by Ben Wolf
He clenched his fists.
6
“Gentlemen?” a voice called from farther into the room. “And ladies? Please come to the front. By now I’ve said most of what I have to say, but I’m content to hand you off to your foreman nonetheless.”
Justin shot a glare at the pig-faced goon and headed back toward Keontae.
“You good?” Keontae asked.
Justin nodded. “That was one of Dirk’s friends.”
“Forget him.”
“Trying to.” Justin nodded toward the guy up front. “He’s not the foreman?”
Keontae shook his head. “He’s the foreman’s boss. He’ll be overseeing the other sectors and ours once they get going. He said he’s helping to train our foreman until more sectors reopen. He’s gonna introduce the guy now.”
Like the rest of the workers, the speaker wore safety attire, only his was bright green instead of the blaze orange color that everyone else wore. He beckoned someone forward, and another person in comparable neon green safety gear stepped next to him from among the crowd.
The newcomer turned around, but from so far away and with the safety helmets on, Justin couldn’t see the guy’s face.
“I expect you’ll give your foreman the utmost respect,” he continued. “More respect than you’ve shown me, those of you who showed up late. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m pleased to introduce your Sector 13 foreman, Miss Shannon Davis.”
Justin gawked at her. He couldn’t believe it. Shannon, the blonde from the airport, whose room was right across from his, whom Dirk had basically assaulted on the hovercraft, was the foreman? His boss?
Everyone’s boss?
The crowd of workers murmured. Perhaps they couldn’t believe it either.
“Day-um.” Keontae nudged Justin’s shoulder. “Your girlfriend’s got connections, bro. Look at you, all proud. All this time you were gunnin’ for the top. You hit that, and you’ll be runnin’ this sector in no time.”
Justin shoved him back. “You know I’m not hitting that—her—whatever. And I’d never hit that for personal benefit.”
Keontae laughed. “Why else would you be doing it?”
“You know what I mean. I’m not interested because she’s the foreman. I had no idea she—”
“I know, I know. Obviously.” Keontae kept laughing. “I’m messin’ with you.”
“Sometimes I hate you.”
Keontae just laughed all the more.
Another question puzzled Justin. If Shannon was down here, then who was the woman in the office looming above the mine?
The speaker turned to Shannon. “Shannon—Foreman Davis, do you have anything you’d like to say to your team?”
Shannon stepped forward and raised her hand, and the workers hushed. “I’m very pleased to see so many of you were here early. For those of you who weren’t, I expect you to arrive a minimum of fifteen minutes early to your shifts from now on.
“Don’t misuse that five-minute grace period. It may not count against you for tardiness, but if I find out someone is relying on it or abusing ACM’s leniency, they’ll be talking with me. I can guarantee that won’t be a fun conversation. There are a variety of ways I can motivate you to be early if I need to, but I’d rather we all just do what we’re asked with punctuality.
“By now you all should’ve completed at least half of your training modules. Today is primarily another orientation day, and tomorrow we’ll break ground at 0600 sharp. I expect everyone working in this sector to be here and ready by 0545 so we can launch operations on time.” Shannon folded her arms. “No exceptions.”
Keontae nudged Justin again. “She ain’t foolin’ around.”
“After this first week, once we’ve found our rhythm and once our productivity justifies the expansion, I’ll begin to authorize overtime for our sector. If and when that happens, I’ll grant it on a first-come, first-served basis.
“You can file requests through your dorm screens via your personal access codes. The same goes for time off. Request it through ACM’s system, or you won’t get it, plain and simple.
“I expect that within our first thirty days we’ll have plenty of overtime available, and within our first sixty I anticipate we’ll have mandatory overtime plus the need to hire more help as this operation expands,” Shannon said.
“I’d like to echo what Foreman Davis is saying, here,” the other foreman said. “ACM-1134 is rapidly expanding, and I foresee us reopening several sectors over the next six months. Admin wants eight new sectors open by the end of this year.
