“Yeah. Had terrible burns all over.”
“When did this happen?”
“Remember when he got assigned to work the lowest level last week? Well, he and his crew were working there. In fact, the whole crew is sick. It ain't right what they do to us. And those environmental suits they give us are a joke.”
“We did sign up for this.”
“Still, people's lives mean something! We ain't cattle. They should at least build us a medical center that can provide decent care instead of that joke on Atticus!”
“I'm getting out of here after this month. I've had enough!”
“Shhhh! Never know who's listening,” said of them, glancing at me. “It isn't smart to talk about it either.” After that, their voices fell back into the din of noise and I sat, my mind against the white noise of the background, drinking and thinking. My suspicions of the link between cancer and the mine workers were already confirmed. It didn't surprise me, but how did the lights play a part in this? There must be increased activity of a mysterious kind up north causing the increased effect of the lights.
After buying, for a rather high price, some radiation pills from the kiosk and taking them with the last drink of cider, I got out my data pad to look up some information. Online data transmission was weak but it worked for a little while, at least in the cantina. Outside in the lunar desert it was sketchy at best, if it worked at all. I was glad for the respite here. I pulled up some information and I found what I suspected to be true – too much exposure to radon was very dangerous. And miners wore special clothing and used special equipment and were required to take a cocktail of pills to help ward off the effects. But now I was hearing that all was not as it should be and this was especially so with one mine in particular; the one that was hidden. Something about this secret mine was different. Activity in this mine was affecting not only the other northern mine out here but the ones near Langrenus. And by affecting them, also affecting the lights. The radon affected the natural TLP phenomenon but as Peter said, things were getting very strange and decidedly, unnatural. There had to be a change in activity in this mine which caused a change in activity with the TLP. Such activity must have been great because the TLP increase seemed to be moon-wide in scope. What were they doing? Everything led to the hidden mine.
And I wondered with growing fear whether the ease in getting information would be matched by the difficulties of revealing the ultimate truth once I got there.
8
It never occurred to me that I had to empty the dust tray out. I hadn't even realized that these stupid things even had dust trays! After fumbling around for about ten minutes in great irritation with the front of the vehicle, I found it and pulled it out from the front slot mounted just between the front tires. And out flew a fat plume of regolith. I fell backward at the force of my own body, being lifted up in the air a couple of feet but not flying away because of my gravity boots. I overturned the tray and emptied it to the side of the – road – it was really only grooved tracks in the regolith from previous vehicles - and pushed it back inside its slot. And then I climbed back into the buggy. Following the navigator clipped to the right front support column of the vehicle, I went over rocks, hills, around small craters, and had to make my way around very large craters and I noticed that the lights were even brighter the farther north I went. It looked sinister out here. The lights were lurid in color, as if I'd stumbled onto some alien red light district. It didn't give me the feeling of celestial awe that space normally did. I shivered a bit as I traveled on, watching the silent lights lifting out of craters, sinking down along the dusty ground and fading out. I saw what looked like a tiny flashing signal up ahead in the sky. I slowed down and stopped to watch, readying the lasgun strapped to my side. As it came toward me, hurtling through the black, starlit sky, I realized it was the recorder mech I'd sent out. It slowed its trajectory and hovered over my buggy for a few seconds before settling down, attaching itself to my navigator. It warbled for a minute and then I listened out for Will's voice through my ear piece inside my helmet. I was right to do so. Will had found something.
“Had fun out there?”
“Fun? What is that? This device is hardy but not invincible, Bob.”
“So what else did you see out there? Around Poncelet, especially?”
“Poncelet Crater, yes. As we've gathered, Poncelet is the site where most of the activity emanates from. But while there's an illegal mine and plant there, you cannot gain entry from topside.”
“No kidding. How do you gain entry to this place?”
“I have spied that there's an entrance inside, at the bottom of the crater itself.”
“You're sure?”
“Yes. It isn't the only one and it isn't the main one. This is probably a good thing as that main one is guarded at all times. One thing I'd noticed. While it is well hidden, only the front entry is guarded at all. At least from what I've surveyed of their security patrols. The other entrance is watched maybe every other day.”
“They must be feeling pretty comfortable up there to leave it unguarded. That sounds good to me. I don't want to have to fight my way in through a battalion of security mechs or guards.”
“There are other dangers, Bob. This entry looked less than safe.”
“Of course.”
“But, it is the only option available to us if we wish to enter unseen.”
It took about another three days of travel to get there and along the way, the outposts became fewer and fewer until there was nothing but moon terrain and black sky and the lonely white ball of sunlight overhead. My navigator had alerted us to the fact that we were crossing the Mares Astronomicum, the Sea of Astronomy. I was going to have to update its software. The modern name was Mare Frigoris. After crossing the Mare Frigoris, otherwise known as the Sea of Cold, and passing by the rim of great the Anaximenes Crater, I approached the rim of Poncelet. I was in the far north now. To the east some miles off I saw a small tenant neighborhood within a small biosphere. It looked more like a shanty town bordered by thrown together flophouses. Off to the right and just ahead I saw in the distance a plant or some sort of cylinder type metal building that blinked with lights at its apex every few seconds. Farther in the distance beyond that was the Caucasus Mountain range. Clouds and mists of color seemed to seep slowly and appear, disappear and reappear around the plant so that it looked like some nebulae god-finger in mists.
