Beyond the Horizon: New Dawn

3) Anthony

Anthony slowly got out of bed and stood in the center of his small room. He took one step towards his drawer and pulled it open. It was filled with UNSF Alpha Team jumpsuits like the one Adah had given to him yesterday. He flipped the jumpsuit over and saw that 'FNG' had been spray painted in red on the back of it. With an annoyed sigh, he tossed the jumpsuit aside. There was no reason why he should be forced to wear a jumpsuit with that label on it. He rummaged through the rest of the jumpsuits in the drawer, but the crew had taken the time to write on all ten of them.

"Wait," he muttered to himself. Anthony cracked a big smile when he discovered a loophole that would prevent the FNG spray paint from being shown and keep him in uniform. He grabbed one of the jumpsuits and put on the legs of it. Rather than putting the top part on, he tied the arms around his waist. Anthony gave himself a nod of approval then exited his room.

He made his way to the galley where Matt was pouring himself a cup of coffee. He turned around when he heard the door slide open and smiled at Anthony as he walked in. "Morning Anthony," he said happily. "Coffee?"

"Sure," Anthony answered as he leaned up against the counter next to him. He was relieved that he was being referred to by his actual name and not 'FNG.' Matt slid a small metal cup over to him. He thanked Matt and brought the cup to his mouth. The hot steam from the coffee swarmed his face. He lowered the drink a few inches and began to blow on it. He turned to Matt and noticed he was looking at him curiously with one eyebrow cocked up. "What is it?" Anthony asked. Matt looked down at Anthony's waist. "What's up with the-"

"Somebody spray painted 'FNG' on the back of all my jumpsuits," Anthony answered before Matt could finish asking. Matt nodded and took a sip of coffee while Anthony continued to gently blow on his. "How long 'til we get to Mars?" Anthony asked.

"Not long," he answered. "An hour or so and we'll be landing on the Red Planet."

Anthony looked at Matt perplexingly. Foreign ships had to dock first at Genesis, the space station in orbit around Mars. "We're not going to Genesis?" he asked.

Matt shook his head. "Chancellor Perez spoke with the Martian minister already. She gave us the all clear."

"We know anything specific about Doctor Braddock? Why we're even being sent for him in the first place?"

"I haven't got the slightest clue, we weren't made privy to that information. All I know is he is a Martian scientist with ties to BlackDiamond."

Anthony put his hand over his cup. The coffee was still too warm for his liking so he put it down. It would have been nice to know what the importance of the scientist was that the UN got involved rather than Mars. "Just suit up before we get there," Matt added. "You're on ground duty with the others." Matt's eyes became wide then he snapped his fingers. "That reminds me," he said as he reached into his back pocket. He pulled out a tablet and held it in front of Anthony. The tablet turned on and showed a yellow outline of a right hand. "Your hand if you will," he said. Anthony placed his right hand on the tablet. A green line quickly moved up and down the screen. The yellow line turned red as the tablet beeped. Matt smiled and put the tablet back into his pocket. "You should have access to the armory now," he stated.

Anthony nodded. He was curious as to why everyone would not be coming to the ground. With the USSF, everyone left the ship, even the pilot. "Who are the others that are coming down?" Anthony asked.

"Everyone else," Matt answered after taking a moment to take another sip of coffee. "But me."

"You?" Anthony asked in confusion. "Why aren't you-"

"I'm not trained in firearms," Matt confessed. "I'm a really good pilot. Top of my class and on a good day, I'd say best in The System."

Anthony looked at Matt in dismay. It was odd that someone could be on an Alpha Team and not be trained in firearms. "What rank are you again?" Anthony blurted out.