Hello everyone. This is Dave the Miricle Maker and I hope you are having a great day. It’s another beautiful day up here in the high desert of Southern California, but it is starting to get hot. I just riecently started a new novel, titled Katrina. It is the sixth book in the Mike Mcdonald Action Adventure Saga. I also have been working on my pool out back to get it ready for summer. My cell phone desided to fall out of my pocket and take a swim, so I was without a phone for a couple of days. It works now after I let it dry out for a couple of days lol.

Today I would like to talk about The Home Doctor – Practical Medicine for Every Household. I highly recommend this book. If you are like me and you don’t go to the doctor unless you think you are about to die, then this is the book for you. It gives you practical advice on things like, how to recognize the symptoms of a stroke or a heart attack, how to do a self-breast exam plus much more. It tells you how to deal with common ailments as well as what medical supplies you need to keep on hand in case of an emergency. I think this book should be in every household. Check out the link below and let me know what you think.

The Home Doctor – Practical Medicine for Every Household

Now for you reading pleasure check out chapter 11 of my science fictionnovel, the Bttle for Europa which is book one of my science fiction seies the Space Corps Chronicles.

Chapter 11

David Gallagher, Alonzo Garcia, and the rest of the inductees poured out the doors of the bus.

“On the deck you slimy little worms! See the little yellow footprints on the sidewalk? Let’s see if you are smart enough to form up, on those footprints, and stand at attention!” the sergeant riding the bus yelled. Sweat beaded up on his forehead and spittle flew from his mouth. The inductees hustled onto the sidewalk forming up into ranks. “Move! Move! Move! We don’t have all-day people!” the sergeant continued. He paced back and forth in front of their ranks stopping in front of Gallagher and Garcia. Martin and Rosenbaum stood to his left. The sergeant’s nostrils flared. “You boys smell like the inside of a spittoon! Have you little worms been drinking?”

“Yeah, yes we had a few beers,” David stammered.

“That will be the last alcohol that will pass through your slimy little lips for the next thirteen weeks!” The sergeant stepped back surveying the entire group. “You pukes have to be the most disgusting batch of humanity I have ever seen! I am Sergeant Ray Blackburn! I am the senior drill instructor! From now on, you will address me as sir! The first thing and the last thing that comes out of your pie holes will be sir!” he yelled.

“Sir! Yes sir!” the inductees yelled back.

“Form up in columns of two! Left face! That means to turn to your left, in your civilian puke’s language! Move! On the bounce! Left! Right! Left!” The sergeant led them down the sidewalk to a rectangular-shaped building. They headed into a room on the bottom floor. David’s heart pounded inside his chest. The drill instructor’s assistants ran beside the troops yelling their lungs out.

“Have a seat you slimy little worms!” Blackburn yelled. He made his way to the front of the room while the inductees sat at tables facing forward. The shuffling sound of chairs sliding across the floor filled the room. In front of each inductee set a black marker and a small digital notepad.

“Pick up the black marker in front of you and write six zero five on the back of your hand! You are now in Platoon six zero five! The digital pad setting in front of you is your journal! Write down all the happy little things that you want to remember about your experiences at boot camp!” Blackburn paused to catch his breath. “Sergeant Duncan and Corporal Morales will be passing their campaign hats around! If you have any guns, knives, chewing gum, tobacco, or any other form of contraband, put them in the campaign hats! After you pass the hats forward, you should have nothing in your pockets! There will be no smoking or drinking while at boot camp! There will be no sexual fraternization whatsoever!” The sergeant took another breath. “Let’s talk about article ninety-one of the uniform code of military justice! It says that you will not disobey a lawful order! Article eighty-six prohibits you from being absent without leave! Article ninety-six prohibits disrespect to a senior officer! Learn these articles! Learn them well! Laser them to your brains!”

