Industrial City Critters The mining business on Alpha Ten has blossomed in the last seven years, prefabricated city blocks have enabled dwellings to spring up everywhere, but the Picker still has to combat various native critters who seem to delight in plaguing the mining operation in one way or another. While Devil Worms look lethal as they dive into the compacted sandy surface around the rig, actually the Seeker Snails are a more immediate concern as they seek out warm surfaces and they have somewhat corrosive slime (thus their name) so the Picker is programmed to deal with them first, especially this one which has somehow managed to crawl up to one of the reserve tanks. If the slime eats through the tank the resultant explosion in this somewhat charged atmosphere could cost the company thousands in repairs and downtime. Although the charge