“Got a couple of questions,” Mike said, gesturing for Vanner to follow him out of the room. Mike led the way to the war room and grabbed a seat.

“You look like you’re getting pretty friendly with some of the Keldara girls,” Mike said, raising an eyebrow.

“Is that why you wanted to see me?” Vanner asked, frowning.

“No, but I figure I should ask about it,” Mike replied.

“Gildana and I are just friends,” Vanner said, shaking his head. “She’s really good at picking out freqs. I’m being very proper in all my dealings with her. Speaking of which, I know these girls are being paid for this, but is there some way we can get them rank? They’re doing the job of commo and intel techs, which in the military would make them privates or specialists.”

“I’ll think about it,” Mike said. “But watch yourself. I don’t want some Keldara Father on my case over a pregnant daughter. Or even one that could be pregnant, if you get my drift.”

“Got it,” Vanner said.

“On the real reason I wanted to talk to you,” Mike continued. “We had a real breakdown in commo on the op. Not a breakdown, exactly, but…”

“The team net got filled with chatter,” Vanner said, nodding. “That’s partially a matter of training so they don’t just jump on the radio.”

“I’d like more,” Mike said. “Sub freqs for the sub-teams, a general freq for the whole team, then on up. Something where the commander doesn’t have to think about it to pass stuff down, though, and can listen in on the chatter. Also, I want to start working on a battle net. Something where call-for-fire, at least by those with the right equipment, is point and click. Probably with a voice backup and confirm, but I want to be able to point to a spot on a map and say: ‘Send fire there.’ I’d also like to be able to sketch out movements for the teams.”