“Of course I can’t speak from personal experience,” said the pleasantly monotonous voice, “But my references show that the zero-gravity brothels of Xanadu are popular. The Kama Sutra had to be expanded to encompass the many innovative—” The ground surrounding Shuttle 1 dropped from under the feet of its defenders, leaving the ship on a pedestal.

Miners set upon the troopers with power-hammers, explosive wedges and rock-cutters. “Disable and move on,” Ishikawa reminded his men. “Don’t waste time making sure they’re dead. Before the dust settles, we need that ship.”

On the surface, shipyard cranes draped cargo netting over the shuttles. Enemy fire quickly dropped them; but their wrecks only added to the mass restraining the ships. From Shuttle 1’s net, a lone figure emerged and walked to the bow. The antipersonnel guns weren’t designed to aim at their own ship. And due to the chasm, the troops couldn’t reach him.

He attached a wedge device to the pilot’s windscreen and gave a thumbs-down sign; surrender.