The hundred meter wide ball of garbage dangled on the diamond-filament cable. A climber pod propelled the pile to the distant Tsiolkovsky anchor, orbiting Earth. Another heap was just breaking through the planet’s atmosphere, while others, farther on their journey, formed a 65,000-kilometer necklace of beads, gleaming with reflected sunlight. “High level of biologics on this one.” Cameron studied his ship’s scan. “Close to the surface, too. We’ll be eating well tonight, little buddy.” Gem rubbed her face against Cameron’s hand. The gray-haired man scratched under the her chin. He was about to fire a claim buoy into the junk…

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