Rebel Yell: Operation Ardent Redux: Episode 1 (A Space Opera Adventure)
Page 4
“Rise and shine, beauties, and welcome to Larry’s funhouse,” said the guard holding a lantern.
Roni held her hand up to shield her eyes from the obnoxious light. A tall figure, presumably Larry, stood before them wearing a crooked grin and the standard GC uniform.
Larry tossed a portable respirator to each of them. Roni slipped hers over her mouth and nose. It helped, but not much.
“Alright,” Larry started, fists on his hips. “Up you go. Time to get to work.”
Roni and Zadria begrudgingly stood and followed the man. He led them from the dark pocket where they had awoken out into the central shaft. Workers young and old carried ore back toward the entrance. Their pained expressions looked away from Roni and Zadria as the rebels proceeded past them.
For a mine, there was a distinct lack of noise. Roni could hear the equipment, but that was all. There was no chatter of any kind aside from Larry’s as he droned on about how unappreciative he thought the citizens of the planet were.
Roni made a mental note of every offshoot and turn they took, hoping she’d be able to lead them out of the labyrinth of tunnels when the time came.
The next turn took them into a narrow passageway. Workers scraped at the dirt, rock, and ore on all sides. The tunnel bubbled out a little at the end, leaving more room to work. Here, an elderly man coughed and fiddled with his respirator.
“You know, if you took better care of that thing, you wouldn’t have so many problems with it.” Larry laughed.
Roni balled up her fists at her side.
“Equipment is there,” Larry said as he pointed. “You’ll be working with only those tools there. No explosives.”
Zadria and Roni shared a glance after Larry seemed to nervously eye the rock and soil overhead.
“Now, get to work. I’ll be back in a while to check on your progress. If I’m happy, you all get rations. If not… well, you don’t.” Larry turned on his heel and whistled as he strolled back out of the tunnel.
“What an ass. I should have punched him.” Roni sighed.
“Please don’t,” a nearby woman pleaded. “I haven’t eaten in a day. I need these rations. I’m expecting.”
Roni’s eyes dropped to the woman’s slightly rounded belly. Her anger grew. Pregnant women and old men working in a mine with near-toxic air and no rations. She looked toward Zadria, who seemed to mirror her rage and disbelief.
“We have to do something,” Zadria whispered.
Roni nodded as she picked up a pickaxe. “Let’s start with helping these people get some food.”
The pair worked tirelessly, piling any ore they found into one wheelbarrow while the dirt and useless rock went into another. Periodically, other workers would come by and take their full loads, replacing them with empty wheelbarrows.
Sweat streamed down Roni’s face, wetting the dust on her brow and dragging it down into her eyes, causing them to burn. Her muscles screamed and her back ached, but still she carried on.
Eventually, Larry returned. He surveyed their work with a sneer then stepped back out into the main shaft and out of sight. A few minutes later he returned with another wheelbarrow; this time it had food in it. Or at least what would have passed for food a few days prior. Now it was bruised, fly infested fruit. There was some stale bread that looked like it was already partially eaten, with green, fuzzy patches of mold around the edges.
“You’re kidding,” Roni scoffed after Larry left.
The workers around her hurried over and started eating, not even hesitating to pick out the maggots.
“I did not work my ass off for them to give you all a bunch of rotten, stale food.” Roni tossed a mushy apple back into the wheelbarrow, and the old man grabbed it, taking a bite.
The pregnant woman must have noticed the look of horror on Roni’s face. “The bugs are the only protein we get.”
“This is straight up bullshit,” Roni said with a frown. She looked around, her eyes drawn to her pickaxe. “When is your shift over?”
“I-I’m not sure,” the pregnant woman stuttered. “I think we’re down here for a few days before we get a break, but it’s easy to lose track of time.”
“A few days?” Roni stared at the woman, slack-jawed. “What’s your name?”
“Sarah,” she answered.
