by Saqib Sadiq
Chuck headed towards the lockers. He was looking forward to using his favorite tool the sonic pick. Once the behemoth drill rigs carved out a huge cavern it was up to them to finish the job. With his sonic pick he would smash into targeted sections of the mine to release the precious ore. It was then up to the sifters to comb through the rubble, extracting precious metal ore with their I-MED (Ionic Metalloid Extraction Detector).
This ingenious device cut the time needed to refine excavated rock by half. The sifters could begin the refining process right there in the mine. They would pass the I-MED over the mined rock, the ionic scanners would detect sections of rock emitting metallic ions then the device’s electromagnetic conduit would emit a pulse of energy that would extract that section of rock. That piece of rock would gravitate towards the conduit attaching itself to the device. Now all the sifters had to do was carry it over to the awaiting anti-gravity trolleys reverse the polarity of the pulse and the ore would fall in. Once full the hovering trolleys would automatically whisk away the extracted ore.
Chuck knew the sifter’s job was important but he wouldn’t be able to do it himself. He would get bored too quickly. Picking up metal ore and dumping it into trolleys all day didn’t sound so appealing, smashing rock with a powerful piece of equipment did. Chick gingerly raised his sonic pick out of the locker. Its rubber grip slid smoothly into his hand. He used his other hand to keep the device level. The burly miner liked the way his equipment felt and cradled it for a little while longer. He then checked to make sure the power pack was fully charged to provide the maximum amount of energy to the sonic generator located inside of the tools casing. He adjusted the intensity controls of the pick to make sure the sonic booms made by the generator were not too powerful or too weak. The sifters were already calibrating the ionic scanners affixed to their equipment. They made sure the ionic spectrum was wide enough to include gold ions. Everything looked ready to mobilize.
From the soft vibrations of the drill’s engine it became apparent that they were slowing down. Then a final lurch forward indicated that the ride was over. Now came the tough part. There was no atmospheric treated tunnel outside the walls of the cabin, only the unforgiving blankness of space up above and the jagged asteroid underneath. Once everyone double-checked that their space suit’s environmental seals were active. They signaled the drill operator to open the airlock.
Up top in his cockpit Raza scanned his console. He could see that the crew was ready to depart. He punched the proper sequence of keys to gradually decompress the cabin. Once this was done he opened the doors. Down below the crew could hear the crackle of dissipating electromagnetic energy through the synthesized polymer casing of their helmets. As the cabin door slid away, a gush of air and the dark expanse of the asteroid greeted them. They slowly marched towards the exit, their heavy boots making no sound in the still vacuum of space. With their powerful tools in hand they climbed out of the rig and stepped onto the alien surface.
*****
“Sonic picks! Up front! Sifters bring up the rear!” Bellowed Bo Benson over the dedicated crew com frequency, each and every miner heard the commands through speakers embedded in their helmets. They then began to take their positions.
“I want straight formations!” with military precision Benson continued to Sheppard the crews into place, forming a massive ring around the numerous tunnel openings. Once he was satisfied he gave the final commands.
“Mining crews, Fallback!” the miners began moving away from their assigned drilling rigs.
“Drills, Power Up!” high above in their cockpits, drill operators began manipulating their consoles; soon the powerful drill bits began to rotate. At first they spun slowly but as the motors provided more torque they picked up speed. Soon the razor sharp drill bits were nothing more than glimmering metallic blurs.
“Forward!” the drilling rigs lurched forward each one made its way to its particular section of asteroid with its mining crew following behind. Raza was given the eastern side of core zero. He made his way to the tunnel that led to his destination.
The diameter of the tunnel was wide enough for one drilling rig to enter. There was very little room between the sides of the drill and the tunnel walls. Raza carefully centered the rig with the tunnel opening. He then entered. Chuck and his team of miners waited for his return at the tunnel’s opening. It was up to him now.
Raza followed the tunnel he and other drill operators had carved out in previous mining expeditions. Each time they gained more ground; the mineral density would increase making it tougher to drill. Geo-scans had shown this final push into core zero would require drilling through the toughest material yet.
As he made his way in he could tell that the surrounding matter was getting denser. The metal threads were not getting as much traction as the dense minerals refused to allow the threads to get a grip. A while later Raza reached the end of the tunnel, ahead of him laid a solid wall of rock.
It was now up to his powerful machine to obliterate the obstacle. He carefully approached the wall, making one last check to make sure the drill bit was set to the correct rpm. After offering a silent prayer he brought the two forces into contact. As soon as the spinning metal fell upon the impervious rock powerful jolts rocked the drilling rig. Raza could feel the intense shocks through the walls of his cockpit. They rattled everything inside of the cramped enclosure. Metal joints groaned under the stress the forward viewing portal’s plexi-glass rattled. But Raza was not worried; he knew his machine was designed for this kind of punishment. The joints would hold and the rattling would subside.
He concentrated on measuring the progress of the bit. It was gradually making its way into the wall of rock. He would softly nudge the rig forward to press the drill bit deeper into the wall. The rock would resist then suddenly give up as soon as the bit pulverized the tough material.