They passed the campaign hats forward. The inductees received a list of gear they would receive from the quartermaster. The list consisted of sixty-six separate items. The drill instructors marched them into an adjoining room and they stood in a line next to a long line of tables. Moving up the line, they received their gear. The first item they received was a seabag to put everything in. They received six sets of uniforms, six pairs of boxer shorts, six pairs of socks, and two pairs of boots.

With their gear stuffed into the seabags, they marched into an adjoining room. A long line of barber chairs was set near the bulkhead at the front of the room. The barbers stood behind their chairs with smiles on their faces.

“How would you like your hair cut?” a fat Italian barber asked David when he sat down in his chair.

David grinned. “Block it in the back, and take a little off the sides.”

“Would you like to leave the sideburns?”

“Why not? Let’s leave them.” With five swipes of his electric scissors, the barber relieved David of all the hair on his head. He took off his sideburns with one swipe each. David reached up and felt his bald dome when the barber finished.

“Move it boot! You’re not the only little lamb that we have to sheer today!” Corporal Morales yelled. After the haircuts, the inductees marched back to the receiving barracks. They toted their seabags over their shoulder. Sergeant Duncan marched them up to the top level of the three-tiered barracks. David breathed in the smell of pine-scented cleaner. Sergeant Blackburn instructed them to find a bunk and to empty the contents of their seabags. The drill instructors ordered them to put their gear into the footlockers at the end of their beds. Finished with their gear, they stripped down and marched to the showers for a head call. Sergeant Duncan ordered them to shower by the numbers. They washed and rinsed in an efficient manner cleaning one body part at a time. Goose flesh formed up, on David’s flesh and he shivered from the cold. After the head call, they marched back to their bunks. Sergeant Duncan ordered them to put on a pair of skivvies and retire for the evening. The time was zero two hundred thirty hours Earth Standard. God what have I gotten myself into, David wondered when he laid down in his bunk.

***

The sound of metal trashcan lids banging together brought David from a deep slumber. He bolted upright in his bunk wondering where he was and why someone was making such a God-awful racket.

“Drop your cocks and grab your socks my little worms! Out of those racks! Move! Move! Move!” Sergeant Blackburn yelled. The inductees scrambled out of their bunks. A few were moving too slowly for their instructor’s taste. They had their bunks, mattress, and bedding tossed onto the deck. “Form up at attention in front of your bunks! I haven’t got all day ladies!” Blackburn yelled. The inductees scrambled to obey his order. Sergeant Blackburn and his two assistants strutted back and forth inspecting the troops. They carried short rubber Billy clubs. When they caught someone slouching, they swung the Billy club. They struck the offender’s calf knocking them to the deck. “Since you’re down there, give me twenty! Sound off like you’ve got a pair! One, two three four! I love the Marine Core!” Blackburn yelled while those who received the strike to their calves did pushups. Blackburn stopped in front of David. “Are you eyeballing me boy?”

David’s heart hammered inside his chest. “Sir! No sir!”

“Are you calling me a liar?”

“Sir! No sir!” David yelled.

“You are calling me a liar! You were trying to eye fuck me, boy!” Blackburn punched David in the stomach, dropping him to his knees. “While you’re down there, give me twenty!” David assumed the position and started doing pushups. His arms trembled and he tried to catch his breath. Finished with the discipline, they marched the inductees to the head to shit, shower, and shave. After the head call, the inductees dressed. They made their racks and cleaned the squad bay. The drill instructors marched them down to the mess hall for morning chow at zero six hundred hours.

***

They spent the first week of their training in the receiving barracks learning close-order drills and doing a massive amount of PT. They attended classes where they learned military history, military protocols, the chain of command, and the order of battle. The instructors trained them in the operation and maintenance of the M-23 Blaster. They issued them M-23s and had them the rifles everywhere they went. At night, they went to more classes covering military terms and procedures. By the end of the week, they were fully indoctrinated and ready to start training in earnest.

In their Military history class, the instructor paced back and forth in front of the group. “Have any of you heard the name, John Rizzo? I know you’ve seen his name on the wall of fame,” the instructor asked but no one answered.

