Temple in the Stars – Part 1

Ashley yawned hugely as she made her way out of the tiny excuse for a kitchen she had in her habitation unit.  She took a huge swig out of the thermos which held her daily brew of stimcaf, and grimaced at the stringently bitter taste.  At least it was cheap Ashley thought as she took a few more hasty swallows.  She perked up quite a bit as she made her way down to the docking bay.  She had another busy day ahead of her.  Ashley loved staying busy, and being the oldest of twelve children had certainly kept her that way.  She missed the screaming press of her siblings, but her dad had needed her help and Ashley would sooner die than let down her father.  So here she was, living alone on a desolate asteroid, hundreds of thousands of miles from the nearest human being. 

Ashley smiled at the memory of her decision to turn to independent mining while making the launch preparations on the launch bay computers.  When she had found out that the local Mining Union was recruiting for deep space Independent Miners and would offer six contracts, she had simply made sure one of them was hers..  She knew enough people from her father’s long years working for the Union that it hadn’t been a problem to get the job, even though she was only nineteen and technically not old enough to start working for the Union for another two years.  Some creative paperwork ‘mistakes’ were enough to ensure that she found herself on the next interstellar train to Oswalt Industrial Smelting’s Epsilon station.  On the train, she received the packet detailing her mission parameters.  It contained everything she might have questions on: expected delivery rates, commission rates for rare metals, Union benefits, and the full description of safety regulations she would be required to follow in order maintain a solo operator’s license.  The Union took every precaution to make sure that risks were as thoroughly mitigated as it was possible to make them.  Their profits were tied to how well their members performed, and paying injury or death benefits was a disaster best avoided at all costs.  Besides, the better a Union cared for the safety and profit of it’s members, the easier it was to attract the best applicants.

Ashley, having been raised by one of the best asteroid miners in the entire business, was certain she knew everything that would be necessary to know to be successful.  However, the time dragged on the train without her family to occupy her attention, so she read all the regulations and safety guidelines despite her familiarity with them.  She found more than a few things that she hadn’t known, which dealt her ego a pretty severe blow.  She had been so certain that she remembered everything her dad had ever mentioned about his operations.  So much for knowing “everything” she grimaced as she delved into yet another chapter on proper habitation module maintenance.  The sheer number of things that could go wrong when you were operating outside the range of immediate help from a Consortium Navy Outpost was enough to wipe away any lingering sense of superiority Ashley had been feeling. 

Her high respect for her father, who always made time to get to know each of his small army of children, ticked several notches higher as she learned all the daily habits which would be expected of her to maintain her license.  This is no joke.  If I skip even one of these, it could lead to complete disaster!  As she read, she turned to the pad which held her personal assistant, Everett.  A weird name for an AI to choose, but she had never been able to argue with his competence.  “Everett, wake up buddy, I’ve got a lot of stuff we need to cover.”  As usual, Everett cleared his throat before his deep, precisely enunciated voice sounded in her com implant “Absolutely Ashley, I am always available when you need me.  I would like to point out that I was having a most wonderful dream however.  Would you care to hear about it?”  Ashley grinned at the question, knowing it was coming before he even asked it.  Everett and his attendant com had been a gift to her from her dad at the age of eight.  Even at such a young age, she was already shepherding the younger children and helping her mother handle the daily scheduling and chores for the house.  For the last ten years, Everett had always been eager to share his latest dream with her.  When she had the time to listen, she jumped on the opportunity.  It was incredible what the organic circuitry which made up his brain would think up.  His dreams are a thousand times more intense and involved than mine Ashley thought with her usual amusement.  “Normally I would love to Everett, but there’s a lot of stuff that I need to plan out for this new gig.  It would be a poor reflection on pops if his oldest child couldn’t hack it as an independent operator.”  Everett’s voice sounded amused as he responded “Of course Ashley, you’re quite right.  That would ruin his opinion of his children for sure.”  She snorted at the implied joke, knowing better than Everett that her father would never think any less of her no matter what happened.

