But even those same officers needed time off and so the downward trend continued.Shipboard living spaces have always been minimal at best. And for tra...sported combat troops, even less so. Very quickly they took over large station spaces for their own use. Sleeping and dining facilities were created. For our part, civilians were quickly hired for the menial labor. Dish washers, floor scrubbers, etc. Of course, these folks were all spies.From those barracks’ locations, a circle started. Those. Shit! We watched you guys come through Barstow and thought you'd be easy pickings. Colby," she nodded at the driver of the damaged tank who was still trying to shake the ringing from his ears, "thought that if we surprised you with these tanks from the Marine base, you'd have no choice but to hand over the truck and whatever else you had collected. How'd you know?"The dogs had been in evidence, weaving in and out among the people, sniffing at crotches, pissing on machinery, and, in general,. Knowing this Pedro set to work moving the blade that had fallen from Father Gerome's body from where it lay beneath him, upwards and to his fingers. The effort took a lot of time and care. He needed to flex muscles slowly so that his movements would not draw attention to him from the men who were holding him captive. It in fact took most of the day. Still Pedro did not give up until he felt at last the cold metal of the blade touching his fingertips. Only then he could relax and rest and hope. “Wait! Carl Rigger and Haiti, his woman, they took the last lot of slaves to Terra on the Horizon. We have been waiting for them to get back. They were supposed to be back here a month ago, that’s why we have been rationing the food.”“He would have had to purchase a smaller ship to come back. I’ve heard talk that the settlement ships now had guards, so maybe they decided to pick up another gunship instead of a freighter. Carl had put the four shuttles they had confiscated from the other ships.