// NATURE NEWS — SPAZIO & SCIENZA
Rebody
Eric Fomley’s stories have appeared in Clarkesworld, Flash Fiction Online and Daily Science Fiction.
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I’m in an Obelisk Corporation jump ship, strapped into a drop pod. The harness is tight across my chest and the metal walls rattle as we skirt across the atmosphere of some planet.
Command wants us to keep these logs. They say it will keep our minds sharp before each drop, and help us remember what we’re fighting for. The other soldiers don’t think the war will last long. I hope they’re right so I can get back home to you.
I’m nervous about the reprinting, though. I don’t like the idea of body switching, no matter how much they guarantee the transfers are perfect. But as nervous as facing the NC soldiers makes me, there is some comfort knowing that if I’m killed I’ll be reprinted. It takes a lot of the fear out of those pre-battle nerves. It’s also nice knowing I’ll come home to you in the same condition I left you.
As I’m sitting here waiting for the drop, I keep thinking about our last moments together on the tarmac. The way you smelled when we hugged. The way you kissed me like you didn’t want to let go.
Space is a cold place, but today that memory of you makes me warm.
I’m in an Obelisk jump ship, strapped into a drop pod. Same type as before. This ship shakes a little more than the last one.
It’s gone on longer than anyone here thought it would. Fighting a war across this many planets and moons has dragged it out. What was supposed to be a quick operation has turned into a slugfest.
I’ve been reprinted a few times now and it isn’t as scary as I thought it would be. It’s hard to shake the final moments before my ‘deaths’, though. Those stay with me. I still remember the feeling of the plasma round that got me last time. The heat, the sudden quiet as I slipped into darkness. My last thoughts of you.