Futureperfect: Epicenter

Malcolm shuddered to consciousness. He blinked his eyes and glanced at his fellow peacekeepers, sitting in the small hold of the skimmer as it cut smoothly through the night air over the City. Information bared in his ear from the speakers in his helmet. They were investigating a hovercraft that had veered off course. All attempts to hail it were ignored, automatic override attempts had failed. Beside him his men were checking their instrument belts, readying weapons, and hand computers. They moved quickly and confidently in the dimly lit hold, they had trained for this, and traded jokes under their breath. Malcolm reached into a pouch in his belt and pulled two white capsules out. He stared at them, and then took a third and dry swallowed them.

He felt the skimmer tilt slightly, then steady itself. A quick glance at a wall monitor showed the broad dark back of the hovercraft, the pilots were directly over it. The skimmer they flew in was cloaked against radar, and its dull black exterior renders it all but invisible to the naked eye. Malcolm put his helmet on, then sent the ready signal to his men. They rose and stood by the drop hatch in the center of the floor. Small letters scrolled across the bottom of his helmet’s visor, indicating his suit’s computer was online and fully functional. He could see his team attaching the drop cables to their armor, to lower them down to the ship. Malcolm smiled, flexed his fingers, tapped his feet. The adrenaline enhancers and stimulants he took were already taking effect. The door opened below them, air rushing by, a low muffled roar muted by the helmets they wore. The back of the ship was pitch black, haloed around the edges of the ship with light from the city below. It reflected off the tall dorsal fins of the hovercraft. Malcolm took his tether in hand, and ( dropped out of the ship. )