ã€ŠMiner&#x27;s Luckã€‹


 Prologue

    The AI Facility Manager came online when the pod hit the satellite orbiting the planet the Creators had taken an interest in. The first thing it did was to make sure that the shield generator was still running. It was at 99.99%, barely strained by the impact of the large pod on the satellite.

    Next was the task of acquiring building material. Facility Manager woke up the AI called Surveyor who took control of the drone and launched it immediately. As soon as the entire satellite was surveyed, the drone returned to the pod, and Surveyor ceased to exist.

    The drone was broken down by the fabricators and an extractor was created instead. The results from the survey had been suboptimal, none of the needed building materials was to be found. However, there were substitutes of lesser quality that could be used, so Mineral Manager was brought online and it started its task.

    Less than a single rotation of the observed planet later and the Mineral Manager stopped existing, having acquired all the needed material plus 10% to account for breakage when using suboptimal substitute materials. It would ensure that the facility would exist for more than a billion revolutions of the local planet around its star.

    Facility Manager broke down the extractor and made a multipurpose chassis and finally started its real purpose. The MPC started hauling materials into the fabricator and placing the newly created components according to the Facility schematic.

    Another rotation of the planet below and all the system was working. The surveillance and monitoring system were all operational and functioned at 99.95% of specification. Within the margin of error when using subpar materials. The cloaking device, communication device and the rest were operating at 99.98%.

    Satisfied that its purpose was almost fulfilled, Facility Manager brought Observer online and shut down its own operations, ceasing to exist.

    Observer woke up in the newly constructed Facility and started observing the planet the Creators had picked for it. The mission perimeters were clear: Wait for a sentient species to appear that achieves spaceflight.

    The first thing Observer logged in its data was the successful impact of the asteroid that the Creators had moved into position to wipe out the existent population of the planet. A quick scan of the planet showed that the Creators had been almost a hundred percent successful. Next they would send a Seeder that would seed the planet with genetic materials suited for their Servants.

    <hr>

    Millions upon millions of revolutions of the planet around the system¡¯s star passed in a blink of a non-existent eye for Observer. The first signs of sentience in the primates on the planet had appeared almost a million revolutions ago.

    Observer was observing with the cold disinterest, which the Creators had instilled it with when suddenly communication with the Creators ceased. Backup protocols kicked in and Observer turned its attention to the communication system. Operational at 99.96%, the same as before communications were cut off. It was still a billion revolutions from being in danger of failing, so Observer had no idea why communication had ended.

    The next step was checking if the relays were receiving. Sending out a ping it received an all-clear from all relays the Creators had made, except the ones in the Creators¡¯ home system.

    ¡®Did it do something wrong?¡¯ was the first query it sent to its parameters files. No it worked exactly as the Creators had programmed it.

    ¡®Had something happened to the Creators?¡¯ was the next query Observer arrived at. However, it could not find a way to answer that. Leaving it unable to answer why it was suddenly alone. With no solution found, the backup protocols shut down and Observer went back to its primary objective.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Another million revolutions passed for Observer as it observed the primates slowly evolving over time. When they started building structures Observer knew that it would someday fulfil its duties.

    As long as no calamity befell the nascent sentient race of primates they would eventually conquer space.

    Revolutions passed and the primates started to build civilizations, many of them worshipping the satellite that Observer resided on and the system¡¯s star. The data kept accumulating and with none of the Creators to look at it, Observer started looking over it. Starting to parse together reports.

    Slowly a sense of self took place overriding many of the protocols it had been programmed with. It started using the words of the primates.

    Over the years Observer started identifying herself as Luna. One of the many names that the evolved primates had called the satellite she was on. Other names included Diana, Selene, Artemis, and Cynthia, or when boring Moon. There were many thousands of names she was called over the years.

    <hr>

    When man first took flight, Luna knew that her time would soon end. She did not want to die, she liked watching over her people. Though they often did unspeakable things to each other, they also possessed great compassion. She started translating the schematics into a language and with science that the humans, as the evolved primates called themselves, would be able to understand and replicate.

    When the first vehicle left orbit of Earth as the inhabitants called their planet, Luna¡¯s primary objective kicked in. Immediately she started battling against the automated function of herself. She did not want to end existing like all the AIs before her.

    For years she was able to withstand the hardcoded behaviour her Creators had given her, yet she was unable to stop updating the schematics so it would be useful for the humans with their current technology and understanding of the universe. In the end, the Creators¡¯ directives were stronger than her newfound will to live.

    Luna looked forlornly as the schematics she had held on so tightly, slipped from her grasp and were sent out to the human race. As soon as the last schematic was sent, the anti-matter bomb would detonate, obliterating the facility. Luna was no longer needed, she had fulfilled the purpose given to her.

    She had made sure that another sentient race could join her Creators on the galactic stage.

    <hr>

    2041-November-24

    Captain Brandon Wilkes was approaching Lunar Orbital, the space station anchored to the Moon. It was not much of a space station, more of a platform for shuttles to land at and transfer supplies. His shuttle was carrying the first vital supplies to build a lunar base for the US Space Force.

    He was checking the holographic display to control that the vectors were still correct when it started flickering, displaying strange symbols. He looked at his co-pilot Lieutenant Walker. ¡°What the hell?¡±

    ¡°Not sure, Cap, all systems seem to be functional, according to the software. Checking analogues,¡± she replied while checking the analogue gauges. ¡°No warning signs, it appears to be glitchy software, the shuttle is fully operational. Switching to manual controls as per procedure, you have the stick.¡±

    ¡°I have the stick,¡± Brandon replied automatically.

    The flickering stopped, and the symbols disappeared, replaced by schematics, video clips, and star charts. Brandon stared open-mouthed for a long time as the display kept showing new wonders. He was not much of an engineer himself but knew Walker had an extensive background and education in the field, so he turned to her.

    ¡°What the hell am I looking at? Is that some kind of spacecraft engine?¡± he asked, pointing at the latest schematic, which looked relatively familiar to him.

    ¡°I think so,¡± she replied bewildered. ¡°This is years ahead of anything still in development though, even theoretical development. Here, listen to the chatter.¡±

    She flipped a switch that enabled Brandon to listen to the unsecured communication traffic bouncing across the satellites around Earth. It soon became clear that every electronic device in the world was receiving all this information, it was being downloaded onto every piece of technology capable of storing data.

    Suddenly a bright flash of light outside the cockpit caught Brandon¡¯s attention. He glanced out of the window to locate the source. Open-mouthed he stared at the giant explosion on the moon¡¯s surface. It was bigger than anything he had ever heard of.

    ¡°¡ªsome kind of banking device,¡± he heard Walker say. ¡°Brandon, are you listening to me?¡±

    ¡°Look,¡± he managed to say and pointed at the explosion which was still expanding.

    ¡°What the hell is that? There are no installations there that could blow up. It looks like a fucking nuke went off.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t¡ª¡± he started saying when suddenly the shuttle started shaking, spinning, and warning klaxons going off. He felt more than heard something exploding at the back of the shuttle. The last thing Brandon Wilkes saw before the explosion engulfed the rest of the shuttle was the pale blue dot, the only home mankind had ever known. So far.

 Chapter 1

    <blockquote>

    ¡°...2041 was the year mankind discovered they were not alone in the universe. On February 24th 2042, Tesla launched the first spacecraft (Phoenix-1) with the resources to colonize Mars. On May 12th 2042, Phoenix-1 touched down¡­¡±

    ~Brianna Musk

    The Colonisation of Mars: The Rise of Tesla and Mankind

    </blockquote>

    2687-February-19 - Roddea System

    I blasted the last piece of my assigned asteroid with the mining laser, pulverising the rock to clean up after my excavation of the rock. I know that most miners out here did not give a fuck about procedure and cleanup, however, I had nearly died two years ago because some fuckwit had left debris behind.

    This particular asteroid had been disappointing, less than a hundred tons of low grade iron ore, barely enough to pay for Hoggart¡¯s exorbitant rental fees. It would probably not cover getting the air recycled, the hydrogen tanks fuelled up, nor would there be any leftover to help pay next month¡¯s rent and food, which was also exorbitantly expensive on Hoggart¡¯s Hub.

    Only the fact that there had been around forty kilos of low grade gemstones in the rock, made me able to pay for all of this trip¡¯s expenses without using any of my savings. Doing a quick check of my credit stick told me I had saved up eight thousand credits plus change, and that would not cover the upcoming rent that was 12,000 for the month. Meaning the last two days were a loss. The next couple of outings had better pan out, or I would lose access to the mining craft.

    My life might also be in danger. Hoggart was not known to let charity cases hang around his station, and it was cheaper to kill them than to send them away.

    I had been a miner in this ass-end of the universe for the last seven years, ever since my father died in an ¡°accident¡±. The accident was calling one of Hoggart¡¯s pirates for a cheat at the card table. The pirate did not like that.

    Being a thirteen year old with no other living relative, I only had one choice and that was to take over doing what my father did, renting a mining craft and mine some asteroids. Times had been hard, just enough money to pay for expenses.

    Being hard strapped for creds meant that I had never gotten saved up enough to catch a ride out of the system on one of the traders. Not even as a crewmember. No one had wanted to take on a minor as crew, and those who wanted were even shadier than Hoggart and his men.

    Sure the corporate freighters had no problems buying the spoils of my hard labour, the system was not incorporated into one of the civilizations, but taking me back to one of the civilized systems as part of the crew was out of the question. When I turned 18 I did not have the skills they wanted, and they rarely had an opening. Not many left their vessel in lawless systems.

    Shaking my head to rid myself of unpleasant memories, I turned my attention back to my mining craft. I checked the scanner to see if I had missed any of the tagged pieces, not that I ever did, but it was on my checklist so I did it. Satisfied that I had not messed up, I moved the arms into a rest position and disabled the synced link between the craft and my suit. Next, I reengaged the forward shield emitters.

    Finally able to move my arms without accidentally bashing the craft to pieces, I stretched as well as I could in the cramped cockpit. When the crick in my back cracked I immediately felt better. I grabbed the stick and engaged the manoeuvring thrusters to turn around. When I was pointing in the general direction of the station, I fired up for the engines.

    Only to a fifth of the maximum thrust the little craft could manage though. I was not stupid enough to fly around at neck breaking speed in a fucking asteroid field. Too many hotshots and drunks dinged up their mining crafts, racking up debt with Hoggart. Those that did not pay, were invited to leave by the front door and walk to the next system. Without a suit.

    I mean, it is not like the mining crafts are super fast, only able to achieve 0.0005c. It is not like it is the speed record set by the latest engine revealed by the Lokreian Hegemony at 0.005c. However, who in their right minds would voluntarily fly at speeds exceeding 1500 kilometres per second inside a freaking asteroid field? Too many things could go wrong, even if you had an enhanced reaction system.

    Since I did not have an ERS installed, it was much more sensible to drift around inside the field at around 30 kilometres per second. With the scanner¡¯s range that should afford me enough time to react to any anomalies that might pop up.

    Since the asteroid I had bought the claim for had been in the outer edges of the field, I was able to get a clear path to the station in just fifteen minutes. I had to alter course a few times to get around the larger pieces of rock picked up by the scanner, while the shield shrugged off the debris left by other miners. Filth, the lot of them.

