Prologue:The Break

The woman turned from the window and strode across the room. Cut glass beauty in a sharp military cut uniform. Her stride was long, languorous and sensual revealing a perfect line with every step. It would be enough to breed fantasies in normal men however the men stood around the war table were not normal. Every one of them stood precisely 2 metres tall in their stocking feet but not only that they looked alike and spoke with the same inflections and mannerisms. They regarded her with rapt attention and an almost soulless submissive posture. Their cultured similarity only heightened her frustration at the world outside. The Terrans called the world Hephaestus after one of their ancient gods but to her its dreary barrenness reminded her of the tedium of day after day of inaction and frustration as she tried to imagine why High Command had sent her here? One of the few born of natural birth in a race of clones it was natural that she would be in command but at this moment she would exchange it all to be one of the carefully programmed and gene sculpted warriors who had come here to save the Kalderan race from themselves. The clones only knew war and discipline. Clones were bred to enjoy endless drills and fatigues even when there was no enemy. Contessa hated drill, parades, Terrans and clones in that precise order. Now they had wiped them all off of this dust bowl and shipped the survivors back to New Kaldera for genetic strengthening of their warriors she was forced to follow her last orders to hold the planet and start mining the minerals.

The Lieutenant of Flight 9 whose insignia showed his designation as Sigmala 712 turned to give his report. He did this every day with endless punctuality and nearly always said the same thing. Contessa drifted. She mused over her situation. She couldn’t go home because the gate had broken down. The techs were puzzled but then they were all clones as well. They had told her the gate had just shut down and nothing they could do would make it work again. They carried on telling her that even after she had killed three of them so she guessed they had to be telling the truth. She had killed one more but that was just her way of working out her temper. The other techs had just shuffled back to work. She hadn’t smiled much only when she thought of one of the petty cruelties she had inflicted on many victims. Like that Terran youngster she had left scarred for dead in the ruins of his pathetic power lifter. Hardly a match for her Custom Medusa he had tried to stand up to her. She had turned his puny toy into mulch and then taunted him with his genetic weakness. The hate in his eyes had made her feel excited in a way that she hadn’t known before. Pity he was dead now, undoubtedly a victim of dehydration and the heat that the twin suns gave out. She stopped hearing something wrong in Sigmala’s report.

“Repeat that again!”, Sigmala 712 jumped a bit but then carried out her order monotonously.
“Two water bowsers are overdue. Their transponders do not answer. Their absence has been logged.” Sigmala 712 waited impassionately.

Commander Rugen turned to hide her face as she bit the back of her knuckle like a little girl. This was it, the break in her purgatory and the drones in at the table didn’t even see it. She cleared her face of emotion and turned to face the mindless drones at the table.

“Get me a full report of the last reported location of the tankers, Oh and prepare my Unit. I’m going hunting.” She strode across the room to her suit closet undressing as she went. The retreating lieutenants just looked away and filed out. Now naked she reached for her flight suit.

“Shall I notify your wingmen?” a querulous voice rose.

She turned herself round to face the Lieutenant and rolled her eyes at his completely passive face. Not even the remotest lust for her. A Terran would be a molten pool on the floor by now crying out for her attention. Terrans just gave back more for her effort.

“No I hunt alone! Now get out” She almost spat the last with contempt tinged anger. The clone just saluted turned and left. Oh how she hated this planet!