Five Days on Pimu
A short story collection
By Gabe Sluis
First Edition
Copyright Gabe Sluis 2014
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locations or persons, living or dead or undead, is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Five Days On Pimu
A Step Back In Time: Unpublished Journal Entries From The Early Days On Cyn
Dutch Power
A Night in Kayros
Waking the Robot
I See You Most Nights
The Death of Aros
Five Days On Pimu
The inside cabin of the transport aircraft was silent with the roar of engines and whipping wind from drag. Men sat facing each other along the inside walls, small helmeted heads in the center of a mound of gear. Some were sleeping, some stared off in their own thoughts. Most were young; all had faces devoid of any subtle softness, which was indication of the kind bodies beneath. Goggles hung under chins and all exposed skin was covered. The grey aircraft climbed high into the early morning sky.
The uniforms were all the same. Items were mounted in the same positions on the soldiers’ kits. Should an item be needed from a comrade, one knew right where to find it. Everything was dress-right-dress, except for Barrak Fare. The out of place individual still looked like a soldier, except for hair an inch longer than the rest and a light, yet full black beard. He sat in similar gear with his back to the cockpit divider. The folded glider wings on his back were military issue, but the personal clothing and survival pack were of mismatched colors.
The Glide Master, outfitted in an emergency parachute, came around the divider from forward and gave the hand signal to his flock that they were ten minutes out from release. The troops echoed back the message and began final preparations. The GM sat next to the odd-man-out and leaned in for a shouted private conversation.
"The green light will be left on long enough for you to launch after the sticks have gone. You good on the distance and direction of your intended target?"
"Yeah, mate!" The former soldier shouted back.
"These type-D's have ten seconds of assisted burst! You good on that?" the GM asked.
"I've only been off the line for a year, Tom. I know how the D's work! I was a cadre at glide school when they introduced them!"
"Well it's good to see you again Fare! No one had heard from you since you got out! We got a little worried!"
"I appreciate you doing this for me too!" Fare shouted back. "You sure they won't miss the wings?"
"Ehh!" the Glide Master said, waving his hand. "We never have any equipment losses! Pushing long training runs on us from Yelamu down to the desert once week, is going to produce losses. Maybe loosing a glide system here or there will make the chuckle-heads in Ground Service Headquarters rethink how hard they are pushing us!"
"Still strange to hear it called that! Seems like a lot has changed in the time I've been away!"
"Don't we all know i