When the water stopped falling, the Talisan guard spoke. "At the end of your shift, you will be brought through this room. You will deposit your work clothes in a pile just like this one, and then proceed to the rinse area. The table beside the clothes pile has soap. Make as little or as much use of it as you will. When the rinse is complete, you will proceed to the next room, where you will be sonically dried. In the room following that, you will be issued a new set of work clothes.
"When you are dressed, proceed through the next door to the chow line. Fill your bowl to the brim and eat all that you can, as this will be your one main meal per day. During your shift, a bread slave and a water slave will be bringing you bread and water every four hours. You will have to time your eating and drinking so that you continue to meet your quotas. When you are finished in the chow line, I would recommend that you go straight to your bunk and make full use of it until your shift starts. Tomorrow, your exciting new life on Telfor will begin. Hahahaha!"
The stew provided was not of the best quality, but it was designed to provide the nutrition needed to keep the slave miners working. I was given two bowls and ate every gram of the overly salted mixture that I could scrape from the bowls’ bottoms. We were then marched back to our bunks and told to sleep until our shifts would begin.
As I lay back on my bunk, I looked around at the new Feldon slaves who surrounded me. All eyes were open wide as the reality of where they were began to fully set in. Even though the bunk room smelled of the many poorly washed slaves sleeping within it, it was kept in a relatively sanitary condition.
The Talisans knew how to work their slaves to get the maximum production from them. There was a cost to obtaining new slaves, and while there was nothing of substance done to make slave life easy, it was understood that a relatively happy slave was a productive slave. I forced myself to sleep for the remainder of my personal time.
Five minutes before the new shift began, a loud buzzer sounded, rousting us from our sleep as the prior shift’s crew headed to their bunks. Other than the introduction of new slaves, the operation ran continuously. We were marched down a long hall to a large elevator. From there we descended nearly a half kilometer into the base of the mountain before the elevator stopped. We were led to a room with standard miner’s gear, picks, shovels, hammers, and pry bars.
The sixteen miners of least stature and strength were then separated from our group of forty-eight. They would be bringing the bread, water, and any tool replacements that we required, and would be responsible for hauling away the material we dug out of the shafts.
The gelana ore was difficult to mine by hand, and inhalation of the lead dust over long periods of time was deadly to most species. Humans had a high tolerance for lead as compared to most others. Gruntas were immune to its effects.
I grabbed my pick, shovel, hammer, and pry bar and was directed down a shaft. "You, Grunta, go down here. You will find the start of a new vein about a hundred meters down. Work that vein until it runs dry. And I have been told to keep an eye on you to make sure your production stays well above the others. If you fail to do so, I will happily report it to the supervisor. Now, get to work!"
The Talisan attempted to give me a shove as I walked past him. To his dismay, he was unable to affect my progress, instead pushing himself slightly backward. I chuckled as I continued to walk.
When I reached the ore vein, I turned to see Garmon standing behind me with a smile. "I’ll be loading for you, Mr. Beutcher."
I nodded as I eyed the crude conveyor that ran the length of the shaft we had just come down. As I looked it over, the conveyor came to life. It was time to begin work on our quota.
I pointed at the conveyor. "Do your best to keep up, Garmon. We will try to keep as close to the quota as we can. We could do more, but they would then always expect more. So, we will give them only what they asked for."
I turned around with the pick and began striking the gelana vein. The first few minutes saw little progress. However, I soon developed a technique that would keep me digging at the necessary pace to meet quota. While the labor was very physical, my frame was well designed for that purpose. I pulled the ore from the wall, and Garmon drug it up the shaft to be loaded onto the conveyor.
The sixteen-hour shift was a long and arduous undertaking. In our first day, Garmon and I had managed almost four meters of digging. I was told that most veins ran tens of meters at best and were generally only a few centimeters wide. As we hit the third meter, the ore vein widened. Our quota had become easier to attain.
The following week saw us falling into a routine that for me was easily sustained. Garmon was doing his best to keep up, and other than the lead inhalation from the dust, he was holding his own.
After our seventh day in the mines, I lay back in my bunk.
Jallis said, "We have got to devise a way out of here. The guards are sloppy. They often come too close. I could run through the one who watches over me with a pick before he knew what hit him."
I replied, "I too could easily overpower my guard. Our problem lies in what we would do next. The forward guards have little more than shock sticks to prod us along. Here, in the showers and bunk room, I have only seen one guard with a blaster rifle. If we were to exit the mine with that single blaster, we would not fare well against the Talisan guards outside. There are too many."
Jallis continued, "What if we were able to get that blaster and to make it down into the jungle? Certainly we would be able to defend ourselves against bears with a blaster. I have to do something. The anger inside grows with every swing of the pick. I’m afraid that I will just one day explode and start something I cannot stop."
I replied, "I noticed that the guards are fed from the same vat of stew that we are. They do not eat here with us, it is carried to them. What we need is to get the person doing that to feed us information. I suspect that we will have to deal with the self-proclaimed Feldon Governor over there."
