"Approach window opens in thirty minutes".
"Mark your cohorts. Move on the horn. Clear lanes will be maintained. If you can hear us, we can see you."
The loudspeaker clicked off.
Travis broke the silence first. "Well," he said, voice dry as cracked leather. "That's encouraging".
"It starts in thirty minute," he chuckled humorlessly. "That's twenty minutes to run through hell. No pressure at all".
Jonas pushed himself upright. "We go now," his fists clenched, thick veins corded under his skin. "I'm not crouching in this dirty any longer".
Kara shook her head, spear balanced across her thighs. "We're not ready. We've marched, fought, and bled. Run out there half-dead and we won't even make a hundred meters".
Jonas glared. "And if waiting costs us the chance?"
Mira's quiet voice threaded between them. "Haste kills more than hesitation".
