The Pythons, Anacondas, and Type-9 Heavies streaming through the station just reinforced what I already knew: I was broke, and I urgently needed money.

I had spent my savings on a second hand Keelback outfitted for mining. Bosco, Naddoddur station’s resident tavern gossip, had talked me into it. He didn’t open with that, of course. First you have to buy him a round of drinks, and purchase some additional questionable booze for yourself to stand the fat old spacer. Then, after some long winded tales of his days as a commander, back when things were glorious (unlike space these days, he would insist, with planetary landing modules and SRVs and fancy gadgets), he would begin to casually drop interesting or useful information.

Bosco is well known in the station, and most people tolerate the harmless old drunk, taking his tales of grandeur with a grain of salt. Every station has one such character. People like Bosco, they may talk a lot, but they also keep their ears glued to the station’s ventilation, and can sometimes be great sources of information. So when he started talking about miners coming in hauling nothing but the three P’s, Palladium, Painite, and Platinum, my ears perked up.

I had mined before, taking on a job with a rock crusher crew out of Lave, and vowed never to do that again. It was too much work for too little pay, hauling space debris from asteroid belts to stations, always under threat from pirates. But the three P’s? That’s how people afforded those nice ships out there. The profits were exponential compared to the usual metals and minerals haulers bring in.

If you only knew where to find them, of course.

And I desperately needed to find them.

Another round of drinks invested in information, and Bosco became noticeably more agreeable and liberal with the information he disclosed. A system not far from here? Perfect! I thought. Reduces the risk of getting interdicted with my goods. Plus, Bosco confided, he knew a guy with a Keelback ready to go rock hunting. Slightly used, but a complete bargain, he reassured me.

Which is how I ended up on a leaky Keelback with a faulty thruster and several bolts and screws missing.