[Illustration: “Flesh” © 2006 by Romeo Esparrago.]
On Bishop-34’s southern hemisphere the wind started to pick up. I could already tell, experience being the best sensor, that this was what I considered a “Classic” storm and as the first of the hydrogen-sleet began to sever land sensors and pelted what remained of my belt armor, I just shut down. No sense in being aware of a storm that could last up to a year or more.
* * *
The last time I had seen a storm like this was during my first tour of duty with Earth Guard as part of the 7th Fleet, Altaan-Sector. I remember it only because of how badly it had hampered our mission. The Altaan-Sector was on the far-most edge of human-inhabited space and had enjoyed enormous prosperity due to at first unrealized natural resources.
With the influx of such wealth in such a short amount of time the company-like colonies had gotten it into their heads that they no longer needed Earth and with that no longer needed to repay the massive loans extended to them. They then began to annex other small colonies. The fleet was sent in to remind them of their obligations.
The colony leaders had chosen a violent planet to use as their base of operations once it became clear that military action was due. Like mountains or bodies of water long ago, the colonists had mapped the planet’s weather systems extensively and had timed their landing and our approach perfectly. In short, we were held up for almost a year while the colonists fortified their defenses. I hated weather and I hated storms even more.
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