Birdie crossed off Townsend versus Kandinsky and called out the next two names on the sign-up sheet.  A partnership in a claim on 9204Hell had suffered what we called a vacuum fracture, the result of too much time alone on a rock too far from home, and the two miners were fighting over who got what.  It hadn't been the richest claim, doubtless one of the problems, and the chief bone of contention appeared to be the speeder. I suggested they sell it.They demurred. They demurred so loudly and for so long that I suited up, located the speeder in question in the parking lot, punched the starter and sent it off Ceres on a heading for Alpha Centauri.  Back inside I inquired, "You have any other assets requiring judicial disposition?" They decided they hadn't.  (from RED PLANET RUN, 1995) Dana Stabenow P.O. Box 190132 Anchorage, Alaska 99519 Email:  dana@stabenow.com http://www.stabenow.com http://www.penguinputnam.com Bio: Dana Stabenow was born in the territory of Alaska in 1952and raised on a 75-foot fish tender in Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound.When she wasn't seasick she wrote stories about normal children who lived on shore.  Now she writes entire novels, fourteen to date. The first Kate Shugak mystery, A COLD DAY FOR MURDER (June, 1992) won an Edgar award. The tenth, MIDNIGHT COME AGAIN, comes out in May 2000.  The second in the Liam Campbell series, SO SURE OF DEATH, comes out in October 1999. Publications: SECOND STAR, ISBN 0-441-75722-7 A HANDFUL OF STARS, ISBN 0-441-31615-8 RED PLANET RUN, ISBN 0-441-00135-1 A COLD DAY FOR MURDER, ISBN 0-425-13301-X A FATAL THAW, ISBN 0-425-13577-2 DEAD IN THE WATER, ISBN 0-425-13749-X A COLD-BLOODED BUSINESS, ISBN 0-425-15849-7 PLAY WITH FIRE, ISBN 0-425-15254-5 BLOOD WILL TELL, ISBN 0-425-15798-9 BREAKUP, ISBN 0-425-16261-3 KILLING GROUNDS, ISBN 0-425-16773-9 HUNTER'S MOON, ISBN 0-399-14468-4 FIRE AND ICE, ISBN 0-451-19770-4 SO SURE OF DEATH, ISBN 0-525-94519-9 Publishers: Publishers:  Ace Science Fiction, Berkley, Putnam, Dutton, St. Martin's Press, all New York, New York