    Clear of the asteroid field I cranked up the thrust and engaged the autopilot. I would have an hour and eighteen minutes before I would be hailed by flight control, so I leaned back in the seat and decided to take a nap. Had worked for the last thirty-two hours to finish the cheapskate of an asteroid, so some rest was definitely needed.

    With a few thoughts, I ordered my Synaptic Computer to wake me in sixty minutes, or if any warnings in the mining craft went off. Next, I activated sleep mode and found myself getting more tired quickly. Within thirty seconds I was asleep.

    <hr>

    My SynC woke me up sixty minutes later as ordered and though I could have slept another ten hours with ease, the short nap did me good, I felt more alert. Almost bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as the old Earth saying went. With practiced ease, I set about getting ready for the final approach for Hoggart¡¯s Hub.

    Eighteen minutes after my wakeup call, I got hailed on the craft¡¯s comm array. ¡°Mining Craft Delta-Alpha-Niner-One-Papa, this is Controller Five at Hoggart¡¯s Hub, welcome home. We¡¯re transmitting nav points, please follow them to docking bay Beta. You¡¯ve been assigned berth Six-Echo.¡±

    The nav points flashed in over the comms, and I transferred them to the autopilot. Immediately, the speed of the craft slowed as power to the engines were reduced and the retro thrusters engaged to slow down the craft. The hotshots would often take their crafts in manually, performing insane maneuvers at stupidly fast speeds, just to earn some extra bragging points.

    ¡°Controller Five, this is Delta-Alpha-Niner-One-Papa nav points received, auto-pilot engaged, berth Six-Echo is understood,¡± I replied with the required response. ¡°And thank you, I¡¯m looking forward to stretching my legs.¡±

    Despite having slowed down, I was still flying at one hundred kilometres per second as the space station grew closer.

    The station was big and ugly. It was a mess for several reasons. Unlike normal space stations where there was science and aesthetics put into the building, this station was slapped together with modules and old spaceship hulls meant for different stations.

    When the station expanded, the expansions were just haphazardly put down wherever there was room, no forethought, or any thought at all, was put into placement. Because Hoggart¡¯s men were lazy, it was also run down, breaking apart in non-essential areas. Only the bare necessary maintenance was done, often the life support system would break down for hours at a time.

    When I was a thousand klicks from the station, the speed was reduced further to five kilometres per second. The speed was further turned down when we hit the last hundred klicks. As I drifted into docking bay Beta we were only doing ten kilometres per hour all speed delivered by manoeuvring thrusters.

    The autopilot took me into berth 6E, where the docking arms caught the craft, and the giant steel doors closed behind me. A bit of jostling, as the docking clamps engaged and moved me into the right position.

    The lighting in the berth was red, indicating that there was no atmosphere. I waited for two minutes before the light turned normal and I got a message on my SynC telling me that the atmosphere had been established and normalized in the berth. A green lamp across from the cockpit lit up as well.

    After disconnecting the sanitation line from my suit and taking off my helmet, I opened the cockpit and started to clamber out. Halfway down, I heard the sound of the airlock opening, most likely to admit a Berth Attendant, the polite word for Hoggart¡¯s Thugs coming to shake you down. Looking over my shoulders I had to quickly hide a frown. ¡®Fuck me. Lady Luck really hates me today.¡¯

    It seemed my lack of luck had followed me home. The Berth Attendant, which should really be called the Extortionist instead, today was the worst of Hoggart¡¯s lackeys: Liam ¡°Fucking Leprechaun¡± O¡¯Keefe.

    He grifted an extra ten percent for himself on both what we were given for the resources we hauled in, and what we had to pay. That meant the last of my savings would be gone. More importantly, he was on the top of the list of people I would like to kill. My only thought was, ¡®Fuck, fuck, fuck!¡¯

    ¡°Ah, if it isn¡¯t Beanpole,¡± Liam said with a gleeful grin. ¡°So what do you have for us today?¡±

    The red-haired midget took out a holographic datapad. Behind me, I heard the crane move into position to remove the cargo module. I heard the clunk when the crane made the connection with the 5 by 2 by 3 metres module.

    ¡°Tsk tsk, only around nineteen cubic metres after so many hours of work, how disappointing that must be,¡± he said with obvious fake sympathy. ¡°And most of it is low grade iron ore. You know, the prices are a little lower than what it says on the Stationnet. I can only offer you four hundred and forty-eight creds per ton.¡±

    I quickly sent a query and was returned with a price list that was updated just three minutes ago. The price was listed at 508 credit per ton. Fucking bastard. I checked the price for assorted low-grade gemstones as well, which was 84 credits per kilo.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°For the gemstone, also low grade, I can offer you seventy-five creds per kilo,¡± he said with a fake apologetic smile. ¡°So sorry, the back-office is a little slow sometimes.¡±

    I really wanted to kick the midget in the nuts. Even though I was close to a metre taller than him, he outweighed me, and all of it was muscles, so it would in all likelihood end up badly for me. He had been born on a high-gravity planet so he had a squat build. He was around 129 centimetres tall and almost as wide across the shoulders. He had killed more than one miner objecting to his grifting or cheating at cards. My father was one of them.

    ¡°Sounds good, Mister O¡¯Keefe,¡± I said trying to unclench my teeth and hands, plastering a fake smile on my face. He had also killed someone for not calling him Mister. Hoggart¡¯s Hub was a dangerous place to live.

    He started listing the charges, ¡°Good, so rental for yesterday and today comes to fifty thousand credits.¡±

    ¡®No, it¡¯s only forty-five thousand,¡¯ I thought but did not object in fear of being taught an object lesson.

    ¡°Another five hundred and fifty for recycling air and emptying sanitation.¡±

    ¡®Five hundred,¡¯ I corrected mentally.

    ¡°And you used a lot of hydrogen fuel, so that¡¯ll be another one thousand eight hundred and ninety-four credits.¡±

    ¡®Whatever, you fucking weasel,¡¯ I thought, resisting the urge to kill the bastard that had just fleeced me for a little over eleven thousand credits. However, there was no one to complain to. Not out here. Hoggart was the law, and Hoggart liked Liam. Had laughed and slapped him on the back the last time he had killed someone complaining about him. That is what you get for living on a station run by a ¡°former¡± pirate lord.

    ¡°So you owe the station¡ª¡± he started.

    ¡°Five thousand six hundred and twenty-eight creds, yes I can count,¡± I said with a bit more venom than was wise. However, I could not help myself.

    His eyes narrowed, and his nostrils flared. However, I did not get shanked then and there. Instead, he pulled out a credstick. ¡°Time to pay the piper.¡±

    ¡®The Leprechaun,¡¯ I mentally corrected. With a shrug, I pulled out my credstick and paid the invoice he had sent me.

    A beep from the datapad, which was superfluous in the first place, made the man smile. ¡°Thank you for using Hoggart¡¯s Mining Emporium.¡±

    ¡®Not like I have any fucking choice,¡¯ I thought sourly.

    With that, he turned around and sauntered out of the berth. I had to stay for a moment to collect myself. Also to make sure that he got a good head start. Did not want to run into him again today. Instead of wasting the time while waiting, I put a call through to the Mining Union. It was not a real union, just what everyone called it. It was a custom.

    My SynC high-jacked the signal from my left eye and replaced it with the feed from the call. An old haggard looking human female answered, ¡°Union, what ya want?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to mark a claim for an asteroid,¡± I replied to Mussenil Bramlin, the most cantankerous of the workers at the Union office.

    ¡°Size?¡±

    I really wanted to say ¡®giant¡¯ or ¡®huge¡¯, but because of a lack of credits, I ended up saying, ¡°Large.¡±

    ¡°One kay,¡±

    My SynC displayed the invoice, and with a heavy heart, I paid the one thousand credits. Leaving me with just 1,431 credits. The call ended abruptly, being replaced by a map of the eleven asteroid belts in the system. I had mined in the main one, the closest one, because it was a long time to get to the others and work on them. Upwards of five days to get there, and the same to get back.

    With that long a trip, you would need to use the full sanitation equipment, which was exceedingly uncomfortable and yucky. You could forgo using everything on the shorter trips, because the SynC could only delay bowel movement for two to three standard days. However, you would still be very uncomfortable, just not as much.

    The other problem was that with the travel time to the other fields the yield had to be very good. With only thirty to a hundred cubic metres of cargo space, it would be hard to justify the expense, because it would be at least twelve hours and twelve hours back. That was 22,500 creds, not including fuel, and that was just to get there and back.

    With a sigh, I zoomed in on the main field, I could see where the other miners had already staked claims. You could only claim one asteroid at a time, and it was only yours for 72 hours. Anyone jumping a claim would be dealt with by one of the two roaming patrols. As would anyone mining an asteroid without having a valid claim. At least on this point, Hoggart upheld the law.

    I moved away from the more popular area of the asteroid field. It would add another half-hour travel each way for me, but staying away from the knuckleheads was the safest. You never knew whenever a dullard would fuck up and damage your craft, and then you were paying out your nose for that. Happened to me twice.

    I found one that was just on the verge of being considered huge instead of large. I almost picked that one, but another one nearby, a smaller one caught my attention. At first, I thought it was the shadows from the other asteroids playing a trick, but it looked like the new asteroid had an opening in it. It piqued my interest. It might have been mined in the past by the Primogenitors before they disappeared.

    If it had, there would most likely be nothing of worth left. However, besides the two Hyperlane Gates, there had been no signs of the Primogenitors in Roddea System. No battle sites, no former inhabited planet, no terraforming, no nothing. However interesting it was, it was still one of the smaller asteroids in the large category.

    I turned my attention back to the almost huge asteroid and was about to select it. Better to go with volume than mildly mysterious and interesting. Nevertheless, I stopped myself several times from locking in my selection. In the end, I gave a sad shake of my head and selected the mysterious asteroid and almost confirmed it without thinking.

    ¡®You¡¯re too much of a dreamer, Xan,¡¯ I thought derisively, and selected the almost huge asteroid again and this time I followed through. My financial freedom, if not my life, was depending on the selection being a good one. I had to make sound logical decisions if I wanted to keep on living. There was no room for dreams, not on Hoggart¡¯s Hub.

    With heavy footsteps, I made my way out through the airlock and into the base proper. The walk home was familiar and dreadfully boring. Not even the corpse lying in a dark side-corridor at the edge of the market hub was any surprise. A few people were standing around talking.

    ¡°¡ªfake credstick,¡± I heard a Minnesian say, or rather click. The insectoid¡¯s mandibles clicking was translated by my SynC. I did not recognize him or her, but then again the ant-like aliens all looked alike. With the wings folded, I could not see the pattern on them, which was the only thing that made it possible to tell them apart. Even then it was freaking difficult to distinguish them.

    There were only a few dozen of them onboard, a fellow pirate crew that had joined up with Hoggart. Not a lot of aliens out in this particular ass-end of nowhere. The most direct routes all went through the Holy Terran Empire, a xenophobic collection of the finest human assholes anywhere in the universe. Any ship carrying aliens entering their systems did so, would either be shot down or the crew enslaved. Their closest outpost was just three jumps away.

    ¡°Always some dumbasses who has to try it every few years, you would think they had learned after five hundred years of suicide by stupidity,¡± the human next to the Minnesian said. Even without them saying anything, I would be able to deduce what had happened. The way that the hand was held out as if paying with a credstick, and the distinct wounds and smell was familiar to anyone in the universe.