Progress was being made slowly and Raza was concerned about the readings he was getting from thermal scans of the drill bit. They were far above normal. He decided to release some coolant into the inner body of the overworked component. After doing so he carried out another thermal scan. Raza relaxed a little, the new reading returned favorable numbers. But he knew not to get cocky; there still was a long way to go.
Raza felt the rock growing more and more resistant; he even thought he heard it moan. It was as if it was in pain. Raza felt embarrassed; if Chuck heard about his irrational thoughts what would he say? Instead of indulging his over active imagination he contacted Bo Benson.
“Hey boss! I’ve got a problem with the mineral density in my section. It’s too high.”
“It’s not just you.” Bo’s voice came in with a touch of anxiety “Drill operators from all over core zero are reporting in about how tough the rock is.” Bo said over the com link “I’ve put in a request with C&C about increasing rpm I’ll let you know what they say. In the meantime continue at current speeds.”
“Understood.” Raza cut the transmission. He continued plowing through the wall of rock. Once in a while he would hear that mournful moan again. “Must be something in those eggs I had for breakfast” Raza thought “Playing tricks on my mind” but as the moans became more and more definite he didn’t think so. “Those moans are definitely out there” Raza continued thinking as he nervously scanned the dark mining tunnel “But what could it be?” he raked his mind, trying to find a plausible explanation.
“It must have something to do with the overheated drill bit. I think it is expanding to quickly” Raza gauged the plausibility of this theory “Yes! That must be it! Expanding metal has been known to emit sounds. Like when you leave your land craft in the sun!” he felt better once he had discovered a possible cause for the disturbing sounds. But he still was itching to get out of the tunnel. For some reason it was giving him the creeps. Raza was startled as the cockpit erupted with commotion. The proximity sensors were alerting him to the fact that he had reached his goal. Core zero had been breached.
Wit
h maddened urgency Raza began to deactivate the drill bit. Now that his objective was accomplished he wanted all of the engine’s power in the threads. Getting out of this place was now his main concern. He keyed in a sequence of keystrokes on his console that would reverse the direction of the threads. Soon the changes made took effect. The drill rig began pulling out of the tunnel.
Gemcore safety regulations dictated that a slow and steady pace be kept when pulling out of a mining tunnel. But Raza was really anxious after hearing those eerie sounds. He was confident enough in his maneuvering skills to pull out of the tunnel at high speeds. He watched the gray walls of the tunnel whirl pass the aft viewing port. Shortly after he was at the opening, in a dusty cloud of asteroid ash and pulverized minerals, Raza re-entered the asteroid’s surface.
Some miners who were mingling in front of the opening scurried away when they saw the speeding rig barreling towards them. The behemoth burst out of the tunnel, thick streams of dust slithered off of its sides as the thick metal treads tore up the ground underneath. It came to a screeching halt many meters away from where it should have stopped.
The crew hesitantly approached the rig. What was wrong with that guy? They all thought. Chuck decided to find out. “You okay there big buddy?” Chuck’s transmitted voice came in over the cockpit’s speakers.
“Yeah...I just wanted to see what this baby could do!” Raza Responded with forced bravado
Chuck wasn’t convinced “Not like you to break protocol like that.” He glanced over at the frightened miners who narrowly escaped being crushed by the rampaging mining equipment. “Ya’ could’ve killed those miners back there.”
“Come on, Chuck! They were a hundred parsecs away from me.” he said sheepishly “No really…I figured I should have some…fun…with the rig”
The burly miner knew his friend too well and didn’t believe a word he said, “If you don’t want to tell me what’s going on then fine. You cool off or do whatever you gotta do to get sane again; me and the boys are going in.”
Raza felt a pang of guilt. Maybe he should tell the truth what’s the worse he would do, laugh. Besides he had a moral obligation to warn his crew about any potential dangers in those tunnels. “All right, if you must know…I thought I heard something down there.”
“I knew it!” Chuck said with obvious satisfaction in his voice “What was it?” he asked intently.
“It sounded like a voice.” Raza began to say “A voice that was in pain. Almost like a…moan.”
Chuck thought this over “Must be gas” he suggested brashly.
“Perhaps. It could also have been my drill bit it was overheating. But whatever it was it freaked me out. It made me act irrationally and feel really anxious. I had to get out of there right away.” he hung his head in shame “That’s why I sped out of the tunnel like that. I wasn’t thinking straight.” He said in a forlorn voice.
“No kidding, puki.” Chuck snorted “Tell you what.” he said cheerfully “The sifters got scanning equipment on their I-MEDs I’ll tell one of them to calibrate for gases, just in case.”
Raza considered this “All right, just be careful.”
“I am touched. But don’t worry we always are, Chuck out!” he abruptly cut the transmission and began preparing to enter the mining tunnel.
Raza reclined in his seat. He tried to get a grip on his emotions as he watched the miners gather their equipments and turn on their space suit’s floodlights. In a single file they walked into the carved tunnel. The luminous lights cast ominous shadows of the miners on the tunnel walls. After the last of them marched several meters into the mine, all Raza could make out of their presence was a swaying glow of light.
