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Star and the rest of the Ellfive crew are commissioned by the new government of Terranova to mount an expedition to the Asteroid Belt, there to mine for those precious ores in rapid decline on Terra and Luna. They’ve got two ships, solid financial backing from the First National Bank of Terranova and the blessing of the Terran Alliance. Even Star’s mother is along for the ride. What could go wrong?

The space station Outpost in Handful is modeled after British Petroleum’s Base Camp (aka the BP Hilton) in Prudhoe Bay, where I lived and worked for six years.

Designed by the architectural firm of Wallace, Floyd, Ellenzwig and Moore (I think I got that right) and principally by Peter Floyd, it is an amazing construction, specifically created to aerodynamically minimize snow drifting on the outside and lighten the residents’ gloom on the inside, two neat tricks in the middle of a January whiteout on the North Slope.

I love architects and engineers; they are the ultimate can-do people, and their stories are almost as good as the ones state troopers tell.

About the Dedication

for Joanna Carlson,
a civilized human being

Jo Carlson is my cousin Chris’s daughter. The “civilized human being” is one of those family in-jokes. If I told you I’d have to kill you.