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Ex
Factor first page:
Chapter One
March, 2310.
Terminal 132, Earth
The protesters
were out again, the dirty, blue-haired witches demanding equal
rights in the free markets. They didn’t realize “free” had no
meaning in relation to them. Columbo Balbane ignored the noise from
their shouts, his muscles straining, sweat dampening his shirt
despite the late winter cold enhanced by the icy air coming off the
river where the public dock was located.
The mega-ship
where he was enlisted as First Shipper hovered above the river, its
only touch point a gangway leaning at a thirty degree angle to link
it to the cargo hold. Smoke still hung in the air from the
warehouses in the shipping compound that the witches had burnt using
fire spells. He pulled his overloaded hand truck backward, its heavy
cargo too rare and expensive to trust to the automated system moving
most of the edible cargo bound for the Jupiter system. Everything
was jury-rigged thanks to the witches destroying their usual docking
point.
A creaking
noise in his elbow told Columbo he needed to take a short break. He
leaned the hand truck back against his belly and caught his breath,
his arms wrapped protectively around the topmost box, the one
containing fresh cherries for the Europan governor. The other boxes
held parts needed for refurbishing oxygen generators.
He spotted a Shipper
Assistant at the top of the gangway, his mouth hanging open with
shock at the sight of the witch protestors below. Witches were a
common sight on this planet but Gort hailed from Mars.
“Take this for me!”
Columbo called.
The younger man
trotted down the gangway, his eyes wide on his freckled face.
“You’re the only one allowed to touch those.”
Columbo glanced at the signs hovering above the
blue heads. There must be twenty or more of the cursed mutants,
wasting their time demanding rights Earth wouldn’t give them. The
protester’s signs shimmered with magic, giving them the effect of
neon.ega-ship where he was enlisted as First Shipper
hovered above the river, its only touch point a gangway leaning at a
thirty degree angle to link it to the cargo hold. Smoke still hung
in the air from the warehouses in the shipping compound that the
witches had burnt using fire spells. He pulled his overloaded hand
truck backward, its heavy cargo too rare and expensive to trust to
the automated system moving most of the edible cargo bound for the
Jupiter system. Everything was jury-rigged thanks to the witches
destroying their usual docking point.
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