Downfall by Mark Barber

Author:Mark Barber [Barber, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Winged Hussar Publishing, LLC
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

***

Cochrane placed the two whiskey glasses onto the cubicle’s circular table and then set about the awkward job of lowering himself onto the semi-circular bench seat and shuffling himself bodily around the far side of the table – all with one bandaged arm still hanging from the sling around his neck. The sports bar in central Klugestein was packed, with patrons lined up around the railings encircling the holographic arena at the far side of the room. The area holographically replicated the Omadon Arena HexaDome, and accepting the five minute delay in transmitting the virtual footage across light-years of deep space, the virtual arena granted the several dozen patrons a view of the action even better than those crammed into the famous venue. An off-season friendly match of Aristeia! was the sporting highlight of the month, and fans across the entire Human Sphere packed into venues to witness eight highly trained athletes prepare to shoot, hack, and maim each other in the name of entertainment.

Cochrane tapped through the menus of his wrist-mounted comlog, pairing his lens to both the pre-game commentary and seasonal analysis, but also to a second feed from Oxyd Network’s round the clock news channel. A blast of warm air pushed into the sports bar as half a dozen men in their early twenties piled boisterously in from the dark streets outside. Cochrane swore under his breath and shook his head in disgust as he took in their asymmetrical haircuts, tight fitting and slogan-emblazoned clothes, and neon colored footwear.

“Pricks,” he mumbled to himself as he dialed in to the settings of his booth to activate the noise reduction field.

Instantly the loud, spirited atmosphere of the sports bar – the main reason most patrons had chosen the place to watch the game, no doubt – was dulled down to a mere background buzz. Dragging his eyes away from the red, neon lights of the surrounding walls and the decor of baseball gloves, cricket bats, and fake Aristeia! weapons, Cochrane returned his attention to the Oxyd evening news. Karan Colley – still his favorite news anchor to watch despite her now approaching fifty years of age, was sat between two suit wearing, self-declared defense experts as debate raged over the very conflict he had been med-evac’d from only two days before. An advert for Colley’s autobiography flashed up on Cochrane’s lens, forcing him to check his security filters for the third time that evening as he listened to the debate on the news.

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