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The story is about people just trying to get along and make the best of what happening most of which they cannot control. It is not in a galaxy for far away or long long ago, it is in the next bit of our galaxy about five strings of stars to the left. Here life spins out all be it on a larger playing field. Here too people want a quiet life and a good job but sometime fate has other plans. Thus it for a data manager called John Harris....

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Chapter 5 - - THE JUMP Harris stood waiting in the small switch room, waiting for what he did not know. Raftos was standing next to Harris, Mick was sitting on the floor in the corner watching the large panel on the main part of the wall. A small tinny sounding intercom speaker suddenly came to life and a voice came over cool and quite calm. " Command base control to Light Star, all personnel clear of the ground hanger, you may proceed to launch at your own time." Raftos leaned forward and pushed a switch near the intercom. " Light Star to base control." said Raftos. " All systems are steady, we are ready to make jump." Raftos let go of the switch. The speaker sounded for one last time. " Base control, good luck."...

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The story is about people just trying to get along and make the best of what happening most of which they cannot control. It is not in a galaxy for far away or long long ago, it is in the next bit of our galaxy about five strings of stars to the left. Here life spins out all be it on a larger playing field. Here too people want a quiet life and a good job but sometime fate has other plans. Thus it for a data manager called John Harris....

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Chapter 4 - - LIGHT STAR The shuttle circled the first moon of Morstan and headed toward Petra the furthest and smallest of the Morstan moons. As the dark side crescent of the third moon looped beneath the nose of the shuttle, the small barren moon of Petra appeared in view. It was a dark and uninviting place with no life except the very secret base where the Light Star project laboratories and assembly hangers were. The shuttle lurched as it gave a short burn to reach the high outer orbit of the moon. The planet below shrank rapidly smaller as the darkness of space enveloped the shuttle....

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In an apocalyptic Nebraska, where it hasn't rained in years, water has become a valuable commodity. At a time when no one can be trusted, 16-year-old Rabbit, is about to find out, just how far the government will go, to reserve resources for those they deem worthy- and for those they do not. Its up to Rabbit, and her father, to find a way to survive, in a chaotic world filled with thirst....

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It’s been four years since the last rainfall graced mother earth with its presence. Crops have withered away, wildlife has diminished, and the world has gone crazy with thirst. I have been scavenging for water wherever I could find it- abandoned homes, and from the rubble of burned out buildings mostly, but it’s never enough. My lips are constantly chapped, and my skin is as dry as a lizard. I try to drink just enough to survive, because I never know when my next score on a case of water is going to be. At a time when I should be celebrating my sweet sixteen, and dating boys- I am instead, dealing with the aftermath of a world without water. Dad had been talking to a few of the other survivors in our project, and they overheard a conversation with some military professionals, and the outlook looks bleak for those of us who have nothing to offer society. We are what the government refers to as “the filth of the human race.” With no degrees to our names, and no skills to offer- other than cleaning up after the rich- we were spared only for their pleasure, and then tossed out like an old toy when something better came along. ...

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CHPATER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE

Description Details
The story is about people just trying to get along and make the best of what happening most of which they cannot control. It is not in a galaxy for far away or long long ago, it is in the next bit of our galaxy about five strings of stars to the left. Here life spins out all be it on a larger playing field. Here too people want a quiet life and a good job but sometime fate has other plans. Thus it for a data manager called John Harris....

Excerpt Details
"I hope you slept well." Harris looked up, it was Peters who was just putting a cup of coffee down in the table. Peters pulled out a chair and sat down. "I suppose you want some serious explanations today." said Peters. Harris deliberately took this time spreading the marmalade on his Mallory bread, he cut a small piece off and slowly eat it. Peters was patent and sipped his coffee. What Harris wanted, he complained to Peters, was a quiet life, he did not want to know what was going on, as he had the feeling it was going to get very complicated, very political and possibly dangerous....

Description Details
The story is about people just trying to get along and make the best of what happening most of which the cannot control. It is not in a galaxy for far away or long long ago, it is in the next bit of our galaxy about five strings of stars to the left. Here life spins out all be it on a larger playing field. Here too people want a quiet life and a good job but sometime fate has other plans. Thus it was that the fortunes of fate settled its hand down on the head of a data manager called John Harris....

