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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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Anh Leod · 
