By Allan Fisher

The cigarette dangled from Captain Coogan's lips precariously as he stood on the planet looking up at the sky. The space station hung there directly overhead. How the hell it had ended up in such a low orbit around this dirty rock he had no idea. But there it was. He jumped into his small personal Space Cutter and blasted off steering manually against all regs.

It was a short trip and within fifteen minutes he was landing in the dark Hangar of Flare Station. He hit the kill switch and the Cutters engine turned off, leaving a deadly silence in the air of the cockpit. He checked his sensor readings and to his surprise, the atmosphere was still breathable. That in itself was a good sign, but he wasn't going to get excited yet. What his sensors weren't giving him were life signs and that was what he was here to find.

Of course, he really didn't expect to find any... the last time he'd set foot on this station was over 50 years ago and he'd hoped to never see it again. Unfortunately, his conscience wouldn't let him go to his grave without making sure that everyone had died in the explosion he'd caused. And it didn't matter if it was or was not an accident, it was still his fault. He pulled on his suit quickly, tossing away the cigarette and checked his seals. Then he cycled the air lock. No matter how this turned out it was going to be bad, he just knew it.

Deja-vu... that's what they called it and he had it 'big time', as his boots hit the deck. For a fleeting moment, his mind took him back all those years. He was just a snot nosed brat of a ranger in the 1203rd fleet. And Flare Station was just a 48-hour stopover before he slept, his way out of the solar system. But it hadn't turned out that way. He realized he'd been standing on deck thinking and listening to the cooling sounds of the ship's engines too long for safety, and spun around to check his back but nothing was there waiting to pounce. He was edgy. He checked his sensors again and cautiously raised his visor. The air was stale and damp, but it was air. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and blamed the sweat left on his glove on the suit's internal heating system and turned it down. As he began his search he realized the station even smelt the same. That oily metallic smell you get around large machinery and a definite taste of ozone in the air that set his teeth on edge.

He walked down the corridor exiting the huge hanger area, which was obviously empty, and his boots clanged on the metal floor noisily. Well, he certainly wasn't going to sneak up on anybody like that... but part of him hoped like hell there was nobody to sneak up on. All of the station's lights seemed dead, which only made sense, so after a few steps into the deepening gloom, he was forced to turn on his emergency suit light. That would drain his suit's battery pack faster than ever, and he cursed himself for not planning ahead. As he walked onward he realized he should put his visor back down and reseal his suit... but he just wasn't thinking straight. In a depressurization emergency, he'd be dead before he could button down, but he just wanted to get this over with and leave.

The steel walls around him were glistening with condensation now that he was getting deeper into the station and he had to activate his boot magnets to keep from slipping on the wet floor. The darkness was complete as he rounded the first bend in the corridor and even with his suit light boosted to the max he couldn't see more than two feet in front of him. He knew he couldn't keep his light on its highest setting for long... as it was he could already see it eating into his battery power and with all this condensation the bulb could blow at any minute. He knew he was crazy to continue, just by looking around he could tell there hadn't been anyone in these hallways for years, but he marched on just the same. He was just about to round the second corner when he heard it. Had it been a footstep? He couldn't be sure. He could 't even tell where it had come from. There, he heard it again somewhere in front and to the left, he immediately raised his arm cannon and pointed it at the sound. He walked towards it and when it sounded for the third time he was looking right at it. As his heart started to go back to its regular rhythm, he laughed at himself for being so rattled by a dripping pipe. He straightened up and took out another smoke, lighting it with his suits flame thrower attachment. He knew he really didn't have anything to worry about in the way of safety. With the armaments, he was carrying and the protection of his heavy duty Kevlar flight suit he could probably take this whole station by force even if it was full of bad guys. There was always a chance of that, but it was unlikely given the remoteness of this station from the major shipping lanes. Hijackers, pirates, and terrorists liked to live as close to their victims as possible.

He came to the entrance of the bar and his light beam reflecting back from all those mirrors startled him so badly he almost hit the deck like a new recruit in basic training. He leaned against the door jam to get his bearings and was lost in memories for a moment. He could almost see them sitting at the bar, just as they had been fifty years ago.

The hot blond to the left and the nerdy-sexy brunette to the right. The saw him staring and shared a quick conspiratorial look before beckoning him over. The drinks were cheap and so was the talk. The blond called herself Jaclyn and the brunette was Aubry. They lived on flare station and they were bored and looking for some fun. It was oldies night and the three of them danced to some long forgotten song called War Ensemble and then one thing led to another... and then another... good memories. Too bad they ended with an alien attack and a giant explosion.

Still, he would kill to be that young again.

He shook himself from his reverie and walked towards the, now very dusty and damp, bar and noticed that there were still bottles of booze behind it. He easily jumped over the counter using his suit's hydraulics to soften his landing and grabbed the first bottle he saw. It was whiskey and as he broke the seal he knew that it was a bad idea to have a shot in a high-pressure situation like this. But even though it went against all his training he needed it. He took a long pull off of the bottle and put it back as the liquor burnt his throat. It had been fifty years old when it was put on the shelf and now at one hundred years it still packed quite a kick.