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With that nauseous feeling you get on re-entry the decent shuttle landed at the main space port on Morstan. Harris looked out the side window as the shuttle was gently towed from the runway across to the parking apron by a large support tractor. A waiting passenger tunnel reached out from the terminal building to automatically connect with the shuttle. The terminal building was simple and plain with none of the flashing lights or gaudy colours of some space ports. This building stated quality and status, befitting the political centre of the Eastern Empire. The few passengers that were on the shuttle made there way into the waiting lounge for final security and paperwork checks. Before Harris had chance to sit down however a large gentleman in a dark blue uniform made his way across the lounge towards him. Although his uniform had no insignia of any kind on it everything about this man said security guard big time....

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Arthur Mcnair climbed to the top of society with his world changing invention: The Memory Chip. This device, implanted above the user's right ear, can erase any memory or group of memories. The chip gave the world a chance to forget their problems and pain, and the world bought it. After many years of successfully leading the company as CEO, Arthur found himself faced with divorce papers from his wife and a lawsuit from his partner. On the eve of the court trial that would decide the fate of his company, Arthur was mugged, his memory chip hacked and the last twenty years of his memory erased. Risking his life and sanity, he undergoes an experimental treatment to retrieve the precious memories. Looking for clues about his enemies, his wife’s dealings and his company’s past, Arthur might not like what he finds....

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The rain covered the sound of footsteps behind him. He did not shout for help as a strong arm grabbed him from behind and another blow hit him square between the shoulders throwing him to the ground. He made no struggle as his arms were pinned behind his back. A car pulled up and he was thrown headfirst into the backseat. A female voice commanded his attacker, “Quick give me his head.” His head was lifted from the floor of the car and twisted to give unobstructed access to his memory chip. “How far are you going to go back?” Someone asked from the front seat. “Twenty years.” Arthur felt a code being punched into the memory chip on the side of his head, an instant later his vision was clouded by darkness and he sunk into unconsciousness. Time to start over again. ...

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The only future that can be predicted with 100 percent certainty is one that can be calculated mathematically--for example, the orbit of a comet. Adam is unknowingly selected on a short list for relocation by aliens, as part of a grand plan to save the Earth's species from certain extinction in the coming global catastrophe....

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Short work, taken from Foresight Series (print anthology). Made freely available in electronic form.

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The footage is grainy. It’s always grainy, but it doesn’t need to be good, merely good enough to remind us that someone had to sacrifice for our privilege of serving the Wall. The field could be anywhere, anywhere dry and horrible, but it isn’t. It’s where the guards always take them—well within the boundary lands....

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Había llegado el momento para el que se llevaba preparando toda la vida. El adiestramiento había sido largo, incómodo, lleno de dificultades y de granos. Odió los granos. ¡Ojo! Sólo pensar en los granos le podría... prefirió ni acabar el pensamiento. Pero ya era demasiado tarde y el recuerdo se manifestó como un fugaz latigazo de dolor. Agosto tras agosto de pérfidos granos que se acumulaban inquebrantables. Se controló y ahuyentó el odioso recuerdo y lo suplantó por otro más placentero. Tal y como le habían enseñado. Estaba preparada y no le quedaba ni un solo grano. Intentó ni dudar un momento pero al fin no lo pudo evitar y se acercó a verificar al espejo. Casi serena se contempló. Se juzgó científicamente y se felicitó...

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Había llegado el momento para el que se llevaba preparando toda la vida. El adiestramiento había sido largo, incómodo, lleno de dificultades y de granos. Odió los granos. ¡Ojo! Sólo pensar en los granos le podría... prefirió ni acabar el pensamiento. Pero ya era demasiado tarde y el recuerdo se manifestó como un fugaz latigazo de dolor. Agosto tras agosto de pérfidos granos que se acumulaban inquebrantables. Se controló y ahuyentó el odioso recuerdo y lo suplantó por otro más placentero. Tal y como le habían enseñado. Estaba preparada y no le quedaba ni un solo grano. Intentó ni dudar un momento pero al fin no lo pudo evitar y se acercó a verificar al espejo. Casi serena se contempló. Se juzgó científicamente y se felicitó...