“John Rizzo was the commandant of the Marine Core under the old United States of America. During the chaos after the Third World War, Rizzo held the Marine Corps together. He defeated the bands of rebels and bandits, which terrorized the nation. Rizzo’s marines invaded Canada and Mexico, defeating the bandits and rebel scum there. They formed the North American Union. Rizzo also helped form the European Union and helped form the system of government we know today. When you are in your bunks getting ready to retire for the evening, when your drill instructor tells you to say good night John Rizzo, wherever you are, remember this. It was good marines like Rizzo who bled and died so that we could be here today.”

David leaned over and whispered to Alonzo. “Finally, they tell us who John Rizzo was. We’ve been saying good night to the bastard at lights out ever since we arrive.”

The following morning, the drill instructors ordered platoon 605 to pack their gear. With Sea bags over their shoulders, they left the receiving barracks and crossed the parade ground to the main barracks. It was where they would spend the rest of their time at boot camp. They marched to the top tier of a three-tiered barracks. Over the next three weeks, their training intensified. Rolling from their bunks at zero five-thirty, they made ahead, call, and then headed to the parade ground for morning PT. At zero seven hundred, the drill instructors marched them to the chow hall for breakfast. They had twenty minutes to eat, and then they ran the obstacle course.

They took classes in first aid, and hand-to-hand combat and learned the proper use of a bayonet as a defensive and offensive weapon. One of the inductees asked why they needed to train with such an archaic weapon.

“When all your standard 223 rounds are gone and your energy packs are dead. When you’ve fired off all your explosive rounds and all else fails you can use the M-23 Blaster with a bayonet attached as an offensive or defensive weapon. If the bayonet breaks, you can use your blaster as a club. A marine doesn’t stop fighting until he is dead,” Senior Drill Instructor Blackburn yelled.

They attended a class on water safety. The drill instructors ordered them to jump into a swimming pool wearing a pack with full combat gear. It was a timed test to see how long they could survive floating in the water. David thought for a moment that he was going to drown. He felt weak, but he managed to make it through the exercise. The drill instructors also taught them life-saving techniques.

“I know you little worms are wondering why we’re teaching water safety here on the moon. Most of you will ship out to Mars or become part of the Space Division of the Fleet Marines, think about this! At the end of your first hitch, or on your second, should you re-up, they could assign you to the straight-leg Navy on Earth! There are two mighty big oceans back home. Should you fall overboard, or get your ship shot out from under you, you’ll need to know how to survive!” Corporal Morales yelled.

David clung to the side of the pool to catch his breath.

When they weren’t taking classes, they ran with Sergeant Blackburn. He led them on ten-mile runs. He would leave the main complex and head into the bush. They stayed under the massive dome, which housed the entire base. The area they ran through was as rocky and rugged as any place on Earth. The environmental division of the Federal Defense Forces had brought in topsoil. They planted trees and shrubs. There was even a stream meandering through the base. David saw pan-sized fish swimming in the stream.

They also did massive amounts of PT. When one of the inductees screwed up; the DIs beat him with their rubber Billy clubs. He forced the entire platoon to do PT. Close to the end of the first phase of their training one inductee was always causing problems. He was getting the entire platoon into trouble. One evening the platoon had to march in circles for hours carrying buckets of sand in each hand. That night the platoon held a blanket party. One person held the offender down with his blanket over his head. The rest of the platoon filed by his bunk swinging socks filled with bars of soap. They battered his chest and upper body.

David’s nostrils flared and his breathing accelerated. His heart pounded inside his chest. “Shape up, you SOB,” David whispered and took his turn bashing the inductee. His screams filled the barracks. No drill instructors appeared from the DI shack to save the day. The next morning at reveille, the inductee seemed like a new man.