“That means more work, more money, more supervisory roles open, and more foreman jobs on their way. We’d like some of you, our first batch of miners since we’ve reopened, to fill those new roles.”
Keontae nudged Justin for a third time. At first, Justin wanted to slug him, but Keontae said, “You wanna be foreman, right? That could be you in a year or two.”
Justin nodded. He’d need to impress the right people along the way, but… “Yeah, maybe.”
“The most important thing I want everyone to remember is that ACM prides itself on safety above productivity. If you can’t do it safely, don’t do it at all. The copalion isn’t going anywhere,” Shannon said. “If you can’t get it the right way today, get it the right way tomorrow. We’re not going to risk any more cave-ins like what happened in Sector 6 a few years ba—”
“The point is,” the other foreman broke in, “that we have high expectations for you, but not at the risk of your wellbeing or that of your coworkers. Do it right, and reap the rewards of a job well done with all your digits intact.”
“Yes. Be safe.” Shannon glanced at the other foreman, and he stared back at her.
Connie turned around and eyed Justin, and her red eyebrows bounced. She mouthed the word “ghost” and pointed at Shannon and the other foreman. Then she mouthed, “Told ya.”
Justin grinned and shook his head.
“Alright, everyone,” Shannon finally said. “Get to your stations. You all know where you’re supposed to be. We’ve already appointed supervisors over each operation within this sector, so report to them and get acclimated to the terrain and to your teams. We’ll meet up here before lunch.”
“You’d think that by now men would finally accept women in authority, but that ain’t happenin’.” Connie chomped down on a piece of bread. “Can’t tell you how many comments I overheard ‘bout the new foreman. Nothin’ good, neither.”
They’d transitioned out of their protective gear and headed into the cafeteria for lunch. Keontae sat next to Justin again, and Candy and Connie sat across the table.
Due to the extensive decontamination process, lunch periods lasted an hour and thirty minutes. They had to punch out and back in within that timeframe.
“Well, I know that JB here likes her just fine.” Keontae smirked at him.
Justin rolled his eyes. “Enough of that, already.”
“Got the hots for her, eh?” The bread in Connie’s mouth muffled her words.
“You could say that,” Keontae replied before Justin could respond.
“I do not have the hots for her,” Justin said.
“C’mon, bro. Quit playin’.”
Justin’s eyes narrowed. “I admit that I find her very attractive, but that’s it.”
“She’s a hard-ass.” Connie grinned at him. “You can tell by the way she talks. She don’t take pushback from no one.”
Justin nodded. “Seems like you’re right.”
“So be prepared to let her run the relationship.” Connie winked at him.
“We’re not in a relationship.”
“I’m just playin’ with ya, cutie.”
Justin shot her a glare, and Connie let loose a chainsaw laugh.
“Did you see that Candy and I are operating mechs in the same squadron?” Keontae asked. He gave Justin a nod, and Justin knew he’d switched topics for Justin’s benefit. Despite Keontae’s persistent teasing, he had a good heart.
Candy looked up from her meat-heavy meal for the first time since they’d sat down.
“That so, Candy?” Connie asked.
Candy nodded and returned her focus to the dead animals on her plate.
“How nice. Always better to have someone you can rely on. Someone you know.” Connie grinned at Justin again. “That’s why I’m so glad to have cutie-pie with me in my squad. What’d you think of our supervisor? Kind of a ponce, isn’t he?”
A group of men broke into loud laughter behind Justin, then it subsided.
Justin turned back with a shrug. “I didn’t mind him, I guess. Seems like he knows what he’s doing.”
Connie scoffed. “Yeah. Knows what to do, but he wouldn’t dare do it himself. That’s what he’s got us for, right?”
“That’s bogus, if you ask me,” Keontae said. “Supervisors are supposed to—”
Laughter, more raucous than before, erupted behind Justin.
Keontae frowned. “Anyway, supervisors are supposed to lead the way, right? Not hang back, let everyone else do all the work, and then try to take credit when it’s done.”