Jallis looked over at the Feldon that had surrounded himself with females. "Hmm. He surrounds himself with women like he is some kind of emperor or something. He works down the same shaft that I do. Perhaps it’s time he met with an untimely death. Anyone who puts themselves in such a position of power when others are struggling to survive does not deserve to live."
I shook my head. "Perhaps it’s time we had a talk with him instead. He may already have the information we seek."
Garmon grinned. "If he was on our side, we could take over the whole mine!"
Jallis looked over and scowled. "And what are we going to do with a thousand freed miners? No, we need to keep our group small. We need to take control when one of those transports is out there so we can take it and then go take a ship. If we don’t have a ship, we are essentially dead."
I replied, "It's true that we will need a transport to escape this planet and a ship to escape this system. Those are much bigger tasks than escaping from this mine."
Jallis lay back and looked up at the ceiling. "Even so, I would still prefer to die in that jungle out there. Every swing of my pick in here only makes the Talisans wealthier. As I said, my anger inside grows with every swing."
With the fatigue of the day, we were all soon fast asleep. Jallis’s complaints had become part of our nightly bunk ritual. I found the physical labor to be grueling, but easily handled. Jallis was on the verge of breaking.
The following day, I caught Javel Gerkam as he was getting up for his shift. "Mr. Gerkam, I would like to have a word with you."
Javel smiled. "I wondered when you would come crawling. Life in the mines is hard. I can get favors from the guards. Would you be interested in joining my personal security team?"
I shook my head. "I would be interested in information. Who feeds the guards? What are their habits? Do we know how many there really are?"
Javel shook his head. "Grunta, it sounds like you wish to escape. I don’t think you have thought this through. Let’s say that you managed to overpower a guard and to escape dow
n into the jungles. Even if you could protect yourself from the bears, where would you go? They would hunt you down from the air and snuff you out with the press of a button."
I sat on the bunk next to him. "That is why we need a plan that will take us all the way to the spaceport. From there we hijack a shuttle and then take over a ship in orbit. Of course, all the planning in the world for that is useless if we can’t successfully get out of this mine."
Javel again shook his head. "When you said we, I felt as if you were looking at me. Are you including me in your plans already?"
I replied, "I am including everyone. However, I must first escape this planet. If you help me by providing the information I desire, I will come back and liberate this planet from the slavers."
Javel laughed out loud before quieting to where he could speak. "Liberate this planet? And just how would one Grunta do that? I will say, you do dream much bigger than any who have come before you. I have been in this mine for two and a half years. During that time I have watched a dozen slaves who attempted escape. Only one made it to the jungle, and I heard the guards talking about how he didn’t last an hour. I don’t know, Grunta; why would I risk providing information to someone I believe to be a high risk? In three and a half years I will be eligible for release. Why would I jeopardize that?"
I stood. "Because you are tired of swinging a pick, you are tired of building wealth for those who hold you captive, you are tired of seeing your fellow Feldons suffer and die. And, because you know deep down that there is no release from being a slave. That is propaganda designed to give hope where there is no hope. Hope keeps people alive, Mr. Gerkam. They will work harder and produce more for the Talisans if they believe that one day they can return to their former life. It is a false promise that will never be fulfilled."
Javel Gerkam spoke. "I have a shift to work. I will think about your offer. I would not discuss this with anyone else. There are those here who would seek favor by outing any discontent. Trust no one."
Javel Gerkam left for his shift. I walked back to my bunk, where an anxious Jallis lay waiting.
I sat. "I don’t think he will help us. And I am concerned that he may take this as an opportunity to turn us in."
Jallis glared at the departing Feldon Governor. "He deserves a pick to the back of the head. I would gladly be the one to deliver it."
I shook my head. "We can’t do such without risking reprisal from the Talisans. There are probably a hundred Javels in this room just waiting to take his place. We will see him again at shift change in two days. He will let us know his decision then."
I lay back in my bunk. As I closed my eyes, I began to think about Joni Salton. Was she still alive? And Garrett Rourke, was he still moving about freely as Ded Williams? I then thought of the New Alliance. Was the decline continuing? Had more colonies rebelled? And what of the war in Andromeda? My head was filled with questions that I could not answer. Sleep came slowly.
Chapter 9
As we were coming off shift, I came out of the chow room and headed for Javel Gerkam’s bunk. I took note of the five guards in the room, there was normally only one. I sat on the bunk across from Javel as he prepared himself for the day.
Javel had a nervous look about him as I sat. It was a look I had seen a thousand times before when doing ship inspections. If a party was up to no good, they usually had a way of revealing it through their body language and tone of voice. Javel was smiling nervously as he dressed.
I spoke. "You seem a little unsettled this morning. Is something bothering you?"
Javel stopped. "Why, no. Nothing wrong with me. Is there something you want?"
Through my peripheral vision I could see that all five guards were looking our way. At that moment, I had no doubt that Javel Gerkam was attempting to turn me in. I was certain he possessed a microphone that allowed the Talisans to listen to our conversation. I decided it was time to turn the tables on the traitor.
I replied, "Yes, I wanted to talk to you about what we discussed at our last meeting."