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Siendo niño viajé mucho por toda América, y a decir verdad no sabría explicar el porqué de este privilegio, salvo que la mayoría de veces solía figurar como “invitado” en tales travesías. Fui, para no traicionar mi educación norteamericana, el centro de las “situaciones”, aunque realmente nunca deseé que fuera así. Debo reconocer que tuve la buena fortuna de haber estudiado en un colegio donde los estudiantes extranjeros predominábamos y eso influyó bastante en que me convirtiera en cosmopolita. Pero no quiero hablar sobre ello, sino de lo que me ocurrió en un viaje de estos. Y hoy que me cargan los años y una responsabilidad que todavía no encuentro, empiezo a verlo más nítidamente aunque sigo sin comprender. Recuerdo que iba en escala hacia el aeropuerto de Miami, desde donde partiría finalmente a la ciudad de Raleigh, por invitación de un compañero de colegio muy querido mío llamado Jean Pierre (y de su hermano François, el hijo eterno de la Madraza, como exclamaba a escondidas su madre), un muchachito de raza negra cuyo máximo sueño consistía en llegar a convertirse en diseñador de automóviles (por cierto, de aquí en adela...

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-Tiene forma de cigarro –decía una. -Es enorme –argumentaba la otra. -Esa nave, o lo que sea, según mi cálculo, tiene el tamaño de una pequeña ciudad –agregó otro que dijo ser ingeniero civil-. Es una construcción imposible para que sea el producto de nuestra tecnología actual. -Jamás lo hubiera creído a no ser que lo haya visto con mis propios ojos –verberó una más cayendo al piso con las manos juntas-. Y ahora que lo veo, se siente como una experiencia religiosa. -Von Daniken tenía razón –dijo otra. -Eh, tú niño –dijo de presto la que estaba arrodillada-. Ven acá –y se levantó para halarme de una mano, la que le extendí en el acto y sin demora; el hombre de sombrero quiso oponerse, sacó su navaja, pero la mujer con los ojos saltados le dio una bofetada-. ¿Eres su padre? ¿No? Somos la Hermandad –bufó la señora con movimientos rápidos de cabeza, tal si estuviera convulsionando, dirigiéndose a él-. Has fallado –y alzándome en medio del gentío-, y hete aquí que tú has sido examinado y no se te ha hallado error. -¡Pero señora! –le gritó una joven muy bonita-. ¿Qué le pasa, está loca? ¡Suéltelo! Ven acá, niño. No le ha...

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A deadly comet is on collision trajectory with Earth. Will the aliens' grand plan to save the Earth's species from certain extinction succeed, or is there a more sinister reason for their terrestrial presence? 2023.2 is the sequel to 2023....

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In a future where population control laws have made it difficult for men to find a date, a civil servant struggles to woo the woman he adores.

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In a world torn apart by a ruthless dictator, humanity is enslaved and on the verge of extinction. The governments have fallen. The cities lie in ruin. The only hope is a man who has been in exile for over a year....

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A lightly dystopian tale of life after the destruction of most technology.

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A band of light torques around her finger and then it drops. The rest flows down from her head and out in all directions—a messy, not- quite halo, hanging far too low, obscuring her otherworldly face....

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El dolor no cesaba de martirizarme y otra vez volvió a mí el recuerdo de Míster Hastings. Con gran asombro, descubrí al Bombón Playero encallado cerca del aeropuerto de Roatán, isla abajo. Subí por la proa enterrada en la arena y examiné cada uno de sus rincones. No había rastro de Míster Hastings. Ya en la cabina, pude dar con la bitácora del barco. «Hace treinta años que cerca de estas aguas perdí a mi amigo Narciso Way en las fauces del Gran Segueta», estaba anotado. «Y desde entonces la Niebla no ha cesado de perseguirme». Esto me pareció excesivo: ¿acaso había muerto yo? Seguí dándole vueltas a las hojas; cogí otro diario. «Los ataques de bruma se han incrementado. Gran parte de los marineros han reportado una gran actividad lumínica en los cielos. Bolas de luz que parecen moverse fluidamente en el espacio como si fueran células dentro de citoplasma u otras que simulan bailar en un concierto terrorífico de apariciones espontaneas no renuncian a manifestarse en el firmamento. »Y luego aquellos temblores de tierra que no hacen más que provocar maremotos. Hace un mes se perdió una aldea entera en las costas de Yuca...

