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*****

It was a dark and stormy night. Even below the water the depths of Center Neptune still lit up from the occasional lightning flash. Mark was sleeping when the beeping of his communicator woke him. Ever ready, the commander sat straight up in bed, still dressed in his ‘civilian uniform’ to be ready for action at a moment’s notice.

“G-1 here!” he responded.

“Mark,” came a breathy voice from his wrist, “I need your assistance.”

“Susan?” asked Mark, “Why are you contacting me? Where’s Zark?”

“Zark is on a 10 second oil break. He asked me to fill in for him.”

“Oh, okay. What is it Susan?” The commander’s momentary surprise did not deter him from his responsibilities.

“Mark you need to go undercover to infiltrate a Spectra operation. You are leaving first thing in the morning. You must begin preparations immediately.”

“Yes, immediately!” Mark responded, “What sort of preparations?”

“First,” said Susan, “I need you to read the script I’m sending to your access terminal. You’re going to assume the cover of a radio presenter.”

‘A DJ?’ thought Mark, ‘Wouldn’t Jason have been better suited for that?’ But he checked his terminal screen anyway. He began to read the script as if he were speaking ‘over the air’.

“Welcome back to the Ameris Top 40. We’re just finishing up this week’s countdown. Let’s recap the top five songs.”

“At number 5 we have the Tatsunoko Twist by Crescent Base.”

“Number 4 is Let’s Get It On by Ken & Jun.”

“The number 3 song is a cover of Wind Beneath My Wings by Condor Joe.”

“At number 2 is Defeat Galactor by Nambu’s Ninjas.”

“And the number 1 song in Ameris this week is….. Katse Killer by the Gatchaman 5!”

Mark shook his head in the dark. He wasn’t the most up-to-date in popular music but he had never heard of these crazy groups.

“Oh Mark!” breathed Susan, “That was wonderful. You’ll do perfectly! Now there’s just one more thing I need you to do Commander……”