White as freshly laid snow the sky kissed the ice with a thin blue line. Silver pipelines carrying water snaked above the ice. Scarred orange hovertrains carrying workers and elements crisscrossed the pipes. On Harleys, Security Chief TwoAxes and Detective Hatchett waited at The Piper Junction entrance.

“You good Axe?”

“Why, we’ve worked with the Bureau on kidnappings among the triads. Is there something you know about the Buchanans, Benji, that you’re not telling me?”

“Babe I’m an open book. I was talking about the ride. There’s no artificial sky at the mining colony. No fluffy clouds no twinkly stars, the lack of natural cues can make humans kinda … screwy. You could assign Journey or one of the other Androids”

She soothed his worries with a swift kiss. Myrtle kickstarted her bike and roared into the white. Alpha Colony disappeared behind them as the Badlands crested in over the horizon.