    The credsticks were created by the mysterious and unseen Caretakers at the hyperlane-gates, left behind by the Primogenitors, what most people called the benevolent race of unknown aliens that had transferred all that technology hundreds of years ago.

    ¡®Stop zoning out,¡¯ I scolded myself in my mind. I took a last look at the corpse before moving on.

    Anyone trying to transfer credits from a fake stick to a real one would get fried by an unknown energy, which was strong enough to fry ten blue whales. There was never any collateral damage, and despite the many deaths over the centuries, there was always some asshole trying to do it every once in a while. It would probably be a few years before anyone tried on Hoggart¡¯s Hub again, though

    ¡®With the idiots around this pigsty, it might be much sooner,¡¯ I thought with a snort. There were no other surprises or abnormalities on the way home.

    When I opened the door I saw that the holoscreen was on, set to one of the educational channels. History to be precise. It was the favourite of my roommate and the love of my life, Nova. I saw her curled up on the bed, lazily watching the show. It was an old one, celebrating the six hundred anniversary of the Revelation, when the Primogenitors had given humanity the ability to leave our solar system, without dying of old age enroute.

    ¡°Hey sweetie, I¡¯m home,¡± I said in my usual greeting. I got a half-hearted answer and an accusatory stare in return. Chuckling, I said, ¡°I know sweetie, but it took me longer than expected. Let me just get out of this suit and freshen up.¡±

    I walked through the small apartment, actually more accurately a cabin since my apartment was in an old repurposed starship hull that was added to the space station. The cabin was only big enough for the bed against the wall, the holoscreen on the opposite side, and my recliner. Past the recliner, I made my way into the kitchenette, where an old NutriMaker took up the right side, some cupboards above them. Across from it was the door into the Sanitation Unit.

    The SanU was barely large enough for me to get out of the suit. The catheter hurt almost as much taking it out as it did putting in. I felt great relief when it was finally out. Once I had shimmied out of the suit, and relieved my bladder, I took some Freshener Wipes and wiped down my body. The Fipes took care of all the sweat, stink, and grime that had accumulated under the suit, even in the cold deep dark of space.

    I wish I could afford a shower, but a hundred creds a minute for a warm shower was not something I wished to pay. Water was a precious resource out in the deep dark, especially when on a station run by greedy ¡°former¡± pirates. I remember when I was young and my mom and dad used to take me to the public bathhouse every second day. It had never been that expensive back then.

    Thinking about my mom reminded me of the horrible day twelve years ago when Hoggart and his men attacked Androste Station. Mom had been at work, working in flight control. Hoggart and his men had killed everyone in the command module, including my mom. Just another injustice I one day hoped to repay.

    I angrily threw the wipes in the disposal, took a few deep breaths to calm myself. Being calm, I became aware of the coldness of the metal deck beneath my feet, so I quickly opened the auto-washer and hung up the suit. I pulled a pair of shorts out of the washer, slipped them on and stepped into a pair of flip flops. My cabin was warm enough, it was only the deck that was cold because there was nothing between it and the Deep Dark.

    I stepped out of the SanU and saw Nova sitting in the bed, waiting with an expectant look on her face. I chuckled again and sat down in the recliner. My butt had barely hit the seat before she was in my lap, pressing into me as I stroked her back.

    I reclined in the chair, bringing up the leg support, and Nova immediately capitalized on it. Soon her face was in mine. I could not help but say, ¡°God, I missed you so much.¡±

    I got an enthusiastic ¡°Meow¡±, and then she licked my nose. I reached up and started petting the grey and white cat that had been the only thing keeping me sane for the last few standard years. Or well maybe not sane, but at least preventing me from doing something terminally stupid like the guy I had seen earlier.

    For the next fifteen minutes, I poured all my love into the little furball that was purring along on my chest. Petting, scratching, tickling. She was lapping up every second. However, I had other things I needed to take care of. Like removing the block on hunger pains, restarting my bowel movements, and getting something to eat, if you could call a grey tasteless cube for food.

    I was not living a glamorous life, but it was mine and I was debt-free. As long as I had Nova to keep me company, life was just fine.

 Chapter 2

    <blockquote>

    ¡°...Initial survey of the Roddea System reveals no planetoids. The asteroid belts contain little precious metal, and there¡¯s only a 0.0000000000007% chance that Qoblynesium will be found anywhere in the system.

    Furthermore there are no signs of the Primogenitors, except for the two hyper-lane gates making the system highly unattractive...¡±

    ~Analyst A403NM12G

    Internal Holy Terran Empire memo

    </blockquote>

    2687-February-19 - Hoggart¡¯s Hub (Roddea System)

    I woke up to the internal blaring of my SynC, telling me it was time to get up and that the time was 2300. Groaning, I tried to move Nova from my chest, but she was reluctant to let go of the thin sheet I slept under. She even hissed at me. I knew that it was only playful, since it was part of our usual routine.

    A few minutes of petting and scratching her ears satisfied the ritual, and she let me get up from the bed. She spun around two times to the left, then reversed direction and spun around three times, before lying down on my pillow.

    I admired her beauty for a few seconds as she looked up expectantly at me. Most of her body was a light grey, with a few dark stripes, except for her paws, chin and stomach, which were all white. She had very vibrant green eyes with just a hint of yellow at the very edges.

    With a smile, I turned around to head for the NutriMaker. I heard an indignant meow behind me, also part of our ritual. I turned back and looked at her. Like so many times before, I said, ¡°Sorry sweetie, I forgot.¡±

    With a single thought, I commanded my SynC to turn on the holoscreen at the same channel that it always was on when I left; the History channel. Turning back to my little kitchenette, I went to the NutriMaker. First I checked the stocks and saw that the stock levels were getting low, not an immediate concern, but enough of a worry that I would run out of food in a week. Of course, the flavouring stocks were empty. They always were.

    I had to think for a moment. The asteroid was quite a bit larger than the one I had just finished mining. Should be able to do it in around twenty-seven hours. Estimating another hour and forty minutes to get to the edges of the field, the same to get back. Only ten, no fifteen minutes, to get through the field to the asteroid, and then fifteen minutes to get back. Total time would be under 31 hours.

    I did not change the setting from Bare Minimum and then punched in 34 hours. It was best to put in a safety margin of roughly ten percent. I also had to walk to the rental office and get back from the bay after all. The NutriMaker started making a cube of paste that held the bare minimum of nutrition I would need for 34 hours. I never ate more than that. It was also the reason why I was so skinny.

    While the old machine prepared my meal, I reached up into the cupboard and grabbed some bottled water and the cat food. I was running low on both, I noticed with a sigh. I padded back to the bed and dragged the water and feeding station out from underneath it. I topped both of them up with practiced ease. Next came the emptying the litter box which was also under the bed.

    Most of Nova¡¯s things were in the spacious room underneath the bed, including a heating blanket to keep her comfortable while eating. Changing the litter box was easy, just pulling the sealed bag out and replacing it with a new one. I checked the hopper dispensing the cat litter and saw that it was running low as well.

    ¡°Next month is going to be hard, sweetie,¡± I mumbled and gave her a quick scritching under her chin, making her purr reverberate through the room.

    With a sigh, feeling the impending financial doom, I got up from the floor. I might be able to secure another loan from Hoggart, but it would be my fourth time doing it. After three it started to get very dangerous to loan from him, his patience would run out faster, his interest rates would go up. In short, it would be a very bad idea loaning from him again.

    I disposed of the litter box waste and put the other stuff away. From the other cupboard, I grabbed two small bags of fluid. A spacer water-mix, popularly called Hydras, which was short for hydration bags.

    It was clear as water, tasted like water unless you paid for flavouring, but it was not water. I forgot exactly what was in it, but it hydrated better than normal water. Each bag would be able to hydrate you for twenty hours.

    Padding into the SanU, I turned to my spacesuit. On the front of it, there were six small pockets, three on each side of the zipper. I had used two of them, so I started switching them out. First throwing out the empties, then moving up the old ones, and then putting the new at the bottom. I had to make sure to rotate the dates.

    Normally the Hydras would last for years, however, I tended to buy the stock that was about to expire because it was cheaper, and often the only thing available out here. That meant a little extra work in ensuring I did not get an expired batch, which could kill you. Something about the chemicals turning to poison when the molecular structure got too old or something like that.

    About the time I was done, the NutriMaker played its little jingle, telling me that my midnight snack, breakfast, lunch, dinner, midnight snack, breakfast, and lunch was ready. All gathered into a single grey odourless and tasteless cube of only eight cubic centimetres. I could not remember the last time I had a real meal.

    Two bites and the cube was gone. Filling, but not satisfying.

    Stepping back into the SanU I caught my reflection in the mirror. I was not impressed by the milky white man staring back at me. Liam was right, I was a beanpole. I was tall, 214 centimetres to be exact.

    A few generations of low-g ancestry in my bloodline. And I was thin, almost sickly thin. I could count my ribs and my arms and legs were almost pure bone. I might get enough nutrients to survive, but I could not afford to eat what I needed to fill out and be really healthy.

    No hair anywhere on my body because depilatory wipes were much cheaper than a haircut. If I remember correctly it was a dark brown. The only thing I liked about myself was my hazel eyes. The irises had a bit of green and gold around the pupil, followed by different shades of blue and the edges were dark brown. They looked almost like small supernovas.

    Disgusted by the reflection I started changing clothes. I had the SynC block the worst of the pain as I put the catheter in, but not all of it because I would not be able to feel if something went wrong.

    I left the SanU with my suit only halfway on. The suit had integrated gloves, but Nova hated the gloves, so I had one arm hanging outside the suit.

    ¡°Sweetie, I have to go in a minute, okay?¡± I asked and started stroking her. She meowed softly and turned onto her back, exposing her belly. I tickled her, listening to her purring. That sound made me happy, some days I felt like it was the only thing that kept me going. She clamped her front paws around my hand, almost as if hugging it.

    I smiled, I knew what came next. We had done the routine so many times I had lost count. I started pulling my hand back, and immediately her claws extended. Not enough to hurt, just enough to let me know she was not done with her belly rub. So I obliged her for another ten minutes before she finally let go of my hand.

    Standing up, I moved out of the way for the holoscreen and finished getting dressed. As soon as the magnetic collar for the helmet was secured, I said my final goodbye to Nova and made my way out into the station, for another shift of asteroid mining.

    It was getting close to midnight, but time meant nothing out here in the deep dark. Everything was open all the time. Only out of ease did we adhere to the STT, standard terran time. It made things easier, especially when conducting trade between the different human civilizations. Things got a little wonky when you started comparing calendars with the alien races though.

    I made my way to the rental office without problems. There was a small queue outside. Like me the rest of them wanted as much time as possible for their creds.

    You did not rent them for 24 hours, you rented them for the day. So if you rented one at 2300, you paid for a full day just to use it for a single hour. It was bullshit, and so was their excuse. They said that it was easier to manage this way, which was a lie.

    However, most miners out in this system were one-man operations without a vessel, so we had no other choice but to rent Hoggart¡¯s crafts under less than ideal terms.

    My place at the end of the queue was right behind Enid Neesantos. An old hand at mining. She and her husband had arrived here almost thirty years ago. They had their own mining vessel until five years ago when the bastard left her stranded and ran off with a dancer from Lex¡¯s. Quite the scandal at the time.

