by Kem Antilles
“I can’t shake them!” Jake said, not daring to tear his gaze from the screen.
Nog made no reply, but Jake could hear the Ferengi’s breath rasping with effort next to him. Nog had his hands full, too.
Jake zigzagged back and forth above the crystal tops, dipping up and down. Nothing seemed to work. “Can you help me yet, Nog?” he asked. If he could circle back and fly low, the excavator’s phaser cannon could take out at least one of the attackers, maybe both.
“I’m busy!” Nog said. “Don’t talk to me.” He sounded desperate.
Jake wet his lips. His palms were sweaty against the control stick.
A large crystal suddenly loomed in front of him. Jake twisted the flyer to the left, barely missing the obstacle. Both fighters tracking him pulled away.
Jake breathed a sigh of relief—just as a fourth attack fighter darted out of the crystal lattice ahead of him. It had been hiding there, waiting. The crystal maze in this area must be filled with them!
Panic clenched Jake’s stomach. There was no place to go … except down. He jammed the control stick forward, ducking under the new attack fighter—and right into the crystal latticework. It ripped at the wings of the flyer, jerking the craft from side to side.
He headed for a deep ravine a hundred meters ahead. The walls squeezed narrowly together, but there would be no jagged crystals to contend with. The screen showed a small stream along the bottom.
Maybe.
Jake shoved the throttle to full as soon as he came out of the crystal forest and dropped into the steep-walled ravine. The fighter followed him down, right on his tail. He had to time it just right.
Jake held his breath. He didn’t have much time. Ahead of him, the ravine narrowed and twisted. He wouldn’t be able to pilot his way through the turns, not at the speed he was going. And he couldn’t slow down. The fighter on his tail was too close.
It’s now or never, Jake thought. Gritting his teeth, he targeted a spot on the tiny stream and locked his phasers on.
Three … two … one!
Jake fired his phasers, at the same time feeding every ounce of power to the flyer’s engines. He saw the phasers score a direct hit on the water just as his flyer swept over the spot. An explosion of steam detonated behind him, billowing up from the river and engulfing the pursuing fighter
When the clouds of steam evaporated from Jake’s display screen, the fighter was gone. Jake let out a whoop.
“What happened?” Nog demanded in a sharp voice. “Was it good? I hope it was good.”
“Steam,” Jake said, laughing. “I used my phasers to superheat that river, and the sudden vaporization wiped out the ship chasing me.”
“Risky,” Nog said. “It could have gotten you.”
“But it didn’t,” Jake said. Then he noticed Dobb giving him a sidelong glance, a faint smile tugging one corner of her mouth.
“Back to work,” Nog said. “There’s no profit basking in past accomplishments.”
Jake circled his flyer back to Nog’s excavator. “I’m going to go for the vein of duranium in the side of that mountain,” he said, hoping that no more fighters were lurking in the crystals.
“But what if you bring the whole mountain down? I could be buried alive! Why not go for that pocket of gold farther away from the cliff face?”
“We’re running out of time,” Jake said. “If we don’t score some big points fast, Dobb will beat us again.”
Nog said dubiously, “It looks awfully dangerous.”
“Nothing risked, nothing gained,” Jake quoted. “Remember who said that?”
Nog squirmed in his seat. “The situation was different then.”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “That time, I was the one in the hot seat.”
“All right,” Nog finally agreed. “Just be careful.”
“No problem,” Jake said. “Watch this.” He banked the flyer in a tight turn and swooped in low, weaving his way between scattered crystal growths as he approached the side of the mountain.
As Jake swept close to the cliff face, he fired a quick disrupter burst at the base of the deposit, hoping to blast away just enough of the surface rock to uncover and dislodge the rich minerals beneath. If he did it exactly right, the deposits would slide down the side of the mountain to where Nog waited with the excavator. Easy pickings, compared to the usual time it took to dig a strip mine or tunnel beneath a hill to reach a vein of metal.
The rippling beam gouged the mountainside. Jake imagined rock exploding and rubble flying as he pulled away hard to avoid an outcropping just beyond the ore deposit.
