(A)void opals
05 Mar 2023James M. Bailey
Gendenwitha 4C Asteroid BeltGendenwitha System
Independent
“Detonation failed. No minerals acquired”.
Bright letters shine on my display and I curse, probably for the 15th time today. The whole core mining business is not as easy as they said it would be. Or as *I* thought it was. I circle around the asteroid looking for another fracture and after finding it, carefully place another charge, determined to finish what I started. Once I have the explosives where I want them, I position my new Cobra behind another big rock and command detonation. It works this time around.
“Yes!” I exclaim, preparing my collectors and rushing towards the debris. It is much colder inside the cloud among the shattered pieces of ice and my cockpit immediately freezes over. No matter. I check the surroundings to see if that pitiful excuse of a pirate that scanned my ship before is anywhere to be found, but the area seems to be empty. Note to self: speak to Tom about boosting our defences for the future. Just in case.
I open the cargo hatch and launch the drones. There are at least 20 chunks of Void Opal floating around. I wait..l and nothing happens. The collectors just hang in space. Then I see another information showing up before my eyes.
“Refinery module required”
I curse again. I was certain one can just scoop the pieces of the core without the damn refinery! Now how will I find this place? Damn, damn, damn. All the time flying around with the pulse wave scanner, all the charges, prospectors - everything wasted because I forgot to install stupid refinery module?!
I shake my head and set course for the closest station…