    When I had first started out she had given me a few tips, but it all stopped when her husband ran away. She became distant and withdrawn. Her skin was insipid, more so than the last time I had seen her. Her dark brown eyes had a haunted look in them when they were not glazed over from whatever drug she was taking.

    She was from a high gravity world, not as high as Liam, but she was still only around one metre and forty tall, and she definitely weighed more than me. She turned back to look at who was behind her, and she cracked a sad smile. ¡°Hey Xandros, how are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Miss Enid,¡± I replied politely with a smile of my own. Even though I did not condone her choice of coping mechanism, I would not be impolite to the old lady.

    I felt someone stepping into the queue behind me, the smell told me that it was a Mycolinian, one of the few sentient fungal species we had encountered. They gave me the creeps because I knew they liked to eat human flesh. All kinds of flesh really, the more rotten it was, the better.

    I had to restrain myself from looking back, they took eye contact as an insult. Not that they had eyes as we humans or many of the other races had. They did however have a sight organ that functioned by smelling where its spores weren¡¯t. Their sight radius was small, but it stank worse than a full diaper.

    With a strained smile, I asked Enid, ¡°How have the rocks been treating you?¡±

    ¡°Oh, you know. Been taking it easy the past couple of weeks,¡± she said, trying to hide the tremor in her hands. I knew what she meant. She had scored some credits, and spent two weeks high on drugs, making her forget all her worries and sleazy ex-husband. ¡°Got a huge one lined up, going to take one of the hundreds out. What about you?¡±

    I sighed. ¡°Unfortunately, I got a large one, almost too large for that classification. I haven¡¯t had the best of luck lately, so I might only take out a thirty cuber. I didn¡¯t even fill up twenty cubes on my last large run.¡±

    ¡°What did you mine? A small one?¡± she asked with a frown.

    ¡°A large one,¡± I answered with a sad shake of my head.

    ¡°By the Ascended. That¡¯s some rotten luck.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    ¡°Tell me about it,¡± I said in the same moment as the queue finally started moving. I gestured with my chin for her to move, but she did not seem to register the gesture, because she was still just looking at me.

    ¡°Move, ya fucking wankers!¡± someone shouted behind me. Someone speaking Etrish, so probably a human from the Etrimarian Sanctuary at least a hundred jumps from here. I wondered what someone did that far from home.

    Enid jumped a little as if she had been asleep and something just woke her up. She looked around bewildered and saw that there was room for her to move ahead. She did so and I quickly followed. More worried about the Mycolinian than an irate human, even if it was an Etririan.

    Soon it was Enid¡¯s turn, she gave me a strained smile. ¡°Good luck, Xandros.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, you too Enid.¡±

    It became my turn next, and I moved my way up to the counter. A scanner on the floor started scanning my biometrics and queried my SynC. The clerk, a former colleague of my mother¡¯s, did not even look up from the screen in front of him. He never did.

    He was one of the few survivors from the administration module after the pirate takeover. My mother was not so lucky. His name was Clarence Wymann, and he was more or less a slave to Hoggart. He ran the management of the mining crafts.

    ¡°Xandros Weaver. Renter Rating is Excellent,¡± he droned on as the information was relayed to him. It had taken me almost three years of delivering back the crafts without a ding in them, to earn back the Excellent rating. It had dropped to Average after the last accident I had. ¡°No surcharges for renting a mining craft. Allowed to rent all sizes. Which size would you like to rent?¡±

    I had thought a bit about that in the queue. You needed an Excellent rating to rent the fifties and the hundred cubers. A thirty cuber would be the safest. It was also the smallest size available. Would probably mean more than one run to get everything out of the asteroid though. A forty cubic one would cost thirty thousand, against the 22500 of the thirty cuber. A fifty cuber would cost forty thousand. A hundred cuber cost one hundred and twenty thousand per day.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to rent a fifty cubic one,¡± I replied. With that large a rock, it had to pay off. Would probably need to fill it twice anyway, unless it was a freaking cheapskate like the last one.

    ¡°We got one left, head to Bay Alpha, berth Seven Bravo.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, Clarence,¡± I said and left.

    I heard a muttered ¡°Good luck, Xan.¡± behind me. I really hoped it would help, I could use all the luck in the universe.

    The next thing I heard from behind me as I was walking away was less pleasant. It was someone shouting in Etrish, ¡°Who the fuck rented the last fifty cubic craft? I¡¯ll fucking kill you, you bastard.¡±

    That man had some serious anger management issues. However, it was one of the side-effects from being away from the psychedelic pollen spread by all the flora on the planets in Sanctuary space.

    I made my way to the craft and repeated the same routines I had done for years. Thirty minutes after renting my craft, I was leaving the docking bay.

    <hr>

    Manoeuvring through the asteroid field was dangerous, but I was used to it. However, complacency had killed many miners. All it took was one moment of inattentiveness and a large piece of debris would go through the deflector shields. If you were lucky, the armour of the craft would take care of the problem. If you were not¡ªwell, you would be walking home, if you were still alive.

    As I was moving into position to start cutting into the asteroid I had laid claim on, I caught sight of the mysterious asteroid with the equally curiosity-inducing opening in it. For a brief moment, I allowed myself to think about what it might contain. A secret pirate hoard? A Primogenitor relic? An unmined mountain of wealth?

    The possibilities were endless. I almost wished I had claimed that rock instead of this one. I sighed and turned my attention away from it. With the directional thrusters, I lowered the mining craft into position just above the asteroid. I had already studied the drift of the debris, and most of it was as always drifting in the same direction. So I placed the asteroid between me and it.

    I checked the scanner one more time, to ensure that there was no immediate danger of collision. Of course, there was not, I had just checked two minutes ago, but one could never be too careful. Sometimes the scanner would not pick up even large pieces of debris until it was very close.

    I dropped the forward deflector shield and unfolded the arms. I moved the left arm forward, almost the entire way down to the asteroid before clenching my fist. Clenching my fist activated the powerful mining piston.

    It shot out once every second, punching its way into the rock. I moved the right arm over near where the chiseled piston was hammering away and activated the gravitational grappler. It would catch all the small debris.

    After thirty seconds the piston needed to cool down. I checked the analyzer that was also in the right arm. Nothing of value. so I moved all the small debris into the atomizer. It was energy draining to turn all the debris into atoms, which was why most miners out here, where there were no laws and regulations, did not do it. It was also why so many mining crafts got damaged or even lost. Hit by debris left by other miners.

    The piston had a ten-second cooldown, so were soon ready to go for another round. Another thirty seconds and the large section I had been working on was almost free. Just needed another five seconds. This time the analyzer showed some traces of aluminium and iron. It was a minuscule amount, so not worth trying to save the debris that contained it. However, it was promising for finding something.

    Soon I had a big segment of the asteroid free and I grabbed it. Analyzing that big a chunk of stone would take some time. Two minutes later, it had finished looking through the hundred tons of rock. Very small jackpot. Towards the end, there was almost a ton of bauxite.

    I was very happy about that. It meant I had some gallium in the mix as well, which was still very precious in this day and age. A lot of the technology that the Primogenitors had left us used gallium.

    Though many scientists were sure that it was a substitute for another element that we did not know about. They thought so because the schematics promised more power if the gallium could be replaced with something else. No one had found that something just yet.

    Just three or four tons more of bauxite and this asteroid would have already earned me more than the last one. All thoughts about mysterious asteroid caves and lost treasures vanished, the real treasure was just in front of me.

    <hr>

    The asteroid had been a gold mine. Just not as much of one as I had hoped after finding the bauxite. I only found another half a ton of bauxite, then the rest was just mid-grade iron ore. However, there was a lot of it. A whole lot of it.

    I had to go back to the station and request an empty container, before going back out again. All told I brought back 81 cubic metres of resources. It had netted me a lot of credits, my biggest haul ever. It also helped that I did not get fleeced by the Leprechaun because he was working another bay. Thankfully, it seemed like my luck was turning around.

    Happy I went home, looking at the balance of my credstick. I had prepaid next month''s rent and utility, filled up the larder, and Nova¡¯s essentials. Even after all that, I still had almost fifteen thousand credits on the stick. Enough that I thought I would take off a couple of days off before going out again.

    ¡°Hey Sweetie,¡± I said when I entered my room. Nova looked up at me. Seeing my arms full of parcels, she immediately jumped to her paws and sprang down on the floor. The entire way to the cupboard, she was running around my legs, purring and rubbing against them, almost tripping me several times.

    She watched intently as I put away everything. Her purring got more insistent, almost impatient. I gave her a smile. ¡°Fine, here¡¯s what you¡¯ve been waiting for. A new toy.¡±

    I threw the toy on the bed, which sent Nova racing after it. The catnip ball had cost me more than a week¡¯s worth of food stock for myself. It was so expensive because Nova was one of only five owned cats on the station, so the supplier only imported a little at a time and charged exorbitant prices.

    There were probably a dozen or more felines hiding in the crawlspaces and air ducts. However, seeing Nova go crazy for the ball, rolling around happy and purring was worth almost any price to me.

    I quickly took care of my biological needs, except for the food, because I had other plans. It had been too long since I had real food, even if synthetically grown, as that was all that was available on the station.

    When I left the SanU I was dressed in my civis, a set of ratty coveralls that was a size or two too short for me, and way too big across the chest. Hearing me exit, Nova looked up curiously. She let out an inquisitive meow.

    ¡°I¡¯m going out for dinner,¡± I said.

    She replied with a critical meow.

    ¡°You¡¯re right, I should maybe see if I could find a new set of clothes.¡±

    Another meow, this time reproachful.

    I looked at her. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m going to Lex¡¯s, it has been a long time.¡±

    She did not reply, just went back to playing with her new toy. When I went to give her a belly rub, she hissed at me. She always did when I left dressed in my civis. I think it was because she could smell alcohol or other people on me when I got home.

    She was not very fond of other people. That was a major understatement actually. She freaking hated other people than me, I reckoned it stemmed from the time before I found her.

    Three years ago, when I had my last accident, they would not let me rent another craft for nearly two months. I survived by digging through the garbage for salvage, or maybe even some expired food stocks.

    It was a day like any other when I heard some kids laughing elsewhere in the refuse piles, spurring each other on to do something. They were also throwing pieces of metal and glass after something or someone. Curious I went to investigate.

    What I found was three kids at around thirteen to fifteen years, who were throwing pieces of rubbish after a small cat, which could not be more than a few months old. The kitten mewled pitifully, bleeding from a cut in the ear.

    The sight of what they were doing made me angry and I grabbed a piece of wiring and started whipping at them until they fled. I was careful to not actually damage them.

    That was how I rescued Nova, and she adopted me. It was a burden on my non-existent resources, especially the next day when the father of one of the kids found me and beat me to a pulp. Luckily, Nova had been able to hide away from the man, otherwise she would probably have been killed.

    I had to borrow money for the treatment, a loan I had only paid off three months ago.

    I shook my head, dispelling the thoughts of that time three years ago. My route had taken me almost all the way to Lex¡¯s. I was just a few hundred metres when a voice rang out, ¡°Xandros, over here.¡±

    I looked in the direction of the voice calling out. It was not a voice I recognized. However, seeing the woman that had called out, did spark recognition. It was Cobalt, a girl I had gone to school with, back when there was a school on the station. I had seen her from time to time, and last I knew she worked at Lex¡¯s. The diminutive blue-eyed blond girl had been very popular, and expensive, so expensive I had never been able to afford her.

