“Ciyige!” the woman at the metal desk barked. There was so much gold piping and embroidery on her uniform Jon would have thought it gaudy in any other context. Considering he was flanked by BDU-clad military police armed with stun batons, her uniform seemed just the right amount of pomp to balance the dreary circumstances. “Next!” One of his keepers pushed him forward and Jon stumbled Read more…
“No food today. Come back day after tomorrow. Maybe then.” The woman in the gray uniform of the Commissariat of Sustentation held out the ration chit without looking up. Gold threads in the uniform’s piping and insignia flashed with each movement. The dancing bursts of reflected light pulled Jon Hooper’s attention to the gaudy patch—an oriental dragon encircling an eagle holding sheafs of grain in its claws. It was supposed to symbolize the government’s commitment to provide for the people. Read more…
