by Gavin Magson
The captain was leant at just the correct angle in his chair, its worn fabric creaking and groaning under his weight, to peer at every screen still working in the control room without falling on his backside; something that had happened countless times to him before he had mastered this trick.
As Ilya stepped back through the bulkhead door Greg turned to face his captain. “Time to haul it in, boss.”
The captain gently lowered himself back to the floor and rummaged under his jacket to remove the two chains from around his neck, each with a key hanging from it. He hated all the precautions set up on this tug, but could not afford to change them now, despite the constant nagging he received from the crew. He was loathed to admit it but there probably wouldn't be many more journeys for the old girl, not without some miracle.
Both keys went into slots on either arm of his chair, by turning them he gave Greg control over the harpoons. This precaution had not been fully explained to the captain on the day he acquired this ship, admittedly little had. Mostly he just assumed that the alternative was more costly and just got on with business.
Back when the ship was closer to fully manned this task had been a two man job, one would be the spotter, reading out vital positional information and any detected weaknesses in the asteroid’s mantle in real-time, whilst the other hooked their target, correcting for any shift in the conditions at a moment’s notice. For a long time now it had been all up to Greg to adapt and shoulder the responsibility, learning how to balance both roles. He had made modifications to most of the ships systems over the years, with his changes to the targeting computer revolutionising the process of netting these monoliths.
The screen in front of Greg flickered, switching from a display of the ships fuel levels to a live feed from the ships front camera. It showed a large asteroid to one side of the picture, tumbling gracelessly through space and taking up more of the screen with each passing second. Greg was happy that the ship was now facing away from the white dwarf, even though the star was dying it still had a lot of light to give off. He didn't rate his chances of hooking this rock whilst blinded by a solar flare.
Greg tapped away at commands either side of the screen, which changed its display to the targeting overlay, allowing him to choose which harpoon to aim where. He ran a quick scan that showed the surface fractures of the asteroid as vivid red lines - now he knew where not to aim.
Ilya walked back over to the bulkhead door and reached up to remove a cover on the wall next to it. The cover opened up easily for once, which surprised Ilya enough to almost send her toppling backwards, such was the force she used to remove it. Behind the cover were several buttons and switches, most worn badly from use. Ilya pushed in one that bore the faded label “Front Screen” and settled the cover back into place.
A gentle, near inaudible hum that reverberated around the room gradually, built up and culminated in the blank wall directly opposite her flickering into life. The sound ceased and the whole command room now had the same view as was on Greg's screen, minus the targeting overlay.
Ilya thought the view both beautiful and majestic; anything to do with space was always fascinating to her. In front of her sparkled the asteroid, followed by a trail of icy debris. In the background were countless lights twinkling away, mere pinpricks from this distance. Ilya was unsure whether it was the largest asteroid she had seen during her time aboard the Illicit Jane, but it certainly was a brute that came close to it.
The captain’s chair creaked as he leant forwards and swung around to admire the view. He knew that there were several dead spots on the screen which could no longer display anything, but these were hard to notice with a background of deepest black. He could already see vast craters on the asteroid as their target got ever nearer; they were almost upon it now.
“Just, whatever you do, don't miss this damn thing, Greg. We cannot afford a mistake like last time. Its pay day, baby!”
Silence stretched on and grew after the captain had spoken, all four crew members remembered that day. They had rested their hopes on a similar prize only a few months ago, though that time it was a much smaller asteroid they were hunting.
They had found the asteroid several days travel from their home planet, the ship had easily been gaining on it for several hours and there were no signs of rival ships in the system; it had seemed like such a sure thing that there was no place for doubt in anyone’s mind.
Greg managed to sink five harpoons into the asteroid’s largest face and it had appeared to be all but a formality to reel it in. However when the sixth harpoon punched through the asteroid’s surface deep cracks spread across the whole rock in every direction. The first they knew of it was when debris started to shower the ship. The harpoons began to break free as the mantle tore apart until only one remained embedded in their target.
The situation had called for a hard decision to be made by the captain. With the asteroid spinning and tugging on the great chain tethered to it, the risk was too great. It would take precious time to rearm the freed harpoons and if they fired the remaining two harpoons there was no guarantee it would be enough to reel it in. Any minute the great forces could devastate the ship, damaging it irreparably or even swinging the asteroid into the ships path and tearing through the hull, ending their lives.
The captain had no choice but to order the chain cut. No one had been paid for that trip, there had been nothing to show for their endeavours except disappointment. Everyone knew that another failure like this could mean the end of their mining ship, which would only be the beginning of their worries.
Greg checked the information flickering across the screen one last time before beginning to program in the firing order and targets for the seven remaining harpoons. There were far better systems in use nowadays, some advanced ships were now equipped with mining lasers on the exterior that could dice an asteroid up so that only the ore remained. He had even heard of experimental technology that could drag the largest of space debris into a ships hold using systems that created artificial forces of attraction. If only the captain could afford any one of those, then they would no longer need to worry about more accidents. Regardless, these were the tools at his disposal and he would happily proclaim to anyone he was the master of them.
