Homestead is a ruined world. The entire population wouldn’t fill an Imperial cruiser’s low berths. They barely survive by mining the ruins for old technology. Salvagers don’t live long, falling prey to dangerous mutated fauna, grit storms, or just plain starving to death. You learn to survive, or Homestead kills you. Pac is a survivor, and she works alone, salvaging what she can, trading it for food, and often going hungry.

Then off-world strangers offer her a job. They need a guide into the wastes, someone to show them where she found a high-tech artifact. They offer enough to keep her eating for a year, but her father said never to trust strangers. Pac judges the payoff worth the risk, and finds her father’s lessons well-founded. Homestead is a deadly world, and shiny high-tech gear will fetch a fine price. After all, a girl’s gotta eat.

This story comes in Mobi, ePub and PDF formats.