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wn for a chat, and mentioned that
people were concerned for her.
"I realize you don't want to talk about what happened on Acheron, but I
think maybe you should let it out of your system."
"I don't know if I can..."
"You don't have to if you don't want to, Newt. I'm not going to force you."
Newt looked up from the floor, into Ripleys eyes.
Slowly, Grudgingly, Mai Shiina began recalling Mai's story.
The colony of Acheron was definitely in the long-term investment category as
far as the ICC company was concerned. From the outside the little planetoid
was little more than a barren air-blasted, slightly oblate rock. Underneath
was what made their heroic efforts to colonize this remote dirtball
worthwhile. The initial robot survey craft discovered its surface gravity
was a surprisingly high 86 percent that of Earth. Radar mapping of the
permanently enshrouded surface revealed the distinctive patterns of fault
scarping, indicative of a planet comprised almost entirely of metal. As it
cooled during its early days it shrunk, and the outer layers of rock fell in
to produce the observed faults. Barely a kilometer down
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