Javel’s expression changed to one of a Mannard cat that had cornered its prey. "Go on, Mr. Beutcher. I am listening."
I lowered my voice and leaned forward as if to not be heard. "I do not want to be involved in your scheme to escape."
Javel’s expression changed. "What?"
I continued, "The Talisans have treated me fairly so far. I can produce for them for six years and get my life back. Why would I jeopardize that with an attempt to escape? Where would I go? I am sorry, Javel, I cannot be the muscle you seek for such a purpose. You will have to find someone else."
I abruptly stood and walked back towards my bunk before Javel Gerkam could reply. I lay back on my bunk and watched through the corner of my eye as the Talisan guards approached his position. Javel raised his hand and began trying to explain what had just happened. The Talisan did not care. Javel was implicated, and he would pay the price for his treachery. One of the Talisan guards walked past my bunk with a smile as the other four dragged a screaming Javel across the room toward the outer door.
Jallis spoke. "What did you do? Why did they take away Javel? Not that I am unhappy about that, but it doesn't make sense."
I replied, "Javel was going to turn us in. I could sense it in our first discussion. I told my shaft guard that I thought he was going to make an attempt at escape and that I would try to get him more information on it. The guard seemed happy to have reason to take down Javel. I don't think the Talisan liked him either.
"When I saw the extra guards in the room, I knew Javel was planning to turn me in. The easy way would have been to use a microphone so the guards could listen to our conversation. Javel did that for me. Instead of talking about our plans, I told Javel that I was not interested in being a part of his scheme to escape. I then left before he could respond."
Jallis grinned and began to laugh as he glanced over toward the doorway. "You are cold, Mr. Beutcher. Brilliant, but cold. Remind me to never contemplate crossing you."
I turned my head to look at Javel’s bunk. "Jallis, this is an opportunity for you to assume the title of Governor. I think you should go and take Javel’s bunk. I will follow and take the bunk beside you. The other Feldons who may have had designs on that position won’t dare confront you if I am at your side."
Jallis smirked. "Governor, in a slave mine, what a ridiculous notion."
Jallis thought for a moment and then stood. "But, I see reason in your words. There are two other groups who are in discussion while they are eying the open bed. Follow me, Mr. Beutcher. It’s time we took control."
As Jallis walked toward the bunk, the two other Feldons scowled and moved towards it as well. Another set of Feldons then moved on the bunk from a far corner. After a purposeful pause, I rose and followed Jallis. The other Feldons stopped and stared. Their prize had quickly been taken by another. The four Feldons returned to their bunks with unhappy looks on their faces. I pulled two bunks together next to Jallis and lay down. Garmon, Alto, and Riga, as well as half a dozen other Feldons that had come in with us, followed. Just like that, there was a new Feldon Governor in Mine-44 on Telfor. Jallis Karmea would command the attention of the others.
Jallis looked around at the females that were all bunking near him. "You are all released to go back to your groups. You may stay if you desire, but that is up to you."
Within a few minutes of the takeover, two other Feldons converged on Jallis’s bunk. "I am Herl Rada, and this is Gami Freko. We represent one hundred fifty others in this room. If you are assuming the position as Governor, what would be your demands?"
Jallis pursed his lips. "There are none at this time. I will from time to time ask for information. I will not be demanding rations or favors, I will not be asking all the females to bunk around me, and I will not be a rat for the Talisans. We are Feldons, we are stuck in this horrific place together. We should be supportive of one another, not abusive. I will attempt to be fair in my dealings with all in this room.
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br /> "If a dispute cannot be settled between two parties, bring it to me. I will decide, and that decision will be binding on both parties. We don’t need to give the Talisans reason to mistreat us because we cannot resolve our own problems. The best we can do, to one day ensure our freedom, is to stay alive. If anyone is falling behind on their quota due to temporary illness, let others pitch in to help. If the illness is chronic, however, we are only postponing the inevitable. Life here is a harsh reality; keeping ourselves alive and healthy will be our priority."
When the two Feldons left for their bunk, I said, "Now that sounded like someone with leadership abilities. I was not expecting such a speech from you."
Jallis lay back in his bunk. "I ran a construction crew of forty-eight back on the Dellis IV colony. I had a good supervisor who taught me the best way to get productivity out of those who worked for you was to inspire them in any way you could. Talk is cheap, and over the course of a few years I found I was able to get more work out of my crews by being fair and talking the talk. I know that I have been a hothead since I met you, but I was never like that in my business life, only personal, which is probably why I never found a mate. Feldon females do not respond well to anger."
I replied, "Well, I think we need to get some sleep. The coming shift is always long, and we need our rest. While you are swinging your pick tomorrow, try to spend some mental energy on what we can do to make use of your new position. We will find out if they allow you to make assignments or not. If so, we can put our own people on the chow crew for the guards. This little coup may have been just what we needed to gather the information we seek."
Jallis nodded. "Thank you, and good night, Mr. Beutcher."
I smiled. "Good night, Governor."
During the few weeks that followed, we placed a half dozen people in positions that brought us the information we sought. Guard schedules, postings, weapons that were carried, and the number of guards at the mine told us what we needed to plan for.
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