Gallagher, Garcia, Martin, and Rosenbaum formed a tight group within the platoon. The sergeant appointed David as squad leader. Alonzo, Paul, and Louis were the most trusted members of his squad. The fourth week of their training was spent in the field. They marched out into the bush, participated in live-fire exercises, and had to crawl under barbed wire obstacles. The instructors fired machine guns and laser carbines over their heads. Simulated explosions showered them with dirt and debris.

David kept his head down. Biting back the fear, he tried to keep his hands from shaking. A sense of exhilaration shot through him when the bullets screamed overhead. They crossed a slimy mud bog while under fire and formed a defensive perimeter on the bank on the far side of the creek. After the live-fire exercise, they bivouacked in the brush and played war games. The drill instructors designated Platoon 605 as the red army while platoon 606 was the blue army. David led patrols, looking for the enemy’s base.

On the final day of the exercise, the red army assaulted the blue army’s base and won the exercise. They marched back to the barracks, a tired, dirty gritty bunch having completed the first phase of their training. Once again, they packed their seabags. This time, their move was a short one. Platoon 605 marched down the stairs to the second tier of the barracks and took possession of the bunks.

***

Platoon 605 spent the first week of their second phase of training working in the mess hall. They crawled out of their rack at 03:30 hours to help feed the hungry marines. The sergeant in charge of the mess hall kept them busy until 20:00 hours. Then they would attend their evening classes. Finished with their week of mess hall duty, platoon 605 trained in chemical and biological warfare. They received training in the use of the Mark I EVA suit. Sergeant Duncan marched the inductees to a metal shack. He had the NCOs on the outside of the room close the hatches sealing them inside. Sergeant Duncan gave the inductees a demonstration of the suit’s capabilities.

“The Mark I EVA suit is your basic light-duty EVA suit. Unlike Mark II, you can put it on over your clothes. They designed it for short-term EVA missions. Missions like traveling from an atmospherically contained vehicle to an atmospherically contained building. The Mark II is for missions of longer durations. You must be nude inside the Mark II suits. The Mark II has urine and shit bags, which secures to the inside of your legs. It also has a camel pack for water and a nitro pack for nourishment. You access them through tubes inside your helmet. You can survive in a Mark II suit indefinitely. But you have to change out your air tanks when they are empty. You have to re-supply your nourishment packs and re-supply your water bladders. You have to change out your waste bags when they get full,” Sergeant Duncan said. “Pair up with another inductee. When you put on your suit, have your buddy check your seals and air tanks. Then check his.” A murmur went through the group of inductees.

Once all the inductees suited up in the Mark I EVA suits they did their equipment checks. The attendants drained the atmosphere inside the sealed room. They turned off the artificial gravity. The inductees interacted in the weightless environment. They learned how to move about in the EVA suits. After their EVA suit training, the inductees of platoon 605 marched to the rifle range and spent a week dry firing the M-23 Blaster.

“Remember breath control and remember your sight picture. Give the trigger a gentle squeeze as you exhale,” Sergeant Blackburn said. He instructed the inductees on the grass by the firing range.

The following week, the inductees of platoon 605 practiced their shooting skills. They fired from the standing, kneeling, and prone position, firing from three hundred yards, using, 223 rounds, explosive rounds, and a short laser blast. By Friday, everyone in platoon 605 was shooting well and everyone qualified. By the end of eight weeks, the inductees of platoon 605 had begun to work as a unit. Those who had been on the fat side when they entered boot camp had thinned down and muscled up. Those who were too skinny, hand put on weight and added muscle; the beatings with the Billy clubs had ceased. Now and then, the Inductees would hear a rare word of praise from their instructors.

Once again they packed their seabags and moved down to the bottom tier of the barracks for the third phase of their training. They spent the final four weeks of boot camp in close order drill, getting ready for graduation, and endured several inspections. The officers went over their uniforms and paid meticulous detail to the proper wearing of the uniform. They also graded them in the military bearing and decorum.

