It was big news for reporters throughout the solar system. After a cargo-liner en route from Earth to Mars blew up as it was coming in for a landing, killing all eight persons aboard, the workers went on strike. Spacemen had walked out in a demand for higher pay and better retirement benefits. The spacemen's union included not only pilots but crewmen, mechanics, and maintenance workers at the spaceports.

But was it a tragic accident—or sabotage?