18

 

It was one of the more unusual jobs assigned to the women of Mine Fourteen, but most of them clearly preferred it to their usual labors. For the past five days, they had been sent into scores of old unused tunnels, collecting up the small quantities of aronium left behind. Used to spending weeks and months in the same location, it came as a welcome relief, especially as the older tunnels were closer to the surface and unsullied by the dust of recent drilling. Every day, they were split into groups of four and sent off with two flashlights and a handcart to fill. The task involved hours of walking and searching, but with no guards around, nobody was complaining.

Cerrin had tried to make sure she worked with Yarni, but Stripe had managed to frustrate her efforts on previous occasions (she presumed he just did it to annoy her). He hadn’t been on duty today though, and Cerrin’s crew was Yarni plus two older women. As they hauled the cart through the tunnels, Cerrin did most of the heavy work and encouraged Yarni to sit on the cart and relax.

Though it was labor for the Vitaari, she actually enjoyed it. She liked the feeling of building up her body and being too tired to think at the end of the day. The cut was healing, but now that the swelling had reduced, she could see the full extent of it. It ran three inches, from just below her right eye to her jaw. But even this had one benefit: the other women—including the older pair—seemed friendlier. It was perhaps easier for them to understand her position now: she was just another victim of the Vitaari, like them.

Cerrin’s own view of the scar changed almost daily. It enraged her to know Talazeer had marked her for the rest of her life, but she knew it would also drive her on. More than one of the women had pointed out it might help her in another way: she would not catch the eye of the Vitaari now—perhaps they might leave her alone. Cerrin reckoned there was some truth to that, though it clearly didn’t apply to Stripe. It seemed she provided him with a source of entertainment he did not want to give up.

There was another reason she was feeling better: for two of the past five days, she had worked alongside Sadi. Nothing had been said openly yet, but the new arrival had disclosed a great deal about her time at Mine Six. Like Cerrin, she was one of the last captured (though that had been four years previous, not two), and she had faced hostility from those less minded to provoke their captors.

Neither of them had spoken explicitly of escape or resistance, but it was clear from Sadi’s attitude that both subjects were on her mind. Cerrin had been planning to expand their conversation that day, but Sadi had gone with another group. As they’d already discussed the fact that they were spending too much time together, Cerrin knew it was probably a sensible move.

Though she’d told herself several times to be careful, she craved a true ally. She had not expected that ally to arrive in the shape of a Palanian woman who seemed tougher and stronger than a lot of Echobe men.

“Look, there’s some,” said Yarni, jumping off the cart and running to collect some white-veined chunks of aronium ore. The others went to help her.

They worked on until they all agreed it was lunch time. The meals had been doled out in the morning, and they sat beside the cart at a four-way junction. When they finished eating, Yarni pestered the older women into singing, and the pair struck up a harmonious version of a traditional Echobe song. Yarni wanted to learn it, and soon Cerrin was the only one not singing along. Though the sound brought back pleasant memories, she could not make herself take part. After a while, she felt so uncomfortable she left them to it.

She hadn’t gone far along one of the adjoining tunnels when someone called her name. She turned around to see a woman walk-ing quickly across the junction. As the interloper passed a lamp, she saw it was Esteann, a woman who lived in the row beneath her in Block A.

“What are you doing down here?”

“I wanted to speak to you.” She pointed along the tunnel and continued past Cerrin, who followed, frowning. Esteann only stopped when they were well away from the others. She too was Echobe, from a village not far from Cerrin’s own. She was also around her age, with hair and skin the same hue as Cerrin. The two had been on good terms before Cerrin’s first escape attempt.

“About what?”

“I’ve seen you talking to that Sadi.”

Cerrin said nothing.

“You should know what people are saying.”

“Which is?”

“That she and those others were transferred here because there was something going on at their mine. They were planning something. The Vitaari couldn’t work out exactly who was behind it, but they split them up and sent them elsewhere. You should not let yourself be seen with her, Cerrin—with your history and hers. If the Vitaari even think you’re—”

“Who told you this?”

