“I am heading out,” I said over a speaker.

“Roger,” a male voice responded. I recognized it as Santino's. I was in a Lightwave worker class 1 which was a one-manned mining barge.

image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/1866/srnCRI.png]

Our Old lady had four of these docked. I owned this one fully. In fact, each of us owned theirs. It was possible to mine alone with LW class 1, but the roundtrip would be ridiculously too time-consuming unless one decided to mine nearby rocks around a station. However, that option wasn’t really feasible since stations had its immediate vicinity already cleared or minded out. Still, this was something I had to do when I was just starting out. Personally, I would never go back to being a solo miner. The boredom and loneliness was a real threat lurking in the shadows. It really messes up in your head.

“Okay, what do I have today…,” I said to myself as I pinged the area. We were looking for mainly three types of ores: Aluminum, iron, and titanium. Those were paid the most well. Other ores that were in less demand were copper, tin, and zinc. Sometimes, stations would put up an order for a specific ore which paid more than usual. There was no such order when we left the Oreo station, thus we were mining the usual stuff.

“Okay, lots of iron ore in this zone. Time to get to wor -”

“Heads up! Pirates!” Juno’s voice rang through the cockpit. I fanatically looked around and saw a group of what appeared to be badgers flying around the Old Lady. I wasn’t too worried to be honest although it did concern me that they might have made a note about our Old Lady when they attacked us during the fish convoy. Thankfully, the group of Badgers left us after a minute or so. They must have scanned our cargo and found nothing of value. Besides, we were miners anyway. Pirates didn’t harass miners in Rocksea.

“Clear, all clear.” Santino’s voice sounded in my cockpit. I could imagine him releasing a sigh of relief.

“Why was I even nervous?” Juno said over the comm.

She had a point. This wasn’t the first time we ran into pirates, and we hadn’t really reacted the way we just did. We failed to realize this at that time but we were feeling guilty for having earned half a million so easily. It really did feel like we had done nothing to deserve the money. All we did was sit pretty and slacking off during the whole journey. Either way, we got back to our work of … watching a floating rock in zero gravity break apart by a mining laser. A mining laser was a very rapidly modulating beam of light.

image [https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/3865/TQqCvQ.png]

What it did to a rock was that it’d heat and cool rapidly hundreds of times a minute. With its temperature running from -400C to 1,000C so many times in such a short time span meant that it would eventually break apart. The Lightwave worker class 1 had a pair of drones that would pick up the fragments and bring them to a small ore crusher. My job was as simple as parking the ship in front of an asteroid and then just waiting until I got a notification stating that my cargo was full. In other words, it was boring. In my defense, I had never felt that it was boring. However, after we got back from the hauling job, I did feel that it was boring. I was yawning non-stop. Something had apparently changed inside of me. I always thought that the more risky a job was the more reward you can reap. However, the 80k we earned each was way too easy. It basically made us think that we could do better than just watching rocks fall apart, collect them by drones, and sell them. However, at this point, none of us was entirely sure of what we were feeling and we were keeping our thoughts to ourselves. In fact, we rarely spoke to each other until we got back to the Oreo station and sold our crushed ore. The dockyard officer, Yating, paid us 70k in total. Our monthly payment was 50k for our Old lady. In the end, a miserable amount of 5k would fall onto each of us. A mining trip would take about 25 days and we'd take about 10 days of rest after a trip. Even those who were bad at math would quickly realize one thing: mining sucked objectively. Even without the payment for the Old lady, it'd still be 18k for each of us. That number looked far better but we weren't going to get that for a year. Even then, the Old lady would need more maintenance along the way. For the next 10 days of break, I thought hard about what to do next. Keeping on mining was certainly an option but I didn't really feel like it. Eventually, I decided to visit Rabinovich before our resting period was over. He was the most senior person of the group and also had the most experience. His opinion would matter, well, if I liked his reply.

"Well, I've been thinking about it as well," was his initial reply after I told him what was going on in my mind.

