Review: Enjoyable and nicely unpredictable short story
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 16, 2013
'Safeguard' sets up an interesting premise--that in the far future, companies looking to mine uninhibited moons will need safeguards: people to basically live there in order to hold the planet for the company for the six years it takes before mining can begin. The way these companies ensure that their safeguards stay put made for an interesting twist that I can't say I expected until very near the end, despite some clever hints.What kept me from giving this story four or more stars was that the villain character was a bit overly predictable--he even smokes, which these days is like hanging a sign saying 'I'm evil' around a character's neck, and his reason for crossing millions of miles of space felt overly contrived. The villain also came across as far too mercenary for his apparent background motivation.I did really enjoy how the title ended up having multiple layers of meaning in the story, and how the hero escapes, even if its not in the way I'd expected. The denouement is a tad treacly, but did make for a compelling image nonetheless.