“Plenty of water,” Kyle said, “great soil. Temperate climate in large sections of the continents. I don’t know either. I mean, it took a while to get here but they could just install a warp gate. Especially with the information we gathered about the raw materials. Someone’s going to come out here to mine. I guarantee it. Oh! Did you get the samples?”
“Yeah, the ore deposits are all in the ship. Crane better not give us any shit about them either. They’re pure.”
“Oh, he was just in a bad mood last time.” Monterey Crane worked for the Mining Consortium, a group of merchants with government contracts to pull resources from various places all over the galaxy. He bought scan data and paid a little more with viable samples. Last time they met, he tried to balk on the quality of their find. “He’s a good enough guy.”
“He’s an asshole,” Lysa countered, “and he’s greedy. I wish we had a better contact.”
“We don’t want to pay guild dues,” Kyle reminded her. “So we gotta go with the guy who won’t out us to them.”
Prospectors and surveyors had a union, a specialized group they paid money to in order to not be exploited… much like they almost had been with the poor samples. Their rates were high enough that it wasn’t worth joining. One had to work full time to keep up with them and they were part time at best.
“Maybe we can negotiate with them,” Lysa replied. “Tell them that we’re not planning on cutting into the deals of their full time people. Get a lower percentage. I’m telling you, it would be worth it rather than put up with Crane anymore. You weren’t there the last time I had to negotiate with him.”
Kyle frowned. “What did he do?”
“Offered us fifty-percent more if I…” Lysa shrugged. “You know.”
“Okay, yes. That’s ridiculous. But we can’t approach the guild unless we plan on joining them regardless of their rates. Once they know about us, we’re done. They’ve got a lot of power. Plus, they have no reason to give us some good deal. You know that. As far as they’re concerned, there’s no need for part timers.”
“But…” Lysa held up a finger, “we do have something the rest of those people don’t.”
“What’s that?”
“A reckless disregard for our own safety. You have to admit, none of those cowards would ever come out this far. The miners do when they know there’s a solid find but the prospectors play it safe. They go after asteroid belts and that kind of thing. We’re pioneers. That’s a sellable commodity.”
“Okay, when we get back to civilization, we’ll ask someone about it. But we have to be subtle. We can’t get in debt with those jerks or we won’t have what we need to do this.” He gestured around him, spilling some of his coffee. “Damn it! I’m glad that didn’t get on my pants.”
“Yeah, it’s strong enough to bleach it some horrible color.” Lysa took a bigger drink, wincing again. “God, we need to spend a little more money for better stuff. This tastes like a used waste bladder. And it goes through you in thirty minutes or less. I will be returning to the ship for that, by the way.”
“Too much information.” Kyle shook his head. He brought out his tablet, peering at the planetary data. “Looks like we’re going to have roughly thirteen hours of good light on the site today. If we want to work any later than that, we’ll need to bring out the floods. I don’t look forward to making those work.”
“Thirteen hours is more than enough time.” Lysa chuckled. “Come on, you don’t really intend to put in all that time digging, do you? You’ll pass out.”
“You saying I’m out of shape?”
“I’m saying no one’s that fit.” Lysa stood. “I’m getting cleaned up and we can head down there for a realistic shift of six hours or so. We’ll see how feisty you are after lunch.” She headed off. “Need anything?”
“Nah, I’m good!” Kyle returned to staring at the computer, looking through the photos of what they’d done the day before. I know something’s down there. I know it like I know my name! He rarely felt so confident, so absolutely sure of anything. This felt different… it felt right. And he intended to prove it to everyone.
Especially you, Lysa. This time, your faith will be repaid.
***
One of the benefits of working with a small crew meant not as many people kicking up dust. Kyle had joined bigger teams while at school. It could turn chaotic depending on the site. Either the area turned to mud in some cases or the entire space looked like a sand storm went through.
Dust particles got into everything which is why they put their base camp high above it all and well away from the edge. Unfortunately, that meant walking down a steep hill to get to their location… and back up again after working for hours. If they hadn’t been concerned about the integrity of the site, Kyle would’ve suggested bringing the ship.
They’d been saving up to buy some smaller personal vehicles to make their efforts easier. No one had any good deals the last few times they checked. As Lysa said, walking was free so they hoofed it. On one hand, it meant staying in fantastic shape. On the other, Kyle’s feet felt like lead weights at the end of their excursions.
Sunlight beamed down on them as they worked. Sonic blasters pulverized the rocks, making enough noise that they wore full head protection both to block out the sound and ensure they didn’t breathe dust. The range on the tools could be adjusted out to six feet but they tended to keep them at the lowest setting of one and a half.
They
