Danarus

We were standing on the surface of the asteroid; the three of us, Alexia, Martin and I, stood for a moment admiring the sight before us. Off in the distance was the space ship that had safely carried us from our home on Earth and through the void of space. Our work had begun, I was supervising this venture, one of the first missions of its kind; we had arrived with the goal of mining precious minerals from the asteroid as it passed across the outer reaches of our solar system.

As we shifted our gaze from the mighty ship that had carried us so far from home, we observed two of our team carrying out mining operations some 20m from our position. Alexia, Martin and I made our way on foot across the surface of the asteroid; the gravitational field generator on board the ship interacting with our suits to grant us the sensation of gravity similar to that of Earth's. Enormous tube-like apparatus protruded from the asteroid grinding and eating away at it's surface and carrying the rock and precious minerals back to the ship for processing. In the distance other workers could be seen standing beside the giant tubular constructs, and light high-speed 'scouting' vessels moved effortlessly in close orbit scanning for areas of significant worth.

BOOM! A massive explosion echoed through out vox-communication system in our suits, and the ground tremored violently below us. I glanced back at the ship as I witnessed the last seconds of an explosion tearing at its side. Suddenly, the gravitational field began to fail shifting without warning and we began to slide down what was now the side of the asteroid; realizing the very real threat of being pulled down towards the edge of the gravitational field away from the asteroid until we were no longer in it's grasp free to drift away. The angle sharpened dramatically. Alexia grabbed by suited right arm as I reached for a hand-hold and Martin did the same. Then my worst fears were realized, this was no accident... one of the scouting vessels opened fire upon us, narrowly missing us as we clawed to hold on, the reflective windscreen masking our betrayer, but for a brief instance when I thought I recognized the shadowy face within. Alexia still holding on to my right arm, the fingers of my gloved left hand digging in to the crumbling surface of the asteroid. It was no use I couldn't get a grip, below the thin surface of first was smooth dense rock. I looked down at Alexia who still held on tight, and then hopelessly back at my left hand as I willed it to dig in deep, laser fire still bombarding the surface around us. "Yes!" My fingers successfully digging in to the now vertical surface. I shot a glance over at Martin who had found a similar hold. My heart skipped a beat...

One of the laser rounds glanced Martin's shoulder. Losing he's grip he fell away from the cliff-like surface arms outstretched desperately trying to reach us as he fell further and further beyond the 'safety' of the field. The scouting vessel hastily flew off out of sight behind the asteroid.
.....................

Back on board the ship, destined for Earth.

Having survived the disaster and encounter with the scouting vessel we regrouped with the survivors and hastily departed the asteroid and attempted to re-establish contact with Control. Fortunately, while any losses were greatly regretted, given the scope of the event, things could have been significantly worse. The interior living areas were quite homely (looking quite like my mother's living room in fact), in order to reduce the feeling of distance from our true homes back on Earth. The survivors talked amongst themselves. I conversed in an small side-room with our remaining senior officers and Alexia as we discussed the sabotage and the one responsible. We believed the culprit to be a young man, only a few years older than myself. While my father owned the majority holding, this young man had gained a significant proportion of the ownership and while not actively being involved in the business had ensured his seat on board the ship. He had previously shown traits portraying him as callous and manipulative, though only a few of us were privy to such insights. As we talked he entered the living area across from us and joined the others; that face... it had to be him.

While he had a larger share holding than myself, my father was recently deceased and I was expected to be granted his majority holding and the other's looked to me to make the final decision... Would we wait until we arrived back on Earth and put him on trial? Or, would we handle this quietly ourselves?