The Ghost Mine

by Ben Wolf

  Justin’s eyebrows rose. He did indeed want that, especially as it pertained to ACM. “What do you mean?”

  Instead of replying, she reached for her collar with her left hand—her robotic hand, and pulled something down all the way to her thighs. She spread her garment open wide, let it drop off of her shoulders to the floor, and stood before him, naked.

  Justin gawked at her and tried to sit up straighter. “What the—”

  “Quiet,” she hissed. “I am not here to seduce you. I simply want you to know the full extent of what this company has done to me.”

  She stepped over to the side of the bed and stood within arm’s reach of him. She was beautiful—perfectly proportioned, exotic, curvy. A bit on the thin side of healthy, but it could’ve been the low light, too.

  Her prosthetic took up essentially the entire left side of her body. It joined with her skin along a line that no one could’ve called straight, especially near her hips where it curved around and down to her left leg, of which only the lower half was prosthetic.

  The sight of her both aroused and disturbed Justin, and he fought to control his body.

  “You only have one prosthetic arm. I am thirty-eight percent prosthetic, including some of my organs.” She extended her hands, one flesh, one machine, palms up. “This is what they did to me. This is who I am because of Andridge Copalion Mines and their legacy of greed.”

  She leaned in close to him, and his heart rate tripled. Her face stopped only inches from his, and at first, he thought she might get on the bed with him. Justin hoped for it, even though he would’ve regretted it later because of Shannon.

  Then again, with Justin under formal investigation by the company and soon to be charged with committing espionage or being crazy or both, would Shannon even look at him again? Much less develop a desire to be as close as Dr. Stielbard was now?

  “You are who you are now for the same reasons.” Her warm breath caressed his face. It smelled faintly metallic, and faintly of mint. She wore some sort of perfume as well. Though subtle, it stirred Justin’s insides.

  She pulled back, crouched down, and pulled her garment back on. She secured it to her body in the center, and covered herself again.

  Justin’s blood began to cool. He asked, “How did it happen?”

  “You have viewed my file, yes?” She finished securing the garment to her body and folded her arms across her chest.

  He nodded. “Yes, but most of it was unclear.”

  “That is by design, on the company’s behalf.” Dr. Stielbard sat on the edge of the bed and looked down at him. “Are you aware that a previous accident occurred in Sector 6?”

  He nodded again. “Couldn’t find much about that, either, but when I got stuck in there, it was pretty clear that something beyond a cave-in had occurred.”

  “Yes. Something much worse.”

  She described the entire incident to him, beginning with the obvious signs that something was wrong, all the way through the cavern floor cracking, revealing the raw copalion abyss below, and culminating in the deaths of everyone inside, except for her. But she’d only barely survived the exploding tanks mounted in the ceiling.

  “And they did this to me.” She spread her arms again, and Justin reimagined her naked cyborg body.

  “So you think they’re negligent and guilty of concealing the dangers, and you want revenge because of what happened to you?”

  “I want justice for what happened to me, and yes, they were unquestionably negligent. I understand the science behind it, and I can prove it. My data exonerates you as well.” She stared at the wall, perhaps lost in the past. “And the ghost you saw—I do not believe he is a ghost at all. Your description of him, as silly as this sounds, fills me with hope that he may still be alive.”

  “Who?”

  “Mark,” she replied softly. “Mark Brown. He was my fiancé.”

  Silence lingered between them.

  “He… died in the first Sector 6 accident?”

  She nodded. “He was manning a mech, and he fell into one of the copalion abysses.”

  Just like Keontae. Now Justin understood. He and Dr. Stielbard shared not only the physical pain the mine had inflicted but also the loss of those they deeply cared for. The mine had taken people from both of them.

  Justin was witnessing the real Dr. Stielbard. She wore an emotionless mask in everyday life, sometimes accented with anger to keep others at a distance, but he’d found the authentic version of her. She’d been wounded, just like him—but far more deeply.

