I whistled to myself as I crossed through the loading dock. It was basically a big hall with crates and containers in stacks of various sizes. This one was used by eight docking stations. However, before I could exit into the hallway on the other side, two thugs stepped into my path. 

Yes, I called them thugs in my mind because it seems that thuggi’ness (I totally made that word up on the spot) is universal. Even though I was standing in front of a Fell and a Sorren who were both wearing a vac suit with their helmets retracted, I could tell that they were the folks that wouldn’t help an old lady across the air tracs.

“Hello there,” the Fell started while his Sorren buddy assumed the most looming posture that I could have imagined. To be fair, it was so overdone, there was a comedic quality to it. However, I didn’t feel like laughing or smiling. Having dealt with guys like this before, I knew that it would only set them off and I did NOT have a CLON contract or any self defense skill. Which really brought one thing into focus. Having a Small Arms skill but not carrying a small arm on you was totally stupid. 

“What can I do for you?” 

“Well, you see…” the Fell cleared his throat. “... it is more what we can do for you. Or will do. My colleague and I are representatives of the Red Moon Group. We are in the assurance business and we heard that you are interested in starting a mining claim. So we thought it only prudent to approach you beforehand and present our business to you.”

“You mean insurance?"

I had a feeling where this conversation was going and I was absolutely certain I did not like it.

“No, no, assurance.”

“And if I may ask, what does this business of yours entail?”

“You see, in a way we are similar to insurance and yet so much more. More effective for one. You could even go so far and say preventative.”

“...” I decided to go with staying silent and waiting for him to go on even though he clearly wanted a reaction from me. Small victories.

“Let’s assume you take out an insurance for your claim. Then you will have to pay a fee and then the insurance doesn’t care anymore about you. Only should something happen to the claim will they become active again and even then they will try to not live up to their promises. Not so with us. We always care and we always live up to our promises. See, we assure you. When you pay your fee with us, we will assure that nothing bad happens to your claim in the first place. However, should you not want to take out a contract with our Group, we also assure you…”

He let the last words hang in the air. Implied threat. Yep, I had been spot on. For a moment, when he talked about business, I had actually doubted my own intuition. But nope, no dice. 

“Thank you very much for the offer. I will definitely keep you in mind for future business. However, I have a meeting now that I should not be late to.”

“Yes, yes. Absolutely. We are all businessmen after all. Just let me state once more that you should really keep us in mind.”

I nodded and then walked by them on my way to the bar. I had to force myself not to flinch and look back once I had passed them. I really don’t like turning my back to folks like that. But the Fell didn’t give me any sign that he was more than a sleazy lawyer type. And his big buddy didn’t do anything else but continue looming. Plus the fact that I had been approached in this very public space with other people milling about gave me some ‘assurance’. 

Yeah, I know, I am hilarious. But to be honest, my nerves were about as relaxed as guitar strings in the beginning of a rock concert. Being annoyingly punny was my way of dealing with it. 

I turned the corner of the corridor and made my way to the Rambler. I pondered for a moment how these guys had found out about the claim but why there were about a thousand possibilities, I didn’t actually know. So I shrugged and compartmentalized and walked into the Rambler. 

 

* * * * * 

 

When I walked into the Rambler, my good mood was definitely tainted by that encounter and I needed to figure out how word had gotten out about my interest in the claim. I nodded to Ralgau but before really speaking to him I made my way to the bulletins. I pulled up the market information and checked some asteroid miner groups to see what they did for defense. 

There was a lot of information and once again it came down to price. There were various ways to assure your claim wasn’t bothered. Most of them centered around claim jumpers but one or two of the discussions also centered around corporate bullying and pirates. And the range of suggestions went from manned defensive posts to hired mercenary groups all the way to automated defenses. 

Now with the small claim operation that I had planned mercenaries were right out of the window. Just too expensive. There was no way that I would be able to float the bill for that. That left me with automated defenses and manned posts. Both seemed reasonable and to be honest I wanted both. I was sure that the Red Moon clowns would try to make trouble. So I wanted to have both in place.

However, a basic defense turret with kinetic ammunition ran between 9k and 12k whereas a laser version was around 15k. The missile variant was actually only around 8k but each missile was around 1 grand. Good thing: If you didn’t fire them you could just sell them back. However the idea that every shot cost me a day of mining wasn’t appealing. 