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El dolor no cesaba de martirizarme y otra vez volvió a mí el recuerdo de Míster Hastings. Con gran asombro, descubrí al Bombón Playero encallado cerca del aeropuerto de Roatán, isla abajo. Subí por la proa enterrada en la arena y examiné cada uno de sus rincones. No había rastro de Míster Hastings. Ya en la cabina, pude dar con la bitácora del barco. «Hace treinta años que cerca de estas aguas perdí a mi amigo Narciso Way en las fauces del Gran Segueta», estaba anotado. «Y desde entonces la Niebla no ha cesado de perseguirme». Esto me pareció excesivo: ¿acaso había muerto yo? Seguí dándole vueltas a las hojas; cogí otro diario. «Los ataques de bruma se han incrementado. Gran parte de los marineros han reportado una gran actividad lumínica en los cielos. Bolas de luz que parecen moverse fluidamente en el espacio como si fueran células dentro de citoplasma u otras que simulan bailar en un concierto terrorífico de apariciones espontaneas no renuncian a manifestarse en el firmamento. »Y luego aquellos temblores de tierra que no hacen más que provocar maremotos. Hace un mes se perdió una aldea entera en las costas de Yuca...

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Cette novella, très référentielle, rend hommage à l'écrivain Roland C. Wagner, tristement disparu suite à un accident de la route le 5 août 2012.

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Subspectrum Counterfeiters alludes to grave concerns for the future of the United States of America, and perhaps the world. Here's to liberty on this lonely orb amid the stars....

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I dedicate my novelette, such as it is, to a Passenger Pigeon named Martha.

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Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury, published in 1953. It is regarded as one of his best works.[3] The novel presents a future American society where books are outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found.[4] The book's tagline explains the title: "Fahrenheit 451 – the temperature at which book paper catches fire, and burns ..." The novel has been the subject of interpretations focusing on the historical role of book burning in suppressing dissenting ideas. In a 1956 radio interview,[5] Bradbury stated that he wrote Fahrenheit 451 because of his concerns at the time (during the McCarthy era) about the threat of book burning in the United States. In later years, he described the book as a commentary on how mass media reduces interest in reading literature.[6] In 1954, Fahrenheit 451 won the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature and the Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal.[7][8][9] It has since won the Prometheus "Hall of Fame" Award in 1984[10] and a 1954 "Retro" Hugo Award, one of only four Best Novel Retro Hugos ever given, in 2004.[11] Bradbury was honored with a S...

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The novel is divided into three parts: "The Hearth and the Salamander", "The Sieve and the Sand", and "Burning Bright".

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Obsession with genetic engineering segregated humanity into the perfected and defective. Dictated by science and technology, the search for immortality near destroyed the human race. What remains of mankind, struggles to survive in barbaric clans suppressed by Masters and false doctrine. Known as Project Noah, an underground community seeks to restore civilization by rehabilitating those snatched from the surface. An enemy from the past is out to re-establish a plan to cleanse the earth. Assaults on both the surface and underground survivors reveal devastating truths regarding their sanctuary and savours....

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The novel opens in London in AF 632 (AD 2540 in the Gregorian calendar). The society is illuminated by the activities of the novel's central characters, Lenina Crowne and Bernard Marx, and others. Lenina, a hatchery worker, is socially accepted and contented, but Bernard, a psychologist in the Directorate of Hatcheries and Conditioning, is not. He is shorter in stature than the average of his Alpha caste—a quality shared by the lower castes, which gives him an inferiority complex. His intelligence and his work with hypnopaedia allow him to understand, and disapprove of, the methods by which society is sustained. Courting disaster, he is vocal and arrogant about his differences. Bernard is mocked by other Alphas because of his stature, as well as for his individualistic tendencies, and is threatened with exile to Iceland because of his nonconformity. His only friend is Helmholtz Watson, a lecturer at the College of Emotional Engineering. The friendship is based on their feelings of being misfits (in the context of the World State), but unlike Bernard, Watson's sense of alienation stems from being exceptionally gifted, intelligent, ha...

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Brave New World's title derives from Miranda's speech in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, Act V, Scene I:[5] O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't. — William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act V, Scene I, ll. 203–206[6]...

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Greetings Earth creatures. This book has been dropped off on your planet for the purpose of... well, for you to read it. I'm not sure if you'll like it, I might not if I was you. I'd wager many of you won't be big fans. The investment banking community will especially be... put off by some of what is contained here. An advanced copy was sent to your virtual place of worship 'Reddit' and met with mixed results. While spending nearly a full day on the front page, many Earthlings voiced their stern displeasure with the book. Many others found it lovely. I'm not sure who I'm more concerned for. Either way this is a book I only meant to help with. I know sometimes books, words and ideas can make you humans angry; but then again, pretty much everything seems to do that. In the end, just remember it's only words in a book. Can't we all just get along and go for a swim instead?...

