According to the sky, it was probably some time after midnight. The moon was on its downward path towards the horizon, and in a few hours the sun would struggle into view, giving an illusion of warmth were there was none. For the moment, though, he could imagine that only the stars above him, bright and brittle, were his companions on this little rock.

Of course, to do that he had to ignore the fact that an Alliance unit were entrenched a hundred yards away from him, and his own men – and women – were hunkered down in the trees, trying not to be seen or heard. Hopefully they were also getting some sleep, but he doubted it. Too ready for fight or flight, if he knew them.

A voice from the purplebelly camp shivered through the cold air as the watch changed, and a shuffling indicated someone heading back to their tent and not worrying about anyone listening.

A half-smile tilted his lips. Maybe they’d be lucky, and when the morning came the enemy would move on towards the town, and they’d be able to get back to their battalion without firing a single shot.

Something caught at his nostrils, a perfume, somehow familiar ... wood smoke. The prevailing breeze, what little there was of it, had dragged the scent from one of the camp fires turning back the night, ticking his senses in more ways than one. Tickling his memories, too.

His mother was always up early, even on a day like today. Making up the fires, turning the chilled house into a place of warmth and comfort, of a ready welcome.

A day like today. He knew, even without looking at the watch in his pocket – even if he could have seen the dial – that on Shadow it was first thing, the tip of the sun peaking over the edge of the world. He had always known, no matter what planet he’d been on, no matter what the local time or date. Some of his comrades had laughed at him at first, saying he was crazy, that nobody could possibly keep track of time that way. Then they’d checked and stopped talking.

He always figured he must have carried a li