Space Stations and Elderly Japanese Salvagers

I reread a short story today that I absolutely love. The story is called "Auriga's Streetcar" by Jean Rabe. The story appears in the anthology "Space Stations" (DAW Books 2004). I have read this story around a dozen times, and I love it more each time I read it.

The story is about a independent space salvager from Japan named Hoshi. She is 84 years old and wants to make one last salvage trip before finally hanging up the space suit. She goes to an abandoned orbiting observatory that is officially called Yerkes-Two. The station was given the nickname "Auriga's Streetcar" because one could view the constellation Auriga from it and the shape of the station resembled a streetcar. The station had been abandoned nine months earlier and its orbit was decaying rapidly, so Hoshi wanted to obtain two large lens from the station that dated back to the 1890s. These lens were from from the original Yerkes Observatory in Wisconsin and were placed on the orbiting facility out of tradition.

During what was supposed to be a routine salvage, Hoshi runs into problems when she discoveries that her little orbital skimmer was floating away from the station after docking clamp had been disengaged. She soon discovers that a younger salvager had taken the precious lens from her ship and disengaged her ship's docking clamp. She helps the younger man in order to get a ride back to Earth where she plans to report him to the authorities for stealing her salvage. Everything is going according to the younger upstart's plan until an alien device is discovered on the station. The pair learn that someone (or something) has been using the old station to spy on Earth. Things get really bad when they discovered that the younger man's ship was disconnected from the station. Hoshi manages to work the alien device from its mounting and forced him, the mysterious device, and the two lens into the station's still functional escape pod. Afterward, we learn that Hoshi and that station are being towed away by the aliens' space ships to their home in the Auriga constellation.

I love this story because it talks about a Japanese astronaut who does not give up doing what she loves despite her age. If you get a chance, pick up the anthology at your local bookstore or library and read this story, do so. You will not regret it.