  “I read the security report from your accident. Your description of the man who saved you, particularly the scar on his face—it has to be Mark. It could not be anyone else. It would also fit his nature to save you if he could have. He was a good man.”

  “Carl Andridge, the owner of the company, showed me a picture of a man yesterday. He had a scar.”

  Dr. Stielbard nodded. “It was undoubtedly Mark.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Carl must think you are trying to blackmail him or leverage something against him. When you said you recognized the picture, the investigation into your potential espionage against the company began. How else could you have identified him had you not been snooping around the company’s secrets?”

  “I haven’t. I never did. I swear.”

  “I know. You are a scapegoat, nothing more.” Dr. Stielbard looked at him again. “But you do not have to remain as such.”

  “What do you mean?” Justin asked.

  Dr. Stielbard gave him a faint smile and placed her robotic hand on one set of his magnetic shackles. “I have a plan.”

  21

  Etya somehow deactivated Justin’s magnetic shackles with her robotic arm and freed him. Justin abandoned his medical gown and donned a set of work clothes Etya had brought for him.

  It felt strange, sliding his new chrome arm into the right sleeve of his shirt. It felt almost… normal, yet so foreign at the same time. But he’d have to worry about that later.

  He followed Dr. Stielbard—Etya, she’d told him to call her—out of his examination room and into the main space of the medbay.

  “How are you doing all of this?” he whispered. “And won’t the androids see us?”

  She shook her head. “I have made arrangements. As long as we do not run into human security patrols, we will remain unseen.”

  As Etya headed toward the medbay doors, Justin stopped her. “Wait. I need to grab something.”

  “Be quick.”

  Justin tiptoed to Dr. Handabi’s office and activated the door. There, on his desk, sat the Nebrandt plant in its Plastrex cup. Justin grabbed it and headed back out.

  Etya eyed it, then she looked at him. “A plant?”

  “Long story. If you could have something from Mark to remember him by, you’d want it, wouldn’t you?” Justin asked.

  Etya held up her left hand and stared at it. She touched her prosthetic ring finger with her human fingers, entranced.

  Then she lowered it again and refocused on Justin. “Our window is closing. We must leave now.”

  She led him out of the medbay, through the darkened halls, and to a room in the admin residence dorms. Justin had ogled every camera on his way there, still wondering how they’d ever get away with this.

  Etya knocked on the door three times, and a moment later, it whooshed open. A guy about Justin’s height but fifty pounds heavier, all of it in his midsection, thighs, and rear end, stood before them.

  Long, blond hair hung past his shoulders, and acne pockmarked his chubby face. He wore round, blue-tinted glasses, a stained t-shirt that had once been white, and blue denim pants.

  “Inside.” He waved them in.

  Justin and Etya complied.

  If Justin had predicted what the inside of the guy’s room would’ve looked like based solely on his physical appearance, he would’ve pictured exactly what he saw. Food wrappers, beverage containers, and crumbs covered the floor along with ran
dom pieces of clothing. Dark stains punctuated the standard blue carpet, and familiar blue light drenched the room.

  Stacks of technical equipment, mostly computer stuff from what Justin could tell, lined the walls and covered the ratty sofa and chairs in the main living space. It adorned the countertops in the kitchen and might’ve spilled into the sink had it not already been full of dirty dishes. The stink of synthetic marijuana or some comparable substance hung in the air.

  A nice layout, overall, and a much larger setup than what he had back in his worker dorm, but the excess of filth entirely ruined its appeal. Justin tried to take in more of his surroundings, but Etya was introducing him to the guy.

  “Justin Barclay, this is Garth Winkler,” she said. “He works in IT for the mine. He made sure all of the androids and the security cameras between here and the medbay went dark.”

  IT? That explained the mammoth, multi-screen setup with the old-fashioned keyboard and touchpad on the desk in the corner.

  Garth extended his hand. “Pleasure to meet you, man.”

  Justin switched the Nebrandt plant to his left hand and shook Garth’s hand with his new metal arm. His shoulder ached. “Likewise.”

