Septer positioned the drillsucker over her target, then turned it on. The one metre tube vibrated and bucked as she held onto its handles near the top as the bit at the other end vibrated and started sucking the lode from the comet. The thick tube coming out of the top of the drillsucker flexed over to the refiner which started separating the ore into its constituents. A plume of useless dust extracted from the ore fountained out into space into a mesmerising fan of beauty.

It was cold and lonely working at the outer reaches of the solar system, just beyond Saturn. But Septer liked it that way. Although it was a job with fuck all pay, at least she didn’t have to deal with the kind of idiots that she insulted or assaulted from all the other jobs that she was fired from.

Then she felt a soft, large splat hit the back of her helmet and the shoulders of her spacesuit.