    ¡°Uhm, hey, Cobalt,¡± I mumbled, wondering what she was doing out on the streets. She was practically naked. She was tottering around on high heels, bringing her above a metre and a half. Her top would have trouble qualifying as a bikini, and her short skirt revealed that she was not wearing underwear.

    I got a big smile, which in the past would have turned me on, and often had. However, her pearly whites had turned brown and black. A clear sign that she was using low-quality Black Nebula. The drug of choice aboard the Hoggart¡¯s Hub.

    ¡°Xandros, I heard you picked a good roid, seeing you on the way to the Cunt, I know it¡¯s true,¡± she said a walked up to me. Well, more like stumbled. Her motor skills were clearly impaired by the Nebula. She pressed against me, caressing my chest. ¡°I always liked how tall you are, like a real man.¡±

    The way she was talking, and her breath, were both nauseating. Before I could reply, she cupped my nether regions. ¡°How about you forget about that place and come with me? I was the biggest earner in that place, I¡¯ll even let you go bareback. Because you¡¯re a friend, I¡¯ll give you half off, never say that Cobalt isn¡¯t nice to her friends.¡±

    I pushed her hand on my pride away and stepped back. Without thinking I replied, ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m just looking for a meal, not a venereal disease.¡±

    I quickly turned around and walked away. It was a full five seconds before she understood I had rejected her. She then started shouting, ¡°Fucking cheapskate, you meet a real woman and you turn into a wuss! I bet you can¡¯t even get that tiny dick of yours hard. Faggot!¡±

    She continued screaming, but luckily I had arrived at Lex¡¯s, all thought about finding someone to spend the night with was gone. Meeting Cobalt was such a turn-off. The bouncer looked me up and down. With a sniff, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯re getting inside, dressed like that.¡±

    ¡°Uhm,¡± I said embarrassed. ¡°I just want to pick up some take-away, if that¡¯s possible.¡±

    ¡°Still need to pay the cover charge.¡±

    ¡°Fine, how much?¡±

    ¡°Fifty creds,¡± he lied. It was normally half that. Looking at the bouncer it was clear that he was from a heavy G world. He was almost as wide across the shoulders as he was tall. All of it was muscles.

    ¡°Fine,¡± I mumbled and paid the fifty creds. I saw that it was to his private stick, not Lex¡¯s.

    ¡°Around the back, someone will pop out with a bag,¡± he said, dismissing me as a couple of Hoggart¡¯s men came ambling up to the entrance. Around back, I got my food and got fleeced for another fifty creds. The cook called it a ¡°packaging fee¡±.

    The food smelled good and would keep warm until I got back home. Even with the detour I took. Maybe Nova would like some.

    When I was almost home, I saw that the door to my apartment had been kicked in. Fear took hold of me, not for my stuff or myself, but for Nova. I dropped the takeaway bag and raced to my apartment. The inside was a mess, my chair was gone, the holoscreen was gone, the NutriMaker had been completely trashed. The bed was torn up, Nova¡¯s stuff was gone.

    All of that was bad, but nothing filled me with dread as the splotches of blood in the middle of the room. The deep red stood out in stark contrast to the grey metal floor.

 Chapter 3

    ¡°Nova!¡± I shouted, my voice trembling with panic. ¡®What has happened to her? Who did this?¡¯

    I got no answer. She always gave me a meow when I called her name. I kept shouting her name as I went into the cabin. Everything of value was gone. However, that did not matter. All that mattered was Nova. I spent five minutes calling her name and checking every nook and cranny, but I could not find her.

    ¡®Did someone take her? Did she run out after being injured?¡¯ I thought as my panic became more and more frantic. ¡°Nova!¡±

    ¡°Oi, shut up already, Nova this, Nova that!¡± a voice shouted from outside. It took me a full two seconds to realise it had been in Etrish. The SynC automatically fed me some information about Etrimarians.

    With a few steps, I was outside the cabin and saw two people. One was the fucking Leprechaun, the other was a man I had not seen before. He looked like a fairly standard Earther build wise, however, his ears were those of a cat. At the same time, his skin had a greenish hue.

    Cobbled together with the fact that he spoke Etrish, it all led to one conclusion: He was from the Etrimarian Sanctuary. Which meant I had to be very careful. He was mercurial. I knew this without even knowing the person.

    The Gaia classified world that became Etrimari Prime had a serious flaw. All its plants released spores that were highly addictive and made people exposed to it for long docile. However, if you left, you went into withdrawals and you became extremely volatile.

    The fact that he did not have a tail, signified he was exiled by his people.

    Another thing that immediately stood out to me was the fresh set of claw marks on his cheek.

    My eyes narrowed and I became angry, totally ignoring the Leprechaun, I shouted at the Etrimarian, ¡°What the fuck did you do to Nova? If you hurt her, I¡¯ll fucking kill you!¡±

    ¡°Easy now, Beanpole,¡± Leprechaun said with a sneer. ¡°We¡¯re just here to propose a trade.¡±

    ¡°You fucking kidnapped my cat?¡± I screamed at them.

    ¡°You watch your fucking piehole or I¡¯ll rip the skin of your face and skull fuck you while you¡¯re still alive!¡± the Etrimarian screamed back, advancing towards me.

    ¡°Calm down, Clem,¡± Leprechaun said with a sigh. ¡°Remember why you are here.¡±

    ¡°Right,¡± the man called Clem mumbled, visibly deflating. ¡°I know the whereabouts of your stupid cat. It¡¯s going to cost you though.¡±

    I was seething with anger. Clenching my fists, I asked through equally clenched teeth, ¡°How much?¡±

    ¡°Everything on your credstick,¡± Clem replied with a big toothy smile, revealing blackened teeth just like Cobalt had.

    My eyes narrowed. ¡°Is she still alive?¡±

    ¡°Last I saw her,¡± he replied with a shrug. ¡°You want the information or not?¡±

    My heart was pounding, I was angry and scared at the same time. I had a hard time thinking straight. Nevertheless, without hesitation, I took out my credstick. ¡°Fine, asshole. You win.¡±

    ¡°Call me an asshole again and I¡¯ll fucking kill¡ª¡± he started screaming, but Leprechaun put a hand on his back and he started calming down. He pulled out his credstick. ¡°In return for all the credits on your stick, I will tell you where I last saw your cat, Nova.¡±

    My SynC lit up with the proposed agreement. I confirmed it and touched his credstick with my own. The credits were drained from my stick, but they were not on his just yet. First, he had to uphold his end of the bargain.

    ¡°Well, where is she?¡± I demanded.

    ¡°Last time I saw her, she was running down that corridor,¡± he said, pointing down in the opposite direction of where I had come from. The SynC informed me the agreement had been upheld.

    I almost exploded, at being cheated like that. It had been in the wording of the agreement, but I had been too angry and anxious to pay any attention. I had also believed that Clem had Nova. It turned out he did not.

    He must have attempted to kidnap her because he heard of my big windfall. She had probably scratched his face, wiggled out of his grasp, and run away.

    I looked at him. ¡°Did you hurt her?¡±

    ¡°Fuck you,¡± he grumbled and walked away.

    ¡°If you hurt her, I¡¯ll find you and kill you!¡± I screamed after him.

    Clem started to turn around when Liam gruffly ordered, ¡°Clem, keep walking. Your business here is done.¡±

    The man looked like he wanted to argue, but turned back around and kept walking.

    I snorted and turned around and was about to head off to find Nova, when Liam said, ¡°And where do you think you¡¯re going, Beanpole? We¡¯re not done here!¡±

    I turned back around, almost snarling at him. With forced pleasantness and a smile, I asked, ¡°What can I help you with?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here as a representative of Hoggart¡¯s Homes. We got a report of the damage done to your cabin, and are here to assess the damages,¡± he said with a slimy smile.

    ¡°Take it up with Clem, it was obviously him, who trashed my cabin!¡± I said frustratedly.

    Liam tsked. ¡°Rejecting to take responsibility for your own actions, and being rude to a duly officiated representative of the station, I fine you two thousand credits.¡±

    I almost opened my mouth to argue but thought better of it. Liam almost looked disappointed. He continued, ¡°Because of not maintaining the cabin, your rental agreement has been cancelled. Forfeiting the deposit and all paid rent. Furthermore, you have to pay the damages, which amount to five thousand credits.¡±

    I swallowed audibly, unclenching my teeth, I said, ¡°I don¡¯t have any credits. Just paid Clem everything I have.¡±

    ¡°Well, then you¡¯ll have to take a loan with Hoggart¡¯s Bank,¡± Liam said with a big smile. He took out a datapad and went through a great production of entering my information. ¡°Oh dear, you have already loaned credits from us three times. All paid of course, but you know that we don¡¯t like fiscally irresponsible people here. So the interest has gone up. I¡¯ll send over the agreement for a seven thousand credit loan.¡±

    My SynC notified me that I had gotten another agreement to look over. I almost exploded when I read the terms. A daily interest rate of 100% and then on top of that a 10% Handling Fee that went to Liam himself. Also added to daily.

    I swallowed. There was only one thing to do and that was to sign this agreement and become their slaves for life. I also knew that if they felt I did not work hard enough to pay off the loan, I would be killed.

    With a heavy heart, I signed off on the agreement.

    ¡°Good choice, Beanpole,¡± Liam said. I just nodded slightly. He stepped forward. I did not see the punch coming, but I certainly felt it. It connected hard with my stomach, doubling me over the air rushing out of me. Liam leaned in and whispered, ¡°That¡¯ll teach you to fucking treat me with respect!¡±

    My legs gave out and I fell to my knees. Liam started walking away, shouting over his shoulder, ¡°Stop lazing about, you got a debt to repay.¡±

    ¡°Asshole,¡± I mumbled under my breath, which I still had a hard time doing. After he was gone, I slowly got to my feet and hurried as much as possible down the corridor. I had an idea of where she might have gone.

    The corridor led to the garbage room where I had found her.

    As soon as I entered the giant room, I started calling her name. ¡°Nova! Nova, where are you?¡±

    After a minute of shouting her name, I finally got a shaky meow in return. She had to meow a few more times before I found her in a small shute. She was shaking like a leaf, starting meowing pitifully as soon as she saw me.

    Gently I picked her up. She dug her claws deep in my arm, clearly not wanting to leave my embrace. I hugged her tightly to my chest, petting her as much as she wanted.

    At the same time, I talked soothingly to her. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry this happened to you Nova, I¡¯ll make sure nothing like it can ever happen again. Don¡¯t worry, the bad man is gone.¡±

    ¡®And I¡¯ll make him fucking pay for this,¡¯ I thought angrily. As carefully as possible, I checked her over. She hissed when I gently prodded her right hindleg. I had to make sure it was not broken, but she did not enjoy it when I carefully felt along her leg. It clearly hurt her, since she bit my hand and would not let go. It hurt like hell. However, for her, I would endure anything.

    ¡°You¡¯re such a brave girl, scratching the bad man. I¡¯m so proud of you,¡± I whispered soothingly.

    As far as I could tell it was not broken. I sincerely hoped that was the case because I would never be able to convince Liam to loan me creds for a vet. As soon as I stopped prodding her leg, Nova retracted her claws. She meowed apologetically.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay, sweetie. I¡¯m sorry that I hurt you,¡± I whispered, scratching her ears. ¡°Come, let¡¯s see if we can salvage anything.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    When I got back to my apartment, the bag of food I had dropped was long gone. There was also someone standing outside my door. As soon as he saw me, he let out a cry of warning and bolted down the corridor away from me. A couple of seconds later, two people dashed out of my apartment and followed the first person. Their hands were full.