“You’re almost there my little worms!” Sergeant Blackburn yelled one evening. “We’ve got to polish off the rough edges and turn you into marines!” The night before graduation, the inductees stood at attention in their barracks. Sergeant Blackburn and the base commander gave them their last inspection. The base commander gave them a passing grade and left the squad bay while Sergeant Blackburn looked at his platoon with pride.

“Congratulations! You are no longer maggots or worms! You are no longer inductees! Today you are Marines! Tomorrow, during the ceremony after you march in review, you will all receive the rank of PFC. After the ceremony, you will receive a three-day pass! You will report back here at zero six hundred hours there days from now. We will provide transportation to Advanced Infantry Training! Remember those Mark II EVA suits that Sergeant Duncan spoke of during your EVA training? You will spend the next two months using them! After that, you’ll get your orders and travel to your first duty stations! Get some rest marines! Tomorrow’s a big day!” Sergeant Blackburn yelled and left the squad bay. A loud cheer broke out amongst the ranks.

“We made it, man!” Alonzo said and grabbed David up in a bear hug.

David’s chest puffed out and a grin crossed his face. “I had my doubts at first. I didn’t think I had what it takes.”

“You’ve got to be kidding mate. You were my rock. It seemed like you did everything right. When I felt like giving up, I looked at you. I figured if you could hang in there, then so could I.”

“This had to be the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my life. After this, AIT has to be a cakewalk,” Paul said. Little did he know that he would later, remember those words and laugh at his naivety.

***

After Graduation, David, Alonzo, Louis, and Paul headed to town to enjoy their three-day pass. It was the first time that any of them had the chance to see the lunar colonies. They got a brief glimpse when they passed through on the bus heading to boot camp. The first thing they did when they entered the plaza, a large indoor mall under a massive dome, was head to the local pub. David looked down at the front of the server droid’s dress when she delivered their drinks. He noticed the fabric of her sheer white top, which barely contained her ample bosom.

“It’s hard to believe they’re not human,” David said and picked up his drink.

“Human or not Mate, those titties look real,” Louis said. He gave the blonde-headed female server droid’s left breast a squeeze. The droid let out a squeal. Paul gave her a playful slap on the ass when the droid turned and headed back to the bar. The smell of tobacco smoke and stale alcohol drifted across the room.

“Her butt felt real,” Paul said. The back of her skirt barely covered the cheeks of her ass.

“Her tit did too,” Louis said and laughed.

“You couldn’t get away with that with a real girl,” David said.

“You might get yourself a real good shiner, Mate,” Louis said.

“You clowns are such pigs. If you were a Latin lover like me, the women would fall all over you. You wouldn’t have to get grabby. They’d be grabbing you,” Alonzo said. After getting good and drunk, they found a local tattoo parlor, had the Fleet Marine emblem tattooed on their left biceps, and then found one of the local brothels. After their three-day pass ran out, they climbed back on the bus, still half-drunk, and headed back to the base. Once they boarded the bus, they stowed their Mark I EVA suits and leaned back to enjoy the ride. When the bus arrived on base, they climbed, out and stood on the same sidewalk, with the yellow feet painted on its surface.

Bleary-eyed and hungover, they gathered with the other marines and waited for the bus that would take them to their AIT training.

“Isn’t this like the military, hurry the fuck up and wait,” David said.

The marines of platoon 605 boarded buses which took them through the base to an exit. It was on the opposite side from where they entered upon arriving for boot camp. They traveled for over an hour, still inside the massive domed structure. The buildings lining the road gave way to trees and shrubs. The trees and shrubs gave way to the rugged cratered landscape of the moon. The bus stopped at an airlock when they reached the south bulkhead and pulled inside. The outer airlock doors opened. The bus pulled out onto the barren lunar landscape. An NCO ambling up at the center aisle stopped next to David’s chair.

“You gentlemen might as well relax and enjoy the ride. It will be a few hours before we arrive at the training site. It’s off in the middle of nowhere. Platoon six zero five will debark at Camp Lunar Bravo. Platoon six zero six will go on to Camp Lunar Charlie. When you disembark, you will need to suit up in your Mark I EVA suits. You will receive your Mark II EVA suit when you arrive at the camp,” the NCO said.