His room was quite similar to mine; virtually void of anything. His tablet that was floating in midair was playing porn which he swiftly turned off as soon as I noticed it. It was clear to me that he was still sexually active. I was not. I hadn’t watched porn for years. Well, it wasn’t that I was particularly proud of but it was a necessity in an environment where human contact came at an extreme premium. Meeting people wasn’t an option for space miners, which made perfect sense that any extroverts were barred from any space jobs.

Clearing his throat, he told me, "I will say that we got really lucky in the hauling job. Now, I haven't been a hauler but I've heard horror stories."

I replied, "Risk versus reward."

"Yeah, pretty much. That's why I am saying we got lucky in that run."

"If we pick the right jobs though..."

"Far easier said than done. I mean, that'd be every hauler's dream, no?"

"Are you saying we should stick to mining?"

At this point, he took a deep breath and folded his arms. He was clearly considering his options like I was.

"You know, we all have an equal share to the Old lady," He said, changing the subject. "If we want to do the hauling job, everyone has to agree."

That was true. The four of us had 25% shares with the Old lady. When we wanted to do something that required a decision to be made, all of us had to agree. And, normally, all of us agreed without much fuss. I wasn't sure about this one, though.

"This is something we should talk about together," He told me. "So, let's gather up everyone and have a chat."

I agreed since just two of us making a decision wasn't going to get us anywhere.

We gathered at the station cafeteria and sat down around a table. Rabinovich ordered a cup of coffee. Santino ordered a shot of white whisky, and Juno ordered a cup of green tea. I ordered nothing. Each order came in a plastic bag with a straw on it. The gravity was 0.1 after all. Once we were ready, Rabinovich told us about the issue at hand. As soon as he was done and asked for opinions, Juno immediately disagreed, saying that she just wanted a quiet life. At the same time, Santino was up for it. It was worthwhile to note that Juno did not veto it. She simply disagreed. Rabinovich and I were up for it. Therefore, the result was 3 to 1. At this point, we had two options. We either buy out Juno's share and expel her from our group or convince her to go along. The latter was the better choice obviously. We needed at least four people for the mining operation.

As if she knew what we were thinking, she told us, "You boys want to do the hauling job, I get it. The money was good, I get that, too. But, consider this, there is no way we were going to lose our lives during mining. This hauling job might get us killed at one point. What's the point of money if you end up dying?"

We weren't quite convinced, probably because we hadn’t experienced a near-death scenario, and this was when she came up with another option.

"I don't want to leave this group because you boys are good. It's hard to find a decent group around here, so I want to stick around if possible. I don't dislike the idea of the hauling job but I don't want to do risky ones like the one we did a while ago."

Rabinovich demanded, "Juno, what's your point?"

She looked at me and said to me, "Vazken, it looks like you got on the good side of the woman, Ehka. You ask her to pull only safe jobs and let's see how much it pays. If it's definitely better, why not?"

That wasn't a bad idea actually to be honest. Worth a shot, I felt.

When we sailed over to the Duchess' boobs and I went down to the station to meet Ehka and told her our little meeting, she scoffed at me, literally.

"Safe, easy, and high pay. Such a combination does not exist," She told me sternly, "Be logical. Would anyone take any other jobs if it’s that easy?"

I told her about the last job in my defense.

She explained, "That job seemed easy because those escorts cost me 10 million credit."

"Holy shit," I uttered.

"It's never easy to take on twelve vessels when you have only four. Those bastards knew what they were doing. Besides, the torps they used, those aren't cheap, either. I believe they were a million a pop, and they used four of them."

After taking in her statements, I gave myself a short moment to think stuff over and eventually asked her, "Is hauling a better job than mining?"

"That depends. Mining in stable zones pays a lot less than mining in unstable zones. It's the simple concept of supply & demand. We have plenty of miners already in Rocksea, so there is plenty of supply. In addition to that, pirates don’t harass miners."

"So, in essence, it comes down to risk versus reward."

She gave me a firm nod and told me, "If you want to move up the ladder, I can give you some advice."

My ears twitched at her words. "Like what?"

