Around the same red star, a ship whos name translates as "The Special The Soup" is scanning the asteroid belt for minerals.


    The ship could be described as being shaped like a fortune cookie broken in half the wrong way. It would be a somewhat accurate description, although very oversimplified. The top of the ship is smooth, tan and  tented just like the cookie.  The bottom of the ship is a flat plain interrupted by a large bent ribbon thruster and equipment hanging down.


    Upon finding a mineral deposit to its liking, dozens of long mechanical telescoping arms reach out from the belly of the ship. The arms swarm the large floating rock. Light flashes in staccato pulses as arc torches break open and dig through the mass of stone and carbon. Occasionally some of the arms will  pull small boulders of ore into a glowing maw near the front of the ship.  The visual effect not dissimilar to the claws of a crustacean pulling apart a fish and delivering it to the crushing jaws in a frantic pace.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.Two hours later and the house sized asteroid is reduced to a cloud of dust and floating debris.


    Inside the ship, specialist Greeg looks over the active scanner nervously. Many mining ships have been overtaken by opportunists just after a large haul. Greeg''s last contract had to be towed back to a dock after an ambush.


    Greeg likes this ship. The "Si rou si lala" is an odd name for a ship, but the captain named it after a tattoo he recieved as a young man on a far off planet.


    The captain is nice. He pays well, treats the crew with respect, and always has a good smell for profit. This latest haul is good. Too good for Greeg. Too much valuble ore means this ship may end up like his last.


    A feeling in his joints says everything is about to go wrong.


    The scanner pinged.  The scanner that Greeg was desperately watching and willing not to ping, pinged.


    Something had entered the system.