But in the end I had options. And that was what mattered. I also looked into the personal arms sections. This running around unarmed needed to be rectified ASAP. And here the options nearly overwhelmed me. Pressurized air pistols that fired anything from stun to shredder darts, slug throwers, lasers. And that were the pistols or what was categorized under small arms. Which I assumed my skill was good for. Then there were rifles which came in all the above variants but also as handheld mini-missile launchers, EM accelerators and plasma launchers. Although the latter apparently sucked against anything moving and smaller than a tank.

Okay, again, I had options. 

I disconnected the bulletins and finally made my way over to Ralgau. 

“What’s gotten you so worked up?”

“I had an encounter of the unfriendly kind. Got something to drink for me?” I asked my favorite soon-to-be-ex-bartender. He in turn put a green bottle in front of me. 

“How did the mining go?”

“Not bad. Actually, it went off without a hitch and I have increased my skills. Also got a notification that I can now mine Pyzite.”

He whistled softly. “Nice. That is a tier two mineral. With that you can actually start making real money. I think it sells around two ICU per unit.”

“Seriously?”

He nodded. “Yep. From what I understand, this is when mining becomes profitable. But then again I have never been a miner myself.”

I chuckled. “Well, you are about to earn some firsthand experience when we get out there. How are your finances looking?”

“4000 and a little.”

“Okay,” I nodded. “How soon can you walk away from here?”

“As soon as I want. My cube is already on a day to day basis and I notified the owner that I will be walking out of here as soon as the case is paid off.”

I flicked my interface open and set 21k aside for quick transfer. Then I lifted my left hand and wiggled it around. Ralgaus' eyes became wide and he in turn put his arm palm up similar to how he had done when we spoke first. I waved my wrist over his and the transfer was completed. I was suddenly 21k poorer. But I had a partner. 

“Go take care of your case and then let’s meet our new friends. And I need to tell you about the friendly people I met when I got back to the station.”

15 minutes later I had finished my drink and both Ralgau and I walked out of the Rambler. 

 

* * * * *

 

“So, where are we meeting our co-miners?”

“There is another bar and inn called ‘The Rocket-Wrench’. The Youngaaarrings have a room there. Same for Bredic. And Ygglog is meeting us there. I already sent him a message.” The way he said the name made it clear to me that I would never be able to pronounce it and I decided right then and there that I would think of them as the ‘Youngs’.

“Ah, the luxury of having a connector,” I joked.

He raised one of his not really existent eyebrows at me. Okay, point taken.

“On that note, how well do you know these folks?”

“Why?”

“Because I was approached by a group called Red Moon. Have you heard of them?”

His sharp intake of breath and him stopping in his tracks was all I needed as an answer. 

“See, I find the timing a little too… coincidental. We find four people to join us and shortly after someone is already trying to shake us down.”

Ralgau scratched his chin. I didn’t even know why I trusted him with this. Maybe it was him who sold us out to get the ship back and out of debt with me. Or he had invited a Red Moon mole. Knowingly?
Bah.. I shook my head. I could not start thinking that way or everything was already over and the claim would never get off the ground.

At the moment Ralgau spoke up: “I don’t think it was any of them. I know the Youngaaarrings, they have been customers and were part of a co-op before. And the reason they left this one is because the claim holder ran off with their money. Brelic has been around this station for a few standard years. He grew up on a claim but prefers engineering over mining. Now he sees his chance to do both in our co-op. The only one I don’t know too well is Ygglog. He just arrived at the station with a transport and he put the word out that he is looking for work. Similar to you when you asked me. The thing is that his kind are nothing if not straightforward.

“No, I think that they got their information from some other source. And to be honest, op-sec wasn’t something either of us was thinking a lot about when we came up with the plan for the claim. I wouldn’t even be in if not for you lending me the money to pay off my case. The thing is, any kind of administrator that wants to make a few ICU on the side will leak information. The bulletins are not as secure as everybody wants you to believe. So after that is said I have no idea where the leak came from but I am rather certain it wasn’t intentional from one of us. 

“Now the Red Moon group is a known issue around here. Are we still going through with it?”

“Well, I will inform our new co-miners of all of this and see how they react but yes, I still want to go for it. If I would step aside every time someone bullies me I would never have gotten anywhere!” I spoke with conviction. Neither in law enforcement nor in professional gaming you went far if you gave in to bullying or trolling. 

Ralgau watched me as his forehead scrunched up. “And where have you gotten? Memory coming back?”

“Ah… uhm… not exactly. I just have a feeling that in the past I have stood up to my fair share of people like this. Maybe that is how I ended up here. But I’ll be damned if I get stuck in a mining system in the ass-end-of-nowhere.”

Ralgau nodded. “Count on me to have your back,” he said with conviction.