“Exactly.” Connie nodded. “Had more’n one of those in my day.”
The men roared with more laughter, and this time even Candy looked up from her food. Justin and Keontae turned around.
Dirk sat on the opposite side of the table behind Justin and Keontae, facing them. He smacked the pig-nosed ginger on his back. The guys around them laughed, including Pig-Nose.
When the laughing subsided again, Dirk said, “So I figured out the best way to change a dyke’s mind: I just gotta whip out Hammer Junior, and she’ll bow to my every whim.”
The men at Dirk’s table hooted and hollered their approval.
Justin glanced at Connie and Candy. Candy scowled at her plate, not looking up, and Connie looked halfway between rage and sadness.
“Maybe if they’d ever been with a real man, they wouldn’t have to eat carpet,” Dirk crooned.
As the men laughed again, Justin’s legs stood him up—before his mind processed his lack of a plan.
Dirk’s eyes fixed on him, as did those of Pig-Nose and the others on his side of the table. The laughter quelled, and the men on the side of the table closest to Justin turned to look at him.
Keontae stood slowly, still holding his fork. “Easy, JB. Let it go.”
All the mirth left Dirk’s face. “You got a problem, fishbreath?”
“Yeah. I do.”
Dirk glanced at the men on the side of the table closest to Justin and Keontae, and they stood up, forming a bulky barrier between Justin and Dirk. “Let’s hear it.”
Keontae held his hands out in front of him, palms facing Dirk’s goons, and he stepped between them and the three men who’d stood up. He shifted his feet into a balanced stance. In calm, even tones, he said, “Easy, guys. We don’t need trouble.”
“I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t talk about my friends that way.” Justin’s glare fixed on Dirk’s cold brown eyes. “It’s crude and inappropriate.”
Dirk’s lips curled into a menacing grin. “And what are you gonna do about it?”
Justin hesitated. He regretted it immediately.
Dirk’s grin widened into a full smile. “I knew you were a pussy.”
Justin took a half-step forward, and the row of men advanced toward him.
Keontae sprung between them. “Nope. No way. This ain’t goin’ down like this.”
One of them grabbed Keontae’s shoulder.
Keontae grabbed the man’s arm and wrenched it down and behind his back. The man yelped. Then Keontae pressed the pronged end of his fork under the man’s chin, and he gasped.
Everyone froze. Justin glanced back. Connie covered her mouth with her hand, and Candy sat there, smirking at Keontae.
“I usually don’t like to repeat myself,” Keontae said, “but y’all don’t look like the most perceptive bunch, so I’ll say it again: this is not goin’ down like this.”
By now at least a third of the cafeteria was focused on them, including two of the black-clad security guys patrolling the room. They pointed at Keontae and started to make their way over.
Dirk glanced at the approaching security guys and stood to his full height, his arms at his sides. “Sit down, boys.” He pointed at Justin. “Next time you hear something you don’t like, you and your dyke friends can find a different table.”
Keontae spotted the security guys as well. He released the man with a little shove and stepped back with his hands down. The fork disappeared up into his shirtsleeve, along the back of his forearm.
Dirk’s friend patted his neck with his hand and rotated his shoulder.
One of the security guards, a guy in his early fifties with slicked-back silver hair and a salt-and-pepper mustache, motioned his younger partner to stand back. The name embroidered on the front pocket of his shirt read “Stecker.”
He glanced between Keontae and Justin and the guys at Dirk’s table. “Afternoon, everyone. How’s it going?”
Keontae bowed his head a bit. “Fine, Officer. How are you?”
Stecker chuckled. “I’m good, but you don’t have to call me ‘Officer.’ Some sort of problem here?”
“No, sir. Just having a conversation with these fine men.” Keontae raised his arm to motion toward them, and the man he’d submitted recoiled a step.
“Everything’s peachy,” Dirk said.
Stecker’s thick eyebrows rose. “Well, you’re a big fella, aren’t you?”
