Caleb pulled the throttle back long before they reached their point of entry, cutting thrust and reducing the miner to little more than a projectile, freefalling toward the surface on a wave of inertia. Beside him, Dave grunted. Caleb gritted his teeth and ignored the obvious implication that he'd done something wrong. Unorthodox, perhaps, but not wrong.

The miner was a small craft, not able to house much more than the two men in their bulky vacuum suits. A large, cone-shaped drill protruded from its nose like the spikes rumored to end lives so effectively; the drill was, in fact, probably the most predominant feature the ship boasted. The rest was little more than a fibersteel box with a pair of fusion-burst engines bolted to its aft.

The asteroid reached out to pull them in like the undertow around a child's feet. The light from the sun, originating much too far away but still present and accounted for, lit up the surface, exposing and illuminating the jagged crevices and sharp ridges that marred the planetoid's surface. Caleb smiled. He'd been waiting for the mission for nearly two months, and he was as giddy as kindergartener on Christmas Eve. He tightened his grip on the control yoke and shot a glance at his partner.

Dave, his salt-and-pepper hair hidden by his helmet, was as intent and focused as ever. He looked over when he felt Caleb's eyes on him. "You cut that burst a bit early, kid."

Caleb shrugged and pushed down the surge of frustration that clawed its way up his throat. "Better to have more fuel for the return."

"Not if we miss our entry."

"We won't."

They closed the distance slowly, though it felt impossibly fast to Caleb. His work in the simulators had been no match for the real thing, just as he'd suspected. The gauges and dials before him, all glowing a soft green or blue, counted down the kilometers to target. Caleb flexed his fingers. When the dial hit point-one-oh, if they weren't on course, he'd have about three seconds to make the necessary correction before they hit the surface and exploded like a piñata packed with gunpowder.

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