“Thank you, Sergeant. Is it as rough as everyone says?” David asked.

The young NCO smiled. “No. It’s worse. Living in an EVA suit and being in a weightless environment for a long duration is no picnic. It’s even worse when you’re expected to fight in one.”

“Well that bloke made my day,” Louis said after the NCO moved on.

Alonzo shrugged. “We survived boot camp Bro. We can survive this.”

David leaned back in his chair to catch some sleep. Alonzo gazed out the window watching the lunar landscape roll by. Louis produced a deck of cards and talked Paul into a game to pass the time. The buses bounced over the lunar landscape heading to a remote military installation on the dark side of the moon.

They pulled up to the desolate base at the bottom of a massive crater. It consisted of several prefabricated buildings, which were set facing a common parade ground. There were several atmospherically contained vehicles parked on the parade ground. Stacks of building material were set near the buildings. The NCOs on the bus instructed the marines to suit up in their Mark I EVA suits. Once suited up in their EVA suits, they headed through the airlock and stepped out onto the harsh lunar landscape.

Outside a sergeant wearing, his, own EVA suit brought the marines to attention. He marched them into one of the larger buildings. They assembled in a reception hall inside the atmospherically contained building and took off their EVA suits. A dark-headed stocky NCO wearing a spotless Marine Corps uniform stepped to the front of the room.

“Gentlemen. I am Sergeant Brown. Your senior AIT training instructor. You will soon receive your Mark II EVA suits. After chow, we will hold class on the suit’s operation. You will spend the next month securing this base building fighting positions and going on recon patrols. You will work twelve hours shifts. Six hours of that time will be spent building fighting positions and six hours on patrol. After you’ve built the fighting positions and secured the base, we will be on a twenty-four-hour alert. You will spend six hours in your fighting positions and six hours on patrol. There will be rotating shifts. Platoon six zero six will be completing the same task as you. They will also prepare to assault this base. That assault should take place some time near the end of the month. After the assault, you will pack your gear and ship out taking over their positions. You will then become the aggressors.”

After orientation, the marines of platoon 605 marched off for their evening, chow. They received training in operation and hygiene for living in the Mark II EVA suits. After class, they marched to the barracks at twenty-two hundred hours for eight hours of sleep. The following morning at zero six hundred hours, they assembled on the parade ground wearing their new Mark II EVA suits. Some went to work securing the perimeter and others built fighting positions.

Other groups of marines went out on patrol armed with M-23 Blasters, which were set to low-power laser fire. They were looking for marines from platoon 606. Platoon 606 was the blue army. If they made contact they would engage them with nonlethal laser fire. If the marine scored a hit in a vital area, the suit would let out a beeping sound designating a kill. For the first two weeks, David, Alonzo, Louis, and Paul built fighting positions. When they filled their shit bags or urine bags, they disconnected them. They set the bags aside for the sanitation squad to dispose of. At the end of their shift, they headed inside for a shower, a hot meal, and some needed sleep. They also went on a few patrols. On one patrol; they walked into an ambush set by a recon patrol from the blue army.

After two weeks, they finished constructing the fighting positions and securing the perimeter. From then on, they spent six hours a day manning the fighting positions. They spent another six hours on patrol working on rotating shifts with very little sleep. Three days before the end of the month, David and Alonzo lay asleep in their racks along with Louis and Paul. The alert sounded. They jumped out of their bunks, suited up in their EVA suits, and ran to their fighting positions.

The blue army attacked the base firing their M-23 Blasters. They cut through the wire pouring into the compound. The troops manning the fighting positions fired off simulated claymore mines. They returned fire from the firing ports in their fighting positions. Green laser flashes and mock explosions lit up the night. The assault lasted for three days and ended when the blue army seized the entire base.

