Deidre shifted her posture slightly as she answered James's question.
"Well, the easiest way is for me to show you. We can proceed down to the workshop where you can see first hand what our operation entails."
Glancing about the near-empty hangar, she added -
"You'll notice we don't have many patrol craft. This is due to the nature of this area itself, but not in the way you are probably thinking. Such a hazard acts as a natural deterrent and we have few visitors, and those seeking trouble will keep their distance. Those who do come here to buy scrap must schedule their shipments ahead of time, we insist on this." She paused for breath, then continued.
"As our scanners and transponders are scrambled by the radiation, our station's weapon systems has the possibility of misinterpreting targets. To avoid complications, particularly in scheduled visits such as this, we have powered down the array completely. It leaves us vulnerable perhaps for a short time but avoids diplomatic entanglements."
Deidre held up her datapad, showing the layout of Oyster Creek, and continued.
"As you are aware, the station is a core 3 installation of modular construction. If you see here -" she indicates the deck below with a slender finger " - this is where our incoming scrap sorting takes place. We then sort this into usable components and jettison the rest, an enterprise that has become increasingly lucrative. We aren't as proficient as the Junkers at such mining, but still turn a steady profit. You'll see we have declared our H-fuel on the Dangerous Goods register, as we have some stores of H-fuel as well, for emergencies such as shield generator activation and refuelling transports. We refuse to deal in anything else."
Another shudder interrupted her, less violent than the first, rippling through the station. There was a slight whine as the hydraulics resumed full pressure.
