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drowned out by the rising sound of voices in the chamber. Trent stopped, and banged his gavel once, then a second time, glaring round the room. The talking faded.
    ‘I repeat, the board will therefore be recommending – that an expedition is commissioned to visit Erebus Mine in Chao Meng-fu crater, with a brief to gather evidence to enable the board to reach a revised final conclusion.’
    Once again, a hubbub of voices ran round the room. Trent banged his gavel twice more, but the noise would not abate. He banged the gavel again, and continued banging until the talking subsided.
    ‘This investigation board will re-convene once the expedition returns and will review the new evidence, and provide a revised report once our investigations are complete.
    ‘In summary, this board makes the following recommendations. One – that the investigation into the accident at Erebus Mine is held open pending the results of an investigative mission. Two – that an investigative mission is despatched to Mercury, with permission from the Space Graves Commission to enter the mine and investigate further the circumstances of the airlock door failure. Three – that this mission is completed and a formal report submitted to this board within one year from now.
    ‘The scope of this mission is to be limited strictly to a set of key objectives, set out in detail in our written report, which will be available from our staff at the conclusion of this presentation. A condition of undertaking this mission is that, when all feasible investigation is complete and appropriate evidence recovered, the mine entrance is to be sealed with explosives and a memorial plaque set in place. The Space Graves Commission have made it clear that following this mission, there will be no further missions allowed without the agreement of all the surviving relatives.’
    Trent looked up briefly, scanning the room to emphasise the last point, then returned to his notes.
    ‘We will be recommending that the investigative team be composed of appropriate representatives from the principal interested parties in the accident. This will include the Space Graves Commission, the Space Accident Investigation Board, Planetary Mining Inc., the Space Mines Inspectorate, and the Erebus Mine Accident Class Action Group. Subject to Court approval, the costs of the expedition will be shared by the FSAA and PMI. The US Astronautics Corps have confirmed that they will release a deep space tug from operational duties for this mission.’
    The chairman paused, and people in the room started talking again. Some got up from their seats, expecting that this was the end of the statement, but Trent had not finished.
    ‘The interested parties—’ he began, and stopped again. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, will you please be seated. Sir, will you please be seated. Thank you.
    ‘The interested parties must submit their nominations for their representative on the mission to this board within thirty days. We have received a nomination already from the class action group that Mr Matt Crawford would be their candidate if any mission were to be mounted, and we are prepared to accept this nomination. The board will provide a full crew list once all nominations have been received and accepted.’
    Trent looked up again.
    It seemed to Matt that, for a moment, the chairman was looking directly at him. The look could have meant anything, just simple recognition, but there was something in Trent’s eyes that was more like a caution – or a warning. You need to watch yourself, the eyes seemed to say, then they flicked away, and the moment was gone.
    ‘This board meeting is adjourned.’

CHAPTER FIVE
    After years of fighting what had seemed like a losing battle, the sudden and unexpected victory came as quite a shock to Matt. He found himself on the mezzanine floor outside the committee room, shaking hands with people, listening to the congratulations of the various lawyers and representatives of the