Roni nodded and rolled her shoulders back. “Sarah, I’m Roni, and this is Zadria, and we’re going to get you, your baby, and everyone else out of here. Okay?”
Sarah opened her mouth like she was going to protest but instead quietly whispered, “Thank you.”
Roni grabbed Zadria by the arm and pulled her aside. “Do you have any of your weapons? They must have taken mine when I was knocked out.”
Zadria shook her head. “Mine are all gone too. Even the ones I thought I hid really well.”
“Well, this will do, but I’d really prefer something less bulky and with long-range potential,” Roni said as she turned a pickaxe over in her hand. The tip was dull, and the handle was splintered and felt weak. Still, it would have to work.
“Okay, listen up,” Roni said to the group of miners as she climbed on top of the ore pile. Their blank eyes looked up at her. “It’s time we fight back. These are shit working conditions, you know it, the guards know it. Hell, they probably aren’t even paying you. Am I right?”
Eyes looked away, and a few of the miners shook their heads.
“That’s what I thought. So, here’s what we’re going to do,” Roni continued, but it seemed as though she had already lost their attention. Many were back to eating from the dirty wheelbarrow. Others were picking up their equipment and resuming the task at hand.
“Wait, hear me out. Don’t you want to get out of this hell hole?”
No response.
“Um, Roni?”
Roni turned to look behind her at Sarah, who was waving her close. She hopped down and approached the woman. “What is it?”
“People have tried before, and every time they do, the guards just come down on us harder.”
“Tried? How?”
Sarah shrugged. “A few guards got killed one time. Another, some collapsed a tunnel.”
“Okay.” Roni bit her lip and scratched her chin, glancing at the pickaxe once more. “We’re going to need something bigger then.”
Chapter 4
Roni peeked into the main shaft, watching the guards as they stepped in and out of various side tunnels and alcoves. “You almost done back there, Zad?”
“Just finishing up on the last one.” Zadria snapped the cover back on the respirator and handed it back to Sarah. “That oughta help a little better.”
“We need to go, now,” Roni urged.
“’Kay. Ready.” Zadria whispered from behind her.
Roni and Zadria slipped out of the passageway and hurried across the shaft and into another. The guards were doing their checks, then heading back up the main shaft, but they didn’t know why.
Roni put a hand up and held a finger to her lips as Larry’s obnoxious voice reverberated down the tunnel.
“I hope the meeting lasts a while. I could use some fresh air. The body odor down here is almost as bad as the air itself.” Larry chortled.
“You’re no peach yourself right now,” another man said. “You gotta cut these people a break. Most of them haven’t done this kind of work before. The miners that were here before were shipped off-planet to another mine by the GC. Besides, who do you think is next in line to work down here if these folks keel over on us?”
“You’re always so logical, Stu. But… I can’t say I have a lot of sympathy for them. These folks here are the ones that just cashed in on the wealth of this planet. They’re used to living in their penthouses. I doubt they’ve done a day of work in their entire life.”
Stu burst into laughter. “You’re an idiot, Larry. This place has been a shithole since the GC had to pull out the first time. The only time it was the utopia you think it was, was before the GC even got here.”
&n
bsp; There was a pause. Roni and Zadria held fast in the shadow of the tunnel.
“If I didn’t know better, Stu, I would think you have a problem with us being here.”
“Look, man, I signed up for the GC knowing what I was getting into. But I’ll be the first to admit that some assignments bother me than others.” Stu sighed. “This happens to be one of them. You know as well as I do that we shouldn’t be here. These aren’t miners. This is dangerous.”
“So, leave.” The tone in Larry’s voice almost felt threatening.
“You know I can’t do that. I told you about my kid.”
“You’re going to be late for the meeting,” Larry said.
“I thought I was covering for you so you could go.”
Larry chuckled. “I am starting to think that leaving you down here with these folks isn’t the best idea.”
“Why? Because I might treat them like people and not machines?” The rising anger in Stu’s voice was evident.
“Stu,” Larry said, his voice dropping an octave. “Get up there and go to that meeting or you might not see that kid of yours again.”