"Your vessel is LW class 2, yeah?"

I nodded at her and she continued.

"That frigate is quite large and customizable if you remove ore processing bits. Customize it to be a battle frigate and haul stuff alone. That will yield far more credit."

Before I could respond to her, she added, "Of course, it will require upfront investment to make the frigate battle worthy, not to mention the risks of combat."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

I had a strong feeling that Juno would dislike the idea very much. She could even veto it straight away, I felt. Regardless, I brought the news to the guys.

"Veto," said Juno, which was expected by me and probably by others as well.

She added quickly, "I am not getting into combat. No, I won't have that. Once was enough."

Rabinovich quickly glanced at me and Santino. I gave him a faint nod and I felt Santino did as well. The decision was made without speaking a word because we, “the boys”, were on the same wavelength.

"Juno, will you let us buy your share?" Rabinovich dropped the bomb.

It effectively meant we were kicking Juno out and that we wanted to buy her share in the Old lady. She looked at me and the other two and was silent for a short moment before leaving the cafeteria we were currently in. I could see a progressive resignation setting on her face before she turned around. This was a battle she could not win. Her only choice was leaving.

"I will think about it" She told us as she rushed to leave.

Once she was out of the picture, I asked Rabinovich who was rubbing the bridge of his nose while letting out a long sigh. I didn’t like the way it happened, and they didn’t like it, either. But there wasn’t much of a choice.

"Are we serious about booting her?" I asked although I knew the answer already at this point.

"Kinda have to, don't we?" Santino replied, "Can't have disagreements."

"Um, I am not sure whether I even have money to buy her share."

Rabinovich said, "I reckon it's about 2.3 mil or so. Divided by us, three of us, it's about 770k."

I did have that much in the bank. However…

I replied, "That's about my entire savings. We won't be able to afford the ship modification. Or at least, I won't be able to contribute." Besides, my personal rule was that I would not mix with my business and personal funds.

Rabinovich groaned and clicked his tongue as he looked away from us and at the window in the cafeteria. Looking at the view of the space, he remained silent. Santino and I, too, did our things meanwhile. Santino ordered another pack of whisky and I was looking at my inner eyeball to check on the latest news in Rocksea. My memory chip was capable of doing a bit of computing itself. As expected, nothing of note was happening in Rocksea. Our meeting eventually ended without further ado afterwards. The bottom line was that we could buy out Juno's shares. At the same time, if we did, we'd run out of funds to perform required modifications to turn the Old Lady into a battle capable ship. With much going in my head, I eventually fell asleep and the next day arrived which was the end of our resting period. I did feel like things were moving forward a bit too fast, and everything was falling apart.

I acted normal and so did the others when we gathered back for another round of mining the next day. The four of us gathered at a docking bay where the Old Lady was currently docked. That much was normal, but there was an invisible tension between us at this point. Juno said not a word while Rabinovich gave us his usual speech of safety first and so on. I assumed that we were going to have at least one more mission session, given the lack of funding. Cutting Juno off was certainly possible but it would have been moot without an ability to go further. Our mining session was quiet. Well, we normally did not talk to each other much on the job to begin with, so the quietness was nothing new. However, the quietness we had on this job felt more like peace before a storm. Regardless though, we got on with the job.

After we returned to the Oreo station and our earnings were divided once we sold the ore, Rabinovich broke news that he wanted to buy out Juno's share. This was during our meeting right before we'd leave for a break of 10 days. We were effectively pushing her out of the team. Since her share was being paid, she couldn't really get angry. She did have an option to contest the decision and stand firm. But what would be the point? It wouldn’t change the fact that she was being pushed out. Being petty wouldn’t have solved anything. Besides, she wouldn’t be able to go out mining and earn money while contesting.

"Is this decision of yours firm?" She asked, probably for the last time, while looking around at each of us.

"It's been decided. 2.3 mil will be transferred to your account in an hour," Rabinovich told her indifferently.