The first of the ships harpoons fired, snaking silently through space until it sunk deep into the asteroid’s mantle. One after another Greg fired harpoons, each one gaining a good purchase on their haul. The other crew members watched the large display with fixed expressions, not a sound broke their self-imposed silence for fear of distracting Greg.
As the last harpoon hit home and stayed fixed to the asteroid’s surface the crew ceased holding their breath. The danger was nearly over and in only a few hours that ore could see their endeavours finally rewarded.
“Start hauling it in, Greg, let’s see this beast face to face. Have the scans shown how much ore is in there yet?” asked Duke, whilst doing his best to keep his voice neutral, devoid of excitement or worry.
Ilya imagined she could hear the faintest trace of pleading in her captain’s voice. She felt it too; they all needed this haul to be big. Breaking even was not close to an option today.
Greg sucked a big intake of air through his teeth, never a good sign in the man. “I can't really say, cap, the scans have all been a bit funny. I'm estimating a good two tonnes, some of the scans have shown more but the computer cannot get a good fix on the rock. I think there is too much solar radiation throwing off the readings, but it’s hard to say what is causing this.”
Shit, thought the captain, absolutely fucking shit. For once could someone just give him a break? He had repairs and fuel for the ship, wages for the crew and Rascas to worry about. Fuck! He had almost forgotten about Rascas, that scar riddled cretin was after his ship if he couldn't pay his debts this time. The interest he had agreed on just to go out for another haul was beyond extortionate. If he couldn't bring it in this time then he might have to start looking for a hit man. Like Rasca
s would ever stay dead, that dreg would follow him into the afterlife over a single credit.
The captain turned around in his seat, his mouth left half open as he realised Ilya was once more missing. He had not even noticed Ilya leaving the room, it spooked him at times just how quiet she could be; ironic, since he loved doing the same to his crew. No doubt she was halfway down to the hold by now and would soon be waiting to see this big lump get hauled in. He had known about her fascination with space for a long time now, which only made him chastise himself for being surprised Ilya was absent. He chuckled to himself, gaining a quizzical look from Greg.
“Guide it in, Greg, I've got to see this thing up close too.” said the captain, spinning his chair to once more face the rooms exit without a backwards glance to the man.
It was rare for Duke to leave the command room as they reeled in a catch; normally he only inspected what was left after the excess had been jettisoned. This time he was more than a little interested in it, his life was riding on this haul being substantially larger than Greg's fuzzy estimates. Already he could feel his body shaking in trepidation, he feared above all else that this trip could be both the Illicit Jane's and his last if the haul did not pay off.
The captain struggled to lift his large frame out of his chair, grunting and groaning as he did so. He wasn't grossly overweight, but good food and far too many brawls to remember had left him sluggish and with a hundred different aches and pains. Yet, despite all this, still he would not relent to his crew’s wishes and invest in augments; he was a purist and would remain so until the day he died.
Greg was deep in concentration; even though the hard part was over he still had to make sure that he navigated their catch into the hold. Thankfully he had not made the fatal mistake so many had done before; if you weren't in control on the approach these gigantic rocks had a tendency to start to spin, snapping the chain and either breaking free or colliding with the ship. A couple million tons of dense rock made easy work of a mining tug, not even the best could protect themselves from such an impact.
He was so deep in thought that when the almost lifeless crew member decided to join Ilya and the captain in the ships bowels Greg jumped in his seat and cursed the man. Lev was a giant, a fact that could never be ignored. He lacked stealth, with his frame making it impossible for the man to ever be inconspicuous, yet he could remain silent for hours on end. His quiet demeanour always came as a surprise to people who met him; it was such a stark contrast to the man's primal, rugged appearance. Lev hadn't uttered a word for hours and Greg had almost forgotten he was even there, not for the first time, either.
Now that he was alone Greg finally had time to relax, the ore was almost in the hold and he could no longer feel the eyes of his crew mates boring into his back. The chains were slowly reeling in this rock and all he had left to do was make sure it touched down in the hold. Greg let out a long, content sigh.
Chapter 2
Ilya had not waited for the captain, nor Lev, to follow her; she was usually the only one still excited by the Insects and would not miss out on them for anything. Thankfully the elevator she now rode down to the ships hold was nothing like the death trap she had ridden only a few minutes before, the captain had at least kept this one in decent repair. Her journey didn't involve anywhere near as many adrenaline inducing scares, a novelty she appreciated wholeheartedly.
As the elevator ground to a halt the doors juddered open, squealing heavily in protest, and revealed her destination. Ilya stepped out and gasped simultaneously, stopping dead at the sight before her. The elevator opened up into an observation room, a few mouldy chairs and one table were the only furnishings, but it was the panoramic window that captivated her the most. Through it she could see the impossibly gigantic asteroid, chunks of ice the size of her bedroom glistened and scattered rainbows of light in every direction as it was dragged into the hold.
