Prologue: I’m a Problem

Lieutenant Reginald Thiel re-read the directive he had just received. Then he re-read it again—then again. He pored over its cryptic, one-line command and felt a measure of confusion which did more than just unnerve him, it made him realize just how bad things had gotten out here in the Gorgon Front.

He mouthed the words silently as he read it one final time:

Awaken and support cryo-pod 44’s occupant. Priority Level: Omega 997.

Thiel had heard of so-called ‘sleeper age...