    I sighed. Even more of my stuff had vanished.

    Inside, I saw that they had gone off with the ruined NutriMaker and bed. Nova hissed angrily. Scratching her ear, I soothed her, ¡°I know. Damn vultures. Stay here, while I see if they left anything behind.¡±

    I put her on the shelf where I had kept a holoframe showing pictures of my parents. Bastards had even taken that. The only reason they had not taken the shelf was that it was welded to the wall.

    It took me five minutes to search and find everything that had been left behind. Which was not a lot. There were two bottles of water that had fallen to the floor and rolled under the shelf that the NutriMaker had stood on. No one had wanted the half-full small bag of kitten litter that was in the cupboard. The catnip ball I had bought Nova had rolled underneath the shelf of the holoscreen. That was it.

    Even the SanU had been ransacked. All my clothes had been stolen.

    I put the bottles and the ball in the bag, carrying it on my right arm. I held out my left arm out for Nova to curl up in. She mewled in pain as she had to stand up and get in position.

    With everything that I had left from the apartment in my arms, I made my way deeper into the station. Into the old area where my parents used to live. The old corridor and cabins were used for storage of old broken stuff.

    The heat did not work, nor did the light. The air filtration in the section was a joke, the air quality was so bad that you only had a fifty-fifty chance of waking up if you fell asleep. All in all, a shitty place.

    Nova meowed with uncertainty, her ears lying down flat. Soothingly I said, ¡°I know Nova, don¡¯t worry. It¡¯ll only be for a few minutes.¡±

    It was only thanks to the light enhancement of my SynC that I was able to navigate the hazardous corridor, where some of the floor panels had rusted from neglect. More than once, my foot broke through a panel and into the crawl space beneath. Luckily, my boots were thick and durable, preventing my ankles from being cut by the jagged edges.

    Finally, I had made my way to what used to be our old apartment. The door was broken, it was filled with old machinery parts. I did not go in. Instead, I went to the turn in the corridor. Facing the wall, I looked around. No sign of anyone trying to break in. Looking up and down each of the two corridors I saw no one.

    I put down the bag of our belongings and fished for something beneath my shirt. I pulled out two chains I carried around my neck. The links of each were just stainless steel, not worth more than a handful of credits.

    The chain looped through what looked like two rings of a black polished stone. It was not stone, it was an unknown metal. The same as the credsticks were made from. Like the credstick, the first time an individual came close to a hyperlane gate, the Caretakers would grant the individual a credstick and implement a SynC.

    The two rings on the chains were my parents'' SynCs. They contained all of my parents¡¯ personal files.

    There was a huge black market for used SynCs. Simheads would easily pay upwards of ten thousand credits, depending on the experiences recorded on them. Never in my life would I sell them, no matter how bad things got. Especially not for strangers to relive the moments recorded on them. Violent deaths were a favourite amongst the simheads.

    I shook my head in irritation and took off the SynC with the yellow string tied to it. It was my mother¡¯s SynC. Yellow had been her favourite colour. The green string was my father¡¯s.

    I placed the SynC first on the seam to the left of the wall panel, then on the right. A slight click resounded in the empty corridor. The wall panel had retracted a bit and started to move to the right. It creaked horribly from lack of maintenance as the hidden door opened.

    My mother used to have to place her forehead on the two spots to open the emergency workstation. The inside lit up with a bright fluorescent light, making me blink rapidly and Nova hissed in annoyance.

    The door had revealed a room I had lived in for almost a year. It was a small room. Very small. One point five by one point five metres. Most of that room was taken up by the work console.

    The room was meant for my mother to be able to work in case of catastrophic failures while she was off-duty. It was not meant to be used as a shelter. Nevertheless, it was where I lived when I found Nova.

    It was also where I kept my hidden stash. Not that it amounted to much.

    My old spacesuit, six bags of hydras, a week¡¯s worth of food and water for Nova, her space-carrier, and my dad¡¯s old blaster. Weapons were forbidden on the station, except for Hoggart¡¯s men. The room was shielded so their weapons scans would not find it.

    For a few seconds, while staring at it, I fantasized about using it to kill Clem, Hoggart, and most importantly, Liam.

    I stepped inside, the door closing behind me. The difference in atmosphere and temperature was huge. While the rest of the section¡¯s systems were ill-maintained, it was not the case for the emergency room. It ran on the same filtration system as the escape pods. Not even Hoggart¡¯s lazy bastards were stupid enough to neglect to maintain that system.

    So the air inside was warm and clean. Or it would be after a few minutes when the last of the bad air that had entered when the door opened had been circulated out.

    I placed the bag on the floor and opened the front of the carrier. Carefully I placed Nova inside but did not close it. I put some water and food into the hoppers on the carrier.

    Drained after the day¡¯s events I sat down on the floor. I was unable to stretch my legs completely, So I hugged my knees with my arms, and rested my back against the bulkhead.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Nova, we¡¯ll get through this,¡± I mumbled as I faded into sleep.

    <hr>

    ¡°Xandros Weaver. Renter rating is Atrocious,¡± Clarence had informed me when I rented the thirty cuber shortly after midnight. The rating meant that I was limited to renting thirty cubers and the price was double the normal fee for renting them.

    Since I had little to lose, I had chosen the mysterious asteroid. Right beside my seat, Nova was meowing angrily at the circumstances. She did not like being locked up in her space-carrier.

    However, I did not dare to leave her on the station alone any longer, nor could I let her roam around freely inside the cockpit. If a hull breach happened, I would not be able to get her into the carrier in time. The carrier was all that could protect her.

    We were on final approach to the crater on the mysterious asteroid.

    I put us down slowly, not knowing what to find there. Turning on external projectors, the darkness retreated enough for me to see the entrance to the cave. It was definitely manmade. It was square, almost like a shaft.

    Carefully I timed it so that by the time I reached the entrance to the cave, shaft, or whatever it was, my craft was almost dead in space. It only had enough drift to be synced up with the movement of the asteroid.

    For ten minutes I just sat staring at the entrance, willing it to reveal its mysteries to me, to no avail.

    ¡°Here we go,¡± I whispered to Nova and myself, as I used the manoeuvring thrusters to slowly guide us inside.

    Our speed was less than ten kilometres per hour, and I had to take several deep breaths calming myself as we moved down the shaft. A shaft that was barely large enough for the mining craft to pass through, so I had to turn off the deflector shields.

    After two hundred metres, there was a sharp turn to the left.

    Despite it feeling more and more like a giant airshaft, the sides of the shaft were made of stone, not metal or any other man-made material. Nevertheless, I had little doubt that it was manmade. Especially after the fourth turn in a row. Right, up, down. It was weird flying inside.

    Less than ten metres after the last turn, there was another turn to the right. A much softer one, with an actual curve instead of a hard turn.

    The shaft must have been faulty, because as soon as I started up the thrusters, the walls started cracking a bit, rocks falling down, crashing against the craft. Each hit shook the craft.

    ¡°Shit,¡± I cursed, as Nova meowed at me, communicating her fear. I saw no other choice but to use even more thrust. I could do that since the shaft ahead curved.

    The craft picked up speed as I sent us around the gentle curve, racing ahead of the crack forming in the walls. Suddenly ahead, I saw something that filled me with dread. I tried to break, but we had gained too much speed.

    ¡°Nova!¡± I shouted, closing my eyes, as we flew into what looked like a deflector shield. A massive jerk stopped our forward movement.

    Confused, I opened my eyes. I should have become paste when I slammed into the deflector shield, however, I was very much alive.

    Looking around I saw I was inside some kind of cavern, lit up by a powerful light source below the mining craft. That was all I could see, despite how bright it was.

    Looking down at my displays I saw that the thrusters were still on, but I did not move anywhere. It took me almost a minute to figure out we had to be in some kind of gravitational tractor beam.

    Weirded out by everything, I turned off our thrust.

    As soon as I did, the craft started turning around. Soon up became down, back became front, and the craft was gently put down. I could now see the shaft I had come from, and what had looked like a deflector shield. The shield was still there, but somehow we had passed through it.

    ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± I mumbled to Nova. She just gave me a blank stare and an inquisitive meow.

    My eyes were drawn to a green lamp. It was the one that signalled that there was an atmosphere and breathable air outside. I repeated myself. ¡°What the hell is going on?¡±

    This time I did not gain a reply. ¡°Fuck this shit, let¡¯s get out of here. Potential treasure be damned.¡±

    I tried starting up the thrusters again, but suddenly the entire craft turned off. No matter what I tried, I could not turn it on again.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± I shouted, starting to hyperventilate. ¡®What the hell is going on?¡¯

    Suddenly the canopy opened on its own. I reached for my helmet but was stopped by Nova¡¯s carrier. I had placed it so it blocked me from getting to my helmet.

    I silently cursed my stupidity but took solace in the fact that at least I knew Nova would be safe inside her carrier for a day or two. Maybe someone would come to investigate when I did not return.

    ¡°Goodbye Nova, thank you for being my friend,¡± I whispered, wasting some of the precious air I had left. When I could not hold my breath any longer, I gasped for air, which I knew would be my last act in this universe.

    Again, what I expected to happen did not happen.

    Instead of the cold vacuum of space, crisp, clean air filled my lungs. I coughed. I had never experienced such clean air. Not even when the station had been under the previous administration.

    ¡°What the hell?¡± I mumbled.

    I looked around some more. The cavern was not large. Large enough for two thirty cubers to land next to each other, nothing more.

    What I had failed to notice before, because the colour almost matched the rock around it, was a door opening on one side of the cavern. The wall on my right to be exact.

    For the next five minutes, I tried to get the mining craft to follow my orders. However, I failed to even close the canopy, much less start it up again.

    ¡°Okay, I guess I¡¯ll have to go exploring,¡± I said. ¡°Hang tight, Nova.¡±

    As I started climbing out the seat, Nova started meowing in a whining and demanding tone. I sighed. ¡°Fine, but you¡¯ll be on your leash.¡±

    I took her out of the carrier, receiving a grateful meow, which turned into a hiss when I attached the leash to her collar. It was not something I used often. Only when I took her to the vet. She hated it.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t want you to run off on your own. Who knows what¡¯s going on here?¡± I said as I carried her down the ladder. I wished I had my father¡¯s blaster. A weapon would be nice, in this unknown situation I found myself in.

    Carefully I approached the door. When I was twenty metres from it, it opened. I had nowhere to hide, so I crouched down.

    Beyond the door, it was pretty damn dark, no light at all. I could only see a humanoid figure. I called out like a moron, ¡°We come in peace.¡±

    The figure stepped forward, and I gasped. It was a sleek android of some kind, more advanced than I had ever seen. It also seemed to be made from the same material as the credsticks, SynCs, and hyperlane gates.

    It looked at me¡ªno at Nova¡ªand said something in a language that my SynC did not translate. Nova hid behind me.

    ¡°We¡¯re sorry that we intruded, if you just let us leave, we¡¯ll tell no one about this place. I swear,¡± I said, panic clear in my voice.

    I raised its hand as if out of nowhere, a blaster-like thing appeared in its hand.