“Several people.”

“How do they know?”

“It adds up, Cerrin. We don’t get many new arrivals these days. Especially not groups.”

“If the Vitaari suspected anything, they would have just killed them.”

“A whole shift of workers? Not easy to replace.”

Cerrin paused. A lot of what Esteann said made sense, yet it only affirmed what she suspected: Sadi really was someone who could help her. But if Sadi were already under suspicion, she might be more trouble than she was worth.

“Cerrin, what has she told you?”

Even if Esteann were right, Cerrin needed to counter her suspicions. “She said they were moved because there was less work at the mine.”

“And you believe her?”

“Why should I believe you?”

Esteann cast a despairing look at the roof of the tunnel. “Cerrin, do you not understand? If they think you two are planning something, who’s to say they won’t divide our shift? Things are bad enough without being sent to gods know where. If not for us, think of yourself.” She pointed at the scar. “Look what they’ve done to you already. You know I wouldn’t betray you, but there are some who would.”

Cerrin thought for a moment about grabbing her, pinning her down and demanding the names. Dukas would be among them, she was sure. But that was the wrong move. Esteann and the others like her had to be convinced nothing was going on.

Now Cerrin pointed to the scar. “Just so you know, I did not get this because I tried to escape. Why do I speak to Sadi? Perhaps it’s because no one else but Yarni speaks to me.”

Esteann’s expression was one of regret. “We were close once. I came down here because I don’t want to see you hurt again.”

With that, Esteann turned and left.

Cerrin was long past the point of trying to see the other side of things. To her, Esteann and her kind were weak. When the moment came, she and the others would have to make their choice.

 

 

The caverns were silent but for the distant sound of snoring. Sonus was lying on his side, body obscuring the data-pad in case anyone happened to pass. The display occasionally flashed and one corner of the screen was obscured by the crack, but he could read most of the manual and what he saw fascinated him.

Though much of the technical language was beyond his understanding, the data clip was full of immaculately rendered schematics. All he had to do was touch a certain part and it would magnify and rotate, showing him every single section of the combat shell and how it worked.

One of the first things he’d noticed was how flexible the shells were in terms of how they attached to the body. There were supports and belts all over, and he realized after a while it could be adjusted for humanoids of different sizes and shapes.

This conclusion tallied with his other observations of the literature within the clip: the shells were not made by the Vitaari. It seemed they were manufactured by some foreign enterprise whose name and symbol appeared everywhere. Intrigued by this discovery, Sonus continued his survey, scrolling through pages showing the controls, the engines, and the armaments until his eyes ached and he had to look away.

When he returned to the first page—which listed the contents of the clip—he realized he had missed the most important section of all. Touching the Vitaari word for “access,” he was soon looking at dense text and several diagrams. After several partially successful attempts at translation, he established the basics of how the shells were activated before use. It seemed users had to be in possession of an authenticator chip. He surmised these were contained within the triangular ID cards the Vitaari all carried, some on cords around their necks. Without these, the shells wouldn’t even power up.

He made a mental note to add this to his list of questions for Nomora. According to Arkus, a freighter was due the following morning, and Sonus was almost tempted to pray the Lovirr would be on it. He’d been assigned to the maintenance yard ever since the lamp repairs and had ensured his present assignment—cleaning drill tracks—would take at least another day.       

He turned off the data-pad, then got up and walked over to the container. Lifting out the spare parts quietly was not easy, and it took him a while to secrete the data-pad and then replace them on top. It was a measure he felt he had to take; though the Vitaari had not conducted an inspection of the caverns in months, they might do so at any time.

Sonus returned to bed. He watched the white mist of his breath and pulled the blankets up to his neck. When he closed his eyes, all he saw was the triangular ID cards. Somehow, he had to get one.