“Sure thing, boss.” The last word dripped with malice as heavy footsteps neared the tunnel.
Roni and Zadria pressed themselves against the wall as Stu rounded the corner. He froze in his tracks, eyes wide at the sight of them. His gaze dropped to their hands. Roni held the top of a broken pickaxe, another hanging from her belt. Zadria was armed with a makeshift blade from a piece of a broken wheelbarrow and a pickaxe of her own. Stu’s jaw tensed but he continued past them without saying a word.
“He didn’t say anything,” Zadria whispered.
“Yeah,” Roni replied in a hushed tone. “Weird.”
Whistling from around the bend drew Roni’s attention. She peered out into the open shaft as Larry vanished into the next area, then she and Zadria hustled over into the one he just left. They sat in silence, waiting.
Roni’s mind lingered on Stu’s behavior. She had met soldiers who turned their backs on the Galactic Conglomerate before, but they never seemed like real people.
A muffled scream came from the alcove. Roni and Zadria exchanged a glance before dashing across. Roni made it into the narrow tunnel first and gasped. Larry held a woman against the rough stone wall by her hair, her face pressed into the rock, eyes squeezed shut.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” Larry asked, frowning but not letting go of the woman.
“Let her go,” Roni ordered, tightening her grip on the pickaxe.
Larry took one hand off the woman to reach for his comm but Roni swung and hit his hand with the worn chunk of metal. It landed with a crack.
Larry cried out in pain, dropping the woman to the ground to cradle his broken hand. Roni took the opportunity to pounce, punching Larry across the face and grabbing his comm.
“Zad,” Roni called out, tossing the comm her direction.
Zadria caught and pocketed the device as Roni flipped Larry over and pressed his face into the floor. “Doesn’t feel so great, does it?”
“Stupid bitch,” Larry mumbled.
Roni lifted his head a few inches and slammed it into the ground. “What was that?”
Larry glared up at her the best he could from the position he was in.
“That’s what I thought.” Roni grinned, keeping her knee in his back. “You alright, miss?”
The woman nodded. She looked terrified. Even with Larry pinned to the ground, she was trembling.
“Hey, you’re alright.” Roni reached up to give the woman’s hand a squeeze and a smile.
Just as the corners of the woman’s mouth started to turn up, Roni felt Larry shift suddenly, and a chunk of rock collided with her face. Together they rolled, Larry ending up on top of her.
“Someone needs to teach you a lesson,” Larry said with a growl, holding the fist-sized rock over his head.
Zadria charged at them, but Larry was faster, chucking the rock at Zadria. It made contact with her head, and she crumpled to the ground.
Roni clutched the pickaxe but didn’t have the leverage to swing it and do any damage. Larry reached over and snatched Zadria’s makeshift knife from beside her. He grinned as he placed the ragged tip against Roni’s neck. Roni’s gaze shifted to the woman, who was standing, staring at them.
“You know what I love?” Larry said with an unsettling grin. “How easy it is to break people. She’s not going to do anything. In fact, I bet she would just stand there and watch me kill you and your friend. The best part is, when I’m done, I’ll tell her to get back to work and she’ll just do it. Easy as pie.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way,” Roni said, keeping her eyes locked with the woman’s. “You don’t have to live like this. You can do something about it.”
“I… I…” The woman sank to the ground, sobbing.
“What’d I tell you, sweetheart?” Larry turned his attention back to Roni and winked.
Roni could feel the point of the crude knife break the skin as Larry pressed it harder against her flesh. She inhaled sharply. “You’re the worst kind of human.”
Larry chuckled. “Thanks for the compliment, darling. Not very impressive last words, but I’ll take it.”
Just then, a small section of sharpened, bent metal scraped across Larry’s face.
He jerked his head back, blood slowly seeping out of the fresh wound on his cheek. The woman gasped and dropped the scrap metal, stepping back and tripping over Zadria as she lifted her head.