But I digress.
“We are here, Bob.” Said Will suddenly. I knew it myself because of the wisps of colored gasses coming up from the crater and off into space I watched as it dissipated into cold space.
“Any spies or security out here?”
“Not that I've detected today. But one never knows. I didn't go inside.” I wished I'd asked him sooner rather than getting out here and then asking the question.
I slowed down and looked over the edge. Light was cresting out and over in waves, rising up into the air. I wondered how much radiation poisoning I was receiving at this moment. But I had a job to do, even though I felt myself trembling. I breathed in and heaved a deep sigh, shifted into incline mode on the gear shift in the vehicle and slowly tipped it over the crater's edge and drove down into what seemed like a weird, silver desert purgatory. I took my time making my way very slowly so that the buggy wouldn't topple over as the crater was rather steep, but no so much to that I couldn't manage it. The buggy slipped on a pile of rocks that I'd run into as the ride down was bumpy and jolted me violently at times against the support columns at the top of the vehicle, dangerously so at times that it nearly flipped over. I stopped, holding my foot tightly on the brake until I could get my bearings again and then I continued on slowly until I finally got to the bottom of the crater. I took the buggy behind a large meteor rock, parked it and shut it off and got out my bag from the back. The little mech lifted itself up and hovered around me.
“Follow me but not too closely, Will. I need you to record whatever you can catch going on in h
ere.”
“Yes Bob.”
I crept toward the cave opening. When I approached I saw that while the opening was big enough for me, it would be a very close fit. I had to climb onto a small plateau of rock to get inside. I climbed in with some difficulty. Inside, I took out a flashlight and crept through the tunnel, all the while the mech hovering in mid air some ways away with its front lights blaring.
“I haven't been inside the building yet, Bob. This is the first time for both of us.”
“Right. Except you aren't really here if we meet up with security officers.” I said dryly.
“There's nothing I can do about that Bob.” I had to jump down a fair drop once we reached the other end of the cave, falling down and stumbling in the process from the opening. I attached my light to the lasgun and followed Will the mech as we went the only way available to us in this naturally made corridor – straight across. We traveled this way for what seemed to me a long time – at least five minutes. I heard a warning beep in my transmitter earpiece from the mech.
“Patrol troops are coming!” He whispered.
“Where?” I whispered.
“Above us. There is another pathway with one side against the rock wall and another side that drops off. They can look down here and see us if we're not careful.” I looked around for a place to hide. The mech lowered itself and hid right underneath the ledge of rock roadway right above us, about thirty feet. I did the same, flattening my body against the rock wall. Soon I heard footsteps.
“There are two of them from what I can detect,” he whispered.
“I wonder if they always travel in twos.” The two patrolmen on foot were communicating with security in another location through remote transmitters as they passed by overhead. I waited until they passed and heard no more talking or footsteps, my lasgun poised up in the air, the light shut off. What if they find the buggy out there? I had to shake this thought from my mind and hope they weren't doing a security check outside the cave. There was no going back. I wondered just then if it would have been more prudent to simply report back that something was deeply amiss here in the Poncelet Crater; that the unusually large amounts of radon coming from the plant and the mine here was causing cancer and radiation burns in mine workers in the region and also near Langrenus. I could have been done with it all. But I couldn't leave this alone by half measure. I had to know what exactly was going on, so I could have something truly important to report back and expose. After all, who knows what was really causing it? Call me thorough, (or stupid) if nothing else.
At the end of the stretch I eventually saw a wide hatch door with faded letters: Hussa. The windows were frosted and it sat behind an environmental shield.
“There it is. That's how we get in.”
“And if it's closed? Which it most likely is?”
“I will try to hack to the security code. I can't guarantee anything.”
“This is gonna be real short if that's the case.” The mech hovered by the key pad beside it. We stood there for a dangerously long time trying to sneak in through the back door, me with my lasgun ready to blast anyone coming by. Suddenly, I heard alarms going off and a tremble that rocked me against the door.
“What was that?” The mech didn't answer as it was concentrating on finding the key code that would unlock the door. The alarms, though far off were making me even more nervous. In a flash the white metal door slid open.
“Hurry! It will close again in a few seconds!” Said Will. I quickly stepped inside with my lasgun poised, ready to fire. The doors then slid shut again.
“Someone is coming.” Said Will, his voice sounded nervous, an emotion I'd never heard from him before. I looked around quickly for a place to hide. And just as he said, I could hear footsteps approaching from the room ahead outside the door on the other end of this room. I ducked into what looked like a storage room with the mech right on my heels. I hid behind a corner, under a table as I could hear the footsteps along with a rolling sound, like a gurney or cart coming into the room next to us, shuffling around and then slow to a stop. I stopped breathing and the little mech nestled beside me, its lights switching off. The footsteps seemed to wander through the room next door then there was a voice.
