text: Jack thought moving to the asteroid would let him escape his past, what he didn't know was that he would end up feeling more like a prisoner with a life sentence than a free man. Back on earth, he was a wanted man. Space was appealing for those like him, hop aboard a rocket to the moon or the asteroid belt or to one of the small settlements further out and you'd be metaphorically reborn. The allure of a fresh start should've seemed too good to be true, because it was. Jack had committed some serious crimes, and you can do background checks in space. Right after Jack arrived at the belt, the UN announced that it would start an international law enforcement agency in space and that the lawlessness of the new frontier was coming to an end. This new agency would have the authority to extradite wanted criminals back to earth, if they were able to locate them. &#x200B; Jack was a skilled metal fabricator, so he started building and modifying spaceships for a living once he reached his new rocky wasn't very hard for him, the kind of ship you need to move around the asteroid belt is nowhere near the ship you need to take of on a planet or large moon. Mining ships are the easiest to build, the crews only work in them they don't live in them so the crew quarters don't have to be extravagant. There is near enough zero gravity out in the belt, so the cargo areas don't have to be the sturdiest as you're just holding things together as opposed to holding things up, as you have to do on earth. Not only was Jack good at what he did, there was too much demand for his work. You can't move in space without a ship, and talented ship builders were few and far between. Jack became a wealthy man, his home in the belt was nicer than any he had lived in back on earth. &#x200B; Those who needed ships would usually show up at a shipyard and speak with a builder face to face, this a tried and true business model in which everyone gets what they want or need. One day, as jack arrived at the shipyard to finish a ship he was building retrofitting for a cargo transporter, someone approached him and asked "Are you Jack Alexander Whitney?". Jack had never used his full name in space, and he told people that 'Alexander' was his last name if he was asked. He was convinced this was a space cop who wanted to drag him back to earth, so he said no. The man replied "Well I know that you are. I know your dirty little secrets, so if you want to keep the space police off your tail you'll do any favor I ask of you from now on". He had never seen this man before, but he felt that he would see him again. &#x200B; Not much later, Jack received a message from one of his brothers back on earth. The victims of his crimes wanted closure, not maximum punishment. Jack knew what this really meant, the prosecutors were ready to make a deal in exchange for information. He wasn't very eager to go back to earth however, as it would take him months to get back even if he left immediately. However being able to live a normal, terrestrial life again did weigh on his mind. Jack had a choice to make, does he go back and deal with his past, or keep running from it? The threat of blackmail was at first only a minor consideration, until the man who threatened to turn Jack in came back to the shipyard. He told Jack that he wanted his pure transport ship retrofitted into a self contained mkning ship, Jack understood that doing this for free was the 'favor' the man had mentioned before. He decided to just do it for free, avoid the trouble,thinking that this would be the end of it. &#x200B; Jack was afraid of returning to earth, what if his brother was just trying to turn him in for his own gain? What if his brother was being lied to? What if people just changed their mind during Jack's lengthy travel time? He decided returning wasn't worth the risk. That was until the blackmailing man returned. Jack thought he wanted something done to his ship. What he learned was that this man wasn't interested in mining, he had a pipe dream of becoming a space pirate. He wanted to use his ship to steal from actual mining parties, and demanded that Jack join him as part of his crew. Jack realized that this was bound to draw the attention of authorities anyway, so he decided to tell the man that he would join his crew once he was done re-retrofitting the ship for a life of crime. Jack's plan wasn't to become a space pirate, his plan was to stall this long enough to find a ride back to earth to take his chances with those who he had wronged years ago. Not only was Jack desperate to get away from this pirate idiot, he was now much more mature than when he first left earth. He was having nightmares about what he did. They got so bad he could barely sleep. He decided to tell his brother he would give up everything he knew in exchange for his freedom and to forward that message to the prosecutor and defense attorney on his case. He knew that it was a longshot that a deal would be worked out in his absence, and if he was back on earth without an agreement in place his ultimate fate would be out of his hands. However, he could no longer live with the guilt of not answering to what he had done.