The remaining weeks of the train ride were relatively uneventful, Although they included an extraordinary amount of study and planning as she went over the manual from start to end several times.  She spent several hours a day chatting with her family on the aethercom.  You could take Ashley out of the family, but you couldn’t take the family out of Ashley.  Eventually, the train exited the interstellar railway and she managed to get her first glimpse of the smelting station which would house her only face to face interactions for the next three years.  It was a large structure, easily several miles from top to bottom.  Plus, it had an oversized disc which surrounded the entire middle of the structure, which made it look like a cucumber wearing a tutu.  The station’s image was not helped by the appearance of the gas giant in the background whose gravity well provided the anchor for the station.  The reflected light of the systems sun made it look like the station was in a bright blue spotlight.  The mental picture made Ashley laugh, but she knew that the ‘tutu’ was capable of housing hundreds of independent mining haulers at one time, handling millions and millions of tons of raw ore every single day.  The sheer scale of daily operations made Ashley wish Zed was there to tug her hair and try to use her as his own personal jungle gym while she tried to clean.  She swept back a loose lock of her auburn hair, and turned to something that was easily within her own daily operations.  She’d made herself at home in the room provided to her in the passenger car, and she needed to clean up so that the next occupant wouldn’t even notice it had been occupied.  Ashley had her hard earned reputation with her younger brothers and sisters to uphold, she couldn’t afford to have their terror of her iron-hard discipline even slightly disturbed.  Small children were predators, if they sensed even the slightest weakness they would strike without hesitation.
 

As the train docked at the station built directly on top of the facility, she hoisted the handle to the hovercart which was holding all of her luggage.  When her father had seen how little Ashley had originally intended to take with her, he’d ‘suggested’ she spend all of her advance on the contents of the crates now filling the hovercart.  He applauded her initial desire to deliberately save every credit that she possibly could, but he’d soon explained as they shopped for the exhaustive list why she needed to have so many supplies.  A contract length was three full years out in the middle of whatever asteroid belt needed miners.  There weren’t any supply depots nearby, and he’d seen far too many new miners pack as she had been trying to do only to realize early on their mistake and be unable to fix it.  Sure, the smelting station had its own shops, but they knew that miners had no other options.  In Dad’s opinion, anyone who forgot something as important as enough soap for the entire contact deserved to pay exorbitant prices for their lack of foresight.

A few hundred new miners stepped off the train with her, and if the few dozen hovercarts in view were any guide, she guessed the shops would make a killing off this round of miners.  Administrative officials were there to greet them as the exited the station and entered the main lobby of the uppermost level of the smelting station.  Bright, cheerful men and women dressed in the same neon green suit each with their own AI Pads, they approached the miners to assist them in finding which transport would be delivering them and their gear to the section of the asteroid belt they would be calling home.  Asteroid mining might be insanely profitable, but it was also an extremely involved process.  Each miner would require their own light transport for the habitation and docking modules, as well as the three ships necessary to complete any mining.  Spare parts, repair kits, and replacement engines took up the rest of the space as well as the storage module and shield generator array.  Anyone who could manage the sheer amount of equipment required in a safe and competent manner was to be highly prized indeed.  

A tall, rather willowy woman bustled up to her, crackling with suppressed enthusiasm. “Welcome to Epsilon station!  My name is Renee, and I’ll be helping you with your mining assignment!” Her smile almost split her face in two.  Ashley smiled back, though not in the uncomfortable fashion Renee felt necessary.  “Hi, my name is Ashley Howards, I’m from Relgor IV, Mining Union #2576, assigned to grid 33, sector 24.  From my understanding, I’m taking over for a terminated contract.”  Renee’s smile slipped into a more natural grin, and her voice took on an aura of amused approval.  “Yes, that’s correct.” She supplied as she consulted her AI.  “You’ve indeed been assigned to grid 33, sector 24.  And your module is already established and has passed all the safety inspections.  You should be able to begin operations tomorrow.  Just ask the cargo tube to deliver you to Docking Bay 312.”  She pointed towards the rather obvious tube lifts on the east wall, and Ashley shook her hand and then began hauling her hovercart in the appropriate direction.  “Best of luck Ashley Howards!” Renee called after her, sounding sincere in her well wishes.  Ashley exchanged pleasantries with the other two experienced miners in the tube with her, all of them having just as impressive a mountain of gear as she weighing down their carts.  She thanked her lucky star for having her dads help in packing, and when the lift politely intoned her docking bay number, she said her goodbyes and stepped off.  The docking bay was enormous, easily able to fit the entire space station on Relgor IV within its walls.  Six enormous cargo haulers were present, as well as ten separate light transports, and scores of various personal shuttle craft and emergency vehicles.  Several repair floats were loading their attendant crews in a hurry, off to perform whatever work the station required to remain in peak operating condition.  No business that wanted to remain in operation skimped on repairs.  Space is unforgiving to the complacent, as her dad had constantly reminded her.

To be continued… 

Minerfully,
Justin