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mission to retake a mining complex in one of the outer systems – her unit had been trapped for nearly three weeks in their suits the entire time.
    With a groan she pulled herself up to a sitting position and peered out of the opening. The sun had passed overhead, plunging the cliff into shadows. So close to the water that plunged hundreds of feet below the humidity was almost overpowering. She wiggled her toes in her boots, feeling them squish against the water that had pooled in them. With a reluctant frown she lowered her visor and called up the display of her suits internal sensors. She was carrying extra water, almost all the way up to her knees. That was impressive, considering how the suit had built in water absorption systems that would filter and reclaim it. Her pods were full and the suit couldn’t keep up. That was the same way the suit would process liquid waste, be it sweat or urine. Solid waste was another matter altogether and, ideally, one best avoided. During her three week stint alternative measures had been necessary but they were awkward and considerably unpleasant. She shuddered at the thought, then realized she’d be carrying more weight with every extra ounce of water the suit trapped and failed to process.
    Elsa detached her water pods and opened them, dumping the filtered water onto the rocks beneath her. She took a drink from the last one, then secured it back in place. She’d rested longer than she should have. A final check of her clock showed that she was now nearly eighteen hours past due for the landing zone rendezvous. She had thirty hours from a full strike force being launched if no response was given from the First Insertion team.
    What did she care? Elsa frowned and flipped up her visor. An orbital strike followed by gunships and a few companies of regular marines would wipe out everything for miles around. Even with that kind of firepower she was far enough away to be safe.
    She watched as an insect that reminded her of a butterfly out of a science text fluttered into her hiding spot. It zipped back out just as quickly upon seeing her, reminding her that she was the trespasser, not it. Elsa sighed and looked at her fists again. The material was worn and showed some patchy signs of hairline cracks. She’d made it almost halfway up, another few hours of personal abuse and she should reach the top.
    She gazed out over the jungle below, stricken by the beauty of the lush green vegetation and the contrasting flowers from trees and the few birds flying above them. A few creatures even darted in and out below, too swiftly for her to identify them, but she knew they were no more reminiscent of anything from Earth than anything else she’d seen. She remembered a parody of an old military slogan: “Visit new ports and new worlds; explore new cultures and meet diverse people; then shoot them.”
    She took another deep breath to set her nerves at ease then drove her fist into the rock wall again.
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 7
     
    The sun was setting as Elsa pulled herself into a sheltered overhang of rock carved out ages past by the river. It thundered past only a few feet from her, promising a swift and unforgiving end to anyone caught within it. She lay on the wet rock shelf shivering. She curled up, her aching body betraying her. Tears ran from her eyes and sobs threatened to burst free of her chest. She gulped at the air, desperate to stay in control. Her body hurt in ways she’d never experienced in all her years with the Corp.
    Laying there gasping, Elsa passed out for a while. When she woke she felt exhausted and thoroughly drenched. She groaned and tried to roll over. Her action triggered a reaction, that of a scuttling noise followed by a hiss. She jerked her head, craning to see, and saw a shelled creature that reminded her of a lobster, save for the tentacles that protruded from its mouth.
    Elsa screamed, the sudden fright driving her to action that she’d have sworn her body was