by Kyle Perkins
She frowned and stood up from her spot on the floor.
“I suppose you’re right Alerik,” she sighed, “Thanks for talking to me, I can’t really ask anyone else. Anyway, I’d better head out so I can get back before curfew.” She walked towards the door. “See ya tomorrow, boss,” she offered a tight smile and put her hand up in a farewell before leaving his apartment.
***
The next morning started like any other. Alerik woke up in his empty and quiet apartment, did his normal morning rituals and headed out to the jobsite.
Once he arrived, the mundane just kept on coming. The usual guards were stationed at the enormous gates outside of the mine to pat down workers before herding them through turnstiles. Inside the gates, the guards watched every move of the workers as they moved towards the mouth of the mine for their final inspection.
The mines were important to the settlement. The precious metals found below the surface provided many of the common day advances that made the settlers’ lives “comfortable.” Considering the volume of material mined over the years, it was a wonder where it all went. It was true that the settlement was quite large, and the dome was far larger, stretching somewhere beyond the horizon. Who knew where it even ended since no one had ever being allowed to pass the settlement walls.
Alerik often wondered if what they mined ever made it out of the settlement, and how it was transported if that were the case.
His daily agitation quota was met with his final pat-down, and he headed inside the mine to work his shift. He hoped he’d see Velar later. Ever since she left the previous night he had been worried that he might have filled her head with too much speculation and caused her to short-circuit.
A few hours into his shift, Alerik spotted Velar leaning against a wall. She looked exhausted. The way she was moving sent the clear signal that she was fed-up with the day, yet a certain light shined through in her smile when she spotted Alerik.
“Hey there old man, how’s your day been?” She said in a surprisingly chipper tone despite her tired appearance.
“It’s a day,” he said with a smile as he wiped the sweat and dirt from his forehead. “Shouldn’t you be working? Here you are, slacking like these other bums,” he teased, moving closer to her.
“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t be so lazy. What if I piss off my superiors?” she winked. Before he could respond, a deafening sound erupted from the tunnel intercom, alerting everyone to stop what they were doing.
“Alerik Jacobs, report to central command immediately,” an authoritative voice announced before cutting off abruptly with a loud crackle.
“What do you think they want with you?” Velar questioned, worry etched across her face as she grabbed the sleeve of his jacket.
“I don’t know,” he frowned, “I guess we’ll find out shortly.” Alerik turned to navigate the tunnels and return to the surface, his jacket sleeve sliding through her tiny hand as he marched forward.
Once he was back on the surface, several guards dressed in black and silver uniforms were waiting for him. The main guard stepped forward. He was a tall man with a muscular build, but his face was concealed by a dark visor so Alerik couldn’t make out any distinguishing features.
“Alerik?” He asked as he kept his hand on his rifle. He had one of the new edition rifles, not one of the old gunpowder based firearms. The Union came up with a new prototype a few years back that only a few soldiers carried initially. Now that gunpowder was a thing of the past, all soldiers were equipped with these new guns. They were a darkly tinted metal and had cartridges full of pellets or metal bolts. Apparently, they were fired using some type of powerful magnet inside. Incredibly quiet, you’d never knew it even fired except for the whizzing sound the projectile made through the air.
“Yeah, that’s me. Can you guys tell me what’s going on? I was called away from work which is… Highly irregular,” Alerik said with a puzzled look on his face. Two guards stepped forward, linking their arms with his, and began walking with him. The main guard trailed them, keeping a look out.
“Follow Captain Terina,” the man in the background barked. Alerik nodded, deciding to keep his head down and play along. There was no point in agitating the muscle. Hopefully answers would be at his destination.
When they arrived at a small building on the other side of the fence, the guards loosened their grip and allowed Alerik to walk on his own.
“Thanks for everything, fellas,” he said with a smirk as Terina opened the door and allowed him to pass through. A dim light flickered in the long hallway and at the end where two guards stood with their weapons at the ready. Alerik moved slowly, allowing the captain to keep the lead. He didn’t want to step on any toes – that would be a good way to suddenly go missing.
The guards waved him forward into a room with a single desk. Various pieces of random equipment lined the walls. A large and robust man stood in the corner, smoking his pipe. He turned to face them as they entered the room.
“So you’re the Alerik that has been leading the crew in our magnesium mine, correct?” He asked, blowing out a huge puff of smoke as he waddled over to his chair and sat down. He had dark hair with gray streaks throughout, and his brown eyes were sunken into his already wrinkled and weathered face.
“Yes sir, that’s me. I was actually in the mines – working – before I was called in here. How can I help you?” He asked, trying to mask the annoyance in his voice.
“Well, you see, Alerik… We here in The Union need your help with a small incident – series of incidents – that have occurred lately in and around the mines,” he slapped a sweaty hand down on the table, a metallic sound echoed in the room. When he slid his hand away a small scrap of metal was revealed. On it appeared to be a crude etching of a hammer surrounded by flames, along with the words “Liberty’s Hammer” carved deeply into the side. “These have been appearing more and more frequently in the mines, and even in some of the local bars.
