[Philistine]

Point of interest… So far, what Graff has seen of Kel in the field has been limited to 1) in the Old Imperial Docks, Kel barging into a situation that Lillian was handling perfectly well and karking the whole thing up, and now 2) dividing the forces under his command in the face of an unknown enemy with apparently overwhelming numbers (judging by the last message of the shuttle crew) and charging a quarter of that force headlong into an obvious ambush situation. He's seriously wondering what this guy is doing running around without adult supervision.

If you want to "move fast" to "get the job done," you should look for a way to bypass the labyrinth*. Rushing into it blind is more likely to get the entire "spearhead" force wiped out than it is to accomplish anything useful. Also note, labyrinth. A difference of only a few seconds, if it causes the two widely separated groups to lose sight of each other, is enough to result in people taking different turnings and getting farther and farther apart, rather than catching up. This isn't a matter of sentimentality, it's a matter of not acting like Random Victim #347583 in your average slasher flick.

* Off the top of my head, by climbing onto the tops of the crates that make the maze… or by backing one of the starships up to it, firing up the primary sublight drive and just blasting it away.