  “Whoa, sweet tech, bro.” Garth leaned over and examined the back of Justin’s robotic hand. “Etya tells me the company’s really put you through the compression module.”

  Justin squinted. It wasn’t an expression he was familiar with, but he understood Garth’s meaning. “You could say that. Thanks for your help.”

  “No problem, dude. There’s not a piece of tech in this mine that I can’t bend to my supreme will.” Garth let go of Justin’s hand, shifted his grin to Etya, and coiled his arm around her waist. “Besides, I’d do anything for this glorious hunk of metal and woman.”

  She eased away from him, and her human cheek reddened. “Not now, Garth.”

  “Sure. Sorry.” Garth forced a laugh. “Etya said you were on board to help us.”

  “I, uh—” Justin looked at Etya and rubbed his sore shoulder. “I’m not sure what that means.”

  “I must return to my quarters,” Etya said. “I will leave you two to discuss this alone.”

  In unison, Justin and Garth both looked at her and said, “But—”

  Then they looked at each other.

  “Please, boys. I must go before anyone gets suspicious.” She gave Garth a peck on his cheek, nodded to Justin, and headed for the door. She turned back as it opened. “Be smart, you two. Everything hinges on tomorrow.”

  With that, she stepped out and headed into the hallway.

  Justin stared at Garth, and Garth stared at the door, grinning.

  “Um… can you explain to me what’s happening?” Justin asked.

  Garth turned toward him. “She didn’t tell you?”

  Justin shook his head. “She said, ‘I have a plan,’ and then somehow broke me out of my magnetic shackles.”

  “Ah. You have me to thank for that. The shackles part, anyway. Not her mysterious nature. She developed that all on her own.” Garth leaned in close. “Makes her super hot, don’t you think?”

  Justin hesitated. “Sure.”

  “Anyway, I hacked those shackles for you remotely. Dug up their root access code from the security network and uploaded it into Etya’s prosthetic memory, and she deactivated them.” Garth headed over to his desk and sat down in the swivel chair in front of it. It creaked, and Justin imagined it begging for mercy against his girth. “So, you’re welcome.”

  “Thanks.” Justin approached the desk as Garth began tapping away on his keyboard. “Can you tell me what’s going on, here?”

  “Oh, yeah. Sorry.” Garth kept tapping, kept staring at his screens. “Long story short, we’re gonna shove a stick up the mine’s collective ass.”

  “Oh—kay.”

  “Yeah. It’s gonna be awesome.” Garth kept typing, and he occasionally tapped one of the six screens mounted around his desk. “You’re in, right?”

  “I still don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing.”

  “It’s to clear your name, man.” Garth glanced at him for a nanosecond, then he refocused on his screens. “I figured you’d be up for just about anything.”

  This guy just wasn’t getting it. “Look, Garth, I’m totally open to helping. But if you want me to be any good at what I’m supposed to be doing, I’ll need to know what that is.”

  Garth smiled and pulled a strand of blond hair away from his face, but he kept focused on the screens. “Right on, man. I feel you. We can totally make that happen.”

  “Are you even listening to me?”

  “Huh?” Garth glanced at him, then he returned to his screens. “Of course. Don’t mind me. I’m trashing the security footage of you and Etya leaving the medbay and coming here. If we get caught before the meeting tomorrow, none of our planning will matter.”

  Meeting tomorrow? It wasn’t much, but at least Justin had gleaned something. “What meeting?”

  “Department heads. They’re meeting with Mr. Andridge himself since he’s on the planet. And look, I’m as straight as they come, but that dude is hand-some. No denying it.”

  Justin rolled his eyes. “And what’s supposed to happen at this meeting?”

  “Here. I’ll pull up the agenda.” Garth started tapping the upper right-hand screen.

  “No, I mean what are we doing at the meeting?”

  “Messing it up.”

  “How?”

  Garth didn’t respond. Instead, he tapped the central top screen, and a purple block fell into place on some sort of retro-looking stacking game.