She sighed deeply and sagged her shoulders in disappointment. "Well, it's been fun, guys." She shook our hands and left the docking bay. There were really no hard feelings between us. It was a strictly business decision. Without saying no word initially, I quickly pulled out my computer to transfer my fund to Rabinovich and Santino did the same. I couldn’t help but feel that it was wrong.

"We do need one more person," Santino added after having done the same as me, "Three can barely operate, the Old Lady."

That was true. Old lady was a large frigate. Operating her with just three would be a tall task. It was doable though. Meanwhile, Rabinovich was fiddling with his computer as he heard us, presumably transferring the fund to Juno. He responded a moment later.

"True, we've got 10 days to sort this out. We could try to find another member from Oreo. But let's not make the new member a founder."

Meaning the new member would not have his or her share on the Old lady which ultimately would mean the new member would have far less importance in his or her opinions at decisions. It would also make it far easier to find someone since the new member wouldn’t need to commit an investment. The downside of this move was that we’d lack the funds. Regardless, Santino and I both agreed on that idea. Juno left easily but she could have contested and it could have gotten far uglier than it should have. In other words, we chose control.

Rabinovich informed us, "I've just posted a thread looking for a new member with details on the message board of the station. I will take care of this. You guys take your time off."

Nodding, Santino and I both took off. I did like that Rabinovich was taking firm control over the situation. Juno’s situation didn’t go anywhere too far because he was being very firm, I thought. Once I was in my room, I did check the bulletin board of the station to check on the post. The post was there with basic info about us and what we do. To my mild surprise, there was already a reply to the post and I recognized the user. It was Yating, the dockyard office worker I frequently met whenever we sold the ore. Personally, I didn't think such a woman like her would be interested. She was, by her appearance at least, a polar opposite of Juno. She was rather short, slim, and was pretty feminine. I ended up becoming quite excited about the prospect of a new member, another female one at that. I fully expected a male member.

When the break period was over and I headed for the docking bay, as expected, Yating was with Rabinovich. Her appearance was that of an office worker. Her long black hair was tied into a ponytail, which was the only accepted way to have long hair in zero gravity. I expected her to be there, so there was no reaction from me. For Santino though, he almost dropped his jaw.

"She's cute!" He whispered to me with glee, "Maybe, it was a good idea to have ditched Juno."

Rabinovich cleared his throat to signal us to shut up and declared, "This is Yating. You may have seen her. She works, well worked, at the Oreo docking office."

She carefully bowed at us and introduced herself.

"My name is Yating. Nice to meet you all."

She was a slender woman and was rather short. She, really, was the polar opposite of Juno who was very tall and very muscular.

"Why did you quit your job for this?" was what I blurted out. Really, why? Being a dockyard officer of the station meant that she was a prominent member of the station. Why throw that away to become a miner of all professions. It was the lowest end job in the chain. She looked surprised for a short moment then beamed a grin at me.

She replied, "Do you know how boring the job was? I was losing my mind."

Rabinovich cleared his throat once more and told us, "She will be exclusively working on the bridge of the Old lady. Do any of you have an issue with that?"

Neither Santino nor me had any objections. She probably didn’t even have a mining barge, thus it was probably for the better. Once that was settled, off we went to mine. While we did not discuss this, we understood that we had to continue mining because we didn't have the funds for extensive modifications to install turrets on the Old lady. In that sense, we didn't have to cut Juno loose this early but her presence was building up tension, so it was a better idea to lose her sooner rather than later.

Yating proved her ability quickly enough as a coordinator and communicator from the bridge of the Old lady. When Juno was with us, we just sort of did our jobs as miners. As a direct result, we barely spoke to each other and did our own things. With Yating however, she coordinated which rock to mine and told us for how long to mine and even scheduled daily routines. We became far more organized and efficient. What normally took us 20-something days to fill up Old lady's was reduced to 15 days. Additionally, our payout was better due to having mined better quality ore. In just one mining trip, she had won us over. We had some regrets over letting Juno go, but that feeling had completely vanished after the first mining trip with her. It turned out that she was a class D ESP. An ESP or an esper was those with supernatural mental abilities. Being able to use magic was a quick way to explain what they were. In reality, an esper wasn’t capable of magic, however. What they were capable of was being able to use mental powers as means to do things beyond normal capabilities as a human. For example, what Yating did was scan the rocks with her ESP powers. Nobody really understood why espers started to be born. The general understanding was that the exposure to radiation for thousands of years was a direct cause of them being born. Nevertheless, class D was very much on the lowest end of the rank. Class Bs would be hired by governments and private firms. Class As would be what I’d call “elites”. And then there was the class S, a rank that belonged to someone like the Asperger. He wasn’t the only class S esper. There were a few monsters like him. None of them was present in the Podlezl system except for …

