Metal Boxes

by Richard Cattoni.

First published in either 1997 or 1998, Metal Boxes is an SF short story which concentrates on the mundane existence of a group of people working on a mining colony which doubles as a research station. The inherent tensions - a lack of resources coupled with mysterious deaths on the station - come to a head when a new employee arrives.

A version of the story, reversing the original ending, was published in Mondo #1 from the original notes the author had made when creating the story.

The story is considered to take place in the same universe as Frederick Marsh's Martian Prisoner stories, as well as the Starship stories, though there is no direct evidence within the story to cement such a notion.