Living The Life Of Riley

[Riley Mackenzie]

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Ten months ago today:
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'Mr. Mackenzie, it is currently zero eight hundred hours, Sir.'

...

...

...'Mr. Mackenzie, it is currently zero eight zero three hours, Sir.'

...

...'Mr. Mackenzie, it is currently zero eight zero five hou-'

"--ALRIGHT! I'M UP!!"

'Sir, I have left geosynchronous orbit above Los Angeles at precicely zero eight hundred, and we are currently en-route to the Texas jumphole as you requested.'

"Aye, thanks Bob...I'll be down in a minute."

Riley swung into a sitting position on the edge of his bed & took a moment to scrape the crust from his eyes as he felt the rumble of his Bumblebee's engines under his bare feet through the deckplates & travel up his calves.

Alot has changed in two months, he thought to himself as stood and stretched while letting out an exageratedly sleepy yawn.

He traded up to a better, more liveable freighter, put aside enough cash to buy a robot to help run his ship, he suprisingly enjoys his new life as a trucker, & is presently on his way to Houston to make amends to someone he almost damn near killed eight weeks earlier.

After getting dressed & turning on the Colony News Service, Riley headed down the stairs & into the galley for a spot of breakfast as he lost his footing, following a craft-rattling boom.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" he screamed interrogatively to his robotic servant.

'We have lost power to the engines Sir, I think you should come to the cockpit'

"But what happened!?"

'I believe the gentleman on the comm channel can explain it best Sir.'

"Who? What man?"

'Unknown Sir, but he's very insistant.'

Riley darts down the hall & into the front of the ship, glaring out the window & yells into the console:

"WHAAAAT?!?!"

...

"One Mil or Die." came the response.

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