“It didn’t work,” Nog said. “Nothing is sliding down.”
Jake frowned. “I must not have given it a powerful enough burst.” He gripped the controls and brought the flyer around for a second pass.
“It’s not going to work,” Nog said nervously. “We should move on to an easier deposit, before we waste all our time pursuing a fruitless venture.”
“It’ll work,” Jake said. “Trust me.”
Beside him, Nog grimaced. His pointed teeth flashed in the flickering light from the simulator screens.
“You’d better hurry,” Nog said. “Otherwise, we won’t have time to make it back to the ore hauler. Then we’ll lose lots of points.”
Jake ignored his friend, concentrating on the screen in front of him. He targeted the disrupters on the same spot, then swept in at the same angle.
“Here it comes! Look out!” Nog yelled.
Jake pulled away, avoiding the rock outcropping. Nog fired the excavator’s disrupters in blind panic, trying to pick off stray boulders that looked as if they might strike him. But the closest ones landed a hundred meters in front of the excavator.
Nog let out a sharp breath. “We did it!” The Ferengi boy cackled from the sudden release of tension, then clasped both clawed hands together in anticipation of all the raw duranium they would add to their score.
Jake peeked at Dobb’s score. He and Nog had narrowed the gap. They were less than one hundred points behind. It would all depend on which team brought the most valuable cargo of ore back to the hauler.
“We won!” Nog cried gleefully. “I knew we could do it! You and me!” He clapped Jake happily on the arm. “Double pay, and half of it’s all mine.”
Jake grinned as the realization sank in. He hadn’t fully appreciated how important it was for Nog to win. Unlike Jake, the Ferengi boy probably would see very little of his earnings if they didn’t get the highest score. Quark or Rom would end up “investing” Nog’s regular pay in some private scheme.
But all the risks they’d taken had paid off. Today, anyway. Tomorrow might be a different story. Still, it felt good to win.
Jake glanced at Dobb and Tandon. The Benzite stomped off in disgust, gases streaming from his breath mask. Jake felt bad for him, but not too bad. Benzites had a reputation for thinking they were better than everyone else. At least Dobb didn’t look too upset. She walked over and smiled grudgingly. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Jake said. “I guess we got lucky.”
“Some of it was luck,” Dobb admitted, “but not all of it. You pulled some crazy stunts down there. Especially that river steam maneuver.”
Jake wasn’t sure if she was complimenting him or not. He hoped she was. “I saw you do some pretty crazy things, too.”
Dobb shrugged. “Most of the time, those only get you in trouble. But not always. Sometimes taking risks is the only way to win.”
Jake got the impression she was speaking from first-hand experience—and not just when it came to working the simulators. Bajorans had become used to taking risks and accepting the consequences during their struggle against the Cardassians.
“See you tomorrow,” Dobb said. “Don’t expect to win again.”
“You, either,” Jake said.
Dobb laughed, then walked away. Jake had the feeling that she was looking forward to the competition.
CHAPTER 5
We r
eally showed Dobb today,” Nog said as he and Jake walked back to their quarters after their gaming shift. “That river steam maneuver you used to get away from the fighter was great. If we keep playing like that, I’ll be rich in no time!”
Jake raised his eyebrows. “Rich?” he said. “Just because we doubled our wages today, I wouldn’t call us rich anytime soon.”
Nog blushed. “Oh, uh,” he stammered. “I also made a few bets with some of the other players—that you could outscore Dobb, I mean. I saw an opportunity for profit.”
“Profit?” Jake said, feigning severity. “I’m helping you make a profit without knowing it?”
Nog rubbed his clawed hands together, a worried look on his face. “I didn’t want to put pressure on you, Jake,” he said. “Besides, I’ve been planning to split the winnings with you all along. Say, thirty-seventy?”
Jake had to look straight ahead to keep from laughing.
“Seventy percent for me? I can live with that.”
“Seventy…?” Nog said, dazed. “No. I meant seventy for me—”
Cut short by Jake’s uncontrollable laughter. Nog muttered under his breath, “You humans have no respect for profit.”
