It was over a standard month later that the expedition ship UFS Alan Shepherd settled into orbit over the Uni-Fleet main base on Titan. A parade of shuttles took the crew down to the surface, bringing back the maintenance personnel who’d go over the massive craft from stem to stern before it set off on a new mission.
Two weeks in re-gen and a massive infusion of drugs had done their job. Gordon Farrell was back on his feet, ribs and leg healed and only a memory of frostbite, falling and frozen Gelada. He still felt tired, dull, and weary, but the medical staff assured him a good R&R would take care of that. He just needed to go on leave to a sunny, pleasant place for thirty days and he’d be ready to go again. He didn’t agree. It was time to leave the fleet. He had twenty-two years of serv
