Gabriel asked me not to call him a colonist. He resents being cast in that role, which I can respect.
Genesis simulation aside, the last thing he remembers before waking up on a spaceship was being waylaid and killed by a mob of settlers for his mining claim.
Impressive, to hold a grudge for almost a millennium, across thousands of parsecs.
No wonder I spotted him wandering a riverbank in the foothills-the setting must've reminded him of his native Gold Rush territory.
I wonder if he'd already tried panning the river for gold flakes.
He really lit up when I described how we could fit stryders with a pulverizing beam rig for excavation.
If I'm being honest, he seemed almost too interested in that configuration of the quadruped's head.
I guess a strip-mining rig might make a useful weapon against the kind of intrusive contamination that I'd seen in the other ring, like laser surgery to cut out skin tumors.
Maybe worth a try.