tortures you or Ieeb, chances are that one of you would reveal his name. So, I can’t tell you anything else.”
I paused, thinking. “When I get back to my ship, I’ll send a message to Icir.”
“Thanks.”
“Why do you trust us? You barely know us.”
“According to a friend, both of you are honest.”
“How does your friend know that?”
“He’s studied your files.”
“Is checking them part of his job?”
Boma tapped his teeth with one hand, a concerned expression on his face. “Yes.”
I couldn’t tell if my last question bothered him.
Another thought came to mind. If I sold fourteen pounds six kilos of Perovskite metal, I’d have enough money to take Ieeb back to Icir and I’d never have to work any more. But robbery wasn’t my style.
“How did you find out about this mine?” I glanced to the right and noticed that the guards were too far away to hear us.
“Dr. Xio told me.”
I mentioned my conversation with Alip, the one where she talked about finding a valuable metal.
Boma shrugged, but for some reason he didn’t say a word.
“Will Lyso and Raui let you go inside the mine?” I listened, curious.
“No.”
“Why am I allowed to go inside?” I hesitated, surprised.
“Because Fi and Baaax spend most of their time there. Despite the fact that Lyso and Raui don’t want you to enter the mine, Fi and Baaax insisted on it. Fi and Baaax want to buy the tickets from you, and nobody else.”
“Won’t anybody else take them back to Icir?” I cocked my head to one side, amazed.
“Fi and Baaax didn’t tell me about it, and I don’t push the subject. If you want to know what their reasons are, ask them.”
“Thanks for the information.”
“No problem. Anyway, I brought you here safely. My job is done. I’m going back to see Dr. Xio.”
“Who’s going to pick me up?”
“Ask Und.”
He pointed at the entrance. I looked at it.
A Qoowo miner, a stranger with a fierce expression on his face, emerged, walking toward us.
Boma hurried back toward the giag.
Chapter Nineteen
The Qoowo miner, an older man with a W-9, called out, “Jason, I’m Und. Come this way.”
I nodded. Both of us continued on.
To our left, a droning sound made by insects grew louder. Eight hundred yards from us, a swarm of Oiins flew over a tree.
Und glanced in that direction and cursed, “Mek.”
A recorded translation came out of my earplugs. Mek means fuck.
We ran for the tunnel, and made it.
My shoulder-mounted flashlight switched on. After going around a bend, we stepped inside an open-air-elevator with a waist-high barrier. It slowly descended. Below us, somewhere in the darkness hundreds of yards away, I heard loud drilling sounds, an ominous noise.
Und, a dimly lit silhouette, remained silent.
Dust began accumulating on my sleeves. I wiped it off. “How far down are we going?”
Und replied somberly, “You’ll see.”
The elevator, suspended by cable, stopped. We stepped off.
Und grumbled, “Follow me.”
We started down a curving tunnel, a poorly illuminated route, passing several ceiling supports.
He paused. “This is as far as I go. Go around that bend.” He pointed and walked away, retracing his steps.
I descended, went around a corner, and came upon an Aito man, a lean humanoid with an oval-shaped face and angled eyes.
“Are you Baaax?”
“Yes. Just a minute.” He stared straight ahead, examining an eleven-foot tall humanoid robot, an updated WADI prototype, a wide-angle drilling android with two pelvis-mounted lasers, one on each hip. Between the lasers, in the center of the WADI’s stomach, a huge drill started boring into a rock wall, making a shrill grinding sound. As the ear-piercing noise grew louder, both laser beams moved across rock facets, cutting them.
On the opposite side of the robot, next to this one, six other WADI’S, all of them standing side by side, drilled faster. After a few moments all the drills shut off.
In front of the
I paused, thinking. “When I get back to my ship, I’ll send a message to Icir.”
“Thanks.”
“Why do you trust us? You barely know us.”
“According to a friend, both of you are honest.”
“How does your friend know that?”
“He’s studied your files.”
“Is checking them part of his job?”
Boma tapped his teeth with one hand, a concerned expression on his face. “Yes.”
I couldn’t tell if my last question bothered him.
Another thought came to mind. If I sold fourteen pounds six kilos of Perovskite metal, I’d have enough money to take Ieeb back to Icir and I’d never have to work any more. But robbery wasn’t my style.
“How did you find out about this mine?” I glanced to the right and noticed that the guards were too far away to hear us.
“Dr. Xio told me.”
I mentioned my conversation with Alip, the one where she talked about finding a valuable metal.
Boma shrugged, but for some reason he didn’t say a word.
“Will Lyso and Raui let you go inside the mine?” I listened, curious.
“No.”
“Why am I allowed to go inside?” I hesitated, surprised.
“Because Fi and Baaax spend most of their time there. Despite the fact that Lyso and Raui don’t want you to enter the mine, Fi and Baaax insisted on it. Fi and Baaax want to buy the tickets from you, and nobody else.”
“Won’t anybody else take them back to Icir?” I cocked my head to one side, amazed.
“Fi and Baaax didn’t tell me about it, and I don’t push the subject. If you want to know what their reasons are, ask them.”
“Thanks for the information.”
“No problem. Anyway, I brought you here safely. My job is done. I’m going back to see Dr. Xio.”
“Who’s going to pick me up?”
“Ask Und.”
He pointed at the entrance. I looked at it.
A Qoowo miner, a stranger with a fierce expression on his face, emerged, walking toward us.
Boma hurried back toward the giag.
Chapter Nineteen
The Qoowo miner, an older man with a W-9, called out, “Jason, I’m Und. Come this way.”
I nodded. Both of us continued on.
To our left, a droning sound made by insects grew louder. Eight hundred yards from us, a swarm of Oiins flew over a tree.
Und glanced in that direction and cursed, “Mek.”
A recorded translation came out of my earplugs. Mek means fuck.
We ran for the tunnel, and made it.
My shoulder-mounted flashlight switched on. After going around a bend, we stepped inside an open-air-elevator with a waist-high barrier. It slowly descended. Below us, somewhere in the darkness hundreds of yards away, I heard loud drilling sounds, an ominous noise.
Und, a dimly lit silhouette, remained silent.
Dust began accumulating on my sleeves. I wiped it off. “How far down are we going?”
Und replied somberly, “You’ll see.”
The elevator, suspended by cable, stopped. We stepped off.
Und grumbled, “Follow me.”
We started down a curving tunnel, a poorly illuminated route, passing several ceiling supports.
He paused. “This is as far as I go. Go around that bend.” He pointed and walked away, retracing his steps.
I descended, went around a corner, and came upon an Aito man, a lean humanoid with an oval-shaped face and angled eyes.
“Are you Baaax?”
“Yes. Just a minute.” He stared straight ahead, examining an eleven-foot tall humanoid robot, an updated WADI prototype, a wide-angle drilling android with two pelvis-mounted lasers, one on each hip. Between the lasers, in the center of the WADI’s stomach, a huge drill started boring into a rock wall, making a shrill grinding sound. As the ear-piercing noise grew louder, both laser beams moved across rock facets, cutting them.
On the opposite side of the robot, next to this one, six other WADI’S, all of them standing side by side, drilled faster. After a few moments all the drills shut off.
In front of the
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