Empire of the Saviours (Chronicles of/Cosmic Warlord 1) by A.J. Dalton Page A

there would be no sun-metal, no weapons and no army. All would be lost, Freda! The Overlords depend on us. If I were to go off, all the other miners would have to work harder, but they already work as hard as they can, so it would break some of them, and I cannot have that on my conscience, truly I can’t. Besides, the Overseers and the miners of the levels above guard the way and wouldn’t let us up.’
    Freda puzzled and then said tentatively, ‘We can go our own way up. I can take us through the rock like I did with the cave-in. We can go now.’
    Norfred became tense now, as if upset. In a low voice, he said, ‘I … This is my home, Freda. I was born here, like my father before me.’
    ‘Are you scared, Norfred?’ she asked in confusion. She’d thought he wanted to see his son more than anything else. And she only wanted to make him happy.
    ‘Freda, I …’ He paused for a long moment. ‘I have never been above this level, let alone all the way up. What you’re suggesting is …’ He gave up again. ‘I am at this lowest of levels because it is my place. When I have worked long and hard, then I will ascend. Even that is not certain, because I am weak. But we don’t know what’s up there.’
    ‘You’re weak because of the poor food you eat, and your son is up there.’
    ‘Wait, wait. Freda, we’re happy here. You’re happy here, aren’t you?’
    ‘Yes, Norfred. I am happy when with you. You will be happier with your son, though, will you not?’
    ‘Enough, Freda! I don’t want to talk about it any more. I’ll think about it later, but I don’t have time right now. You heard the bell – we have to go and start work with the gang. We don’t want to be late.’
    ‘Yes, Norfred,’ she said miserably. ‘Don’t be angry with Freda, please.’
    He sighed and patted her arm again. ‘I’m sorry, Freda. I’ll think about it, I promise I will. Come on, let’s see if we can find enough sun-metal to make even Darus smile. Now that would be a thing to see, eh?’
    ‘Yes, Norfred,’ she said more happily.
    ‘It’s not enough!’ Darus spat at Norfred.
    Norfred frowned. ‘But it’s more sun-metal than we’ve ever collected. In just one shift we’ve found more than we did all of last year!’
    ‘Just because we’ve finally found a rich vein doesn’t mean we can slacken off and waste our time with celebration! Quite the opposite! We should be inspired to work even harder now that our efforts are finally beginning to bear fruit. We have kept the Overlords desperately short for far too long. We need to get the sun-metal to them as quickly as possible, so it can save us all, and perhaps even tip the balance of the war in favour of the Overlords. So stop your selfish and shameful whining, Norfred, and get that brute back to the workface.’
    Norfred placed himself between Freda and the Gang-leader. ‘She’s exhausted! You’ve had her working two shifts straight. Push her any further and she’ll become ill. Then where will we be? Don’t risk all we’ve achieved for the short-term!’
    ‘Are you forgetting who is Gang-leader here, old man?’ Darus sneered. ‘Are you becoming addled in your dotage? Do you forget who instructs who?’
    ‘It’s a-al-all right, I can work for a little more,’ Freda groaned.
    Norfred ignored her and drew himself up to his full height. Freda knew his back would suffer for it later. ‘Darus,’ Norfred rasped, ‘I am not so addled as to forget when I dandled you as a babe on my knee. I am not so addled as to forget having to tan your hide for stealing apples from the stores when you were a mere boy. I am not so addled as to forget you asking my advice when you were made a Gang-leader not so long ago. And I am not so addled that I cannot see when a man’s better judgement has been undone by his selfish ambition to ascend!’
    ‘How dare you!’ Darus blazed, his voice so loud it echoed throughout the level. Eyes wild with fury, he stepped forward and violently