High G exercise was always extremely hard work but with Jason's recuperating shoulder it was exceedingly more challenging and a lot more painful. He had already spent a good hour performing martial arts training in twice the gravitational pulls of that on Earth and now he was pushing himself through weight training.

Later this week he would be undergoing an intense assessment to clear him for active duty. Being out of the war for far too long was irritating Jason and he was desperate to get back into the thick of the action. As he grimaced through the pain searing along his shoulder and down his arm he realised it wasn't just the lack of involvement that had been getting him stir crazy over the last few weeks; he hadn't heard from Donnelly in quite some time now and he feared for her safety.

As he tried one more rep with his recovering arm, he struggled to even lift the weight from the floor. The pain was extreme, but his desire to succeed must be more. Lifting the weight off the floor he thought back to the kiss, the last meaningful interaction he had with Donnelly. With every slight movement away from the ground, Jason's determination exceeded the pain which was growing exponentially. He needed to be ready just in case she needed his help.

As the rep was completed and Jason dropped the weight to the floor in agony, he came back to his senses. Firstly, Donnelly was more than capable of looking after herself, secondly, Jason would be kidding himself if he was cleared for active duty by the end of this week. He was struggling to achieve half of what would be expected of him. He could not, no, would not be the weak link in the Blue Ravens. His comrades would be at risk for his folly, something he could never forgive himself for should anything happen on the battlefield.

As the weight clanged on the floor echoing throughout the training room, a holographic face appeared to Jason's right. A young man appeared, looking extremely stern he was obviously focusing on various streams of data rather than his interaction with Jason.

"Lieutenant Scharn, 17th SORu Blue Ravens, priority message black delta. Please locate the nearest PAMS unit to accept."

Black Delta? That's beyond top secret. Normally those types of messages would be received by the Colonel, not one of his subordinates. Was it Donnelly? Unlikely that she would be able to authorise communication with Jason of that classification.

"Locate nearest PAMS unit." Jason ordered no one. Instantly a small glowing line appeared along the wall out of the training room and along the corridor.

As Jason followed it, he realised he had never been in a PAMS (Private Access Message System) unit before. As he stepped into the darkened terminal the door closed behind him instantly leaving him in pitch black.

"Name, Rank, Serial Number" a computerised voice iterated.

"Lieutenant Jason Scharn, alpha, seven, seven, four, five, delta, bravo, tango, niner, golf, seven, seven."

"Lieutenant Scharn, place you're hand on the terminal in front of you and look directly at the screen to confirm biometric readings."

Initially, Jason wondered what screen as he couldn't see anything in front of him until a red hand outlined glowed. He placed his hand on the screen and looked directly ahead.

Within under a second, the voice returned. "Check complete. You will be given a number of sentences, complete the sentences without hesitation as you see fit."

Jason lowered his hand and prepared himself for the next test. As the voice spoke, words appeared on the screen in front of him.

"Earth rotates continuously as Lunar maintains its..."

"Orbit."

"A General is expected to uphold dignity and keep their subordinates..."

"Unified."

"In order to gain peace, a state must achieve..."

"Supremacy."

"Animals purpose for humans are solely..."

"Dependant on the animal." Jason got a little angry with himself on that answer as it wasn't definitive.

"Biometric and Psychological security checks complete. Please accept a communication from General Vladimir Proviski."

Despite feeling the last question was incorrect, he realised that there was no right answer. The answer was determined by his personality, something that the USM would have had extensive knowledge in obtaining. "Accept call"

Instantly, the smiling plump figure of his enigmatic godfather appeared. Despite being light-years apart from each other, the PAMS unit made it feel like Jason was standing in the same room as the General stroked his thick silver moustache.

"Jason, it's good to see you. How goes the rehabilitation?" he asked with his thick Russian accent.

Jason dared not ask how Vladimir knew that he was undergoing rehab, but then this was Vladimir. It always seemed that there wasn't much that he didn't know. Lying to him would be pointless, it was likely the question was rhetorical. "Honestly, slowly. I feel it is unlikely that I will be cleared for active duty for another month or so."

"Good." chuckled Vladimir.

Not exactly the response that Jason was expecting.

"You have been temporarily reassigned and are expected to head to Moscow at the earliest convenience. You will be reporting directly to me for the remainder of your rehabilitation." Vladimir instructed with an unnerving calmness.

This was highly irregular.

"I know you have questions, but even PAMS are not completely secure. I'll answer your questions when you get here. An itinerary for your travel has been arranged. Major Turner has also made arrangements for your absence. You must follow the itinerary to the letter and you must not talk to anyone about this reassignment. I shall see you in a couple of days."

Just as Jason was to respond, the room went dark and the communication finished. Based on the conversation, though, one thing was certain, he needed to make preparations immediately.

When Vladimir meant itinerary, what he really meant was stowing aboard various freighters to get back to Earth unidentified. As Jason disembarked the final freighter to jump into the Baltic sea as it was about to land in Moscow it had become obvious that whatever Jason was doing on Earth was not a sanctioned military operation.

As he eventually swam to shore and was picked up by Vladimir's extraction crew, Jason's fear about being picked up by the state of the art security systems on the planet we're laid to rest quickly as he was informed about how his biological signature was being masked for the next few weeks effectively making him a ghost.

Despite trying to coax more information from the extraction team, Vladimir had chosen his team well. It was unlikely he would be getting his information from them.

Stepping into Vladimir's office, the strong smell of mahogany and oak filled his nostrils. It felt so alien to smell something so natural and so real he longed to know what other things he had missed in the artificially created atmospheres of terraformed worlds.

Rubbing his hand along one of the chairs positioned in the office he loved how smooth and hard it felt. "How much did this cost?" Jason asked knowing that Vladimir was somewhere within the office.

Out from behind the library Vladimir's plump figure appeared. His smile was always a welcoming sight and his demeanour was always intriguing as he responded. "The chair is probably worth more than what the Blue Ravens collectively earn in a year."

Jason removed his hand quickly, worried that he would degrade the valuable piece of furniture.

Vladimir chuckled, "Don't worry, the furniture here is to be used and not just for show. Please take a seat and discuss the reason I contacted you. First of all, your comrade, Voshtek K'Or, he's a very interesting character. We've had plenty to discuss the past couple of months."

"Do you believe him?" Jason asked.

"Do you?" Vladimir replied.

Jason thought before responding directly. "While I don't necessarily fully trust him, his words felt like they had an air of truth about them. It's something at the very least needs to be disproved."

Vladimir rubbed his moustache. "If we started the war I would certainly want to know. Along with other information I have acquired over the last few years, the most disturbing thing is that Voshtek K'Or's words are probably the most trustworthy I have heard. Now we just need to find hard proof which can be placed in front of the correct authorities."

"Is this what you wouldn't discuss over secure channels?"

Vladimir laughed hard. "Secure channels? Nothing is secure anymore. There's always someone listening. At least here the people listening in are loyal. I have a mission for you of the utmost importance."

"I have not been cleared for active duty." Jason replied.

"I'm aware, however, you are by far the most qualified person to fulfil this task, and my agent requested you personally. It's Lieutenant Donnelly, she needs your help."