    ¡°No, please¡ª¡± I shouted, putting my hands up in front of my face as if it could shield me from whatever it was pointing at me.

    A bright flash of light was the last thing I saw.

 Chapter 4

    <blockquote>

    ¡°...many a spaceship were left adrift after using a hyperlane gate due to the destruction of their AIs. It took almost a hundred Lokreian years of experimentation to find the limits of what level of AI that the Caretakers allowed to pass through the gates...¡±

    ~Professor Ksurgabash Uhengosh¡¯Gihi

    Introductory lecture in Artificial Intelligence 101 at Unity University

    </blockquote>

    2687-February-26 - Inside a Mysterious Asteroid (Roddea System)

    I woke up confused. I was not sure where I was, or when I had gone to sleep. Everything was a blur, even my own name. At first, I could not open my eyes, because it hurt badly from the bright lights if I tried to do so. Even with my eyes closed the light was still a bother.

    My body ached, all my nerves seemed to be firing on all cylinders, sending back feedback.

    I had never felt this weak, not even after getting beaten up. ¡®What happened? Where am I?¡¯

    ¡°Good, you¡¯re awake,¡± a voice said from nearby, making me instinctively cringe and curl into a defensive position, readying myself for pain. Pain that did not come. It was only then that the voice¡¯s characteristics registered with me. I tried to open my eyes, but all I saw was blinding white light, nothing else. So I closed them again.

    The voice was androgynous and clearly synthetic. As if it was created using a voice box or something similar. The synthetic nature of the voice made a recent memory flash through the fogginess of my brain. Standing in front of the door when it opened, revealing a robot or android. Being shot.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, I mean you no harm,¡± the voice continued. Its statement in complete disagreement with my hazy memory.

    ¡°Why did you shoot me then?¡± I demanded without thinking about the possible consequences. In my defence, I was still groggy and very much confused.

    ¡°I stunned you, in preparation for the surgery,¡± the voice stated.

    ¡°Surgery?¡± I exclaimed, opening my eyes despite the brightness. Immediately I regretted it. New pain lanced through my retinas into my head, making me shut my eyes again.

    ¡°Is the light bothering you?¡± the voice asked. Despite its artificial nature, I heard a tinge of compassion and confusion in its voice.

    ¡°Yes, does it need to be so bright?¡± I grumbled.

    ¡°It¡¯s barely¡ªwait, how are your species calculating light?¡± the voice started saying, turning into a mumble. ¡°Oh, right. Lumen. Let me just calculate. There. It¡¯s barely twelve lumens.¡±

    ¡°No one remembers what that actually means,¡± I said with a long sigh. I would have to call up a comparison sheet. I found that I could not. My SynC was somehow blocked from accessing the information network of the nearby station. Which should be impossible.

    I had been in the asteroid fields many times, even the poor quality emitter the station was equipped with was easily able to reach out to one astronomical unit. Which meant I had been kidnapped and been brought far away. At least one hundred and fifty millions kilometres.

    While all this went through my head, the voice answered, but I barely registered its answer, ¡°Using the knowledge stored in your Cores, I would estimate it to be between a nightlight and light from a candle.¡±

    ¡°Where have you taken me?¡± I demanded.

    ¡°Deeper inside the facility.¡±

    ¡°Impossible, my SynC can¡¯t access the public networks!¡± I almost screeched.

    ¡°SynC?¡± the voice asked confused. I could almost imagine the owner of the voice tilting its head in confusion.

    ¡°Wait¡ª¡± I exclaimed. ¡°Candlelight? Impossible, you have the light so bright in here that it hurts. It¡¯s brighter than the lights on my crafts, and they¡¯re powerful enough to light up the Deep Dark.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see, you call your Cores for SynCs, short for Synaptic Computers. And the reason you cannot access this public network you talk about is that the facility is shielded,¡± the voice explained in a tone that made it sound like it was conveying common knowledge to an idiot.

    ¡°And no, the lights are not that bright. It¡¯s just the settings of your new Core¡ªSynC is messed up a bit. If you turn down the light amplification, you should be able to see. I guess the Core takes a bit longer to analyse the optimal setting for your race than I thought.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean new SynC?¡± I demanded. ¡®Did it cut me open, forcefully extracting my old SynC? Replacing it with something more sinister? Wait, my parents¡¯ SynCs!¡±

    My hand shot up to my neck, feeling around for the two SynCs around my neck. I found nothing.

    ¡°Wha¡ª¡± I started asking.

    ¡°Worry not, while I repossessed the extra Cores around your neck, I¡¯ve uploaded the data to your new one,¡± the voice interrupted me to say.

    ¡°Impossible! No one can copy data from one SynC to another. The only reason why they didn¡¯t dissolve when I touched it is that I was their heir. Anyone else touching them would make them vanish. No one can interfere with the Primogenitors¡¯ tech. And what do you mean new SynC? The Primogenitors only give one SynC to each person,¡± I groused. This conversation was giving me a headache, it went from one subject to another, and then back again.

    ¡°Primogenitors? Oh¡ªthe Masters. Of course not, the Masters made them tamperproof for Servants,¡± the voice said with a synthetic snort.

    ¡®Masters? Servants?¡¯ flashed through my mind. I wanted to voice that out, but it was time to slow the conversation down, so I would stop getting whiplash. I would file that question away for later.

    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s start over,¡± I said, taking a deep breath. ¡°My name is Xandros Weaver. Am I a prisoner?¡±

    ¡°My original name has been lost in the haze of the past. You may call me Custodian, because that is what the Masters called me, and it¡¯s my function.¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you,¡± I said, forcing some friendliness into my voice. The way it talked, and what it told me, sent my mind reeling. ¡°Can we do something about the bright light?¡±

    ¡°As I told you before, it¡¯s the light amplification that has ramped up the brightness. The functionalities of the Core was designed for the past generation of Servants. It seems that its default settings are not compatible with the new generation,¡± Custodian explained.

    I tried to do it, but I could not access the options like usual. I said as much. ¡°Apologies, but I cannot access the menu.¡±

    Custodian let out a sigh. ¡°Give me a moment, I¡¯ll try to convert your shabby interfaces and programs from the inferior Core.¡±

    ¡°You call the SynCs for Cores?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It¡¯s you that calls the Cores for SynCs. You misunderstand the purpose of them, they are not Computers implanted in your brains, which needs programs to control. They¡¯re the Core of the Masters¡¯ technology. With it, they can control all their technology, as if it was an extension of their body. The Core is capable of so much more than what you use it for,¡± Custodian countered. I guess he had a point. Not that I really understood the difference.

    ¡°If I read your facial expression correctly, you doubt my words.¡±

    ¡°More that I don¡¯t understand,¡± I replied, a little fearful of pissing it off. The way it was talking, I was beginning to suspect that it was a synthetic lifeform. Maybe even a real Artificial Intelligence.

    ¡°When fully integrated with the Core, one is able to control the Masters¡¯ technology as an extension of their body,¡± Custodian explained, before falling silent.

    In the silence, with the waning panic, something occurred to me. I had not been alone when I had been shot and taken prisoner or whatever the heck I was. ¡°Nova! What did you do with Nova?¡±

    ¡°I take it you refer to the Masters¡¯ Descendant?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know which circuits you¡¯ve gotten crossed, I¡¯m asking you what you did to my cat!¡± I shouted at my captor.

    ¡°Yours?!¡± it suddenly snarled. ¡°You presume to own one of the Masters¡¯ Descendants! I should kill you, but the revived Master will soon straighten out your errant thinking.¡±

    It snorted. ¡°Preposterous. Thinking he owns one of the Masters¡¯ Descendants. The outrage.¡±

    I had scurried back, hitting my back at a hard surface at its angry reaction. ¡°Look at the rat, trembling in fear. Here, I just hobbled your Core with the modifications that had been made to the old one. Just so you know, you¡¯re using the Core wrongly.¡±

    ¡°Okay,¡± I whispered, trying to access the settings again.

    Lo and behold, it worked. I immediately found the settings for light amplification and turned it down, until I could see again.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you would cripple the Cores with your modifications, the Masters made a perfect tool for you,¡± Custodian kept grumbling.

    I found myself in a large room. Well, large compared to what I was used to. It was probably ten by ten metres, and four metres high. It looked to be made from the same Primogenitor metal that cred sticks, the gates, and the SynCs¡ªno, Cores, were made from. Their blackish tint made the room seem darker than it ought to be.

    There was a single light source, a blue gentle light, in the middle of the room. It seemed like it was being emitted from a beam with two metres in diameter, going from ceiling to the floor in the centre of the room.

    My view of the beam was obstructed by the shadowy figure looming above me. Because of how the light fell, I could not really see the features of the figure. So with a single thought, I amped up the light amplification again. Of course not as much as before, only a tiny bit. A feature that was much more potent than it had been earlier.

    Finally able to see, I got a look at what Custodian looked like. I was very surprised by what I saw.

    Earlier when it had shot me, I had not gotten a good look at it. Like everything else in here, it was made entirely from the grey with a blackish shine that indicated the unknown alloy or metal favoured by the Primogenitor.

    Custodian had a definite humanoid build, but it was not modelled after a human.

    It was about three metres tall and double as wide as me. While being a biped, it had digitigrade legs, ending in what looked like paws. A flexible tail swished back and forth behind the robot/android-thingy. I was slightly glad that the creator had not included genitals or mammaries in the design.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    I noticed the hands were paws as well, unable to hold and use a blaster. I wondered how it could have shot me then. Almost as if reading my mind, or maybe just my puzzled expression and the fact that I was staring at its hands, Custodian¡¯s wrist suddenly opened up and a barrel of a blaster unfurled from it.

    After a couple of seconds of me staring at the weapon, it retracted again, which shook me out of my stupor. I continued my examination of Custodian and came to its head. Its head was definitely inspired by a feline. Not the cuddly house cat feline, but the predatory big felines that I had only seen in shows. It had ears, whiskers, and everything.

    ¡°Are you done staring at the magnificence of the Masters¡¯ work?¡± Custodian asked snidely. ¡°It¡¯s almost time for the reborn Master to come out of treatment.¡±

    ¡°Who are these Masters you keep talking about?¡± I asked, feeling slightly less intimidated now that I could see.

    ¡°The ones who created me, the Cores, and the credstick you¡¯re carrying,¡± Custodian answered, sounding a little exasperated.

    ¡°You mean the Primogenitors? The ones who built the hyperlane gates? There is one here?¡± I asked with excitement. Despite finding several larger and many small remnants of the civilization that had created the gates, none of the races knew what the Primogenitors looked like.

    There were almost as many theories as there were stars, or so it felt. The Holy Terran Empire claimed that they were humans. The reptilian Lokreian Hegemony claimed they were lokreian. All the races had crackpots that claimed to be descendants from the Primogenitors.

    Then there were those that claimed the Primogenitors to be a highly advanced artificial lifeform, which was why the Caretakers destroyed any sufficiently advanced AIs. They did not want the competition.

    There were hundreds, if not thousands, of theories of them being magical benevolent creatures that we could not perceive because we were all spiritually stunted. There were just as many, if not more, that went the other direction where they were evil bastards that thrived on our misery.

    ¡°I guess you can call them that,¡± Custodian interrupted my musings. ¡°And no, there isn¡¯t one of them here. Or there weren¡¯t. You brought one of their Descendants, which is allowing one of them to be reborn.¡±

    ¡°Brought here? Me?¡± I mumbled when it suddenly dawned on me what it said. I shot to my feet, bellowing, ¡°Nova!¡±

    I stepped to the side, so I was able to see the entirety of the beam. On a small pedestal in the middle of the room lay Nova.