“I get that a lot.” Dirk grinned. “Really, though. Nothing to be concerned about.”
“I wish I was actually dumb enough to believe you, but I’m not.” Stecker looked at Keontae. “All I need to know is whether or not we’re going to have more problems. If you tell me no, then I don’t have to write a report. If I don’t have to write a report, then I don’t have to collect names. More importantly, I won’t have to waste my time writing reports. Crystal?”
Keontae nodded. “Clear. We’re all good. Best of friends.”
Stecker turned to the other guys. “Crystal?”
They nodded as well.
Stecker looked at Justin, who sat on the bench and said, “I’m good.”
“And you, big man.” Stecker eyed Dirk. “You good, too?”
Dirk sat down and folded his arms. “Never better.”
“Then we’re golden.” Stecker smiled. “You all have a nice day.”
Justin turned around, and Keontae sat next to him, still facing the guys from the other table. Justin nudged him. “Thanks, man.”
“Ain’t nothin’. You know I got your back.”
“I know. I appreciate it.” As Justin faced forward again, Connie and Candy both stared at him, both smiling.
“Thank you,” Connie said. “That meant a lot to both of us.”
Justin nodded. “Just doing what anyone else would do.”
Connie shook her head and reached out and touched Justin’s hand. “No. Not just anyone would’ve done that. So thank you. Seriously. You’re a good kid.”
Justin grinned, and his grin widened when Candy gave him a slight nod as well. “You’re welcome. No one deserves to be treated like garbage because they’re different.”
“I agree completely,” Connie said.
Keontae continued standing there, between the two tables, his eyes alert and scanning.
Justin looked up at him. “You gonna finish your food?”
Keontae shook his head. “No appetite.”
“Gonna join the rest of the table at least?”
Keontae shook his head again. “No. A fight ain’t over just ‘cause someone says it is. Learned that a long time ago.”
Justin looked over his shoulder, and Dirk’s eyes narrowed at him.
Maybe Keontae was right.
Justin hadn’t even touched any of the equipment he’d be using to excavate, and then the workday ended. Even so, his body still ached as if he’d worked a normal shift. Maybe adjust
ing to the gravitational pull of the planet, especially compared to the prolonged space travel he’d just finished, had something to do with it.
Throughout the course of the day, he’d made only eye contact with Shannon once, and she quickly looked away. By comparison, he’d found Dirk’s angry stare more than a half-dozen times.
When Justin completed his decontamination cycle, he headed back to the dormitories for a real shower. He stripped down in his room, wrapped his old green towel around his waist, and headed into the shared bathroom.
When he arrived, the sounds of streaming water, laughing, and chatting filled his ears. Altogether, at least forty people had crammed into that shower, and it still wasn’t full yet.
He found Keontae already inside the shower, his black hair a lather of white shampoo suds. Justin hung up his towel and, pushing his inhibitions aside, joined Keontae at his shower bank.
“Hi,” he said.
Keontae nodded. “Yo.”
Justin tapped the screen on the shower bank, and water streamed from the opposite side from the one Keontae was using. Two nozzles between them remained unused, and Justin intended to finish before someone else took them. He bumped the temperature up a few more degrees, and the hot water added to the steam swirling around him and Keontae.
Justin didn’t usually feel self-conscious about his body, but the scenario itself set him on edge. He’d never been in a group shower setting before, not even in high school. As he let the water stream over his hair, he reassured himself that this was a normal thing and that he’d have to get used to it either way.
He tapped the screen again, and a dispenser spat a glob of orange liquid—supposedly shampoo—onto his hands.
“Evenin’, boys,” a voice rasped behind Justin.
He whirled around and saw Connie and Candy approaching them, both stark naked.
Justin quickly averted his eyes, now wide. This just got much weirder.
Connie and Candy took the nozzles between Justin and Keontae and fired up their own showers.
“Not too bad for a first day, right?” Connie retrieved her own shampoo, and Candy followed suit. “This is gonna be my favorite part of the day from now on. I just know it.”