenity.
Chapter 17
The three Horsemen, as Starret hadnicknamed the aliens, had returned to their ships. The table hadsunkagain into the sand.
“That’s all folks,” Starret said.
A desert wind, sounding angry yetforlorn, blew sand across his ship. The red sand smacked againstthetwo ships, a pitter-patter of granules. Rain sounded better,Starretthought. On a dozen different planets you could fall asleeplisteningto the rain. Rain had a gen