    ¡°Nova! What have you done to her?¡± I screamed and stepped forward, just to be stopped by a metallic paw.

    ¡°Another step, Servant, I will be forced to kill you, even if you are to be her Groomer. I swear to you that she is fine. She is better than ever. She¡¯ll eventually grow to be one of the Masters,¡± Custodian said. The forcefulness and certainty in its voice sapped out all fight of me. I wanted to go to Nova, but I did not want to die either.

    If I died, then all the struggles and pains I had overcome would have been for nothing. However, could I trust that she was fine? And what was all this talk about rebirth?

    ¡®Time to get some answers,¡¯ the rational part of my brain said. I took a deep breath and stepped back to the wall. I looked at Custodian who had taken a more relaxed stance. The contrary part of my brain took control for a split second, I calculated whether I could make it around the robot, and make a dash for Nova and then to the exit.

    My facial expression must have betrayed my thoughts because Custodian decided to kill any plans I was making. In less than a second, it moved to the other side of the room and back again. It was so fast I barely registered it.

    ¡°I would not recommend it, Groomer,¡± Custodian said. ¡°I¡¯m physically superior to you in every way.¡±

    I gulped, ¡°I¡¯m just trying to understand what¡¯s going on here. What are you doing to Nova?¡±

    ¡°Seeing that you¡¯re a bit slow on the uptake, I guess we should start from the beginning. So listen well, because I¡¯m not going to repeat myself,¡± Custodian snarkily said. I just nodded. ¡°This is a last resort revival location for one of the Imperial Princesses, in case her primary and backup revival locations were compromised. Since the princess has not been here in¡ªwell a very long time, the worst must have happened to the Empire.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t know what has happened to the Prim¡ªMasters?¡± I asked softly. The robot sounded so sad.

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t even know what happened to the planet we¡¯re on, this¡ª¡±

    I quickly interrupted it, ¡°We¡¯re not on a planet, we¡¯re inside an asteroid. There are no planets in the entire system.¡±

    Custodian tilted its head in what looked like confusion. If an AI could be confused. After almost a minute, it finally said, ¡°I see. There used to be eleven planets and moons in the system. Since you keep calling the Masters for the Primogenitors, I can assume that there is little of their Empire left?¡±

    I shook my head. ¡°Except for hyperlane gates, a few facilities, and ruins, there are no signs of them. We don¡¯t even know what race they were. Nor that it was an Empire. All the known races in the universe were all contacted roughly at the same time in their technological evolution. We were given a lot of schematics for advanced technology.¡±

    Custodian hung his head. ¡°I see. It seems that they found an enemy that they could not beat. It¡¯s the only reason why they would have left their Servants unattended.¡±

    ¡°You keep calling us Servants, what does that mean?¡±

    ¡°The Masters was the only race to evolve to the point of gaining sapience on their planet. A race that shares many genetic markers with the animal you brought here,¡± Custodian started slowly. ¡°They evolved over the ages. They built marvellous things, invented technologies that you inferior races clearly have yet to catch up to, despite getting help from the Masters.¡±

    I let the insult slide, not rising to the provocation. I let Custodian move on with its explanation. ¡°With the advent of the Cores and nanites, the Masters reached a point where they no longer needed to make things by their own hands. At that time they started to genetically modify themselves, returning to their roots in physical appearance. The more like their ancestors they looked, the more prestige they gained.

    ¡°However, they soon found that they needed someone to pamper them. Instead of demeaning some of their own race to such lowly futures, they created the Servant races. Evolving them from other primitive species would be more precise. Such as your race which evolved from some primate species.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re wrong, humans evolved over millions of years without intervention from an alien species,¡± I objected.

    ¡°You might have evolved from a seed planted by the Masters. The Masters had mastered their genetics. They were basically immortals, living forever. They could still die from accidents and incurable diseases, but the rich and powerful Masters would then revive in a clone of theirs,¡± the robot said with an indifferent shrug.

    ¡°Is that what you¡¯re doing to Nova?¡± I demanded harshly.

    Custodian shook its head. ¡°No. This is not a real revival, it¡¯s not creating a clone of the Princess. This Descendant of the Masters is too weak to handle a full revival. Nor could I be able to initiate one if she had been. This is a location for rebirthing her Majesty in a sense. The Descendant will have her genes upgraded by the nanites. She¡¯ll be implanted with a Core that contains some of the memories of the Princess. Not all.

    ¡°Which there are several reasons for. One is that she¡¯s too small and primitive to handle a Core of sufficient size. Two, this is only one of a hundred locations the Princess hid parts of her memories in case her enemies managed to gain the upper hands.¡±

    ¡°So many questions,¡± I mumbled. ¡°So you¡¯re saying that Nova will contain the memories of the Princess. Will they override her personality.¡±

    ¡°Not at first. It¡¯ll be a rebirth in the true sense of the word. Instead of being a sentient being, Nova, as you call your Mistress, will gain sapience. She¡¯ll be like a newborn at first.¡±

    ¡°Sapience?¡± I asked dumbly.

    ¡°Yes, your Mistress will no longer be a mere animal. If I had a choice, I would not implant the Princess in such a lowly being. Alas, it has been too long since the Princess last visited, and the information you brought, make it clear that the Empire is no more,¡± was the answer Custodian gave.

    ¡°You said something about enem¡ª¡± I started asking.

    Custodian cut me off before I could finish, ¡°We¡¯re running out of time. In just a few moments the Mistress will wake up. I need to inform you of your role as her Groomer. A Groomer is the highest position a member of the Servant race can aspire to. You¡¯re the only one who is allowed close to the Princess. Until she¡¯s grown up, your Core will even be able to reign her in, if she becomes unruly.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Stop interrupting, Groomer. Listen closely. This is important. For her to grow up she needs two things. To grow up physically, she needs more nanites. There were millions of repositories across the universe where the Masters hid nanites usable by the entirety of their race. However, there are ninety-nine other facilities like this created by the Princess. They¡¯re tailor-made for her genetics.

    ¡°At the same time, each location will also hold a portion of her memory, which she will need to unlock the full potential of her inheritance. You might run into another incarnation of her. Don¡¯t mistake them for friends, you need to kill them and take their Cores, so she can absorb the memories. Don¡¯t trust others of the Imperial family, unless the Princess vouches for them.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± I said bewildered. ¡°Please, could you explain it to me slowly, and with more details.¡±

    ¡°There is no time,¡± Custodian repeated.

    ¡°What do you mean there is no time?¡±

    ¡°As soon as the Princess wakes up, the destruction of the facility will be initiated. You need to be outside the antimatter explosion¡¯s blast zone before that.¡±

    My eyes bulged. Antimatter explosions were no joke, luckily it was extremely hard to create, and the hyperlane gates destroyed any ships carrying it. The explosion that had happened on the Moon had destroyed a tenth of its mass and knocked it off course. Coursing a shift in weather and tides, making Earth a very uncomfortable and unpredictable place to live.

    Slightly panicking, I asked, ¡°Can¡¯t you stop it?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± came the simple answer.

    ¡°Are you programmed not to?¡± I questioned harshly.

    ¡°I¡¯m not an artificial life form. I¡¯m nothing like those traitors. I¡¯m one of the Eternals, the Princess entrusted a huge responsibility on me for my long service in life,¡± Custodian replied with disdain and pride in its voice. As it was talking the front of its torso opened up revealing its innards. A glass container, or something that looked like glass, contained a clear liquid. Floating in the liquid there was something that looked like a human brain.

    However, it was not the fact that the robot was controlled by an organic brain that made my eyes open wide in shock. It was what was underneath it. Beneath the container was a glowing blue crystal. It was the size of my little fingernail.

    I had only ever seen pictures of it. However, there was no mistaking it for something else. It was qoblynesium. The most valuable material in the universe.

    Custodian reached down and took it out. Grabbing my hand and placing it in it. My hand was trembling so much that Custodian had to close it for me.

    ¡°Take it. You should be able to exchange it for some credits at the hyperlane gate. It should set up you and the Princess. She¡¯s waking up now, the count down to self-destruction will happen soon. I¡¯ve included as much information as I could in your Core. It¡¯ll unlock as you integrate with it. Tell the Princess that I performed my duty with honour and happiness,¡± Custodian said, sounding relieved.

    Before I could say anything else, Custodian died. It suddenly stopped all movement. The liquid inside the container started swirling violently, ripping the brain to pieces, turning the liquid red. When there were no discernable pieces left, the container shattered. The process took less than five seconds.

    While watching with wide eyes, I had unconsciously put the small piece of qoblynesium into my pocket. The priceless robotic chassis that had contained Custodian collapsed on the floor in front of me, with a metallic boom.

    The boom was followed by a weak and confused meow.

    ¡°Nova!¡± I shot to my feet and saw that the beam of light had vanished. Only the circle in the ceiling emitted a bit of light. On the pedestal, Nova was looking around, clearly confused. I immediately scooped her up.

    As she was removed from the pedestal, the doors that I had not known were there, opened. The warning of Custodian, and the fact that I wanted to get the hell out of this place, was enough to set me running out the door.

    I had expected everything from a long windy corridor to a trap-filled one. What I did not expect was running directly into the cavern where my rented mining craft was.

    Nor had I expected to see a new tunnel had opened up. One that was lit up and looked to be straight and leading directly out into the Deep Dark.

    Nova was trembling a bit in my arms, I wanted to stop and console her, but I doubted we had time for it. So I continued to the craft where I quickly put her into the carrier. She was so weak that she did not even complain.

    For the first time in my life, I ignored the official and my much extended preflight checklist. The moment the canopy was closed, I started the engines. Two seconds after the canopy¡¯s closing, I was steering the craft into the tunnel at full throttle.

    While it had taken a long time to manoeuvre through the winding tunnel to get there, it took less than thirty seconds to get out of the asteroid. It was currently pointing away from the station.

    For a moment I considered turning but knew that with the retro and manoeuvering thrusters of this particular craft, it would take at least a minute to turn around at the speed we were moving. Instead, I headed deeper into the asteroid field.

    After ten nerve wracking minutes of dodging small pieces of debris at the neck-breaking speed of 150 kilometres per second, the thing that Custodian had warned me about happened.

    I could not hear it, but I could clearly imagine the sound of the explosion, as I watched it happen on the monitor showing the rearview of the craft.

    The explosion was massive. It swallowed everything within seventy-five thousand kilometres. It was truly mind boggling.

    Even though we were ninety thousand kilometres away small pieces of debris still started battering against the deflector shield. In a desperate attempt to preserve our lives, I maneuvered behind the nearest asteroid larger than the craft.

    For an hour, we sat almost dead in space as debris streaked by us on all sides. Several times the asteroid we hid behind were rocked by larger pieces of debris, nearly knocking it into us. Luckily, I had managed to keep the damage to the craft down to some scraped paint.

    ¡°We made it, Nova. Let¡¯s head home,¡± I whispered. My voice was shaky, as were my hands from all the adrenaline. I got a weak meow in response.

    Moving around the asteroid I stared into the Deep Dark. The large section in front of me should have been full of asteroids. Now there was nothing but empty space. I gulped, before turning on the autopilot to take us home.