Nigel peered through the porthole at the dozens of stations dotting the Orbital Frontier. The sun glittered off a gold tooth exposed by his wolfish grin. A group of rowdy inmates in the prisoner transport alerted him to a hologram playing a battle between the infamous Hunter war machines, Ursus and Fenris, on Earth-that-was.
"Soon," he thought, coated in the projection's glow. "Ain't never fought nobody like me."
A guard suddenly extinguished the advert together with Nigel's dream. "Syndicate Hunter experimentation is postponed. You animals are being diverted."
The ship banked towards an industrialized, glowing-blue asteroid.
"They lied!" Nigel clenched his fist.
A man with snake-like features darted into Nigel's face. "They need smart ones to become Hunters. Your dumb ass never had a hope in hell."
Nigel jerked forward but an older woman, Jinx, restrained him, "Never fight for free, kid."
The ship descended over a sprawling Starfall processing factory, soon to become the entirety of their lives. "Bastards! They promised me a chance," Nigel said.
The ship landed and the prisoners' manacles opened automatically. Jinx stretched out her fingers while a young man scanned about and tightened the seal on his orange spacesuit against the deadly Starfall. Armed guards marshalled the inmates toward the factory, but Jinx hesitated.
"I got you Jinx. Like you always say, 'work hard and you will be noticed'," Nigel said.
"You ain't ever getting off this rock, Bullhead," the snake chuckled. "None of us are."
Under the oppressive gaze of the sun, arduous days melted into months, that rotted into years, as the prisoners harvested and hauled tons of Starfall. One day, while delivering a canister to the cargo bay, Nigel glimpsed people in the shadows of an upper gallery: three silhouettes. Nigel loaded the canister and tapped the counter which revealed him as the top performer. He laughed derisively at Jinx.
"Patience, kid," she said.
Nigel noticed deep folds in Jinx's wrinkles, she was ageing faster than usual. "Dig in, Jinx, they gotta notice us soon—"
The snake charged ahead. "Only way we're getting 'seen' is when the old girl dies. Plenty o' others doin' what's right and offin' themselves."
"He's right," Jinx said, holding Nigel back. "It's a young man's game—"
"Nah, we need yer," Nigel said. "Who else is gonna keep me on the straight and narrow, eh?"
"You need her 'cause otherwise you're a nobody, 'champ'," the snake taunted. "You wouldn'ta won our fight without her coaching. Let's see how you throw hands when she's dead!"
The snake launched at Nigel with a hammer, but Nigel slipped and punched the man's solar plexus bringing their heads close. Too close. The man headbutted Nigel, dazing him, but Nigel kicked his opponent's feet from under him, pummeling him to death. Jinx yanked Nigel away, but Nigel was so overcome with rage, he barged into a Starfall containment tower and after lashing out wildly, accidentally tore all three of their suits. The seal cracked on a canister and ambient Starfall invaded their bodies, exposing them to its lethal radiation. The snake died in seconds. Nigel watched Jinx wither like a dead root in his lap.
"No! What've I…"
An alarm blared and the surviving inmates dispersed, leaving Nigel alone. He stared incredulously at his exposed hands, that hadn't aged a day, when a light turned on in the gallery and a woman's voice announced:
"Prisoner 871, we will see you now."
