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  “What about our gear?” Denek asked him.

  “You’ll be fitted with new armor on route.”

  Crim raised an eyebrow at his friend. A trooper’s armor was custom fitted, highly sophisticated, and very expensive. Only after years of training and proven battlefield effectiveness did a trooper earn the qualifications to have it. Once issued, it was repaired and upgraded as needed, but never replaced. Nothing that could irreparably damage armor was survivable by the occupant who wore it.

  “What’s wrong with what we have now?” Crim prodded.

  “Incompatible with the mission,” the aide said enigmatically and kept walking.

  ***

  “This is not a standard carrier vessel,” Crim said to Denek, standing next to him in the vast cargo hold. “Did you see the waste heat radiators when we docked? They’re huge – much larger than any conventional in-system craft.”

  Denek growled noncommittally. The air in the hold smelled stale, mixed with traces of ozone as if a plasma arc had been discharged not long ago. The sound of Crim’s conspiratorial voice bounced of the many hard surfaces surrounding them, making the extent of the space difficult to gauge. Equipment was present everywhere, but unlike the precisely maintained layouts and clear functional organization Denek was accustomed to in other military vessels, this one seemed haphazard and improvised. Conduits as thick as his thigh where crisscrossing the space, vibrating with barely contained energies just below hearing threshold in frequency. Strange, faceted surface finishes reflected the inadequate lighting in jagged shadows. Frost had gathered on cryogenic components, while other systems glowed dull red, materials crackling and pinging from heat expansion. It seemed as close to a mad science experiment as he’d ever seen, much less stepped foot in.

  As they cautiously rounded another equipment bay, deftly avoiding being frozen, burned, shocked, or blinded in this scientific minefield, they came face to face with their new armor. It was definitely not standard issue.

  “Damn …,” was all Crim could think of saying for once, while staring speechlessly at the personification of destruction he was destined to soon bring to life.

  ***

  AP VESSEL XCELSIOR

  MISSION LOG

  Y/2206 D/221 09:20.12 UTC

  T-30: Vessel is translating insystem in preparation of executive directive 2647-X4 (classified NTK only). Use of radiogenic material has been authorized. Taskforce has been briefed and is in final preparations. Localization is progressing, convergence at seventy two percent.

  T-15: Entering keep-out zone. Gravitational stresses are expected to reduce vessel life time by twenty two percent, waiver 2647-XD-A4 has been issued and authorized. LECF reactor is stable, radiogenic catalyst burn rate at five percent below projected values. Taskforce is in stasis awaiting deployment. Per directive, subjects have not been informed of temporal vector.

  T-5: Localization is complete, counter indications are below three sigma. Authorization received to enter terminal count.

  T-0: Incursion initiated, minor ablation of secondary plating due to environment variability. Thermal profile remains within allowables.

  T+2: Incursion complete; bulk retrieval rate at point eight three. One operator degraded, positive prognosis for reconstitution.

  T+5: Completion of directive 2647-X4, all objectives met within resource constraints.

  End of log.

  ###

  Dear Reader, thank you for your interest in my work – I hope you enjoyed this story; please post a review (good or bad) where you purchased it and connect with me online. I greatly value my reader’s opinions, and personally read each and every one of them!

  The Author

  About the Author

  Born and raised in Western Europe, Ralph Ewig immigrated to the US in 1992 at the age of twenty. He has lived in both the Seattle and Los Angeles metropolitan areas, and holds three degrees in the field of aeronautics and astronautics from the University of Washington. To date, he has worked as a musician, a roadie, a lumberjack, a vineyard apprentice, and with many government and commercial space organizations.

  Ralph currently lives in Northern California, continuing his pursuits of space exploration, creative writing, motorsports, and martial arts. He maintains an active blog on ralphewig.tumblr.com.

  Titles by Ralph Ewig

  Freedom

  Choice

  Power

  Eleuthera

  Sadaka

  Xenia

  Deyja

  Keynsho