The distraction gave Roni the opportunity to hit Larry in the stomach with the flat top side of the pickaxe, hard enough to knock the wind out of him. She shoved him off of her as he gasped for air.
“Look,” Roni started. “I’m done with this hell hole. I’m especially done with this guy. Most of the guards are outside right now. We’ve got a few we need to take out but we can’t do it alone.”
“W-what can I do?” the woman asked, staring at the bleeding, gasping Larry with wide, fearful eyes.
“Hey, look at me,” Roni ordered. “You did good. You saved my life. Thank you. What’s your name?”
“Rebecca,” she answered.
“Rebecca, he’s just a man. A sleazy, disgusting man void of all human emotions… but still… just a man.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Can you go back and see if you can rally any of the others to help? Tell them how we took old Larry here to the mat and helped you out. Tell them there’s strength in numbers. This is not the time to give up hope. If you do, you’ll all die down here. Can you do that, Rebecca? Can you tell them?”
Rebecca nodded again. “I-I think so.”
Roni smiled. “I knew I could count on you. Zad, point her in the right direction.”
As Rebecca ran off, Roni searched Larry and took the opportunity to ask a few questions of her own. “Why are you here?”
“That’s a pretty dumb question. Look around you.” Larry snorted.
“I mean here, on Hera. You know as well as I do that this mine should be shut down.”
“Hey, I don’t give the orders, I just follow them.” Larry squirmed.
Roni tightened her grasp. “Don’t tell me you’re really this useless.”
Larry grunted. “You could loosen up your grip a bit, and it might come back to me.”
Roni relaxed her hold on him, very slightly, as she took the crude knife into her hand.
“The ore is for a special project. Some special station, somewhere. That’s all I know.”
She passed the crude knife back to Zadria, who was sitting up, rubbing her head, which had already bruised.
“You okay, Zad?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
Roni pressed her knee into Larry’s back as she removed his blaster, restraints, and his respirator. “Awfully nice respirator you’ve got here, Lar. A lot nicer than what the workers have.”
“I need that,” Larry said. His words were airy as he struggled to catch his breath.
Larry shook his head.
Roni shrugged as she tossed Larry’s respirator to Zadria. “Yeah, pretty shitty, isn’t it? But I still managed to take your ass down using that so I think you’ll be fine.”
She wrapped a cord around his wrists and tied it, pulling him to his feet as he grunted in protest.
“What are we going to do with him?” Zadria asked, breathing through Larry’s old respirator.
“I don’t know. But I hear that people are really easy to break.” Roni smirked at the regret in Larry’s eyes. She cocked her head to the side. “We could make him mine with his bare hands. Feed him moldy bread and maggot-infested fruit. Would you like that, Larry? We could throw in some good ol’ humiliation while we’re at it. Maybe a disease or two. Seems only fair considering the circumstances you make these nice folks work under.”
“Uh, Roni?” Zadria whispered, nodding her head toward a man.
“Is it true?” the man asked from the tunnel’s entrance. “You saved my Rebecca?”
Rebecca appeared behind him.
“I’d like to save you all but it’ll be hard having to babysit this buffoon.” Roni’s eyes lingered on Larry. Then she delivered a swift kick to his stomach. “I have other things to do than play with scum. Can the two of you watch him? Make sure he doesn’t do anything weird or stupid. We’ve got his radio and blaster but I really need him out of my way while we clear the tunnel.”
The man nodded, pulling Rebecca close. There was a fire in his eyes Roni knew they could use. The will to fight was still there, buried. Hopefully others had that same fire.
Roni and Zadria ducked into the next alcove, it was empty.
“You think we can really do this?” Zadria asked as they waited and watched to see if there were any other guards nearby.
“Let’s just focus on what we need to do next. Begin the uprising before more guards return.”
“Larry?” A voice called out over Larry’s comm that Roni had clipped onto her lapel. “We still meeting for cards? I’ve got two workers to bet that I know you won’t be able to resist. Headed your way.”