The Black Prospector

The outlying colony where Rich was born and raised was once part of a civilization that controlled dozens of star systems. Now it has been thrown back hundreds of years into the past by a suddenly ignited war with the Swarm—a mysterious and cruel enemy from the depths of space. Fifty years before Rich’s birth, the Swarm delivered an orbital strike to his planet and landed a marine force on its surface. The enemy never managed to capture the capital megacity, but that became the only success for the people. The remains of the enemy’s robotized units took shelter in the ruins of the industrial zone—right up against the city’s crumbling remains—and to this day they carry out unexpected raids from there. True, the enemy itself is sometimes the target of hunting. Raids come into the industrial zone from squads of illegal prospectors, extracting high-tech artifacts—things people have long since forgotten how to make. Rich is a ward of an orphanage for teenagers, his childhood spent in the underground tiers of the ruined megacity. Officially, city authorities are said to have taken responsibility for the education of homeless children and prepared them for adult independent life. In reality, they train recruits for the federal army, which has been constantly fighting wars on other planets almost after the Federation has fallen apart. After graduating, Rich faces only two paths: enlist in the federal army or become part of the criminal Syndicate, which has long grown firmly intertwined with official power. And he would surely have chosen one of those—believing there were no other options—if something had not happened that completely changed his attitude toward everything going on around him.