Changing the Guard

Tomi Vuorela works security in a frozen off-world outpost. The terrain is unforgiving, especially when it comes to maintaining any semblance of a social life. Any guest is typically a welcome one, provided they're cleared for a refueling or part of IntelServ. Tomi knows his machinery, however, and when a suspicious landskimmer heads toward the his remote access node, Tomi must determine if the interloper is a harmless workman or a dangerous terrorist.


Andile Harper introduces himself as an engineer, but Tomi would rather play it safe than turn his back on a hacker in disguise. When Andile's story doesn't check with his own records, Andile's in for a world of trouble. Normally, keeping a man at gunpoint until backup arrives would be out of the question. But when Andile starts to play with fire, Tomi finds he's more than eager to hold a gun to the intruder's head and make his own personal set of demands.


(Originally published as part of the "Weight of a Gun" anthology.)