I suck my gut in as far as it will go, but it feels like it won't budge.
I.
Can't.
Seem.
To fucking. . . Nope.
My button flops to the side as I abandon the effort and pull the front of my vest over my opened pants, hoping the Lady would be benevolent enough to spare me this indignity today. But no. I'm mostly dressed in my brand new, too-stretched official Earth VIPER BDUs. It was a uniform I was proud to receive when they dispensed them. The special print was made for my VIPERs and our ground reconnaissance. Black and gray stripes crisscross over our bodies camouflaging us into the wreckage of a storm cloud. Our arms are branded with red patches featuring a large gold star surrounded by the ten smaller stars of the URE. Somehow, it was decided that the insignia of our President would become Earth's flag. I try to keep my sneer to myself.
The stiff material of the BDUs swish with each movement of my arms and legs. It's more uncomfortable than it has ever been in my life, but it will have to do. Checking the mirror one last time, I straighten completely and pull the ends of the shirt down over my unsecured pants. I nod at the reflection. My face is fuller, my neck, chin, and cheeks more rounded than ever before. It looks like I've put on some weight.
This will have to do.
I'm about to be a space explorer.
YOU ARE READING
HMS Valediction
Science Fiction[Book 2 of the ARC10 Trilogy] Rampant addictions, psychotic breakdowns, and threats of mutiny keep Commander Janika Lorn up all night. Transporting two-thousand souls safely from a destroyed Earth to a new habitat aboard the refugee ship ARC10 has b...
