The bitch had stolen his ship, along with his money, his supplies... everything. Even his distress beacons were gone.

 

To still his anger, Harry Rocha drew a long breath of the cool, clean air and told himself it wasn’t a bad place to be marooned. At least Toya Cesar had delivered all he asked and more. A pristine, habitable Verge world fifteen parsecs from the nearest outpost, uninfested by creatures of higher intelligence, not even any predators of significant size, overflowing with minerals and other resources. And this valley! Not forty minutes ago, they stood side-by-side, Harry tall and Toya short, he pushing past middle age and she sparkling with youth. She swept her hand in a great arc and gushed, “A cathedral of a world!”

 

Harry couldn’t have said it better himself. A broad rift valley surrounded them, a gash in the planet’s crust where waterfalls spilled down two thousand feet of red granite glowing in the sunset. He had to admit, for once in his life, nature enraptured him.

 

“How did you find it?” he asked. “How has no one found it before?”

 

She just laughed.

 

Harry’s people had cross-checked Toya’s background and information, but something about that laugh gave him a chill. “Who else has a claim?”

 

“You have exclusive ownership, Mr. Rocha. But I’m not revealing trade secrets. I wouldn’t be the best planet finder in the Verge if I did. Care for a tour? I’ll have the crew break out a hoversled.”

 

Shortly, they were sailing down the valley, a meter above ground, while Toya enumerated the planet’s features. Abundant water. Rich mineral deposits. Timber. “Don’t be hasty, though,” she said. “You have options. Sure, you could build factories along the river, but how about this? Create a settlement for your workers. Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to live here? They won’t even ask about working conditions. They’ll assume the best. Then again, if it were me, I’d make this valley my home. There are excellent sites downstream on the eastern plain for factories and worker housing. No need to waste this on them.”

 

Harry hadn’t been looking for a new home, nor had he given any thought to preserving any part of the world. His factories would, in time, cover most of the planet. But it was a tantalizing possibility. A home in this valley, preserved just as it was, would make him the envy of known space if he could preserve it. “What about weather patterns?”

 

“Pollutants will blow southeast. You won’t be bothered by them. Or by stray radiation carried on the wind. In fact, the winds lofting over the highlands don’t allow more than a trace of particulates to descend into the valley. Little you do elsewhere will affect this spot.”

 

Harry liked Toya’s attitude. He might have to bring her onto his payroll. Once this planet was up and running, he would need more. Her cavalier attitude matched his own, unlike that of his CFO, Kendra Quintana. Ironic that she had hand-picked Toya for this job. When he first told Kendra of his plan for battling escalating costs and plunging profits, she hadn’t been on board.

 

“We’ve ravaged enough lands,” she complained. “We’ve fought, undone, or ignored so many regulations, it’s a wonder some of our host planets have any life left on them. Even our workers are an endangered species.”

 

“There are workers aplenty,” Harry told her. “We just need to draw them beyond the government’s reach. Thus the Verge.”

 

“But at what cost?”

 

“I can afford it.”

 

“I’m not talking money, and I’m not doing this. Not this time.”

 

Harry expected resistance. No problem. He knew how to handle her. No matter how much she loathed Harry and his methods, she loved her compensation package more. “A thousand others are clamoring for your job.”

 

That had always quieted her before. This time, she surprised him. “Then fire me. My Justice Department contacts would love to see my files on you.”

 

His contacts were more potent. “I can make you vanish with a snap of my fingers. That’s in your files, too, I’m sure.”

 

It was, or at least she knew he could and would do it. She grimaced, looked away, and raised no further objection.

 

“I want a planet. Uninhabited. Safe. Rich in resources. A planet where I can do whatever I want with no questions asked.”

 

Kendra still didn’t face him, but she did answer. “I’ve heard of a planet finder. Best in the Verge, they say. She’s not cheap, but she can get you legal claim to whatever you want.”

 

And that was that. Harry gave Kendra the go-ahead, Kendra hired Toya, and Toya found him his planet. He did his due diligence, of course. Claims checks, geology surveys, hydrology surveys, meteorology surveys, wildlife surveys… every survey available. He even gathered what intelligence he could on Toya, although that proved hard to come by. Still, she seemed clean. Discreet, obedient, without scruples, so long as she got paid. Harry’s kind of contractor.

 

Alas, she wasn’t his contractor after all. She was Kendra’s. As his ship lofted over the red cliffs and vanished in the darkening sky, he realized his error. Kendra had used Toya to turn Harry’s threat back on him. She was making him vanish. And with him out of her way…

 

Damn you, Kendra! You stole my ship and my company! When I get off this rock…

 

The cliffs faded from orange to red to black as the sun dipped behind them. Something growled in the darkness. The ground quivered under the footfalls of something big, something drawing near, step by heavy step.

 

Oh, hell. She’d fabricated the wildlife survey, too!