“Come on! Shake out of it! You’ve been sleeping long enough,” it said. Its voice issued from a tiny jeweled medallion it wore on a gold chain around its neck.

“Who’s in charge here?” it asked again.

“I am,” I said, realizing the truth of it as I spoke the words. “My name is Orion, captain of this hundred.”

Those glittering eyes fixed on me. “Very well, Orion. Get your troops on their feet and ready for action—”

Another jolt rocked the room. This time it felt like an explosion. And sounded like one, too. The troops tottered and staggered. I grabbed the edge of my sleep capsule to keep from falling down.

The reptilian made a slight hissing noise. “You’ve got to be ready for action in one hour. That’s an order, soldier.”

It ducked back through the hatch. I realized that its equipment web was empty, mere decoration. We were going into action, all right, but it wasn’t.

The mist from the sleepers was almost completely gone. The troops were standing uncertainly, still unsure of themselves, their minds still fogged with cryonic sleep.

“All right,” I said, loudly and firmly, “you heard what the lizard said. We’re going into action. Fall in!”

They eyed me suspiciously, sullenly almost, but pulled themselves together and formed files alongside their sleeper units. Sergeants stood at the head of each row, and three lieutenants—two of them women—marched barefooted to the front of the room and stood at attention before me. No one seemed distressed by their nudity.

I did not know these troopers. I had been placed in their command just before the expedition took off, I recalled. Their regular captain had been relieved of duty for reasons that had not been explained to me. I had all the personnel data in my head, of course, but those were merely cold facts from their files. These hundred soldiers were all strangers to me.