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Chapter 6: "Preparations"

Will

A blaring noise brought me from a deep sleep. The beeping was foggy; I was hardly awake and it sounded like I was under water. I pried my sleep-covered eyelids open and found that light was just beginning to filter in through my blinds. I groaned an rolled over. The clock glowed in the darkness: 5:35. So much for sleeping in.

I reached over and snatched my comms unit off my nightstand, which was still buzzing frantically. Without even bothering to check who was calling, I pressed it to my ear.

"Reynolds," I answered, my voice gravelly with exhaustion.

"Rise and shine, Goldilocks. Captain Deller needs you at the Command Centre," Parker's sing-song voice came over the line.

I ran a hand down my face. Leave it to Deller to take back my day off. I was actually relieved though; I didn't have anything in my life to do except work, so I would have just sat around all day anyway. I wouldn't have minded a little more sleep, though.

"Ah, thanks Ryans. I'll be there in ten." I hung up and tossed the little piece of plexiglass on the pillow next to me before hauling myself out of bed. My fatigues were still in a pile on the floor from the previous night, so I pulled them on, too tired to grab a fresh set. I splashed some cold water on my face to try and wake myself up, but my efforts didn't help much; I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a solid eight hours of sleep.

I ran out the door and headed straight towards the square. It was already fairly busy, even though the sky was just beginning to lighten and the sun wouldn’t be up for awhile; the market was hopping with merchants setting up for the day, and the team of soldiers I assembled the night before was preparing to head out to the clearing.

"Riley!" I called, flagging one of them down. He shut the tailgate of the rover he was loading and came over.

"What's up, Reynolds?"

"Do you know where Deller is?"

He smirked. "Yeah, he's up in Comms. Hasn't left the whole night. No one's going near him cuz they're afraid he's gonna bite their heads off!"

I sighed. HQ must be giving them hell. "Alright, then. Thanks."

"No problem, mate." He waved and walked back to the rovers.

I headed up the stairs of the Command Centre and could already hear the noise coming from the Comms room. When I walked in, the place was three times as busy as it had been the night before. It took me a moment to find the Captain, but the sound of him yelling gave away his location.

"Captain Deller, sir," I said as I approached his makeshift desk in the corner of the room. He nodded to acknowledge my presence, then waved off the soldier he had been hollering at. The boy gave me a thankful look on his way out.

The Captain clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Sorry about your day off Reynolds, but HQ is throwing so much shit our way you wouldn't believe it.

I chuckled. "Whacha got for me, Cap?"

He waved two fingers, and a woman came scrambling to his side and handed him a tablet. "Expedition stats," he said, passing it to me.

I glanced down at the screen, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. "Does that say three hundred colonists?" I practically shouted, and Deller nodded. "Is HQ out of their bloody minds!?"

"Apparently. According to them, they did all of the Evaluations within a week."

I clenched my jaw. "They aren't being thorough enough. Do you know how many breaches could get through with security like that!?"