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level began increasing around him. The crescent forming on
Earth's horizon only confirmed what he knew; the sun was on its way and it
was time to hide. He headed for an inside corner facing away from Earth,
reaching it scant seconds before the station lit up. Oh well, ninety minutes
wasn't so bad, it could be worse. The sheer contrast prevented his being
seen, but from his vantage point he could see everything.
He pulled the gun from his belt, set the timer some hours hence and plugged
in the final wire. Ready. It wouldn't go active until just before the dawn he
wanted; the office was unoccupied before then so it didn't matter how obvious
it was. It's job done, the force of its detonation would push it away
without a trace. Clean and tidy.
On Gateway, things were organized such that there were always people on
duty. It was "evening" in this part of the station. Elsewhere, people were
waking up for their shift while others were having lunch. The lights across
from Hicks were steadily winking out. No, he mustn't fall asleep, he thought.
Not now.
Hicks briefly peered down at the partly lit crescent of the Earth.
Unexpectedly, a zinc-colored flash of light streaked across his field of view
then faded, leaving a trail
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