Jamal's ear flicked to the side, signaling both idleness and boredom in one succint gesture. It was night out, and that meant it was cooler than the daytime, but it was still a searing twenty-five degrees Celsius, and small crescents of sweat were forming under his armpits. His cap came off in his paw, and he pushed his other paw through his short, bristly hair. ★★★ All units, prepare for insertion. Thus was the call over the KY-72-encrypted cyberbrain network, to each of the fourteen occupants of the CV-22 Osprey, flying over eastern Somali airspace.