Free Terminus (Fringe Worlds #1) by Kevin Hardman Page B

during which time he was able to talk the kitchen staff into giving him a bag in which to carry some food back for Erlen.
    He made it back to his room without encountering any more vengeful individuals. He found a plate in the kitchenette and dumped the food he’d brought back onto it, then set the entire thing on the floor for Erlen.
    Satisfied that he’d done enough for one day, Maker took a quick shower and then flung himself into bed. He was sound asleep within minutes.

 
    Chapter 8
     
    Maker awoke bright and early the next morning. Back on Ginsberg, he’d maintained a strict policy of exercising daily. However, the week of space travel he’d recently experienced had seriously disrupted his routine – something he intended to remedy asap.
    He tossed on his old PT uniform – a t-shirt from his old unit and a pair of exercise shorts. A few moments later he exited the room, leaving Erlen sleeping on the couch. Normally, Erlen would have come with him, but apparently Maker wasn’t the only person whose regular habits had been thrown out of whack.
    He went downstairs and out through the lobby. By his estimates, the closest base gym was about five miles away – far enough to get in a good run. Maker started jogging.
    Thirty minutes later he arrived at the gym, sweaty and out of breath, but feeling good. He went inside and spent a few minutes locating a water fountain to slake his thirst and resting on a bench before going into the weight room.
    Maker spent about thirty minutes pumping iron, focusing primarily on his back and legs. (With respect to weights, his exercise regimen called for working out different body parts every other day. Thus, he would focus on chest and arms on the morrow, followed by legs and back again the day after that.) As at the mess hall the previous evening, he couldn’t help but notice the stares and whispers that seemed to be focused on him in the weight room. Still, he did a good job of staying focused on the task at hand and managed to get through his reps and sets without incident. When he finished, he headed for the locker room.
    Once there, he found an empty clothes-cleaner, then stripped down and tossed everything inside. He set the cleaner for ten minutes and pushed the start button, and then headed for the showers. By the time he finished up, his clothes should be clean and dry.
    The showers were typical of gyms everywhere: just a long line of about a dozen retractable showerheads set in the wall. About half of them were in use at the moment, but Maker saw one open near the back wall and headed for it.
    Once there, he took a moment to glance at the control pad for his showerhead. It was essentially a touchscreen set in the wall at about chest height. Maker set the water temperature at eighty-five degrees and hit the start button. The showerhead’s sensor, detecting someone in front of it, activated the jets and a second later hot water came cascading out.
    Maker put his head under the shower, allowing the warm water to flow soothingly over him for a minute – starting at his head, then down his neck, torso, and legs until it reached his feet. Turning back to the control pad, he increased the water pressure. Next, he gripped the showerhead and pulled; attached to a retractable hose, it came away easily from its notch in the wall.
    Maker reached over his shoulder and aimed the shower at his back. With the increased pressure, the water was like a much-needed massage – kneading his muscles and joints, relieving tension he didn’t realize he’d had.
    After a few minutes of allowing the forceful water to work the stress out of his body, he placed the showerhead back in its notch. He then punched additional codes into the control pad, this time pulling up a list of cleaners – specifically soaps and shampoos. Frankly speaking, the shower could manufacture thousands of them, so that a person could wash up with almost anything they desired once the proper code was entered.
    Rather