by Thadd Evans
“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 androids, Qoowo miners stepped forward and picked up chunks of metal—Perovskite—and tossed them into the back of an SMT. As its engine groaned louder, the vehicle drove away, inching its way up the tunnel.
Baaax glanced over his shoulder. “Jason, I’m going back to Icir.”
“I need to see your ID.”
Baaax grimaced. “If you insist. He yanked his tablet out. The screen appeared. He was from Dadim, a town near Icir’s equator. For nine years, while he was on Icir, working for Hitiec Corporation, he had designed five-legged nanites, microscopic androids that folded up into balls, making it easier for WADI’s titanium muscles to function more efficiently.
He was the real Baaax.
I mentioned that both doctors wanted to leave Danig soon, then gave him the exact day and departure time.
Baaax hesitated. “That’s a good idea.”
I imported his payment and sent a ticket into his database.
“Fi is over there.” Baaax pointed at the last robot, an android on the far end of the room.
I walked there and paused next to a lanky Aito man, a humanoid with a goatee. He pivoted and began staring at me, a worried expression on his countenance.
“You are Fi?”
“Yes.”
“Baaax just told me that you want to go back to Icir.”
He nodded. “Yes. I just made up my mind. I could have made a lot of money on Nooa, but it’s too hazardous. A week ago, eleven men in Lah, a mountain range in that planet’s southern hemisphere, died of encephalitis. Doctors say that there are too many lethal viroids in the drinking water.”
I mentioned the departure date and time.
“Count me in.” Fi raised one hand. His ID materialized. While at Diyy University, a school two thousand miles southwest of Wcip, he had studied and improved RL, a photonic computer language that the WADI’S used to recognize 6012 crystalline structures, making it easier for these robots to locate the Perovskite.
RL, which recognized a hundred eighty thousand different types of impedance as it organized coring sample databases, made it possible for WADI’s to recognize a variety of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic strata faster.
His ID was authentic. After retrieving his payment, I exported a ticket.
I said, “Thanks. I’m going to Rougt and marry my girlfriend. See you at the hangar.”
Fi grinned. “Congratulations.”
I turned and walked behind the robots.
Without warning, one of them stepped back, blocking my path.
Baaax yelled, trying to shut off the WADI, “Stop! Cancel.S!”
The android’s arm hit a ceiling support. The roof started caving in.
A miner screamed.
Chapter Twenty
All around me the chamber was dark, no lights anywhere.
Not far away, several miners were grumbling, every word incoherent.
We were trapped!
My legs and waist were covered by dirt. I turned left and right, but the dirt didn’t move.
Damn!
I reached down, my adrenaline pumping, and starting digging. At the same time, I sniffed dusty air, and uttered a command, “Shm.on.”
My shoulder-mounted flashlight didn’t work.
I reached up and pushed a button on the back of the device. The light still didn’t come on—a falling rock had broken it. I announced, “Ey.inf.on.” My mechanical left eye switched to infrared. Much to my surprise, I glimpsed dimly lit shapes—miners, some crouched, others stooped. Apparently, only I could see.
Fi shouted, “The WADI’s can’t move!”
A miner yelled, “If we can’t get out of here, we’re all gonna run out of air and die.”
After a couple of tugs, I yanked both legs free and looked around.
To my right, the robot’s heads—egg-shaped body parts sticking out of fallen debris—started rotating, studying the cave.
All around them, everyone else—moving silhouettes, barely visible in the dim light—couldn’t stand because of a low ceiling.
In front of me, Baaax announced, “Don’t give up! Grab a shovel and dig. My guess is that in a couple of hours, Emhe’s team will dig us out with an excavator.”
A miner kicked dirt. “Ank! You better be right. Fuck! Shit!”
Another one bellowed, “I can’t reach anybody with my tablet!”
An angry voice announced, “Mine’s only picking up a lot of distortion!”
Baaax yelled, “Keep digging! Forget the tablets!”
About forty minutes later I halted next to a wall, took the VADB arm extension off my pant leg, and strapped it to my wrist.
“What the hell is that?” Baaax glanced at the device.
“It’s used for climbing and drilling holes.”
“It’s small. How can you see in this poor light?”
“My mechanical left eye just switched to infrared.”
“I thought you were a human.”
I told him about myself.
“Interesting. Good luck. Right now, we need all the help we can get.” He kept shoveling. “Ank.”
The drill started boring.
On the opposite side of Baaax, a Qoowo miner spat on a rock. “All I’ve got is this lousy ass pickax!”
Behind the miner, another one shouted, “I can dig out WADI Three-Zero-Three in two hours!”
