The Head Hunters

John Tinker spends his days in the lonely vacuum of the asteroid belt, troubleshooting the isotope plants that humanity relies on. Between the constant threat of a radiation leak and the company of his abrasive partner, his life is one of grim routine — until Siria Cottrell arrives. She’s a technician from Earth, efficient and no-nonsense, but her voice over the radio sparkles with a warmth that Tinker hasn’t felt in months.

As they work side by side, surrounded by headless robots that carry their sensor heads under their arms like valises, Tinker finds himself captivated. Despite never seeing her face through the opaque helmet, he blurts out a marriage proposal, driven by isolation and a desperate hope for connection. Siria, half-amused and half-exasperated, deflects his advances, reminding him of the dangers of the work — and the fact that he doesn’t even know what she looks like. But in the endless night of the asteroids, even the faintest spark of humanity can be enough to keep a man from losing his mind entirely.