"
"How'd you learn your way around here?"
"When I first came upon the asteroid, the airlock was open. A huge
orifice, made for spaceships, as you can tell. I came through and
landed. Went through one of the airlocks into the building portion
here, where we are now, and just explored. Trial and error. It's not
too difficult to get the basics down-opening and closing doors, and all
that. Then figuring out the right mix of atmosphere. I had plenty of
time. I got access to the first four or five stories, but I'm pretty
certain the place is much bigger than that. At first, I couldn't get
any further than the first few stories, but after a while I found my
way around a couple of deeper sections."
"And then?"
"What do you mean, 'and then'? I got bored with it and moved on. I'm a
miner, not an explorer or a settler or a scientist. There's nothing
here but iron. I told a few people about it but nobody much believed me
or cared until this Troy Putnam fellow I met in Yellow City. He's the
only person who got excited about it, so when he asked me to bring him
here, I did it, as I said. Why not? He paid my expenses for the trip,
and a little more besides for my time. He was impressed with the place,
as was I. Then I went looking for uranium and he went back to Ceres.
Never saw him again.
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