“Sae the witch,” I whispered. Never met or seen her. I’ve heard of her only from lots of gossip and what the media told me. A crazed midget girl who frequently went on rampage to murder people on whims - That’s what I’ve heard. She couldn’t be caught just like how the Asperger was never arrested for ill deeds he had done. They were simply too powerful. That’s what happens when an individual can outpower a whole federation.

Anyway, during the break period of two weeks, I invited her over to the cafeteria. I also invited Rabinovich and Santino but the former didn't reply.

Around a table, Yating, Santino, and I sat around. After making quick orders, we formally introduced ourselves to each other.

"I guess you know only my name," Yating said, "My name is Yating as you know and a natural female which I need to make clear since transgenders nowadays do a very good job being females."

Santino and I chuckled. She wasn’t wrong. With the current level of technology, a full gender transformation was entirely possible as long as one had the money. They could even reproduce.

She added, "42 years old and never married although I am not a virgin."

"Santino here, 37 years old, male of course. A real one." He placed an emphasis on “real” for some odd reason.

"I guess I am the youngest one. Vazken here, 20 and of course a male."

We spent about an hour talking to each other and talked about numerous topics. Yating turned out to be an Oreo native. She was born on New Earth but was raised on the station. She was apparently looking for some adventure when Rabinovich posted the job offer.

"The station will always welcome me back," She said, "And I do intend to settle down on Oreo one day but, for the time being, I am in a mood for something different."

Santino mentioned to her that we were planning to do something different.

"Freight business, something of that sort," He explained loosely.

At this point, she mentioned Juno. Because she had seen us for years, she was able to figure out that we kicked her out and asked why.

I told her, "She wasn't willing to do freight. She said it'd be too dangerous."

I explained further that us three and Juno were the founders and we had to pay her share.

"Which is why we are mining for the time being. We don't have the money for ship modifications right now," I added.

"You know," Santino said, "Juno is a big muscular woman. I think she is the female version of Hulk. Yet, she proves to be quite timid."

I made no extra comment on that. It was her decision and her way of life. I had no right to comment on that. Regardless, Santino went on for a few minutes about how Juno blew her chance for "big money". I wasn't sure about the "big money" but I was certain that I wasn't going to do mining for my entire life at this point. If I wasn’t exposed to the half a million, I may have stuck with mining, however… How life works is mysterious sometimes.

Once the meeting was eventually over, I got back to my room and found an email from Juno, telling me that she saw a new woman among us and asked who she was. I wasn't quite sure how to respond. I mean she was no longer a part of the team. Quite frankly, it was none of her business at this point. After debating with myself whether to send a response, I ended up opting not to respond at all. Then hours later, I got an email from Santino that he received an email from Juno asking the same question and he, too, was conflicted to reply. I told him not to bother and it was the end of the awkward event. Once the break period was over, we gathered at the docking bay as usual.

When asked why Rabinovich didn't make to the meeting, his reply was -

"Um, I've got a girlfriend now. I was spending time with her," was his answer.

Fair enough. He had no obligation to attend because it was during the break period.

"Alright, guys, let's get to work!" Clapping hands, Santino pushed us forward. He sounded excited. I assumed it was because of Yating. The guy clearly had the hots for her. Perhaps, I did as well, but my feelings weren’t as strong. If he wanted her, so be it. Half of the population is women anyway, although … Rocksea was a rather small community, but whatever.