Captain William Coogan, or 'Wild Bill' as his detractors called him, was a large man. At 6'6", 2601bs he wasn't the kind of guy you wanted to have as an enemy. Proof of that is the fact that no one has ever called him Wild Bill to his face. Although he knew about the nickname, and he approved. He had always been 'wild', that's how he made Captain. Space Command didn't have time to nurture recruits. The best and the brightest moved up quick and the rest got lost in the shuffle. Coogan had never had any intention of getting lost. He had joined the corps at sixteen with a twenty- five-dollar fake ID. Space Command had needed bodies for the Mars Wars and wasn't doing background checks. Over the next 50 years Coogan made his fair share of mistakes, (like the one he was atoning for today) but by anyone's standards he had come out a winner. He had grown up on earth, in a third world cesspool, and today he was calling the shots, A captain of his own ship in the Space Command. 'Local kid makes good' and all that crap.

As he placed the bottle on the bar the magnets on its bottom snapped it down securely sounding like a gunshot. Everything on space stations is magnetized even your toothbrush. No one wants a bunch of crap floating around in a zero G emergency. The sound of the bottles magnets shouldn't have startled him, he'd lived most of his adult life on ships and space stations. But in the dark and the silence of Flare Station Captain William Coogan almost crapped his pants. That was enough incentive to get him up off his ass and moving again. He left the bar and picked his way cautiously down the main corridor once more. His chest hurt. The damp air was taking its toll. Sixty-six wasn't old, not with all the advances in medical science over the last couple of hundred years. Men and Woman easily lived to well over 150 years, barring accidents or the very rare incurable diseases. And what with faster than light travel and cryogenics you could bounce your great great-great-great grandkids on your knee quite easily.

Technically Capt. Coogan had been around for all of those 66 years, but as a member of the space corps, he had seen the inside of a cryo coffin more than once and been past the speed of light more times than he would like to admit. In actual living/breathing years, he was a lot closer to 40. But that knowledge didn't take away the pain in his chest. Wild Bill didn't like doctors and didn't like checkups. He had always been self-sufficient and was quite happy to look after himself. But he had a bad feeling about this pain... it wasn't the first time he'd had it. In fact, that pain was a big part of why he was out here in the middle of nowhere. Loose ends.

Finally, he found the main freight elevator. He didn't expect it to be working after all these years, but he keyed it down anyway. Nothing happened, not much of a surprise. The entire joint must be running on emergency power. Just enough juice to keep the vacuum out and the air breathable. The problem now was how to get to the living section. It was only four levels up, but if the elevator was stopped in the shaft above him he was fucked. Coogan set his flamethrower on its finest setting and got down to cutting his way through the steel elevator doors. Ten sweaty, profanity filled minutes later he finished the cut and the left door fell into the pitch-black shaft. It took almost a minute minutes for the burnt chunk of steel to hit the bottom of the shaft far below. Coog didn't even hear it. He removed his chest light and shone it up into the shaft. No sign of the elevator, maybe his luck was improving. He was about to start the long hard climb when his suit's telltales went off. His power was down to critical levels, which meant no light and no heat if he didn't juice up. He dragged himself back down the corridor and jacked his suit into a power coupling. For a second nothing happened, but then the lights went green and his levels started to rise. He sat down to wait for the recharge and closed his eyes.

~-o0O0o-~

"Alright, you grease stains, this is your last night on Flare so make the most of it. I ain't your mama and I don't give a good God damn what the fuck you do as long as you show up in time to ship out!" Blared Captain Stevens. "Now get outta my sight and stay outta trouble. If I have to get any of you out of the brig I'll personally kick your ass through the roof of your mouth! GOT IT?" He looked from one grunt to the next with a nasty grin on his wide frog like face.

Apparently satisfied, Captain Chris Stevens turned his back on his troops and began to walk away. "Dismissed, ladies!" He called over his shoulder and each and every soldier let out a sigh of relief.

"So, what do you want to do Billy?" Asked Joshua looking over eager as usual.

Joshua was a slight young man with blonde hair and a nasty overbite. At eighteen, Josh was two years older than Coogan, but he sure didn't act it. He definitely didn't fit the rough and ready stereotype of a space corps soldier, but he was a good kid and Coog liked him... but he didn't like being called 'Billy'.

"First I gotta find a bathroom and do a Trump, then I'm gonna go see my ladies. What about you Josh?"

" I heard that they have a Holographic interface here. I was gonna go check it out. You sure you don't wanna come with me?" Said Joshua looking at the floor.

Coog chuckled to himself as Josh's cheeks began to turn red. "No thanks Josh, meet you in the bar later. Have a good time."

