No matter what, Ronan had found the Liang Lu, Gongshi specified by the mission. He did not seem too difficult to get along with, either.
Ronan still did not quite understand why that Sergeant Major had sent him here. But the field officer giving orders here, who seemed to outrank him, had already made arrangements. Ronan was happy to follow the script and see what further arrangements the "Inner Universe" editor—or his own subconscious—would make.
Ronan glanced again at the highly capable field officer and got his name from the auxiliary Smart Brain:
Sheng Zhan.
It was an odd name, but he was clearly a capable man.
"Newbie, keep up. If we don't want to take the long way around, we need to hurry."
As Liang Lu's reminder came, the auxiliary Smart Brain received a broadcast: "The Relay Station has entered Level One wartime status. Power to nonessential areas will be cut off. The personnel Passageways will close in 30 breaths, and the auxiliary magnetic tracks will close in 120 breaths."
Ronan knew that a "breath" was the basic unit of time in this interstellar civilization, roughly five Earth-standard seconds. Thirty breaths meant about two and a half minutes.
Liang Lu said, "The field officer has arranged for us to return to the interior of Two Beehive, where you'll receive orientation training. If we can enter passageway No. 3 within ten breaths, we can save around seventy breaths. Then we'll have a little more time to familiarize ourselves with the work."
Ronan's game avatar gave a crisp salute. "Yes, Liang Lu, Gongshi."
Liang Lu was quite satisfied with Ronan's response, but in the end, he could not keep up the pretense. The corner of his lips lifted. "No need to address me so formally. I'm not a commanding officer or