On day two hundred and forty two we finally struck gold. Literally. My hands trembled as I stared from the tiny display of the atomic microscope to my overloaded work table. Dozens of carefully labelled sample boxes. Our “harvest” from systematically combing through the old mine system.
They had been shut down about two centuries ago. But with rising metal prices, Ore United, my employer and longtime grant giver was reevaluating old mineral deposits.
When I checked the sample number against the list, my grin stretched even wider. The bonus for this discovery would pay for our long-anticipated beach house on Ocean Paradise. The water planet was a top destination for vacationing. Its bland name has one big advantage: it translates easily into the many languages spoken amongst the sentient races.
Humming cheerfully, I set about to scan the rest of the sample set from that location. Hours later I still sat in front of the analyser, rerunning a sample. My eyes were burning as I stared at the monitor but I valiantly repressed the urge to rub them. Grinding contacts into your eyes hurts. This forsaken planet was so dry that I had already run out of synthetic eye drops. Hopefully my order had arrived at the space hub so Ronna could pick it up on the supply trip.
The screeching wheels of an old ore trolley broke my concentration. I turned around to find Sam shoving the heavy thing towards me. His shoulders were straining against his heavy duty protective gear.
“Doc, that’s today’s harvest. I’m not supposed to leave for dinner without you.”
I’m the brain of this dig, he’s part of the technical muscle and Ronna makes sure we eat properly.
“We’re rich.”’ I threw him a perfectly innocent looking rock. Sam scrutinised the rock then shot me a dubious look.
“I’m not fucking your brain. It’s genuine. The stratum is immense.”
“And to think I was cursing myself all day for signing onto this desert graveyard.”
He slapped me on the back, nearly knocking me over. Guess all the training I did for this high gravity world job paid off. Or the hauling I’ve done because our security sissies could not put down their guns long enough to get useful. Can’t let down their guard, my ass. Crossing a street on campus is more dangerous than this mine.
I listened to Sam’s plans for his bonus - excessive drinking, gambling and whoring - while I shut down the equipment and updated the backlog files.
“You know Doc where they have the best casinos?” Walking beside me through smooth corridors, he rambled on without waiting for an answer. Tuning him out, I ran my hand over the tunnel walls. They sure knew how to dig back then. This mine was like stepping into a page of my mining history almanac. Which now boasted a lot of additional scans and visuals. Too bad I could not publish them. Now that we’d found what we were looking for, the whole operation and place was classified. Well, I would keep them as private beach entertainment for Ocean Paradise.
Sam entered our cave camp in front of me and strode over to Ronna. He grabbed her and planted a big sloppy kiss on her mouth. Then he quickly ducked away from her slap.
“What’s gotten into your tiny harebrain now?”
“We found gold.” He shouted, grabbed her hands and spun her around in a happy dance. She shrieked and embraced him.
Smiling I shook my head. Miners and gold.
Lured by the noise, the others trickled in and I was nearly hugged by three sweaty, dirty men. The two off duty mercs were a bit more subdued. Maybe their contracts did not include the bonus for a successful dig. Down here, they could not even heroically save us from sand storms or whatever classified as bonus worthy for them.
The mercs switched patrol duty. Zac stripped off his heavy gun before he walked over to me. He was their boss. And he was Razzan, not human. His big brown eyes with their vertical pupils always made me nervous.
“Dr. Jemaina, I hear you found the ore?” The merc’s toothy smile left absolutely no illusions about the carnivorous diet of his race.
I bared my plain human teeth in a smile that never reached my eyes. “Yes, Captain. The company will be happy, and our bonuses big. It is time for a party.”
This work by Kat is licensed under a Creative Commons Namensnennung-NichtKommerziell-KeineBearbeitung 3.0 Unported License
They had been shut down about two centuries ago. But with rising metal prices, Ore United, my employer and longtime grant giver was reevaluating old mineral deposits.