The marines of platoon 605 assembled with their gear the morning after the assault. They shipped out heading for the base to the north. The marines of platoon 605 became the blue army and the marines of platoon 606 took on the title of the red army. When platoon 605 arrived at their new base, their first order of business was to access the base’s defenses. After that, they would start offensive operations. They became the aggressor force and began reconnaissance missions on their former base of operations. For the next three weeks, they played cat and mouse with the patrols from the blue army.

David led his squad on several recon patrols. On the twenty-eighth day of the month, they loaded up into tracked vehicles. The assault went about the same as when they occupied the blue army’s positions. The blue army pinned them down for an hour before they broke through the wire. They received heavy laser fire from the defensive positions. When dawn broke on the second day of the siege, they secured the last building ending the assault. Two months after boarding the buses for their AIT training, they climbed onto the buses once more, headed back to the recruiting depot, and assembled in the room near the receiving barrack. It was the same room they had assembled when they first arrived at boot camp.

Senior drill instructor Ray Blackburn stepped to the front of the room. He sat at a wooden table behind a microphone. To his left set a stack of envelopes with names written on each one. Excitement filled the air and conversation buzzed through the room.

“First let me say, congratulations, marines upon the completion of your training. Before me, I have your orders. When I call your name, come to the front. After you receive your orders, report to the bus stop outside. The buses will take you back to the lunar colony. Inside your packet will be a two-day pass, which you can spend here at the lunar colonies. Then you will report to the shuttle port. You will catch a ride to spacedock where you will make connections to your first duty station.”

Sergeant Blackburn called the names and announced the duty stations. Some of the marines received assignments to one of the bases on Earth’s moon to serve as peacekeepers. Most received orders assigning them to Mars.

“PFC David Gallagher,” Sergeant Blackburn said. “Two days from now you report to the CEU-Pathfinder. She’s a troop transport which will take you to Mars where you will serve as a peacekeeper at the Martian colonies.” David stood to his feet and went to the front of the room to get his orders. “Alonzo Garcia. You will serve in the Fleet Marine’s new Deep Space Division. You will serve on the Port Royal. She’s in spacedock now. She’ll still be there in two days after your two-day pass expires.” After receiving their orders, David and Alonzo stepped out front and stood near the bus stop. Louis and Paul stepped up next to them after they received their orders.

“Where are you headed?” David asked Louis.

“I’m assigned to the Deep Space Division on the Port Royal with Alonzo. It doesn’t sound right mate. These blokes with the gold oak leaves don’t know their ass from a teakettle. I only planned on doing one hitch. Exploring deep space might take a bit longer,” Louis said.

Alonzo shrugged. “I guess you can straighten that out when you report for duty.”

“Where are you headed?” David asked Paul.

“I’m shipping out on the Pathfinder with you. We’re going to Mars,” Paul said.

“You guys can have Mars. Who wants to spend your time trying to corral a bunch of rowdy miners, when you can explore the galaxy? We’re going to make history, bro,” Alonzo said, putting his arm around Louis Martin’s shoulder trying to cheer him up.

“They are having a problem with rebels on the red planet,” Paul said.

“History and the red planet can wait. Let’s get on board this bus and head to the colonies. I need a beer,” David said. Two days later four friends gathered in the lobby at spacedock. They were half-drunk and hungover.

“This is it, mates. Who knows when the four of us will be together again,” Louis said.

“I’m sure we can locate each other on the Military VID-net. I’ll search for you guys and send you a message,” David said.

“Take care bro. It’s not gonna feel right without you guarding my back,” Alonzo said, grabbing David up in a bear hug.

“Old Louis here will back you up if you get in a tight spot,” David said, trying to swallow the lump in his throat.

“I’ll see you back in Cold Water when we’re out if I don’t see you before,” Paul said to Louis and hugged him.

“I doubt it, mate. As soon as I part company with the Federal Defense Forces, I’m heading back to jolly old England.” Finished with their goodbyes they parted company. Two-headed for Mars, and two-headed for the stars.

***