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Grant stood by his mother's grave, flowers in one hand and his bag in the other. ""Today is the day, mama. It's the day we have dreamed of together for so many years."" A single tear, ran down his cheek as he stooped, placing the flowers by her stone. ""I'm finally going to break free from Slater. The ship has landed, and I won't be back for quite some time, if ever. John says that I'll be coming home in a few months, but you and I know better, don't we? He doesn't need my help on the farm, and that isn't where my future lies anyway. I was never born to be a farmer. I'm going to make you proud of me, mama. Furthermore, I will make something of my life, because of you. You always believed in me. I'll never forget the look on your face when I told you that I had applied to the academy, and the way your face lit up when the letter came in the mail after all of those months of waiting. I love you, mama. Through all the bad times, it was always you and me against the world. You were my last tie here, and it's time for me to go."" Grant stood, picking up his bag again. Turning toward the spaceport, he started walking with the few possessions that meant anything to him in is right hand. Turning back at the edge of the cemetery, he saluted the lady who had always believed in him for the first and possibly the last time. ⋮ Grant handed his boarding pass to the woman at the base of the great ship's ramp. ""Heading to the academy, huh? I wish you luck, there. You are going to need all you can get."" Handing Grant back his boarding pass, she said, ""The Purser will get you straightened out. She's at the top of the ramp. Now, move along. We'll be leaving soon."" ⋮ Grant watched as the only home he had ever known faded from the view screen in his small, second class cabin. He was finally on the way. *** Grant is a new ensign. After the Imperial Space Academy director, Rear Admiral Fleming, conducts the exit interview, Grant heads off to the Academy Hospital for his AI implant, receiving the state-of-the-art AI he names Lottie after a former girlfriend from Slater, his home-world. Fleming arrives at the end of his stay and invites him to lunch before he boards the 'Morning Star', a star liner that will take him to his first assignment, the ISN Baldwin. Entering the senior officer's mess, he finds that Fleming is not alone. The deputy director of the Imperial Naval Intelligence Service is there, Isaac Benedict as well. He is recruiting for a dangerous mission to an exoplanet Epsilon Eridani b, also known as 'Purgatory' to retrieve an agent. The mission is dangerous because the Culmar are in possession of it at the moment. He asks, ""Excuse me sir, but why me? I'm not an intelligence agent or an experienced covert operations pilot."" His hesitation surprises the senior officers. Deciding after lunch, and some more convincing by his seniors, to take the assignment, he is propelled through the events that follow on a rocket ride that takes him on an incredible adventure...

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