Matt's first thought when his transport arrived at New Ericson was, I thought it'd be bigger. His next thoughts were, That's the biggest forest and bluest sky that I've seen in a long time. My parents used to take the family hiking when I was a kid. Then he flinched. He tried not to think about the younger days with his family too much. Like his time with Cerberus, that was a life that was behind him now.
New Ericson colony had no orbiting space stations and the colony's modest space port stood about half a mile from town. The nearest mass relay was about three days away by FTL. The space port's landing pad had a footprint about the size of a football field with a few sensor dishes and signal antennas. A single paved road ran from the space port to the colony outskirts, which looked to be no more than a couple of miles across and its buildings looked to be no more than about five stories high. A monorail train snaked its way from the colony to a mountain range that began a few kilometers beyond the colony. From what he and the other new miners had been told, the mine was located about thirty kilometers further in the mountains.
Matt hadn't talked to any of the other miners. There was no point in getting attached to anyone until he knew that his situation was secure. That probably meant that he wouldn't get to know anyone at all.
Verdant forest covered the surrounding hills that rolled across the landscape, with towering trees standing above lush greenery on the forest floor, and a vigorously flowing stream flowed past the space port about a hundred yards from the landing pad. He guessed that it was springtime on the colony.
One of the miners whistled at the view. "This isn't so bad. It's a small place all right, but you can't beat the fresh air, though."
Matt's instincts kicked in as he and the other new miners exited their transport. Nobody's armed here. The space port doesn't have windows for a sniper, but the landing pad's awfully exposed if somebody took aim from the woods. No wonder Jake was able to slip my gear through customs. He probably wasted money with the bribes. They run the security at this place like they're caring for a bunch of stray puppies. They wouldn't stand a chance if somebody drew a gun. Bunch of amateurs.
Three workers in orange jump suits – two humans and a salarian - jogged over to the transport ship as the passengers ambled past them. The workers dragged over a couple of hoses and connected them to the transport while a fourth worker, a turian, held a writing pad and inspected the outside of ship. The hoses ran from a nearby truck with sign that read SAFETY FIRST in a dozen galactic languages.
The turian spoke as he wrote on the pad. "No signs of foreign object damage, no signs of wear from the long trip. You all made it here alive. Good stuff." He noticed the passengers walking by and gave a friendly nod. "Good morning everyone. Welcome to New Ericson."
Matt's eyes narrowed at the comment and he walked through a doorway into the space port's main building. The bright light of day gave way to the bland stale artificial lighting of a small warehouse. It looked like the miners used the building as a staging area for managing cargo until the miners moved it to the colony. A flight of stairs led to a door that overlooked the warehouse, and it was labeled "Operations Center." It was probably where the space port control staff worked. Matt guessed that they probably didn't have much to do on a day-to-day basis, unless they also managed sky car and sky cargo truck traffic. Two bare tables stood in an open space on the warehouse floor where a young male human and an asari scanned the travel documents from each passenger. Both of them wore coveralls with the words Rokas Natural Resources Ltd. He'd almost forgotten the name of the mining company that he worked for now.
A young human mine worker scanned his travel card. He looked to be in his early twenties. After a quick scan the man's indicator flashed green. "Everything looks good. Here you go. Let me get you a couple of things."
Matt nodded and said nothing. Jordan's pirate brother Jake had definitely done a nice job forging his travel docs. Jake and the rest of the pirate guild must have had a lot of experience in smuggling people or helping them disappear.
The young mine worker stepped away from his table, returned and handed a handbook and small satchel to Matt. "This handbook will have your room assignment in the living quarters, and it'll tell you where everything's located at the colony. Where to eat, where the fitness center's located, the rec center, a couple of stores, things like that. There are hiking trails if you're into that sort of thing. The satchel has a few small personal items for your first day. Toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, couple of snacks, you get the idea. You'll also have some basics waiting for you in your quarters. You new guys should assemble at the monorail tomorrow at 0800. Once you get to the mining site, they'll start training you, they'll show you all sorts of boring safety videos, but some fun stuff too. Don't worry, before you know it you'll be handling heavy duty mass effect grinders, plasma drills and high powered crushers. Maybe they'll even let you near explosives."
A grin crossed Matt's face. Cerberus had probably taught him more ways to blow things up as any of the explosives experts on the planet knew. Hell, he probably knew more. He feigned an impressed look. "Explosives? That sounds dangerous."
The guy from the mining company smiled broadly. "Oh, you like explosives, do you? We've got all kinds."
"I can't wait."
"Oh really? Well if you're adventurous, there's a lot of informal clubs that meet at the rec center and the gym. I'd steer clear of the martial arts club. No point in getting yourself into traction on your first day."
Matt chuckled. "I'll stay out of trouble, thanks." He absently scratched at his arm and browsed the handbook as he stepped away from the table. He used to have a tattoo of the Cerberus logo on his shoulder muscle, but he'd paid to have it burned off. It didn't leave a scar, but he still felt it.
A child's voice rang out. "Mommy! He needs to meet Molly!"
Matt's eyebrows went way up. The sound of a child couldn't have shocked him more than if somebody had dumped a bucket of ice on him. What the heck was a kid doing out here in the middle of nowhere? A moment ago, he'd thought about playing some virtual reality zombie shooting and practicing martial arts. Now he was looking blankly at an excited little girl who couldn't have been older than five wearing a purple t‑shirt with a picture of a bulldozer which read MOMMY'S LITTLE DIGGER, who was walking over with a yellow Labrador retriever. The dog dwarfed the girl, who held onto its lead with both hands. The dog appeared to be a gentle giant, though. Matt noticed that the dog wore a sign which read,
I AM A THERAPY DOG. PLEASE PET ME.
The man behind the table said, "Leah, what are you doing here? Does your mommy know where you're at?"
The girl hadn't noticed her father at all. She excitedly said to Matt, "I'm here to rescue my daddy. Mommy thought he could use some company. Molly here loves her job. The dogs here are the bestest."
"Dogs? There's more than one?"
The man picked up his daughter and put her in his lap. "We spoil them. There's a few therapy dogs around here. They're a huge deal. They're great for stress relief at a place like this. You can ask any miner."
The girl said "Pet her! Pet her! You look like you need it, mister. Pet her!"
"Oh, really? I need it, do I?" Matt looked at the dog and thumbed the day-old stubble on his chin, which felt like sandpaper. "Well how could I pass that up?"
Molly's tail instinctively began to wag.
Matt scratched her behind the ear. "Who's a good dog?" he said. "Who's a good dog? Molly, are you a good dog?"
Molly's tail wagged furiously and she panted. Yes, in Molly's opinion, she was most definitely a good dog.
The girl's father said, "That dog right there has helped a lot of miners stay sane."
Then I'll probably see more of her, thought Matt. Molly doesn't sense that I'm a predator. Neither does anyone else here. Good thing.
"Who's a good dog?" he asked again. "Therapy dogs and kids at a mining colony. This place is just full of surprises."