When I checked the sample number against the list, my grin stretched even wider. The bonus for this discovery would pay for our long-anticipated beach house on Ocean Paradise. The water planet was a top destination for vacationing. Its bland name has one big advantage: it translates easily into the many languages spoken amongst the sentient races.
Humming cheerfully, I set about to scan the rest of the sample set from that location. Hours later I still sat in front of the analyser, rerunning a sample. My eyes were burning as I stared at the monitor but I valiantly repressed the urge to rub them. Grinding contacts into your eyes hurts. This forsaken planet was so dry that I had already run out of synthetic eye drops. Hopefully my order had arrived at the space hub so Ronna could pick it up on the supply trip.
The screeching wheels of an old ore trolley broke my concentration. I turned around to find Sam shoving the heavy thing towards me. His shoulders were straining against his heavy duty protective gear.
“Doc, that’s today’s harvest. I’m not supposed to leave for dinner without you.”
I’m the brain of this dig, he’s part of the technical muscle and Ronna makes sure we eat properly.
“We’re rich.”’ I threw him a perfectly innocent looking rock. Sam scrutinised the rock then shot me a dubious look.
“I’m not fucking your brain. It’s genuine. The stratum is immense.”
“And to think I was cursing myself all day for signing onto this desert graveyard.”
He slapped me on the back, nearly knocking me over. Guess all the training I did for this high gravity world job paid off. Or the hauling I’ve done because our security sissies could not put down their guns long enough to get useful. Can’t let down their guard, my ass. Crossing a street on campus is more dangerous than this mine.
I listened to Sam’s plans for his bonus - excessive drinking, gambling and whoring - while I shut down the equipment and updated the backlog files.
“You know Doc where they have the best casinos?” Walking beside me through smooth corridors, he rambled on without waiting for an answer. Tuning him out, I ran my hand over the tunnel walls. They sure knew how to dig back then. This mine was like stepping into a page of my mining history almanac. Which now boasted a lot of additional scans and visuals. Too bad I could not publish them. Now that we’d found what we were looking for, the whole operation and place was classified. Well, I would keep them as private beach entertainment for Ocean Paradise.
Sam entered our cave camp in front of me and strode over to Ronna. He grabbed her and planted a big sloppy kiss on her mouth. Then he quickly ducked away from her slap.
“What’s gotten into your tiny harebrain now?”
“We found gold.” He shouted, grabbed her hands and spun her around in a happy dance. She shrieked and embraced him.
Smiling I shook my head. Miners and gold.
Lured by the noise, the others trickled in and I was nearly hugged by three sweaty, dirty men. The two off duty mercs were a bit more subdued. Maybe their contracts did not include the bonus for a successful dig. Down here, they could not even heroically save us from sand storms or whatever classified as bonus worthy for them.
The mercs switched patrol duty. Zac stripped off his heavy gun before he walked over to me. He was their boss. And he was Razzan, not human. His big brown eyes with their vertical pupils always made me nervous.
“Dr. Jemaina, I hear you found the ore?” The merc’s toothy smile left absolutely no illusions about the carnivorous diet of his race.
I bared my plain human teeth in a smile that never reached my eyes. “Yes, Captain. The company will be happy, and our bonuses big. It is time for a party.”
This work by Kat is licensed under a Creative Commons Namensnennung-NichtKommerziell-KeineBearbeitung 3.0 Unported License
ohhh, I like, like, like!!!! This sounds intriguing, I'd love to read more!!!
ReplyDeleteganz kleine Anmerkung vielleicht:
The water planet was a top destination for vacationing. Its bland name has one big advantage: it translates easily into the many languages spoken amongst the sentient races.
Ich würde '... bland name had one big advantage: it translated easily ....' schreiben. Denn du hast ja auch vorher schon past tense für '....water planet was a top destination ...'
Ansonsten, super, freue mich schon sehr auf mehr!!!!
Danke für die Anmerkung, ist schon ausgebessert und Fortsetzung gibts auch ;)
ReplyDeleteFreut mich, dasses Dir gefällt!