Digging Deeper: An Adventure Novel (Sam Harris Series Book 1) by PJ Skinner Page A

changed course over the years’, said Jorge, ‘and some of the best diamond deposits are now found underwater in the present river channel.  I divert the river into a new channel so that these deposits can be mined.  It is a very technical operation and the dykes are prone to collapse if not built correctly.’
    ‘Why is that?’ asked Sam.
    ‘Because the water pressure builds up at depth and can liquefy the bottom of the dyke.’
    ‘So it goes at the bottom first?’
    ‘Yes.  It’s a tricky thing building a dyke the right size but not wasting effort on making them too strong.’
    Jim interjected, ‘Jorge is very enthusiastic about the quality of his diversions and needs to be reined in before he also builds a marina and a large pleasure pier to go with the dykes.’. 
    At lunchtime, Sam went to the canteen and filled her plate with some boarding school food: overcooked meat, watery vegetables and soggy chips.  As the only woman in the room, she attracted attention.  People seemed to sit together according to their rank and department.  Not belonging to any department, she could not decide where to sit and she was sure she was not welcome at the management table.
    Then she saw a pair of piercing blue eyes staring at her from a very handsome face.  It was Dirk.  Never one to resist a challenge, she picked up her tray and sat right beside him.  He was sitting with the metallurgists and the staff from the diamond recovery facility.  He looked her straight in the eye and winked as she sat beside him.  She almost fell over the bench as she caught his look and the message written there.
    ‘Hi, Sam, nice of you to join us.  Everyone, this is Sam, she is the New Projects Manager, who will be based in Mondongo.'
    All the metallurgists at the table waved or said hi to her.  She blushed.  She was not used to the attention.  She also was not in the habit of having liaisons with fellow workers on a mine site.  She told herself to behave and finished her lunch.
    That afternoon, Jim called her into his office.
    ‘I’d like you to do a diamond run to Mondongo for me,’ he said.
    ‘A what?  I’m sorry I have no idea what it is.’
    ‘It’s pretty simple.  You take the diamonds to Mondongo with the government officials, who collect them here and deliver them to the central bank.  You don’t have to do anything, just tag along as witness to the transaction.’
    ‘But I’ve only just got here.’
    ‘It only takes a day.  You’ll come straight back on the next flight to Kardo.’
    ‘So when do I have to do it?’
    ‘Not yet.  I just wanted to give you a heads-up.  I’ll let you know in a week or so.  It depends on how much production we have.  It’s not safe to keep too many diamonds on site.  First we have to get you into the diamond sorting house so that you can see the procedures involved in there.’
    On the way home from the office, she noticed a large monkey sitting on an outhouse in the backyard of the house across the street from her.  He was sitting on his bottom with his hands on his open knees looking down from his perch on the wall like a Buddha.  She presumed that he was tied up, although she could not see any chain or cord.  He looked oddly human sitting serenely on his perch.  She was jealous of his calm.
    Despite her willingness to get involved with production, the attitude of the other senior staff made it clear that she was not wanted on site.  Only Jorge and Jim talked to her at all.  She was finding it hard to sleep as the power plant could not cope when the air conditioning was switched on in all the residences and often conked out at night.
    When she got home she found that her dirty clothes, which had disappeared the day before, were folded in a neat, clean pile on her bed.
    Sam listened to the news on the BBC World Service on her radio as often as was practical.  The news about Tamazia was not good.  MARFO had suspended co-operation with international observers