I liked to think that when she scolded me for shortening her name it was because she was worried. But really I was only kidding myself. I had been around her, and the rest of Ship B0E5's crew for nearly half a decade. The likelihood of her keeping her worry hidden for that long was infinitesimal. These are the thoughts that go through my head when I hear her response to my greeting on this morning of Ship BOE5's approach to Asteroid 134E; my cordial – although rebellious – “Hello Mech A.” Her disapproval radiates from her as she tell me simply that “If you want to say good morning to me at least have the decency to call me by my full name, which you know full well Electrical AC2D.”
I look down at my feet before the two of us silently continue up to the bridge for a pre-landing briefing, meeting up with Miner AE9D and Miner A72C on our way there, giving them both a proper good morning using their full names, something that I wish I could manage to do every time. I once again remind myself that I couldn't trust my instincts when labeling my friends, and instead need to trust society's wisdom and use their full names.
Entering the bridge the four of us sit down next to our fellow crew member, Navigation and Communication A097, and all turn towards our captain.
“Good morning. As you all know we are approaching Asteroid 134E, which will be the smallest asteroid we have landed on in the five years since this ship's maiden voyage. This means that we can't rely on its gravity to pull us down towards the surface, and we will need our movement thrusters operating at peak performance in order to stay on course.”
She continues to remind the crew of the dangers of landing on and mining small asteroids, but I begin to tune out, knowing my portion of the lecture is over. Out of the corner of my eye I notice Mech A eyes also beginning to glaze over as she begins to mentally catalog all the things she needs to check before landing, and smile slightly before beginning to list my duties as well.
A lengthy pre-landing systems and post-landing check later I close the last access panel in the mining rover, satisfied that nothing had been electrically damaged in our landing. Now done I lightly push myself into an upright position before powering up my electromagnetic boots. Hearing the activation of the airlock I turn around to greet Mech A.
“Have you finished checking the exterior for problems?” I ask.
“One of the drive wheels got misaligned on landing, but that minor error has been fixed now.” she responds.
“Well I have finished up the check of the electrical systems in here; it is all ready to go. Let's go let the captain and mining crew know.”
As we walk to the bridge, me trailing slightly behind her, I find myself trying to fill the silence with conversation. Mentally reminding myself once again to address her by her full name I look up, ready to talk, and realize we have already reached the bridge.
I hear her giving an in-depth report to Miners AE9D and A72C, and follow it with one of my own. Having been briefed they proceed to the mining rig, leaving me with the captain and Mech A. We both nod to her briefly, then proceed down to the engineering room where we sit down next to each other at the control table, booting up the rover status software. As the green indicators turn on one by one I find a smile spreading over my face, and see the same on my partner's face. If we are successful this will likely be the most money we have made in a single trip, as well as the lowest mass mining operation ever performed, putting our entire crew in the history books.
Miner AE9D comes over the intercom, telling us that they are preparing to detach the rover from the main craft. As he gives a countdown we see the seal on the rover's lock turn on, quickly followed by the ship's airlock sealing. Notifying us that the rover had been successfully sealed they begin to let the pressure out of the airlock, carefully watching the cabin pressure for leaks. One minute later the area inside the airlock has dropped to a vacuum, with both seals still holding. With that checked and verified the miners detach the rover from the spacecraft and begin to move away from Ship BE05 to the great pleasure of both myself and the rest of the crew.
We watch it from the exterior mounted cameras and track it using the proximity sensors designed for that purpose. According to the readings we had taken during our approach there was a large deposit of platinum at the bottom of a nearby crater, and just like the plan says the miners turn towards the crater once they were 100 meters from the ship. When it reached the rim Navigation and Communication A097 spoke up, telling everyone to study the output of camera D.

Looking at the image provided by camera D I see the dim glint of aluminum at the bottom of the crater, and the bent outline of a high gain antenna.
“Is that... the crash site of a probe?” I ask after a slight pause for the image sinks in.
“It does appear that way.” I hear NavComm A097 affirm.
After I slight pause I hear the captain ask “So... what are we going to do about this?”, the question that was in all of our minds.
Considering the problem I find myself, quite to my surprising, proposing that “We could use one of the EVA suits to review it for any valuable items of possible importance,” something that I felt wouldn't take up too much mining time but would still provide a chance to study the early probe.
“I personally think we should just leave it be,” one of the miners refutes (I think it is AE9D, but I can't be sure), “we came here to mine valuable materials and an old probe won't be worth much.”
Surprisingly I hear the captain support my position. “We are going to do as Electrical AC2D has suggested. It will have very little time lost, and Electrical AC2D can do the EVA to review the crashed probe, which some antique collector back home may be interested in. I want the mining rover driven back here to pick him up, then we can proceed down the crater to begin both mining and review operations.”
Happy with my success I glance over at my partner, hoping to see some response from her – worry, happiness, something – but I don't notice any changes. Mentally I sigh to myself, confirm with the captain that I'll be ready, then proceed to the airlock. Pulling an EVA suit out of the closet I perform a thorough check of it, making sure it is in working order, before I fold it back up into its storage configuration.
By the time I finish inspecting my suit and am ready for an EVA the rover has already returned to the ship. Pretty soon I am getting into the rover with my fellow crew members – sealing off the airlock carefully – then waiting as the rover once again proceeds to the crater.

After descending the wall of the crater rather uneventfully (uneven surfaces don't cause very much trouble for EM rovers) I equip all the gear I had prepared earlier for my EVA, then step out of the rover. I'm immediately glad for my magnetic boots and 134E's metallic composition. The tiny amount of gravity I feel is nothing when compared to Earth, and I can tell the only thing preventing me from drifting off into space is the electromagnets in my boots. I clumsily begin to walk over to the fallen probe, hoping that the adaptive program that control my boots will learn to compensate with this metallic composition quickly; typically they are used on much high mass asteroids, with a lower metallic content. Walking on 134E is like walking in molasses.
As I get closer I begin to see a few more details of the probe. There seems to be three large protrusions from the main communication dish, things that were – judging by their shape – likely solar panels. I pass these shattered remnants by, kneeling down by the central node of the probe.
Most of the shielding has been torn away and the core of the probe is naked, with all its instruments either exposed or ripped off. Carefully I begin to remove the instruments I can, trying to determine their purpose, and from that determine what probe it is. As I remove what looks like some type of radiometer I see a small engraving, something that I hope can be used to identify the probe. Reading it I see the small words “Juno, Made By Scott Bolton”
Shocked by my discovery I suddenly hear all my conversations replayed. Addressing me not by my identifier, Electrical AC2D, but rather by the small engraving in front of me: Scott Bolton.