Reduction Clause By Robert Ferrick        Cold dominated his thoughts as he woke slowly from a chemical coma. Sleeper pods were a cheap way to be transported but they were definitely not comfortable and the chill of air on his skin as the impact gel flowed out of the tube made McCall shiver and his skin break out in goose-bumps. A droning noise that sounded like someone speaking with a mouth full of marbles gradually resolved into the voice of the drop-ship’s automatic steward program.        “Depress the lever in front of you to exit your pod. Depress the lever in front of you to exit your pod.” It droned away at him senselessly and after a moment he silenced it by doing as it instructed.        He found himself one of a few dozen naked men and women standing in a set of rows next to their pods and the smell of stale air, imperfectly filtered bodily wastes and the metallic background smell of the ship itself overwh...