  Justin grabbed Garth by his shoulder and physically turned him away from his screens. “I asked you a question.”

  Garth smacked Justin’s metal arm away and glared at him. “Lay off, man. I’m working.”

  “I just watched you playing a game.” Justin pointed at the screen.

  “Do I tell you how to dig shit up from the ground?” Garth hammered angry keystrokes onto his keyboard. “No. So don’t presume to tell me how I work best.”

  “Garth, I’ll turn you and Etya in right now if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on.”

  Garth slammed his fists on his desk, and an empty cup toppled from it to the floor. He glowered up at Justin. “Don’t. You. Dare.”

  Justin leaned forward, into Garth’s space. He smelled like day-old cheeseburgers. “Then tell me what’s happening.”

  Garth sighed, glanced at his screen, and looked back at Justin. “Five minutes. I’ll tell you everything in five minutes.”

  Justin shook his head. “Now.”

  “Fine. Have it your way, prick.” Garth tapped something in the lower right-hand corner of the lower right-hand screen, and a wave of darkness overtook all six screens, followed by a screensaver featuring busty, unclothed women. He swiveled in his chair, folded his arms, and glared at Justin. “What do you want to know?”

  “Everything.”

  “Be more specific.”

  “What’s happening tomorrow? What are we doing?” Justin asked. “What’s Etya’s plan?”

  Garth’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t touch her, did you?”

  Justin recoiled. “What?”

  “Well?”

  “No. Of course not.”

  “Good. ‘Cause she’s mine.”

  “Good for you.” Justin’s mind swirled at the thought. “That’s why you’re being like this? You think I’ve got a thing for Etya?”

  “She’s hot. You said so yourself.”

  Justin closed his eyes. Etya’s naked form, complete with cyborg parts, sprung back into it. He couldn’t deny his physical attraction to her. “My only interest is in figuring out what I’m doing here.”

  “Good.” Garth leaned back, and his swivel chair pleaded for relief again. “Since you’ll never have her, just know that I have, and she is great.”

  Images flooded Justin’s mind, and he let them flow right out. Whether Garth was lying or not, it was disgus
ting. “I don’t need details on that. I just want to know what I’m supposed to do tomorrow, and what’s happening.”

  “Alright. We’re good, you and I.” Garth alternated between pointing at Justin and at himself. “Bros. We can trust each other. You didn’t mack on my lady, so I know we can work together to shut down this mine for good and show those dicks in Admin who’s boss.”

  Justin wanted to backhand him so he’d get to the point, but he restrained himself. “And how will we do that?”

  “You know the mine has its own network, right? Connects everything?”

  Finally. Justin nodded. “Yeah. Sure.”

  “Well, we actually have three separate networks under one overarching network. I don’t know why—no mine needs that kind of redundancy. It nearly triples the work for IT to manage three sub-networks instead of just one, but you won’t hear me complaining about the overtime.

  “The sub-networks are separated by what we in the IT business call ‘shields.’ Only certain information and commands can get past those shields. Again, if there was just one network, like literally every other mine I’ve worked at, we’d just have the one shield to prevent outsiders from accessing the mine’s private information.

  “Since we reopened for mining operations, two of the three sub-networks have behaved like Puritan children—no issues whatsoever. But the third, the one in the mine itself, the one that encompasses the mining machinery, security for the mining sector, the science offices, doors and lights and air and alarms—all of that has been fritzing since day one. You following me so far?”

  It was probably more information than Justin needed, but so far he’d kept up. He nodded.

  “Now my boss, Rodney, who is a colossal wiener, told me to look into that sub-network after you got into your first accident in Sector 6. Turns out, something had overtaken the entire sub-network and locked us out for a period of time, early in the morning, on the day it happened.

  “But that wasn’t the only time it happened.” Garth held up his finger. “It had happened the night before, as well, and it has happened multiple times since then.”

  “And in multiple sectors,” Justin added.