Tom Dell'Aringa Science Fiction Author

Stranded isn't a job. It's just bad luck.

A systems failure drops the Beowulf onto Ressath Minor—a cold, volcanic Bathari mining world—six weeks from a resupply ship. John and Alvis take a local security contract while they wait for parts. Keep the predatory caudrex back. Avoid getting involved.

But the caudrex don't keep back. Rhino-sized predators that burrow through rock and erupt without warning, they're drawn by the pulse of a mining operation being pushed past its limits by an overseer with bad numbers and worse judgment.

Alvis reads the data and tells John exactly where this is headed. The people who could stop it don't see what Alvis sees.

When the parts arrive, they could just leave.

They don’t.