I thought about this for some time.
“I must admit,” I said at last, “I had never given serious consideration to outliving my usefulness.”
“I would not concern myself with the problem,” replied Zur, “were I you, Commander. In many ways, you have changed much more readily than I.”
“Explain?” I requested.
“The change has been obvious, Commander,” Zur asserted. “Whether your rise in rank has been because of your change, or you have changed to fit the rank is irrelevant. The change is there.”
“I am not aware of a change,” I stated.
“Only because you are not prone to self-analysis. There was a time when you knew each Warrior under your command intimately. You deemed it vital to the performance of your duties. Now, I doubt if you even know the names of your strike team leaders’ second-in-commands. I would hasten to point out this is not intended as criticism. A certain amount of detachment is necessary in a Commander. But it is a definite. deviation from your earlier patterns.”
The second ready light came on. This time from Tur-Kam and Heem’s ship. The period of waiting was nearly over.
Zur started to continue, but I held up my hand for silence. While his points were interesting to ponder in inactive time, I did not want any distractions when we finally entered into battle.
The third light remained unlit.
It occurred to me it would be ironic if the final assault against the Coalition failed because of a malfunctioning ready light.
The light still remained dark.
I considered summoning a Technician to check the device. I was about to ask Zur’s opinion, when the third and final light came on, completing the pattern.