By Patrick M. Fitzgerald
Lykaina slid the box across the desk with a gentle smile. “A gift from the marshes of Hecate.”
Mr. Collins opened the lid and inhaled deeply. His eyes drifted closed. “Fresh cranberries. Marvelous.”
“Perhaps not the bounty one would receive from Demeter…” Lyka spread her hands. “But we share what is ours.”
“Sometimes, I wonder if we should open trade with the Coalition.” The administrator placed a cranberry on his tongue. His lips puckered as he slowly chewed. “Mmm… It’s been months since I’ve had actual fruit.”
“Not being in the Coalition has its advantages as well.”
“True. We prefer to deal with smaller worlds anyway.” Mr. Collins cleared his throat. “You know, to assist other struggling economies.”
“Of course.” Lyka tapped the trade agreement with her fingernail. “Hecate is not a very mineral-rich world.”
“I hear that’s why you’ve become wizards at miniaturization.”
“One of the nicer things we’ve been called.” Lyka smirked. “Nevertheless, ore from Ajax would secure our continued independence from the Coalition.”
“Our mineral reserves rival that of Hephaestus, as do our mining capabilities.”
Lyka raised an eyebrow. “With a population under a half million, I’m surprised.”
“Well.” Mr. Collins puffed his chest. “We don’t mine ourselves. There’s a mole-like animal native to Ajax that provides the bulk of the labor.”
Lyka took a deep breath. “I didn’t realize there was native life here.” …or that my intel could be so flawed.
“We didn’t know about them until we began excavating the mines. Given that they lived in the subterranean conditions, it was no problem for them to do the digging for us. It’s natural for them.”
As natural as commerce can be. “We all have our nature, don’t we?”
“Yes, well… The board will need the rest of the day to review the trade agreement.” Mr. Collins opened the door and handed the contract to his secretary. “Our entertainment facilities are rather limited, I’m afraid, Ambassador. It’s mostly just the standard VR sports.”
Lyka stared at him. Entertainment? I think not. “I’ve never seen a mine before. I’d be curious to see it in action.”
Lyka and the administrator required respirators to enter the dusty mine tunnels. All around them, hairless quadrupeds trudged, pulling carts of ore and digging into the walls, freeing glistening stone with spade-like claws. Uniformed foremen looked on, lounging and chatting amongst themselves. Dim lighting lined the tunnel walls, bathing the inky darkness in artificial gloom.
The administrator spread his hands at the scene. “Remarkable animals, aren’t they?”
“Very well-trained,” Lyka said. Turning, she slipped a mosquito-like robot into her hand, and stroking one of the industrious diggers on the scruff of the neck, left it to do its work.
“They do what comes naturally. It’s all to our benefit.”
The natives shuffled along to the rhythm of claw against stone, their narrow eyes watching the foremen carefully as they gave them a wide berth.
“At little cost, I would assume.” She averted her eyes and focused on a particularly fascinating crystal formation on the cave wall.
He laughed. “They’re animals. We don’t have to pay them.”
Lyka spent the rest of the evening in her room, reflecting on the price of metal and waiting for her spy to return.
She heard the skittering of her robotic bug and knelt on the floor.
“What did you bring me, little one?” She placed the bug at the nape of her neck. Delicate wires slipped under her skin and connected with her spinal cord.
She steadied her breath and slid into a meditative state. This way, she could retain her own humanity as the memories of the Ajaxian mole flooded her.
Ceaseless hours toiling for the Blind Ones.
Inflamed soreness at the base of her spine, in her hind legs, in her joints.
Constant pain in her fingertips, growing more acute with each carving of the wall.
Endless repetition. Dig, fill, haul. Dig, fill, haul.
Yet underneath, the quaking of joy threaded throughout. The rhythm. The mysteries of the patterns formed by the minerals. Patterns within patterns, expanding ever outward.
But what did it mean? The Ancients must have known. If we could search beyond the labyrinth of the Blind Ones, then maybe… maybe…
Lykra’s eyes darted open, and she yanked the bug from her neck.
Sentience.
Lyka stared at the contract on the steel desk. “Does the Coalition know about the natives?”
“The alien animals?” Collins shrugged. “We reported their existence, of course.”
Lyka’s nails drummed on the metal surface. “But not that they’re intelligent?”
“They’re smart critters. Almost as smart as dogs.”
The hair raised on the back of Lyka’s neck. She reached back to smooth it, and to retrieve the bug. “Smart enough for the Coalition to deem them Legal Persons?”
“Who cares?” Collins leaned forward. “Coalition law doesn’t apply here.”
“True.” Lyka folded the contract and reached to shake the man’s hand.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” he said.
Lyka smiled broadly, letting her teeth bare only slightly. “I’m sure it comes naturally to you.”
The bug skittered up the administrator’s arm to find its place.
Collins’s eyes lost their focus as he dropped to the floor. He clawed at the tiles, weeping in frustration. He paused briefly to lick his fingers. A groan formed deep in his throat as the compulsion to dig and keep digging overtook him.
Lyka took her leave, closing the door slowly on his misery.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Oooh eerie ending. Loved this!
Thank you!
It was the ending scene that got stuck in my head, too.
Interesting story.
Thank you much!
Glad to see Collins get “enlightened.” Great story!
It seemed appropriate.
I’m glad you appreciated it, Arlan!
Thank you for reading!
I think it was good that Collin was learning what the natives were feeling.
Great story.
You can’t say it wasn’t fair.
What he does with this new perspective remains to be seen. Hopefully he learns from this experience, and the lives of the Diggers will improve.
Thank you for reading again. I’m glad you appreciated it!
A thought-provoking story.
Mr Collins’s attitude toward the creatures calling them only animals that worked
without pay. Despite being enslaved they were able to find joy in the
rhythm of the work and the beauty of the minerals they mined.
Lyka was suspicious of the operation so she wanted to see for herself rather than be
entertained, and her little robot was able to gather first hand information from the hard working creatures.
Mr Collins doesn’t seem to have any joy when the robot bug infects him with the urge to dig. Perhaps he will have an attitude change toward the creatures.
great story! cool technology. suprize ending.