ds had come in handy: one he was aiming through, the other had the muzzle of his ten-mil in it, aimed upwards at Corrigan. It was a 10mm Jupina Black auto, one of the finest handguns known to Huma

At least, not unless they were investors in the Beljan Interstellar Mining Company, and if they were really studious about reading the company prospectus and cared where their minerals came from. Said company specialized in deep space mining operations. They were the largest, having a fleet of mineral survey

lass ships required little maintenance. Fully automated, Duval had a remarkably long fuel endurance, which meant it

km and a beam of 800 meters, it would be a gross understatement to call such a vessel a mere 'loderunner'. In its five major holds, Duval could carry enoug

nifest, so to keep management happy a portion of Duvals' space would be assigned to carry items dispatched by private individuals. Her cargo manifest currently boasted 80 superkegs of export-quality Samorian sherry, industrial equipment and three hundred used crop-tender droids sold by a farmer on Aldoria because they kept getting stuck in mud. Well, hey, every

ore to the heavy industries on Gorda. All told, that would take care

ed by a far less seasoned captain. Besides, hiring mature skippers with actual experience would cost real money. And hey, the computers ran everything anyway – and that's how Bran

e automation, insurance companies still wouldn't insure fully automated ships unless they had at least a token crew aboard, so that's what he and the other eleven were – a token crew. The small crew of twelve

ice and quiet. Deserted would be a better word. It wasn't half bad, being a

ter would handle everything as far as navigation and management was concerned. All they had to do was be there and watch and to give the occasional order. He couldn't help feeling he wasn't needed. Perhaps this was for one obvious reason – he wasn't. This was not goo

the sheer thrill of a huge space ship accelerating to beyond the speed of light became as dull as a ride on a Mars City bus. Even the regular girl in every call-port provi