from the law—? ///
the quarx mused.
/// You mean, like in the Old West? ///
/Huh? What are you talking about?/ Bandicut shook his head, feeling as though he had skipped a beat. /The Old West? You mean, the American Old West?/
/// Right.
Outlaws and sheriffs.
Like on TV. ///
Bandicut rolled his eyes up, and for the first time today, laughed out loud in genuine amusement. / Christ Charlie—give me a break! Now, let's go!/ He straightened his collar and headed out into the corridor with brisk, floating strides, as the quarx muttered to itself in quiet puzzlement.
*
Things seemed pretty subdued in the ops center when he walked in. If any excitement had been generated by his disappearance, it seemed to have died down by now. Two of the mining dispatchers glanced his way in momentary curiosity, but he just nodded back with his very best expression of unconcern, and they didn't give him a second glance. Only Georgia Patwell, who had apparently just taken over the exo-op comm seat, flashed him a brief, quizzical smile before turning her attention back to her console. It would have been nice if he could have reported to her, but there would be no such luck.
Lonnie Stelnik was hunkered down in the back of the ops room, drinking coffee and poring over sector reports. He was tall and lanky, with vulturous eyes, a beak-shaped nose, and an expression that discouraged conversation. When Stelnik looked up, the expression changed from boredom to condescension. As the exo-op who'd been on duty, he was Bandicut's super for the work shift and therefore the one to whom Bandicut had to explain himself.
/// You don't like this man? ///
/No./ Bandicut nodded to Stelnik.
/// May I ask...why not? ///
/Let's just say he's not afraid to step on people's necks to get to the top./
/// ??? ///
"Bandicut." Stelnik crossed his arms over his chest. "What the hell happened out there? You vanished without a word. And we interrupted a lot of work to go looking for you. Then here you come, riding in like a knight from battle."
"What, would you rather I hadn't made it back?" Bandicut snapped. "I had an equipment malfunction!" Great, he thought, it takes exactly ten seconds to blow up at this jerk. Gotta keep a lid on it.
Stelnik shrugged. "We sent out the robots, didn't we? Now, do you mind telling me what you were doing way out past position Wendy?" Stelnik leaned back, stretching out while peering down his nose at Bandicut. His eyes glinted. "Plus, I've got this report here from Rawlins in maintenance, saying you did some serious damage to your rover. You want to tell me about it? Jackson's not gonna like this, you know."
Bandicut felt a second flash of irritation. " I didn't do anything to the rover. Don't blame me for equipment failures, all right?" He swallowed at the half-truth.
Stelnik shrugged, unfolded his arms, and flicked on a holoscreen. "Okay, you can give me the whole story in a second. You can tell Cole at the same time."
Bandicut groaned inwardly.
/// What's wrong? Who's Cole? ///
/Cole Jackson. Director of Survey Operations./
/// You don't like him, either? ///
/Let's just say, between Stelnik and Jackson, it's hard to say who's the more self serving. Cole's going to be mad as hell, because we screwed up his nice, neat work charts./
The quarx seemed to twitch nervously.
/// You aren't going to try to tell them
about me, are you? ///
/These guys? Not on my deathbed. If I turn you in, it'll be to somebody I trust a lot more than these two./ That answer did not entirely soothe the quarx, he realized. He shrugged inwardly. /I hope you've thought of a good explanation for that damage to the electronics./
/// Uh...working on it... ///
Bandicut cleared his throat. "Listen, you mind if I sit?" It wasn't really necessary, in one-thirteenth Earth gravity, but he wanted to call Stelnik on his bad manners.
With an annoyed look, Stelnik twisted around and found a short stool under the counter, which he hauled out
the quarx mused.
/// You mean, like in the Old West? ///
/Huh? What are you talking about?/ Bandicut shook his head, feeling as though he had skipped a beat. /The Old West? You mean, the American Old West?/
/// Right.
Outlaws and sheriffs.
Like on TV. ///
Bandicut rolled his eyes up, and for the first time today, laughed out loud in genuine amusement. / Christ Charlie—give me a break! Now, let's go!/ He straightened his collar and headed out into the corridor with brisk, floating strides, as the quarx muttered to itself in quiet puzzlement.
*
Things seemed pretty subdued in the ops center when he walked in. If any excitement had been generated by his disappearance, it seemed to have died down by now. Two of the mining dispatchers glanced his way in momentary curiosity, but he just nodded back with his very best expression of unconcern, and they didn't give him a second glance. Only Georgia Patwell, who had apparently just taken over the exo-op comm seat, flashed him a brief, quizzical smile before turning her attention back to her console. It would have been nice if he could have reported to her, but there would be no such luck.
Lonnie Stelnik was hunkered down in the back of the ops room, drinking coffee and poring over sector reports. He was tall and lanky, with vulturous eyes, a beak-shaped nose, and an expression that discouraged conversation. When Stelnik looked up, the expression changed from boredom to condescension. As the exo-op who'd been on duty, he was Bandicut's super for the work shift and therefore the one to whom Bandicut had to explain himself.
/// You don't like this man? ///
/No./ Bandicut nodded to Stelnik.
/// May I ask...why not? ///
/Let's just say he's not afraid to step on people's necks to get to the top./
/// ??? ///
"Bandicut." Stelnik crossed his arms over his chest. "What the hell happened out there? You vanished without a word. And we interrupted a lot of work to go looking for you. Then here you come, riding in like a knight from battle."
"What, would you rather I hadn't made it back?" Bandicut snapped. "I had an equipment malfunction!" Great, he thought, it takes exactly ten seconds to blow up at this jerk. Gotta keep a lid on it.
Stelnik shrugged. "We sent out the robots, didn't we? Now, do you mind telling me what you were doing way out past position Wendy?" Stelnik leaned back, stretching out while peering down his nose at Bandicut. His eyes glinted. "Plus, I've got this report here from Rawlins in maintenance, saying you did some serious damage to your rover. You want to tell me about it? Jackson's not gonna like this, you know."
Bandicut felt a second flash of irritation. " I didn't do anything to the rover. Don't blame me for equipment failures, all right?" He swallowed at the half-truth.
Stelnik shrugged, unfolded his arms, and flicked on a holoscreen. "Okay, you can give me the whole story in a second. You can tell Cole at the same time."
Bandicut groaned inwardly.
/// What's wrong? Who's Cole? ///
/Cole Jackson. Director of Survey Operations./
/// You don't like him, either? ///
/Let's just say, between Stelnik and Jackson, it's hard to say who's the more self serving. Cole's going to be mad as hell, because we screwed up his nice, neat work charts./
The quarx seemed to twitch nervously.
/// You aren't going to try to tell them
about me, are you? ///
/These guys? Not on my deathbed. If I turn you in, it'll be to somebody I trust a lot more than these two./ That answer did not entirely soothe the quarx, he realized. He shrugged inwardly. /I hope you've thought of a good explanation for that damage to the electronics./
/// Uh...working on it... ///
Bandicut cleared his throat. "Listen, you mind if I sit?" It wasn't really necessary, in one-thirteenth Earth gravity, but he wanted to call Stelnik on his bad manners.
With an annoyed look, Stelnik twisted around and found a short stool under the counter, which he hauled out
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