AACS Competition - First Place Winner

For reasons that are obvious I will not publish the full details of the winners. As a way of verifying the winners receive their prizes I will ask them to send an email to the lovely Gabrielle at this site

I believe I am on THAT list with the AACS...

09-f9-11-02-9d-74-e3-5b-d8-41-56-c5-63-56-88-c0

This entry deserved first place for several reasons. First, the clever use of the subject matter in the title. Second, this is a quite haunting tale. Read it a couple of times and you will see what I mean. And of course, the sequence of letters and numbers was interwoven seamlessly with the storyline.

GeorgeB I will be contacting you shortly. Congrats to you and commiserations to the other 200 or so people. I may have another competition soon.

"An Assault on the Crematoria System



"0-9 hundred hours" the intercom screamed.
"F**k 9 hundred" was what I wanted to say. "Sir, Blake 11 will be ready, sir," was what I replied. It was 02:00 and I had scant time to bitch.

As I reassembled my MK9 Destro ray, I wondered what 74-year-old Aunt Ester would think of her 'precious little man' now. She always addresses her letters to Block E3/Bunk 5B. Strange. She never uses my name.

There are other nameless souls on this wreck, official numbers with a cute name at the front. Decim-8 from Section 41 drifted in as the newest addition to the team. I don't remember who he replaced, but we are still shorthanded.

I never get nervous before a launch, but it seems like a lifetime between ticks. There are 56 minutes remaining. I break down and rebuild the Destructo a hundred more more times, just to be sure.

"Attention. We are optimal for Crematoria-5 insertion. Enter your launch tubes NOW," a nameless voice commanded.

I take a 'head' count. We did not receive a replacement for Johnny, and are launching with 63 this time, not the usual 2^6. So much for rules. Launch tube 56 is my assigned crotch rocket. What else do you call a device that will send you 88 parsecs into hell in the blink of an eye?

Just before they seal me in in, from the somewhere in the ship, I hear a scream. "No disassemble Johnny-5!" I wonder what that means.

A voice counts down "F,E,D,C,B,A,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1--CONFIRM-- 0. Launch"."