Mechanical Catalog 2

"Good," replied his supervisor. "Start setting charges."

Phillips smiled. This was the safe part of the job. All he had to do was place several dozen explosive charges along the rock face. Compared to drilling, this was quick and easy. Mining charges were small, stable and easy to work with, even for an exo-suit. Using four gripper arms to work his way over the rock, he planted each charge with efficient motion. As he passed, several mining robots began pulling the armored canopy over the rock face, to keep debris from scattering into the cavern.

"All done," said Phillips, trailing a thick wire as he headed out of the cavern. The 'bots were just finishing placing the canopy, and would evacuate the moment they were finished. Nobody and nothing stayed near a blasting site once it was ready.

"Okay," said his supervisor. "Good work, crew. Let's get back to the ship and blow this sucker."

On his way back to the huge, lamprey-like mining ship that was practically welded to the asteroid, Phillips cast a worried glance back at the blast site. The engineers had spent days surveying the site, taking measurements and readings, just like they always did, but that wasn't completely reassuring. There was always a chance that the blast would tear the asteroid apart, in which case the relative safety of the mining ship wouldn't mean much. Phillips was glad that the hot confines of his exo-suit meant that nobody would be surprised if he came out covered with sweat.