“Hello? Hello?” I heard something like a rolled machine or cart being parked into the room. Then they shut the door to the storage room and I heard them lock it and the footsteps faded out elsewhere.
“That was close.” I whispered. “But now we're locked in. You think you can get that open again?”
“I'll try my best,” said Will. As Will set to work carefully, I looked around the storage room. It was filled with what looked like old equipment and lots of clothing, torn up suits and sheet material. Clothing material. I investigated further and what I say was disturbing. Old brown stains on every garment and article of clothing I saw. Rust stains they looked like, until I investigated a batch of cloth materials lying in the large rolling cart that had just been set in the room. There were fresh, bloody stains on suits, clothes and sheets. I glanced into what looked like an industrial-sized hamper. What I saw here were more fresh, blood stains on clothes. Very bloody clothes from nearly head to toe as if they had been used to wipe up prodigious amounts of blood, and very large fresh, blood stains on the sheets. There were gravity boots covered in blood and other materials. What on Earth? I was ready to turn tail and run. I glanced upward toward the ceilings and walls. I saw a large vent. I went over and dragged the table over, climbed up to try to open it. I couldn't manage to get it open at first but repeatedly tugged at it, finally wrenching it free.
“Will! Never mind the door. We'll go through this way. Maybe we'll get a chance to see what's going on, without being seen.” I said. The mech left off the door and followed me into the crawlspace.
. . .
The air through the space grew colder which was fine as I felt myself turning into a sweating bundle of nerves. I took my helmet off and strapped it to my suit. I was surprised at the state of the building. It was not just old in its construction and build but, ancient. Outdated. The rooms where I could catch a glance were rundown. Rusted, nearly a ruined looking place, crude; a terrible place for any person to have to work in. Most mines were unpleasant places, even dangerous, this place looked like a nightmare. The constant low moan of lonely winds through the corridors and vent with the sounds of massive, monstrous machines drilling far, far beneath the ground tunnels gave me a feeling of being lost in some desolate haunted place. The low, deep rumbling of the drills brought to mind visions of the moon being drilled all the way in half. A kind of planetary brutality.
It seemed deserted at first as I glanced through vents and slits to rooms and hallways that were darkened. As the vent corridor became more cramped and uncomfortable my eyes spied more lively activity. I came upon a large room, this one very well lit. It actually looked more like a giant bullpen. There was a wide entrance and from this I could see miners streaming from rickety space barges and passenger freighters into this room, presumably ready to work. Ominous sounding caution alarms were going off as people were de-boarding, with giant security mechs standing around the room. Hundreds of miners were in dark, rough looking work space suits and helmets and on their backs they donned what looked like used air tanks, getting ready to enter the mines deep underneath. I saw about forty or fifty of them enter a rickety looking elevator lift; far too many for it, but it lowered them far down underneath the moon's surface. Others were either making their way toward the lift or waiting for it to come back up so that they might take their turn. On the other side of the room I saw another elevator lift and I witnessed many men and some women again crowding into this one and it lowered down. The scene reminded me of cattle being transported to the slaughter complexes. I watched in silence, deeply disturbed. Where did all those bloody clothes and sheets come from? Some of these people moved around as if they were ill and weak. Or perhaps it was my imagination and the information I'd gathered that colored my attitude toward t
he scene. A few I saw putting on their work space suits, the look of them was truly disturbing; Some of them had a green, grayish or an ultra pale pallor. Large, intimidating looking security mechs were standing around at all corners of the room herding more miners in from freighters and barges outside. One man I saw was struggling to put on his gravity boots, his breathing labored. I could tell by how the indicator lights on his breathing mask in his old helmet flashed between the red and orange danger zones, that either the breathing apparatus that wasn't working properly or the wearer was not getting enough air. He eventually fell and slumped over and didn't get up. Other miners stepped over him to get in line for the elevators. Another woman who was lying on a bench had her head in her hands, moaning. A security mech called for medical help and after a time, a group of medical workers arrived into this “pen”, pushed their way through the crowd, roughly picked these two up and placed them onto gurneys to carry them out. The woman struggled against her straps and she was slapped hard by one of the medical personnel, which shocked and angered me.
“What kind of place is this? A prison camp? Did you see that, Will?”
“Yes I did. No wonder it's hidden away. Here they can do whatever they like, as long as they pay the workers well.”
“I can't imagine that any amount of money is worth this treatment!”
“They probably had no idea what they were actually getting into when they came here.”
“No kidding.” The woman fell down against the gurney and lay motionless as she was carried off. The man threw up gestures as if he were pleading with them but he too was man-handled and carried off as well. He was still pleading with them, or I thought he was.
“Be quiet! You'll be patched up like before and returned to work soon enough, after the doctor sees you!” Snapped one of the medical personnel.
“I don't want to see the doctor! I need to get back to work!” Cried the man but they had disappeared into another, smaller elevator and were gone. I watched to see which floor they were headed to but I couldn't quite make that out. I took out my binoculars to see but there was no indication of which floor they were headed from the outside of the elevator. My first thought was to find a way to get into the mines but after seeing that, I wondered whether the real story lay elsewhere. I came up with an idea.
Mission: Lights of Langrenus Page 7