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lid
open.
The room beyond was nearly empty; surrounded by blank walls sat a man,
strapped into a chair. His eyes were closed and for all Wendy could tell he
might have been dead. The chair itself was large and complex, various
screens and keypads built into it. Oddly, most of these were on the sides
and back of the chair and not on the arms where he could easily reach them.
Large tubes and bundles of wires dangled between the ceiling and the back of
the chair.
"This," explained Major Andria, "is Commander Jon Karlson. Commander Karlson
is our communications officer. What you see before you is his life support
system. I know it must look outrageously bulky to you, but there is a
requirement for multiple redundancy on all systems and the ability to
automatically handle any medical emergency which might arise. In fact, if
you were to remove the Commander from his seat, he would die.
"The Commander has the supreme honor of having given his life, quite
literally, to the Empire. He is the recipient of certain experimental drugs
which enhance the meager psychic abilities of most humans and which
unfortunately have serious side effects on the human met
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