“But, Commander-”

The Commander made a slicing gesture, then pressed the buttons to seal his cabin. He motioned the young clone to a seat.

“Zakk, I’ve seen many pilots come back from missions wrecked by seeing hostages hit a mountainside. Few of your peers possess your natural aptitude. Matter of fact, that’s the first bit of news I have for you: you’re transferring to the demo module, to teach.

“Which means,” he continued, “you have the clearance to learn there’s a new squad on system’s edge to face those bastards out there.”

Zakk flew out of his chair. “Why wasn’t I told? I’d have joined!”

“Easy, son. Facing waves of alien fighters peeling off to make kamikaze attacks, avoiding the tractor beams they use to capture our own ships and commandeer them against us – it’s a lot different from flying the Z-84 in atmos.

“This is your much-deserved break without being shunted out to garrison duty breaking up asteroids and sniping stray UFOs. Enjoy it, and don’t worry about Project ‘G’ – it’s a new game, Zakk.”