Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #21 December 2015 | Page 9

we are anxious for any news, even the self-censored
quasi-propaganda from HQ.

charge for fighting. Rolf! So calm, so controlled,
Rolf the aesthete, the university cynic that life’s
petty inconveniences cannot touch.

There is only one phrase in the report we
care about: negligible casualties.

Each of us has devised ways to cope with
the tedious journey. Kosygyn has his pointless
arguments, Elsa and Suzi their friendship, and I at
least have had the distraction and responsibility of
my duties. But Rolf and Mitchell are individuals.
For Mitchell, callisthenics and free weights seem
enough, he works on them for hours each day,
alternating workouts with shaving his head. All Rolf
does is withdraw, read his few books, make notes
and sleep.

Mitchell and Kosygyn break out the heavy,
long-barrelled Banlite recoilless rifle, while the
others, led by Suzi, set up, load and deploy the
MG240.
Standing there with my stopwatch, I look out
the window at the endless landscape of plains and
farm land, rolling hills, woodlands and snow-capped
mountains we have been travelling through for
nearly three months; all territory captured following
the spectacularly successful amphibio