"We're hauling some dihydrogen oxide — that's plain old water, for you ingrates — from the
caps down to Terminus Major by road train. The hauler's worth north of a million creds.
Relax, the Corp's got it insured… fifty creds each for cover. Sign here. Here. And here."
— your Corp recruiter, The Core, Terminus Major
The contract. Ride the nuclear land-train Iron Maiden down the Ice Road — the desert
haul from Rimewell at the polar caps to Terminus Major — guarding a convoy of water
tankers across a string of relay stations. Drive it, refuel it, deliver it. Standard haulage.
The terms. You're flown out by Hopper Drone. Syndat meets you on-site, hands over the rig
and a "training video," then closes the plant and flies your Hopper home once you roll out. The
plant's being shut down — that's above the recruiter's pay grade, and yours. Milestone pay lands
on your PDA at each relay; about 900 credits for a clean run.
The fine print. A two-kilometre rig, a road that wants you off it, a passenger to drop at the
first relay, and a wasteland that is alive and thirsty. You probably should have read that
liability waiver.
Don't ask what's in the tankers. It's water. Obviously.