Now, I don’t know if you are familiar with the terrorist attacks of 2231, but they were orchestrated by a group called Liberty’s Flame. We suspect this new group may be a copycat organization and we need someone on the inside of the mines who can help us find the responsible parties,” he gave Alerik a pointed look.
Alerik’s brow furrowed as he studied the etchings on the metal. He wasn’t sure what help he would be. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be a help to The Union. After all, it wasn’t like they’d ever gone out of their way to help him. But the truth was, just like every other aspect of his life – he didn’t have much of a choice. The Union didn’t really make requests. Sure, they’d ask as a formality, but the consequences of refusing… well, he didn’t have any interest in finding out what those might be.
“Of course, this isn’t really a request,” Alerik said flatly, calling it what it was, “Humor me. Do I get anything at all out of this arrangement?” He didn’t bother masking his irritation. The Union was asking a lot. They were asking him to snitch on his coworkers – his peers. These were people he grew up with. It would be a betrayal, even if they weren’t all buddies. “Another thing, why can’t you do this yourselves? Surely you could just go down and search everyone.”
“I suppose we could allow you an upgrade to your living situation. Even though this isn’t about bribing, you would be doing us, and humanity, a service. We would, of course, show our gratitude,” he nodded. The man sounded surprised that Alerik was bold enough to ask for compensation. He continued, “Naturally, we could go down there and stir things up, but what would be the point? The terrorists would scatter and likely never surface again until they attacked. Surely, you don’t want to wait until then to practice due diligence?” the man stuck out his hand for Alerik to shake.
Alerik stood up from his chair quickly and avoided the handshake by pretending he didn’t see it.
“Alright then. How about we start this relationship with a little slack from the guards?” Alerik spoke over his shoulder as he turned to leave the room,
“I’ll do as you asked because I don’t want any blood on my hands. But please, just keep your guards out of my way. I don’t want to be affiliated with The Union. None of the miners would ever speak to, or trust me again. This cloak and dagger stuff puts everyone on edge.”
The man waved his hand for the guards to step out of the way, “As you wish. Oh, and Alerik… My name is Bragog. If you need to speak to me, say my name to a guard and they will send me a transmission. Just don’t get spotted, last thing we need is the workers catching onto you,” the words floated into the hallway just as the door slammed shut.
***
Once Alerik was back in the mine, his mind began racing as he processed all that he had been told. Why would they choose him to stop some terrorist attack, anyway? It wasn’t like he had any sort of training or expertise in the field. Maybe it was just that he was a reliable worker that hadn’t ever caused them problems. Who knew?
Nevertheless, he would keep his eyes open and an ear to the ground. He may not have agreed with everything The Union stood for, but he had to agree that terrorist attacks were a bad thing.
Immediately he began looking for signs within the tunnels, discreetly eying his fellow miners with scrutiny as they passed. He listened for quiet whispers or muffled footsteps, but things seemed to be just as they always had always been.
He thought to check out the employee lockers, but wanted to find Velar first. She probably was curious about his meeting and she was also the only one who would give it to him straight. If he tried talking to the other workers, they would likely just kiss his ass and throw someone else under the bus to try to get ahead in the world.
He made his way to the lower level, where the women brushed bucket loads of soft, red dirt off of the precious metals before they were transported to the surface. That job required precision and delicate hands, so the level was staffed by a majority of women while men did the hard labor on the other levels.
He spotted Velar scrubbing away at her usual table with a metal bristle pad in her hand. The sweat beads and flecks of dust that peppered her face somehow made her even more stunning. It was difficult to stand out amongst the settlers – almost everyone had the same tan skin and brown eyes – but she was definitely special. He wasn’t the only one who noticed it, the girl had no shortage of admirers.
He thought maybe part of it was her pin-straight hair. That wasn’t the only thing that made her attractive, but it did give her a unique appearance that sparked the interest of many of the settlers. Almost everyone in the settlement had curly or wavy hair due to the years and years of breeding. Humanity was in a bottleneck phase. Straight hair was an oddity.
Alerik was actually a very rare breed himself, almost no one in the settlement had blue eyes. Just a handful of people in the several thousand that remained. Maybe that was why he and Velar got along so well. Just two oddballs in the sea of brown and curly.
Velar felt eyes on her and looked up from her task. Her eyes landed on Alerik standing by the doorway and her stomach did a flip. She tried not to act excited, though she had trouble hiding it. She was deliberate in her movements, walking slowly so as not to seem too eager to talk to him.
“Glad to see you are still amongst the living,” she smiled, lightly biting her bottom lip before she caught herself and quickly corrected it. She hoped he hadn’t noticed.
“Got a minute?” he asked before gently grabbing her shoulder and guiding her out of the room, not waiting for a response.
“Okay then,” she thought.