Baaax yelled back, “Don’t give up! Work as fast as you can!”
Just over hour later, while sweat poured down my forehead, I said, “Oxy.on,” activating my bottled
oxygen. I inhaled the bottled air as my drill bored deeper.
Baaax sighed. “My oxygen tank is low. I’m going to run out of air soon. After that, I’m going to die.”
“We can share my oxygen.”
“Thanks. I’ll tell you after I use up mine.”
“No problem.”
All too soon, Baaax muttered, “I’m out of oxygen.”
I took the canister off my sleeve and gave it to him.
“Thanks.”
“No problem.” I shoved my extension into piled up dirt. The device started rotating. As my adrenaline pumped harder the drill bit created a tiny opening. Dim light illuminated my face. I inhaled. “Fresh air is coming through a hole I just created.”
Baaax shouted, “Are you kidding me?”
“I am not.”
“I don’t believe it.” He looked inside the hole. “Holy shit! We made it.” He chuckled, happy to be alive, and gave me back the canister.
“What’s your name?” A miner coughed.
“Jason.”
“What’s your last name?”
“Six-Sixty-Four”
“No. What’s your real name? Nobody has a number for a last name.”
“Six-Sixty-Four. I’m a cloned human, a C.”
“Damn. Whoever the fuck you are, you saved our asses.”
“Glad to help.”
“Jason, are you going to take your wife back to Icir?” Baaax inquired politely.
“No. I don’t have enough money. Someday, if I make a lot of it, I’ll return and take her with me.”
Chapter Twenty-One
To my right, in front of Baaax, a boomer drill broke through piled-up dirt.
Baaax wiped sweat off his face. “Fi, the boomer will remove this dirt in an hour or so, then drive in here and help us clean up. It’s going to be expensive and time–consuming, but at least we’re alive.”
Fi stepped over a pile of dirt. “Baaax, I hope the tunnel doesn’t collapse on Dr. Nees and Dr. Sim.”
“Knowing Lyso and Raui, it might.”
“Do Dr. Nees and Dr. Sim know Lyso and Raui as well as we do?” Fi paused, scowling.
“I only received one email from Dr. Nees. The only thing he mentioned was the fact that they needed to know who was going to pick them up at the hangar.”
Not wanting the miners to hear their conversation, Fi whispered into Baaax’s ear, “It sounds like Boma can’t reach them because his tablet isn’t working. They need to know that Lyso and Raui want them to remove nineteen tons of Perovskite within four months.”
“In the last two days, I’ve sent Dr. Nees and Dr. Sim eighteen emails. But I haven’t received anything from them.”
Fi shook his head, disgusted. “What a mess.”
“A week ago, I told Lyso and Raui that we’re working too fast. The tunnels are more likely to collapse. They said I should go back to work and stop bothering them.”
Fi sighed. “It’s the same problem. After we leave, Dr. Nees and Dr. Sim will have to put with them.”
I said, “Baaax, I assume that Dr. Nees and Dr. Sim are robotic specialists.”
“Yes. However, I can’t tell you any more because I signed an NDA.”
I paused. “You signed a non disclosure agreement that’s enforced on Danig and Icir?”
Baaax nodded. “Yes.”
After leaving the mine, I heard a scraping noise, and glanced to the right.
Close by, hundreds of Urus were circling a parked SMT.
Not far beyond them, Boma emerged from a giag, and waved at me.
I pushed a Urus aside with my boot. Ooop, ooop. All around me, the rest of them began chewing weeds.
“Jason, are you ready?” Boma took a few steps toward me.
“Yes. I want to sign the marriage license and have that ceremony sometime today. Unfortunately, I have to leave for Icir soon.”
Boma nodded. Both of us hopped inside the giag and drove off.
Behind us, a security guard with a baritone voice said, “Yesterday, our giag had to stop because a tree the wind had knocked down was blocking the road. After we jumped out of the cab, a sand-colored Tiel showed up, and we started shooting. However, a few moments before we finished it off, I glanced over my shoulder, and noticed that a mahogany Tiel had sneaked up behind us. It bit my friend’s arm off, and swallowed him.”
“Why didn’t you kill the mahogany one before it swallowed him?” Smoky voice, another guard, began staring at him.
Baritone replied, “Although we kept firing, it took several minutes to kill the sand Tiel. If anyone of us had stopped shooting, it would have eaten us. After we finished it off, I looked over my shoulder. The mahogany one was gone—it had crawled away.”
A guard with a hoarse voice cursed, “Ank! I’m tired of seeing my friends die.”
Everyone paused for a moment, trying to settle down. The giag hit a bump, then shook.