Raza silently recited the Ayat-ul-Kursi, a powerful verse from the Muslim holy book the Quran, which exemplifies the great power God has over the universe. The powerful words of the passage put Raza at ease. A soothing calm enveloped his spirit soon he closed his eyes to rest. Awhile later a familiar voice crackled over the speakers. “Good news guys!” It was Benson addressing all the drill operators on their com frequency “You have approval to increase RPM by a factor of 500.” Raza’s long awaited request for an increase in drill speeds was finally being acknowledged, “However at the first sign of bit fatigue you are to shut down immediately.”
Raza switched on his com “Gee, thanks Bo! But I already reached my goal a long time ago.” Raza said, “I was able to reach the specified target depth at pre-mission drill speeds.”
Benson thought a while before answering “Strange all the other drill operators have only met a half or three quarters of their target depths. How’d you manage that?”
“I don’t know sir, guess it was luck.” He said with a smug smile on his face.
Bo Benson consulted the latest geo-scans of core zero. After a careful analysis he responded “Not quite…” He said, “According to my calculations you seem to have pierced a gaseous…‘Back Door’.”
“Gaseous ‘Back Door’, Sir?” Raza asked
“Yeah…apparently the tunnel you were assigned to lead to a pocket of empty space containing an unknown substance. This substance has low molecular cohesion. That can only mean it was some sort of gas.” Benson continued with his summation “When you pierced the pocket you released the “gas”, creating an opening, a “Back Door” if you will, into core zero thereby allowing you to reach your target depth so quickly.”
Raza began to get an idea of what could have caused those awful moans. Suddenly he thought of something “Is the gas hazardous?”
“I can’t tell with these scans. We’ll have to send in a science team to make a full investigation. In the mean time keep your mining crew out of the tunnel.”
That last remarks formed an icy grip over Raza’s body “Sir…” he said dreadfully “They’re already down there.”
“What!”
“They left before you reported in!” he nervously replied
“Get them the hell out of there!!!” Bo bellowed
“Right away sir!” Raza matched his communication channel with the miner’s frequency “Chuck! Do you read me? CHUCK! It’s me Raza.” He lamented “If you can hear my voice you and your men have got to get out of there now!” Raza stared at his console frantically waiting to hear his friend’s familiar voice. But all he could hear was the droning static of empty space.
CHAPTER
THREE
Chuck was walking behind a sifter with the rest of the crew bringing up the rear. The sifter watched the monitor of his I-MED as it scanned the air 50 meters in front of him for any signs of hazardous gases. He had calibrated the ionic spectrum to include a range of known gases but so far the device wasn’t picking anything up.
“Seems like your friend was worried about nothing.” He sniffed heavily “The air in here is good enough to breathe, without any pulmonary filters.”
“Just keep scanning” Chuck said distastefully as he looked around the tunnel. The ash gray color and the imposing height of the tunnel walls made him feel uncomfortable. The sterile white lights flowing from his suit’s floodlights made the cavernous environment even more surreal.
The crew could tell they were walking through the section of tunnel that had been carved out in previous mining expeditions. The worn surfaces and sonic pick pot marks indicated this. They trudged deeper into the tunnel as they were getting closer to the end they noticed how the walls took on a more powdery feel. This section was more recently excavated and didn’t have a chance to get worn smooth from mining activities yet.
The sifter was watching his monitor intently; while the rest of the crew was focused on idle conversation or listening to amusing resonance waves using communication equipment embedded in their helmets. They hardly noticed when Chuck told them to make a full stop.
“Look up ahead.” He said with a glimmer in his eyes. When they did a myriad of sparkles met their eyes. Their floodlights were being reflected off of the tunnel wall’s surface. When they realized what was
causing the sparkles, all their pain and all their dreary worries were gleamed away. Ahead of them laid a solid wall of gold veins.
“Jackpot! Baaybee!” said a few rambunctious miners. Everyone erupted with good-natured banter.
“I am gonna buy me a space yacht with my million credit bonus.” Said one gleeful miner.
“Yeah, well me and my family are moving out of the sorry excuse we have for a house and move into the new underground condos on novas prime.” Said another
Chuck being ever practical exclaimed, “You have to mine it first!” he raised his sonic pick “Let me and my boys handle this. Then you sifters can clean up our mess.” He turned to the assembled group of pick toting miners. “Power up boys!” he said with a mischievous smirk across his face.
As the men activated their power packs energy coursed through the sonic pick’s casing causing a high-pitched whirling sound. “Take your positions!” Chuck said. They made a straight line in front of the gold encrusted wall, picks aimed and leveled with the wall. “Fire!” intense waves of energized sound screamed out of the devices, within nanoseconds they crashed upon the glittering wall. In an instant the tunnel floor was bombarded with falling pieces of rock.
The exuberant miners continued with the onslaught. As the lower areas of the wall began to hide behind mounds of fallen ore they targeted the midsection. More and more gold ore spewed out of the walls. There seemed to be no end to it or to the miner’s appetite for more. With cold calculated precision strikes they continued to gut the tunnel clean of its precious ore.