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Wilx looked at the nearest cage. It had a sign reading PECKING GRAPPLER-BIRDS. Below this sign was another sign reading NEVER OPEN. They couldn’t have chosen a better cage to stand in front of while defending themselves from yet another angry and hotly pursuant mob. Wilx did the unthinkable. He opened the cage. Pecking Grappler-Birds swarmed out, quickly filling up the space of Subterranean Layer 53. They pecked. They grappled. They flew. “Run!” yelled Wilx. Rip and Krimshaw followed Wilx down the corridor towards the Master Ladder. “I think those bird things have them distracted. But don’t slow down.” “Can you believe how fast they peck through to the brains?” asked Krimshaw. “And how effectively they grapple the spinal cord?” added Rip. “No time to admire the rapid killing technique of the Pecking Grappler-Bird. Everybody get on this ladder now.” ...

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Apparently, there’s been an underground, cold war going on, not noticed much by humans, between “good” vampires—those who have altered their biological needs and can use synthetic blood—and “bad” vampires—Rogues who actively enjoy hunting, draining and butchering humans. Now Sheriff Hudson and his friends are in the middle of the war, which has gone above-ground and hot. The chase to catch and stop—kill if necessary—the Rogues consumes Hudson and his crew, as they struggle for their lives on the platform. The good vampires help as they can, but Hudson’s not sure he trusts them completely either. The war spills over, involving Earth and the Navy Space Force, as the hordes of Rogues and their Servants come forth openly, killing hundreds of humans as they try to obtain the materials they need. Hudson and his friends—Doctor Holly Marten, an old Navy friend from “back in the day”; Max, Hudson’s former platoon corpsman; Cal, Max’s boyfriend; Helga, Doc Marten’s assistant—have to first get their minds around the almost unimaginable, then deal with the crisis as it spreads from the mining platform to a solar system war. ...

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“Man, I’ve never seen anything like this,” I mutter to the screen in front of me. The stale smelling air in the office circulates slowly around me as the electronics hum in the background. “You know? I’ve been in this business a damn long time and never…” Max grunts as he looks over the vid I’ve sent him. “Spirit! Me neither. What the hell happened? Someone making some crazy juice up there? Found any?” He glances back to me from the other screen, grimacing. He’s been in the cop business longer that I’ve been so my instincts were right—if it upsets him, it’s gotta be as bad as I thought it looked. I’m no fainting pansy myself but jeeze…I shudder. “Nope. Doc says no trace of drugs. There was some grass in the compartment, but it was only the company-issued crap they give out for anxiety. The little green pellets. Nothing else. Nothing but this.” I look down at the vids myself, displayed on my desk. They show… They show what used to be a human, although you’d be hard pressed to guess that at first. There are parts everywhere in the compartment; the man was literally pulled limb from limb and then the limbs were, well, destroy...

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Space Force Grunts is a Science Fiction novel playing several generations into the future. After the human race has invented hyperspace flight, thousands of planets are colonised. Those new societies maintain their independence until the human race encounters an alien civilisation that also masters space flight and hyperspace travel. Being so very different from the human race, those aliens are at first not even recognised as an eminent civilisation commanding over impressive, seemingly sheer unlimited means and a proficient use of advanced technologies. When the mistake is discovered, it is too late already for avoiding a clash of civilisations and a violent conflict has already started. The worlds settled by the human race gradually unite ever more under the leadership of a political movement. Conscription is introduced to provide for the military forces’ need for soldiers. People with sufficient means can purchase freedom from conscription and escape the draft. The funds obtained by the administration via that purchase of freedom are used to supply the military with materials means like weapons and to pay the soldiers who get dra...

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Base 18 on Planet DN-DU-144/5 was a place that could only be found on detailed military maps. This planet was circling a sun situated at the border between our Local Bubble of stars in the Milky Way and the much bigger Loop 1 Bubble, another assembly of suns and planets. DN-DU-144/5 was the fifth planet in outward direction, when counted from the local star as centre. Base 18 now consisted of a dozen bunkers, a few deep wells and a couple of cisterns appendant to them, a makeshift front-line spa, and most importantly a maintenance station for fighter robots and combat drones. Base 18 on planet DN-DU-144/5 was in principle a bleak place. Though at that moment it was officially day-time at the location of base 18, there was actually just a little twilight. The far sun, going by the less-than-poetic name of DN-DU-144, illuminated only the abundant clouds enfolding the planet decently. Little light ever made it through to the surface. ‘I just love it’ Master Sergeant Koon had sarcastically said when arriving at this place, together with all the other soldiers of the 5th company. They had taken this base over from a unit that had suffe...

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