As soon as they were out of earshot from the others, Alerik leaned against the wall. He was trying to appear casual, though worry was apparent on his face.
“Velar, I was called into the office because there has been suspicious activity in the mines. I need your help. Have you overheard of any strange whispers? Seen any bizarre behavior? Anything abnormal or suspicious?” he arched a brow.
“Uh, n—no,” she shook her head, “Of course not. Alerik, I would tell you if something weird was going on. Honestly, I haven’t seen anything.”
“Well, just keep a look out for me, will you?” He asked with a half-smile.
She nodded, “If I hear anything, you will be the first to know.”
“Okay, you should get back. Meet with me after work. I need to talk to you about a few things… Away from here,” He said cautiously. Footsteps could be heard heading towards them from deeper in the tunnel.
They exchanged silent nods before heading back to work.
***
Later that night, Alerik was pacing in his apartment as he thought over the day and waited for Velar. A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. As he strode past the reflective, polished aluminum siding on his wall he paused to run his fingers through his hair and check out his appearance. He laughed at himself and shook his head – Why was he so nervous? It was just Velar.
When he finished scolding himself, he opened the door. Velar was on the other side, wearing a short skirt and a tight purple shirt. She was over-encumbered as usual by her book bag.
“Uh, hey, Velar,” he said with a goofy smile.
He felt stupid. What had gotten into him? Here he was, fumbling over his words, and worrying at his appearance over a girl he talked to every damn day. Maybe it was just having her in his apartment again without an alcohol buffer that had his nerves shot. He smiled uncomfortably.
She returned a confused half-smile and raised her eyebrows.
“You alright there?” She asked as she stepped inside and dropped her bag on the floor.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just haven’t eaten yet today, think it’s making me loopy,” he said.
“What? Loopy? Nice save, dipshit,” he thought.
She didn’t seem convinced, but she moved on, “Alright, so what really happened today? You were acting so strange at the site. I was a little worried about you. It freaked me the fuck out when those men took you. And then you returned and I was so happy to see that you were okay that my nervousness washed away,” she sat on the ground, “That is, until you started acting weird as shit,” she giggled at the last part.
“I know. I can explain that,” he frowned as he recalled the day, “So, this guy, Bragog calls me into his office. Apparently, he works for The Union and oversees this whole operation. I usually just get my orders delivered through a slot in the morning, then deliver them to all of you. So I’d never seen this guy before, not in my entire life,” he shook his head, “Today was just… Surreal.”
“Okay, well go on, don’t leave me hanging,” she urged, sitting up on her knees.
“Easy there! Give me time for fuck sakes, I’m trying to build suspense!” he chuckled as he sat down next to her, “So, I get to his office and he tells me about etchings being left around the mine. Apparently, it’s a symbol that closely resembles another from a long time ago. Before you or I were even born.”
“Before you were born? Oh, so back on Earth?” she winked.
“I’m not that old, you dick,” he feigned offense, “Be serious, now. This is very serious. The symbol matched the one from the terrorist attacks back in the day. The group of people responsible were called Liberty’s Flame, and this new group calls themselves Liberty’s Hammer. If this group is resurfacing… well, it’s a big fucking deal,” he frowned.
“Oh yeah, then why did they send you?” she was still teasing, “Okay, okay, okay… I’ll be serious,” she forced her smile away, “Honestly, it does sound like it could be bad. The radio station never talks about it, but I heard stories of that from my parents before their accident. I always thought it was weird that The Union would avoid talking about something so big. It only reinforces my belief that they are hiding something,” she looked into his eyes, “Which only confirms my belief that they are hiding something.”
Velar held his gaze for and extended moment. She always thought he had beautiful eyes, they were so unique. Just another weapon in his arsenal of good looks. He could probably talk anyone into anything with eye
s like that.
Alerik broke the eye contact and stared forward, “Well, I am inclined to agree that the government might be hiding things. Regardless, if there is a terrorist organization forming in our mines, we may need to put this government conspiracy talk on the back burner. There are a lot of good people down in those mines. Innocent people.”
Velar deflated, “Yeah, I know. Sorry, I’ve just had these thoughts for so long, it’s hard to even think about working with Union lackeys. But, you’re right. Liberty’s Hammer is more of an immediate threat,” she sighed loudly, “What do you need me to do?”
“Meet me in the employee locker room tomorrow. Before shifts start. And bring a screwdriver,” he said with a grin, “We’re going to do some top-secret investigating.”
***
The next morning, Alerik arrived at the jobsite and went through the normal procedures to get inside. After his daily violation from the guards, he continued into the mine and found Velar waiting for him in the locker room holding a screwdriver and looking panicked. The room only had one way in and one way out, so it was easy to know if someone was coming, but it was also easy to get caged in, so he understood why she was on high alert.
“Okay, watch the door and give me a heads up if you hear anyone coming,” he said as he began prying open the lockers one by one with the screwdriver.