The boys fell silent as a Gorn mercenary guard from the mining corporation approached, a tall alien with a face like an Earth lizard and eyes like gold jewels. The Gorn glared suspiciously at them as it walked by, then turned a corner.
When they reached the door of their room. Jake sighed heavily. “I’m not really tired yet,” he said. “Do you want to get something to eat with the other gamers?”
“Well…” Nog said, and Jake knew the Ferengi boy was wondering if he could drink a fourth Antarian shake in one day. Nog’s stomach gurgled unhappily. “Maybe in a little while. You know, the food here is so extravagant. The mining company’s profits must be very good. If my Uncle Quark opened a cantina here—”
“Kwiltek wouldn’t let Quark on board,” Jake said. “He’d be too afraid your uncle would take over.”
Nog grinned slyly. “Yes … I’ll have to mention that to my uncle. He’ll be most interested.”
Jake looked up and down the dim metallic corridors. The dark paneling absorbed all the light so that the halls were even more dreary than on Deep Space Nine—perfect for exploring.
“Hey,” Jake said. “why don’t we go to the cargo bay? The next shift is bringing in the ore haulers right now. We’ve been filling those things for days, and I’d like to see what they look like.”
“A box with thrusters,” Nog said, yawning. “What’s so exciting about that?”
“Come on,” Jake coaxed. “I bet they’re really interesting. We might even see some of the valuable ore we’ve been mining.”
All traces of weariness vanished from Nog’s face. His little Ferengi eyes sparkled with interest.
“Besides,” Jake said, walking slowly down the corridor. “doesn’t one of the Rules of Acquisition say something about getting to know your customer?”
“Rule Number 87,” said Nog, following Jake eagerly.
“You checked the schematics of the mothership, didn’t you? I haven’t had a chance to study them yet,” Nog said as he and Jake wandered uncertainly through the maze of corridors. “What if we’re lost?”
“We’re almost there,” Jake said, although he really wasn’t sure. The corridors all looked alike. Functional, as his father might have said. And even if he and Nog did find the cargo bay. Jake didn’t know how they were going to find their way back to their quarters; but he wouldn’t tell Nog that. Not until after Jake had had a chance to see the ore haulers in action.
The friends turned down one corridor, ducking quickly into a doorway to avoid another reptilian Gorn guard. The alien strode past without looking at them with its faceted eyes. Nog peeked out of the doorway.
“There seem to be a lot more guards in this part of the ship,” he said.
Jake nodded. “Probably worried about pirates transporting in to steal the ore,” he said. “Let me know when the corridor is clear.”
Nog leaned out again, then motioned for his friend to follow. After several meters, the two had to duck into another doorway to avoid two Andorian guards. Only seconds after the blue-skinned aliens with antennas and white hair marched past, Jake and Nog had to duck back into the same doorway to avoid one more set of guards, a female Andorian and a Gorn.
The Gorn hissed something at his companion. The Andorian calmly drew a phaser and said, “You can stop complaining and take the matter up with Kwiltek … or you can be quiet—permanently. The choice is yours.”
“Kwiltek,” the reptilian guard growled in a low, raspy voice.
The Andorian nodded and put her phaser away. As they passed the boys’ hiding place, the Gorn touched his own phaser absently.
“I don’t think I want to take any matter up with either of them,” Nog whispered.
The two boys crept down the corridor, keeping close to the walls and listening for other footsteps. They ducked into doorways, hiding in the deep shadows. Most of the guards were surly Gorns or Andorians, although they narrowly avoided a tough-looking Klingon who wore a deep, savage scowl. Jake and Nog waited long after the Klingon’s footsteps had faded before venturing out.
They finally reached a huge rectangular gateway guarded by a crosshatch of deadly red lasers. An access grid glowed bright orange at the center of the door. Nog and Jake backed into the nearest alcove to think.
“We’ll never get in there,” Nog said in defeat. “I’d bet you those lasers aren’t set on stun.”
“Yeah,” Jake said, staring at the door in frustration. The lasers had to be pretty deadly for the mining company to leave the gateway otherwise unguarded, especially considering how many guards patrolled the corridors.