Boma grinned. “Jason, a miner at Crec told me that Baaax, Fi, and a lot of the miners are impressed because you dug out a hole after the walls caved in. Your efforts saved their lives.”
“Word gets around fast.”
“In this case, yes.”
Baritone blurted, “You’re one helluva of a man. I’m going to tell my friends about you!”
“Thanks.”
Eighty feet down the road, not far above it, a small flock of birds with crimson wings and vermillion beaks began squawking.
“What are those called?” I squinted, trying to see them more clearly,
Boma replied, “According to my database, they’re Musi Aaus, a harmless species.”
“I’m going to miss Ieeb.”
Boma drew an S shape in the air with one finger, an Ulthe gesture indicating that he understood my sorrow.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The giag parked. Everyone climbed out, moving toward the path.
Boma glanced at me. “We can hold the wedding anytime you like.”
I announced cheerily, “If Ieeb is here, let’s do it in the next few minutes.”
Boma smiled. We entered Building Three.
Boma said, “I’ll be in Room D, printing the marriage license.”
“We’ll be there soon.” I turned. The door to Ieeb’s room slid open.
She wasn’t inside. I entered and sat on the bed, wondering when she would arrive.
The door opened. Ieeb walked in.
“I just arrived.” I told her about my plan.
Ieeb kissed me and cooed, “Let me change into better clothes.” She hurried off and turned left, entering a walk-in closet, a room I couldn’t see.
Ieeb announced, “A few minutes ago, I heard guards talking about the accident in the Crec mine. I was worried to death.”
“Yes, it was horrible, bloody awful.”
“Hopefully, I can do something to make you feel better.”
“That would be nice. I’m covered with dust. I need to take a shower.”
“Do whatever you like. I don’t care if you’re dirty.” She stepped out of the other room. She had put on a skin-tight ivory wedding dress that revealed her cleavage.
“That’s one sexy outfit. If you guards see that, they’ll drool at you.”
Ieeb smiled. “I’ll take it off after the ceremony.”
I smiled.
We entered Room D.
Boma looked at us. “Putting your fingertips on this tablet will sign the marriage certificate.”
We placed them on the device, smiling as we did.
He put the tablet away, removed two rings from his chest pocket, and handed both to me. He smiled. “Jason, Ieeb. These wedding rings are extraordinary. They’re made of nanites. Fi and Baaax created them especially for you. They’re gifts.”
I raised both eyebrows, impressed. “Thank you.”
Ieeb whispered, “Prox,”
A recorded translation came out of my earplugs. Prox, short for the star Proxima Centauri, means a deep thanks from my heart.
Boma grinned. “I’ll u
se an abbreviated Dseo wedding script.”
Ieeb ran her fingers through her hair, preening. “That’s fine.”
Boma cleared his throat. “In the mountains of Oraing, near the Nof valley, lonely souls wander without love. They sing of better times, when they were among friends. Despite the pain, they continue because Aaip, the Prophet, says that doing so will help them reach their goals.
“Although the Doib, Aaip’s devotees, wish that he was less demanding, they know that searching enriches the soul.
“Ieeb Pree, do you take this man, Jason Six-Sixty-Four, to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
“I do.”
“Jason Six-Sixty-four, do you take this woman, Ieeb Pree, to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“I do.”
Boma raised his chin, a friendly gesture. “You may kiss the bride.”
We pressed our lips together and pulled away.
She smiled.
I placed the oversized platinum-colored ring on her finger. It changed into a different color, azure, and shrank until it fit.
I put on my huge bronze ring. Near the top, a gold flower spread out. Within moments, the entire ring was gold.
Ieeb announced, an amazed expression on her face, “The lines on my ring keep moving. It’s alive!”
Boma grinned. “The rings will help you. As time passes, you will understand them better. Think of them as friends.”
“Boma, how do you know this?” I rubbed my chin, curious.
“Fi told me a little about them, but he said it should be a secret. Think of it as a nice surprise.”
“Can’t you tell me anything else?” I glanced at the ring.
Boma shook his head. “Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.”
Ieeb and I smiled and walked toward her room.
Ieeb removed her dress and lay on her back. Her belly was somewhat swollen, the pregnancy more obvious.
A tentacle came out of her vagina. Ieeb pointed at the tentacle and whispered, “This is my Eoos. Now that my body is more comfortable with you, it wants to provide comfort.” The Eoos slowly wrapped around my penis and balls and started massaging them. Soon it pulled my stiff organ inside her. She wrapped her legs around my waist and kissed me, then murmured, “I will love you until the day I die. No matter how far away you are, I’ll think of you.”
