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Chapter 17

Chapter 17

July 17th 2157

Traveling home from the platform was uneventful, and thankfully not as cramped as Logan had feared that it would be.  It was late when he opened the door to his apartment and stepped inside.  He stripped out of his jacket and shoes and picked up a cold beer from the fridge.

Logan was about to activate his holo to watched a movie when his DNAC bipped.  He looked down at his forearm and noticed he had a message.  The message simply read, Delivery of Message Spike to Logan Dent, July 17th 2157, file size 0.8673 terabytes. Download message?  A simple yes and no sat side by side at the bottom of the message.

0.8673 terabytes?  That was an awfully big message.  Logan checked to see if he had the storage space available.  He did, but not by very much.  He doubted that anyone would send a virus by spike and decided to download it.  A second after pressing yes on the download, the screen was replaced by another screen, Downloading... Percent complete... 0.0% and Estimated Completion Time... 2 minutes 32 seconds.

Once again Logan attempted to turn on his holo screen, when there was a light rapping at his door.  Logan was now a little annoyed and glanced at the chrono on his DNAC it read twenty-one twenty-three hours.  Wondering to himself who could passably be wanting or needing anything so late he crossed his living quarters and opened the door to the hallway.

In the hall stood a very large man, the largest that Logan had ever seen.  He stood close to seven feet tall, looked to weigh around two hundred and fifty pounds.  He was dressed in a button down digital camouflage shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows.  He had matching pants, with a black belt and black military issued boots.

On the very large man's left shoulder was a patch of the flag of New Congo; on the right shoulder was a patch that Logan had never seen before.  His collars had ranking pips that Logan had not bothered to learn, but what was most noticeable about the man was his face.  The man had a very broad nose and matching face that made Logan believe that he was probably a South Pacific Islander.  But on the left side of that face was a large and aggressive looking tattoo that took up a third of any available space.

Logan was dumbfounded and speechless, he should have opened the door and given a traditional greeting and inquired if he could help the man, or something that was equally as socially acceptable.  But all he could do was stand there with his mouth partly opened and stare.

The large man was the first to speak, "Are you Logan Dent?"  Logan was still dumbstruck and only managed a stupid nod of his head.  The large man continued, "I am Officer Heki, I have been assigned to be your guide and escort for your new job."

It was now that Logan realized that he did actually have the ability to speak, and replied, "Guide, new job?  What new job?"

Officer Heki flicked a practiced finger over his DNAC, "you should be receiving the assignment right about now."

He had only just finished speaking when Logan's own DNAC bipped.  Logan didn't move, but stood staring at Officer Heki.

Officer Heki shifted his weight slightly, "You have five minutes to pack.  You will need two sets of casuals, a hygiene kit, and anything required to help you translate."

Logan was confused, "Translate?  What would I be translating?"

The eyebrow not camouflaged by tattoo rose slightly in contemplation.  There was a moment of awkwardness, but he finally spoke, "assume that it's a language that you have never had any contact with before."

"What, like and ancient language?"  Anthony asked.

"I don't know any details," Officer Heki offered.  "But you now have less than four minutes to pack. GO."  The last word was a command, and it broke Logan from his spot.