 

 

Cerrin was also cold. She stood in complete darkness behind Block A, waiting for Sadi. Yarni had come up to her compartment just before lights out and whispered the message without the Palanian sisters noticing. Cerrin reckoned an hour had passed, but it was hard to be precise.

Hearing footsteps, she glanced around the corner of the container and watched a man leave the block and cross the five yards of ground to the latrine building. Occasionally—if the Vitaari guards on patrol heard someone step outside—they would shine their lights, but Cerrin had seen no sign of them tonight.

She recalled her first attempted escape. It had taken her almost an hour to get across the compound unseen before climbing the vehicle and getting over the wall. Unbeknownst to her, a pair of guards had been flying back to the mine in combat shells, and the machines had somehow detected her. The gate had opened, and more guards had tackled her fifty feet from the river.

Cerrin had seen Sadi in the elevator earlier but had purposefully avoided her, particularly as Esteann was there. Anyone awake and observant enough to have noticed her leave would know by now she had been gone a suspiciously long time, but she felt the risk was worthwhile.

The man returned to the block. Another figure came out not long after and walked straight into the shadows.

“Cerrin?”

“I’m here.”

They moved farther into the darkness.

“I had a visit from Esteann today. You know her?”

“I think so.”

“Looks like she and a few others have noticed us. She warned me off, told me you and your lot were moved here because the Vitaari thought you were up to something. That true?”

“What if it is?”

“Just answer me. Please.”

“It’s true.”

“And were you up something?”

“Me personally?”

“No games, Sadi. Just tell me.”

“Why should I, Cerrin? What if you’re an informer?”

The change in the Palanian’s tone startled Cerrin. It had been years since she’d met another female who might be able to take her on physically. Sadi was a foot shorter than her but undoubtedly as strong.

“Well? Are you?”

“You should not say that to me,” replied Cerrin. “Don’t ever say that to me.”

“You haven’t thought the same thing of me? Why all this dancing around the subject, then?”

Cerrin sighed. “Sooner or later, we’re just going to have to trust each other. I’d prefer sooner.”

“Me too. Yes, we were moved because there was something going on. The Vitaari realized they were missing some materials: mining equipment, explosives. They knew the theft had taken place on our shift, but they didn’t know who’d done it. This was months ago. Ten of us were sent to Eighteen, but after a few weeks they realized they didn’t have a lot of work so they moved us here.”

“Will Governor Yeterris know that?”

“No idea. But new arrivals are always watched anyway. We should be careful. Yarni can keep passing messages if we need her to.”

“I don’t think we should involve her.”

“We may not have a choice. Anyway, involve her in what? What are we doing, Cerrin?”

“You still haven’t told me if you were involved.”

Sadi stepped closer. “Was I involved? It was my idea. I wanted to blow every single Vitaari in that place into a thousand pieces.”

It was actually shocking—to hear someone else say something like that.

“Now what about you?” continued Sadi. “You’ve tried to get out of here before. Looking to try again?”

“Yes. But not just me. As many as will come with me.”

It felt good to say it.

“Us.”

“Us, then. And that’s not all. I want to burn this place to the ground.”

Cerrin saw a flash of teeth in the darkness as Sadi smiled.

“Do you have a plan?”

“I have an idea. I’m pretty sure they’ve done something to the wall—something to stop us going over.”

“They have. I’ve seen those wires before. It’s some sort of electrical charge.”

Cerrin wasn’t sure what that was, but it didn’t particularly matter. “If we can’t get over the wall, we have to go under.”

“A tunnel? From here?”

“Maybe.”

“The closest point of the wall has to be a hundred feet.”

“More like a hundred twenty,” said Cerrin. “But we won’t have to dig half of that.”

“What do you mean?” asked Sadi.

“I’ve had an interesting few days, touring around the top level. If I’m right, we’ll only have to dig two small tunnels instead of one big one. The Vitaari have already done most of the work for us.”