Coog watched Joshua disappear down the corridor and quickly checked his 3D map of the station before starting off in a different direction himself. His battle suit's computer was great at creating the 3D map for him And he had no problem embracing the technology, but a Holographic Interface was a whole other ball of wax. He would rather get his entertainment (or sex) the old fashioned way. Using a Holographic Interface or HINT as the junkies called it, involved plugging your brain directly into a computer. it was kind of like the old Virtual Reality Machines only a lot more invasive. More that one HINT abuser had had his brain fried by a programming error and Coog didn't want to become another Crash-Case. He had already explained the dangers to Joshua, but the kid just had to try it. Oh well, at least Joshua was smart enough to stay away from the burn rooms. Lots of new recruits went in for that. Getting 'Burned' was the newest fad, it seemed. Instead of getting tattoo's, the young men and women would line up to get their unit insignia the hard way. At the end of a red hot branding iron. They all wanted to prove how tough they were, but most of them just ended up wetting their pants or worse).

Coog smiled to himself and he sped down the corridors towards the girl's apartment. He was sure he could convince them to go another round. Hell, he was shipping out, anything could happen to him. Besides, they sure seemed to like him last night.

The half ran the last ten yards to the door and keyed the entry buzzer.

A muffled voice answered from inside. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Coog! From last night! Open up!"

The door slid open and Jaclyn stood blocking the entrance. "What do you want?" She asked looking bored.

He smiled, "Hey babe, just figured I'd come by and see if you girls wanna get a drink, or whatever."

"No thanks." She said and slid the door shut in his face.

Coog couldn't believe it. He pounded on the door. "Hey, come on, what's the deal?"

The door slid open again and Jaclyn looked at him with disgust. "Fuck off dude!"

He felt like she'd punched him in the guts. "... but I thought..."

"You thought wrong asshole now get lost!" She spat and shut the door in his face again.

"Wha... what the hell!" Coog was ranting at the closed door beside himself with anger and humiliation. "Well, fuck you both... you fucking sluts!"

He stormed away down the corridor, pushing passed the onlookers. Screw them, their loss. He thought to himself. He walked for a while around the station and soon he was lost. He checked the 3d map and oriented himself. The HINT lounge wasn't far away and so he figured he might as well see if he could find Joshua. Maybe he could keep the kid from getting in trouble.

He rounded the next corner and sure enough, the double doors to the HINT lounge were dead ahead. As he approached, they suddenly flew open and six aliens slithered out waving blasters. Coog dodged a laser bolt and combat rolled out of the line of fire. He pulled his slug thrower from its' holster and pumped off three quick shots hitting two of the purple monsters. More of them were coming out of the double doors and he there was no way he could hold his position. Alarms were going off all around him and Coog let off another volley of shots, then dashed back down the corridor.

The aliens were coming out of every door, it was a full blown invasion. He fired madly in all directions running at full speed. He passed the girls door and it flew open. Jaclyn and Aubry screamed and called his name. Coog turned and started to run back for them, but suddenly they pulled off their skin, revealing purple alien flesh and slimy tentacles.

He stopped before they could reach him and launched himself through the next open door. It closed behind him and he was alone. He keyed the lock and then looked around. He was standing in the main reactor core. It didn't make any sense, he was sure that the core was on the lowest level. It didn't matter... there was only one thing to do. He sat at the control interface and calmly started the self-destruct sequence. He had less than thirty seconds to get out, but he had no choice. He couldn't let the aliens take the station.

Coog hit the final key and the countdown started. 30... 29... 28... He jumped up and ran to the door keying it open and blasting away with his slug thrower. Aliens were everywhere and his punched and kicked his way down the corridor shooting them as he passed. 22... 21... 20... He ran faster than he had ever run before praying he could make it. As he approached the elevator the door opened before he could push the button, inside was a huge purple monster. He fired the last of his slugs into it and leapt inside. 15... 14... 13... He banged his hand on the elevator wall, urging it to drop faster. The ride down seemed like an eternity, but finally, it came to stop and the doors opened. 9... 8... 7... Coog sprinted across the hangar and jumped into his fighter ship. 3... 2... 1... He hit the boosters and the ship blasted out of the hangar just as the core exploded.

~-o0O0o-~

"Wake up Private Coogan."

He looked up at the blurry figure standing over him. "Private... what the..." He mumbled. His groggy brain knew something wasn't right. He must have fallen asleep while his suit was charging. So, there was someone on board. Someone he'd left behind.

"Are you alright Private?" It was a woman's voice...

He rubbed his eyes and looked around. He wasn't in the corridor anymore, what the hell was going on?

"Just take it easy Private, it takes a few minutes to get your bearings, just relax."

Coog looked up at the person who was speaking and his whole world changed. It was Jaclyn, just as blond and beautiful as he remembered. A few feet away at a computer terminal sat Aubry, she smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up.

"... but... I thought..." He stuttered.

"It's okay Private Coogan, it can be a little confusing for a few minutes after using the Holographic Interface, but that will pass," Jaclyn said and patted his shoulder.

"A dream... it was a dream?" He said quietly.

"Not a dream, an experience!" said Aubry happily.

"... but the aliens... the explosion... the last fifty years of my life..."

Jaclyn grinned at him, "amazing isn't it?"

Less than ten minutes later sixteen-year-old Private William "Billy" Coogan stumbled out of the HINT Lounge with Josh and made his way down to the hanger to ship out on his first mission.