Out in the depths of space, on the edge of the solar system, The Calista, an AMGOE cargo freighter, cruises through the empty black as it ventures to its next destination. It is a uniquely designed deep space vessel, built for a solitary purpose, to collect and store large amounts asteroid rock. And while it is capable of processing the materials en route, the corporation prefers that it be properly refined by one of its orbital stations parked around Saturn.

Saturn long had become the hub of all Space Rockers, having mined the asteroid rings and the planet’s sister moons for over a decade, creating a mining network around the Jovian ringed world. The Calista was one of several such large vessels of the corporate fleet. Generational families had overseen each vessel as the years marched on, making them dependant on each new prospect found and guaranteeing labor for their families and new hires they would bring on.

It was not uncommon to process the precious ore on its way to the refinery, depending on the score (usually titanium, gold, or other rare minerals), it needed to be separated and carefully documented on how much was being shipped on its way to the secondary reprocessing facility in orbit of Saturn. That way it could be processed again to assure the purity of the ore and minerals. It was a way to cut down on time and the labor requirements, creating a product that could be used within days instead of months.

However, that additional care tended to get in the way of the Space Rockers other prospect possibilities. It meant they would miss out on other asteroids and meteorites that might contain greater rewards. Causing their profits to dwindle due to the lack of constant harvesting. AMGOE assured Captain Ramirez Albedo of The Calista, after signing a binding contract, that his ship and crew would be one of five Space Rockers allowed to harvest the edge of solar system or beyond. This contract was a privilege that few Space Rockers had. A testimony to just how strong the connections to each generational mining family had.

Still, this was a corporate vessel, and at any given time, the CEO’s of these conglomerates could pull the rung from out of them whenever they wanted. Politics and greed were a fine line in this business. Even to those slaving away on the lonely floating rocks in deep space.

* * *

Captain Ramirez Albedo sat at his desk in his tight office quarters, scanning the various items on the holo-vid hovering over table top. The room was a slovenly mess. It had all the signs of being well-lived in, not to mention having endless rust stains and encrusted smears of brown of some kind decorating the bland metallic walls. His desk was littered with papers, coffee cups and food containers that should have been discarded days ago. He was oblivious to it all as he continued to tap the items on the scrolling lists and using his index finger to sign his name to the documents popping up.

There was a crackling on the over head speaker to the right of him, built into the wall and as dirty looking as the rest of the room. The crackling then turned into someone thumping on the microphone and then their voice interrupted his concentration.

“Coming up on the prospect, Cap.”

Albedo gave a drawn out sigh, flipped the holo-vid off, gave his arms a stretch, and moved his rolling chair over to the near by communications panel. He had to brush a taped piece of paper to the side to activate the button. The paper had the words, “Not the light switch” on it. Albedo tapped on the flat-touch screen button and gazed up at the speaker.

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“What’s the ETA, Gloria…”

“Uh, I’d say…” She paused in response for a second, and then spoke again. “I’d say five or ten minutes. Just looking for a good spot now.”

“Okay, thanks…” He nodded. He moved away from the panel but quickly came back to top it again. “Hey, Gloria, tell engineering that the gravity feels off in here.”

“Really?” She snickered. “Damn, Cap, you’re the only one who notices it. Feels fine to me.”

“Listen Gloria, I’ve lived my whole life on these ships,” He responded in mid-yawn. “Trust me, the gravimetrical plating feels about a faction off. I’ve noticed it for a few days now. Tell them to stop syphoning the energy off to cheat at their basketball games.”

“Guess they’re bored again…”

“Well,” Albedo grimaced, “I’ll find them something to un-bore them. When’s the last time the outer hull had a good cleaning? I’ll have them strap on some spacesuits armed with a broom in hand.”

“Rodger that, Cap,” Gloria acknowledged. “I will relay the message to those b-ball boys down there.”

The speaker crackled again as she switched off. Albedo grumbled for a minute, thinking about those bozos down there waring more about their high scores than maintaining this cargo freighter. Albedo liked to keep a tight ship. But, he wasn’t opposed to having a bit of fun either. He chuckled to himself contemplating the moment Gloria would inform them that he was on to their scheme.

“Oh, to be a fly on the wall when she tells them...” He thought.

Gloria was a good first officer, his second banana and the best any captain could hope to have. She was professional and knew how to handle the boys of this vessel, almost like a tough big sister. At least he could rely on her to follow up on his commands and get those knuckle heads in order. She probably would make a good captain of her own one day. A moment he hoped wouldn’t come too soon, seeing how he came to depend on her so much. He returned to his desk, tapped the table top, and the holo-vid screen appeared once again.

* * *

The Calista’s bridge was fairly large, circular and computer terminals sticking out of every spot on the wall. Each one had a function devoted to the massive vessel, ranging from communications, basic ship operations, mineral analysis and composition scanners, and other workstations the crew use for their mining operations. In the centre of this round room, was the command chair and the navigation helm a few feet in front of it. The two pilots sat on either side of the console and had many holographic screens, control sticks, with other various buttons and levers to steer the behemoth mining vessel.

Just like the rest of the ship, it was looking a bit worn for wear. It also appeared well-lived in, as there were used coffee cups, cans of energy drinks, crumpled up papers and various items of clothes strewn about the deck. The crew didn’t feel the need to keep up with the housekeeping, seeing how it was just them being there day-by-day. It was like working in a university dorm, were all the roommates were oblivious to their own mess.

Sitting with her legs crossed in the beat-up, duct taped command chair, was a fairly tall African American woman. She was strikingly beautiful, with long black curly hair pulled up in to a ponytail, and was dressed in comfortable black slacks and vibrant orange work shirt. She was pristine in her makeup, as her red lips accentuated her stunning features.

“Helm, come about three-one-two-four, mark seven,” She instructed to the two pilots busily navigating. The woman pointed her finger at the holographic screen in front of her showing the edge of the solar system. “Let’s aim for that pocket of rocks just on the left side of the quadrant, we might find a good score with that cluster.”

“Aye-aye,” The South Asian man nodded as he course corrected. “Got a hunch again, Gloria?”

“Maybe, Ed, maybe,” she shrugged.

Then tapped on the image hovering before her and expanded it with her fingers. The holographic image enlarged, showing greater detail of the area, with the asteroid belt being represented by a complex wireframe-type presentation, and displayed information over each one she tapped on.

“Or maybe it’s another dead end like the last one.” She exhaled. “Guess we’ll find out.”

“Don’t forget to bitch-out the boys in the engine room.” The other pilot, young short haired black woman remarked.

“Oh, I won’t, Shura…” She giggled back. “I’ve been looking forward to giving them a piece of my mind or late.”