Through the floor she felt great tremors as hooks attached to large rolling belts on the holds floor took over from the harpoons, biting into the rocks surface. It was just possible to see past the asteroid, out of the holds doors and into the limitless space beyond. As the ship shifted its course the systems star slowly moved into view, illuminating the hold with an impossibly bright light.
She had always loved the idea of space and the wonders out there, from black holes and dying stars to meteors and the asteroid fields this rock might have originated from. The captain wouldn't be interested in this asteroid’s origin, only what was encased inside it, but Ilya was. Perhaps it came from a planet that had fractured into a billion fragments of high speed shrapnel? She might never know, but the mystery was what she enjoyed the most, along with the breath-taking beauty. There was something majestic about these floating behemoths, which she had never managed to explain to those that queried her interest.
The enormous hooks that rotated continuously along the length of the hold were still dragging the monolith forwards, in the distance she could see the bay doors closing as the light finally died down; now the fun part was to come. When the doors finally closed thousands of legs came out of hundreds of holes in the holding bays walls, scuttling towards the icy asteroid like an unstoppable marching army, each eager to reach their target first.
She liked to call them Insects, only because of how they seemed to her to comprise of all legs and strange bodies. Ilya knew that wasn't their real name, but it was far more catchy. As the robotic creatures reached the asteroid she saw them start to ferociously attack its surface, working together to break off large chunks using their sheer weight of numbers. The bigger robots would carry the waste over to the bucket conveyors, which transported it to giant crushers that were set beneath the window for all to see. The asteroid’s debris would be separated from any remaining ore and later combined with the ships waste, then ejected into space later when they were close enough to the sun for its gravity to pull the waste into it.
The elevator doors opened silently behind Ilya, who was too mesmerised by the sight before her to notice the arrival of her co-workers. As they stepped out of the elevator Ilya instinctively spun on her heel, knife drawn from her boot and swinging at jugular height. Fortunately for Lev this was not the first time he had caught Ilya unawares and he blocked the swing easily. He knew where Ilya came from and what she had to survive in order to make it out of childhood; he would be more concerned if he ever caught Ilya with her guard down.
The emotion in her eyes said she was ready to kill, but her expression quickly changed from the snarl to a look of pained hurt and sorrow.
“I'm so sorry, Lev, I just reacted on instinct. I promise it won't happen again.”
“Think nothing of it.” and he meant it, flashing the petite girl an innocent grin.
If that had happened in any of the bars they were known to occasionally frequent down in the city she would be fighting for her life, not meekly apologising to the intimidating man in front of her. Ilya would have had no choice but to kill the person, even if it was an accident that she had drawn her blade in the first place. There were no second chances in her life, nor such easy forgiveness from strangers.
She sheathed the small blade and returned to watching the Insects at work, noting from the corner of her eye that the looming Lev seemed entirely indifferent to the incident. She peered past him to see that the captain was seemingly fixated; concentrating hard on one spot of the asteroid in particular, though Ilya could not tell what he was so interested in.
The machines worked fast, she remembered that from the last time they had landed a catch, watching on as the mechanical aides worked tirelessly to uncover the precious ore. A second conveyor was already dropping chunks of rock glistening with veins of the blood red ore into a hopper, inside which the rocks were being pulverised and fed down a chute that lead into a secure storage hold.
It’s strange, she thought, it was almost as if the spindly robots were avoiding a large patch on the asteroid’s surface. It was in their programming to sort the useless fro
m the useful, yet they had no method of detecting ore beneath the surface; there was no reason for them to avoid any part of the asteroid. It made no sense that the machines would ignore their programming, which intrigued her to no end.
Without taking her eyes off the patch of untouched rock Ilya turned her head slightly towards her captain, who she now realised had to be fixated on the same spot.
“Hey, I know this might sound a little crazy, but do either of you think the Insects are avoiding a patch of rock on the asteroid’s furthest side?”
“I've had that same feeling since I got down here. Can you run another scan of this thing and tell the bots to focus on that area?” asked Duke, the captain's voice heavy with intrigue.
Ilya paced over to the window and started tapping away on a console fixed beneath it. This was only the second time she had used the console to give direct commands to the Insects, so it came as a slight surprise to her that she could remember how to issue the instructions. A few button presses changed the display on the small monitor to a top down view of the asteroid, within seconds she had targeted the area they wanted the robots to focus on.
When Ilya pressed the scan button the monitors screen went blank and switched to a rotating three dimensional image of the asteroid. Ore deposits were a light blue that stood out from black rock, with traces of other materials buried under the rocks mantle. The area that the robots had been avoiding didn't seem to exist on the display, instead it was as if the surface was much further down. By now the area was a visibly large outcrop sticking out from an ever shrinking asteroid.
“This is fucked up, cap, the scan says it isn't there. We can see it but the computer can't, and neither can they; the Insects won't act on the forced commands either. What should we do?”