"Navigation to Captain. Approaching asteroid belt. Ship detection systems online and clean. Ready to proceed, Sir." The sole navigator of the spacecraft studied his instruments carefully whilst his apprentice eagerly floated above him and watched every move his mentor made.

"This is the Captain. You are cleared to negotiate asteroid belt immediately." There was a silent moment before the reply and when it came the young apprentice was surprised, jerked back and kicked his elder in the back of the head. The navigator gave him a stiff stare but nothing more.

The ship let out short bursts to avoid the slow but destructive masses of rock. As it pulled its way over one of the asteroids the scanners failed to detect a pod which held onto its position with the slight gravitational pull of the rock. Cords flew from the pod grappling onto the ship using a magnet strong enough only to hold on. Any resistance more than the pod and it would come loose. It was an earthen hunter; they were feared throughout mankind. They cost every possession and penny owned by the employer but never failed. They were dedicated in a way other humans could not understand. The transaction from asteroid to spacecraft was carried using such small levels of energy that the ship's scanners did not register it. The participant had to remain in a state of near death so that the life support systems did not require detectable quantities of power.

"Navigation to Captain. Asteroid belt negotiated and on route to station. Do we have permission to dock?" He looked up without thinking at the communication unit as if it were the Captain in person.

"Permission granted. Docking sequence downloading into navigational systems." This time the apprentice was prepared and when the navigator turned to him he gave a little smile hoping it had become a simple joke.

The ship gently rotated to the same pace as the station and slowly crept toward the docking port. The two surfaces pressed together and instantly the ship was clamped into place. The port door opened and the ship's crew steadily climbed through. They knew not to float through like a normal station because this one had artificial gravity .The Captain wondered if the inexperienced apprentice would make this error but he seemed to be catching on and followed his elder carefully.

The pod used its remaining power to revive its pilot and give him time to get out before it floated back into the asteroid belt where it could not be detected. The hunter used a low-powered jetpack to make his way to an air lock. He unscrewed a concealed access panel and hacked into the control system. Quickly, but without faltering, he replaced the panel and lay himself against the airlock. The clamp tightened in front of him leaving just enough room for him to not be crushed. As the clamp met no resistance it continued tightening until only a small hole remained. He placed a pre-shaped piece of metal into the gap and the tiny vacuum filled with air before the door opened. Now on the inside he used an access panel in the floor. He hacked into the control system again to close the door and released the clamp.

The Captain had come to warn the station's Commander about a possible problem. He walked into the officer's command room to meet with him.

"Commander, I bring word that a powerful man is going to attempt to take control of this station. My sources inform me that he has a battle freighter carrying twelve heavy fighters." He had a military stance, which he put into use now he could in the artificial gravity.

"Don't worry, Captain. A battle freighter would never make it through the asteroid belt. Even if it could the station alone has enough fire power to destroy it before it gets through." Seeing that he still was not confident he continued, "Captain, this station is very important to Earth. They have always got at least two Centurion battle cruisers within emergency distance. That means two thousand fighters and Centurion cannons."

"But Commander-" The conversation was broken off by the sound of the alarm.

"Commander, we've got a situation in the power room. Sir, one of the engineers was found tampering with the oxygen supply. When we approached him he pulled out a gun and shot one of our privates in the chest."

The two officers made their way towards the situation. The hunter, who was already on his way to the same place, crawled through thick pipes and wires until he reached the approximate area in the wall behind the lunatic who was causing all this havoc. He eased his arm down to his leg and pulled up a thin metal tub. His hand slotted out from behind the foam that concealed him and pushed the tub through the grating next to the neck of this crazed man. With a simple twist of the end of the tub a microscopic wire shot out and grafted itself to his nervous system. It sent an impulse directly to his arm and hand. The hunters hand disappeared again before the engineer thoughtlessly shot himself.

He had to abandon his original plan to jettison the oxygen tanks, as now they would be under surveillance. Instantly he thought of another plan which could be more effective than the original. It was this sort of expertise which made the earthen hunters so rare and feared. He drew his inspiration from this incident. He would create a situation to pull the majority of the crew into one place where he could deal with them. Enigmatically he climbed through the wiring to the far end of one of the docking modules. From his belt he pulled out a contraption which he fixed to the back of the access panel.

When he had returned from the end of the module he turned the device on via a remote control. It sent signals through the panel to random areas on the station reporting various critical situations. He waited until enough were inside the module to make an effective difference but before someone realised what was happening. Sealing himself into another module he released the clamp and opened the airlocks. As he expected they closed the airlocks before anyone was blown out but they would eventually run out of oxygen. He checked his scanner, there were now only four people left on the station.

The young apprentice ran through the corridors to find his Captain. He had narrowly avoided getting into that module. A few seconds more and he would be trapped in a tiny module with hysterical men and women floating powerless in space with limited oxygen.

"Captain, don't you think we should get out of here, it's just not safe. Sir, the ship is ready." His frightened face forced him to do something but he couldn't just leave the Commander and those people.

"Commander, can't we call one of the Centurions to assist us?" Recalling their earlier conversation.

"We'd have to do it from outside the asteroid belt. The transmission cannot get through otherwise." The Commander returned to his room where he locked himself in with a rifle in his hands. In the corner of his eye he saw a grenade on his desk but it was too late. It detonated.

The crew of the space ship returned to their craft and unclamped it. Hastily but still with a rushed sense of carefulness they navigated back through the asteroid belt. As soon as they were clear of it the Captain sent a message for emergency assistance and gave co-ordinates. The Captain walked down into the navigation room.

"It's alright now, lad, we're-" He stopped, horrified by the sight of his crewmate's intestines splattered over the floor and the young apprentice's severed head. He heard a quiet mechanical buzz above him. Sharply he looked up. A metal wire noose dropped around his neck, tightened and retracted back into the metal tub attached to the ceiling. As the Captain's corpse hung from the ceiling the hunter swung down from behind the grating and sat at the communication screen.

"Centurion, the message you just received was a false alarm, but thanks anyway." He called his current employee who was nearby in his ship.

"Mr. Copal, your station is clean. I expect payment within two days." His work was done for now but it was never long between jobs.

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