Chapter 1For an individual looking to put maximum distance between themselves and another person, there was no better gig than Alston Mining. The conglomerate sent its employees to various far-flung and uninhabited planets, moons, and asteroid belts, then compensated for the isolation with a generous salary.
Management believed their workforce was driven by a sense of adventure, or at the very least enticed by the income. Employees knew better. The jobs tended to tedium more than excitement, and the money could draw new hires but was rarely sufficient to keep them more than a year. If, however, one wanted to be far away from a specific person or situation, Alston Mining couldn’t be bested. It was understood among employees that anyone who stuck around after claiming their one-year bonus h
