SOD's Law

Mack Lancaster earns a meagre living in orbit, recovering space junk to sell as souvenirs at the gift shop of the Galaxy Eye, a research station and hotel tethered to Earth by a space elevator. He hopes his latest find—the wreckage of a spacecraft that appeared out of nowhere—will make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But the Laws of the Universe have a surprise for our space cowboy. His adventures have only just begun.

A short story from the humorous sci-fi anthology, The Light Fantastic.