12 SOFT IN THE DARK
2283 A.D. 30 YEARS OUT of Tau Ceti
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I WOKE UP AND BOUNDED out of bed, startling Fido, and even widening the eyes of Dixie. I glanced at the chronometer; I was up thirty minutes earlier than required. This was the day that my crew would be coming out of hibernation. This was the day that my Sheila would return to me.
I brewed up a strong pot of Columbian coffee and drank two cups in rapid succession. Nina had left a data packet for me, and I opened the file and scanned it. The Shadow of Man had left Wolf 359 and boosted to Ross 128. There an exploration team on their Torch-ship fleet had discovered the archeological remains of an advanced civilization, which had apparently waited too long to settle other planets, and so had died with their planet. A sediment