Jake studied the gateway but saw no way in unless they could figure out the security code. He frowned, wishing that he was a shape-shifter like Odo. Then he could just ooze under the door and let Nog in from the other side.
Just then, two Andorian guards approached. Nog ducked into the shadows, but Jake leaned forward as far as he dared, hoping to spot the security code by watching over the guards’ shoulders. The first Andorian, his cool, calculating expression accentuated by a scar between his antennas, grasped his partner by the sleeve and thrust the other’s arm toward the lasers. The second Andorian screamed, wrenching free. His sleeve smoked where the lasers had charred the cloth.
“Disobey me again in front of Kwiltek,” said the first Andorian coolly, “and you can be sure I’ll push more than your sleeve under those lasers.”
“But Kwiltek hired us—” the second Andorian said.
“Kwiltek may have hired us, but I am still your commanding officer,” sneered the first Andorian. “Don’t you ever forget that.”
Jake swallowed and looked at Nog, whose eyes widened with alarm. “Let’s go back to our quarters,” the Ferengi boy whispered. “There is no profit in getting killed.”
“No kidding,” Jake whispered. He held his breath, still watching the two Andorians.
“Open it,” commanded the first guard. “Open it now, or I won’t wait for you to disobey me in front of Kwiltek.”
The second Andorian balked, then nodded stiffly, turning to the grid. Counting to himself, he pointed to each horizontal beam of light. Jake held his breath. The guard stopped at line seven, hesitated, then stuck his arm through the beam and pressed the glowing orange access grid.
The lasers winked out, and the door to the cargo bay opened. The scarred Andorian smiled. “Very good,” he said. “Now, hurry, before it reactivates.”
As soon as the door closed behind the two guards, Nog stepped out into the corridor. “Let’s get out of here,” he said.
But Jake’s curiosity was even stronger now. “What are they hiding in there?” he said. “Why are they guarding it so heavily? They’re not telling us something important. Come on, we need to find out what it is.”
Nog shook his head. “But why? We don’t n
eed to find out anything—”
“Don’t you want to know what’s so profitable?” Jake said. “With this kind of security, they might even be mining pure latinum or dilithium and not giving us a percentage.”
Nog’s eyes lit up. “Latinum? Why didn’t you say so?”
Making sure the corridor was clear, the two boys crept over to the door. Jake counted the horizontal lasers—twice—then motioned for Nog to stand to one side.
“Stay out of sight,” he said, “in case there’s a guard just inside the door.”
Nog nodded. “Hurry!” he said urgently. “Before someone comes!”
Jake thrust his arm through the seventh laser. He flinched involuntarily as his fingers touched the red beam. Nothing happened—no shock, no burning pain. A decoy. He reached in and pressed the orange access grid. Pulling his hand back, he leaped to the side as the door slid open.
The two boys peeked into the cargo bay. Not a guard in sight. They darted past the closing door and hid behind a vat that had thick, clawed arms. Just in time—as they hurried around the bottom of the vat, a Gorn guard rushed to the already closed door, phaser drawn. A small, furry creature, possibly a Bajoran crevice rat, dashed past the door.
The guard vaporized the rodent with a quick shot, then pocketed the weapon. “False alarm,” he hissed. He walked away, disappearing behind a large, pitted machine that had spindly legs. Jake squinted at the odd mechanical shapes scattered throughout the dim cargo bay.
A flyer hovered on its side between three antigrav lifts. Jake could see that its underside had been blown open, leaving a metallic gash. Other strange machines, some with heavy blades like mandibles, hunched beside the giant storage bins that lined the walls. Alien workers scurried around the odd equipment like Garanian Bolites over some unsuspecting host.
The scarred Andorian captain and his partner walked up to a worker tinkering with the fiber optics on the damaged flyer. The scarred Andorian pointed toward the machine to the right of the vat where Jake and Nog crouched
Jake ducked quickly out of sight, but Nog jabbed him in the ribs. “You were right,” the Ferengi boy said in a hushed, reverent tone Look!”
