LE Modesitt Corean 04 Alector's Choice (v1.5)

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

of the icy rain and hail of the evening before.
Good morning, Mykel said.
Sir& we figured that lifting a saddle with that arm& offered Sendyl.
Mykel glanced into the stall. His chestnut was saddled. Thank you. I am a bit
stiff in the mornings. When he stepped into the stall, he checked the girths,
but the two had done a good job, for which he was definitely thankful. He
slipped his rifle into the scabbard and led the gelding out of the shed. He
mounted easily, but carefully. Even so, a jolt of pain went through his
shoulder. The two scouts joined him immediately, and the three rode toward the
mine road.
We re going into the mine, sir? asked Sendyl.
Just for a little while. After talking to the colonel, it came out that none
of us has ever been in it, and I couldn t explain why no one had. All that
was true, if totally misleading, but Mykel doubted the colonel would object to
his seeing how the mine was laid out and operated.
Page 142
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Sendyl and Jasakyt exchanged knowing glances. Mykel let them think that the
colonel had picked on Fifteenth Company and its captain.
As they neared the outer gates of the prison compound, the sentries looked at
the three riders. The gates opened, then closed once they were past. The gray
paving stones were damp from the intermittent rain of the night before, but
the sky was clear. A chill wind blew out of the northwest. The road was wide
enough for three abreast. Mykel rode in the middle.
Did either of you see anything interesting or different while I was in
Dramuria? he asked after they had ridden several hundred yards.
No, sir. Pretty quiet for once, replied Jasakyt.
Out on the road, that is, added Sendyl. One of the squad leaders from the
locals told me that another two min-ers just disappeared. One moment, they
were loading a cart, and the next they were gone.
Like that?
Overseers said that the miners hid before going down into the mine, and then
the others told the story, Sendyl said.
No one saw them or discovered tracks or anything? asked Mykel.
No, sir. But how would anyone get out of a cave in the rock?
Mykel had a very good idea, but he wasn t about to offer it. That s a good
question.
Strange place, if you ask me, murmured Jasakyt.
Mykel looked from the graystone paving blocks of the road to the still-grayish
green sky, and then to the rocky hillside above the road and its walls. He
should have inspected the mine right after Fifteenth Company had been assigned
to patrol the mine and mine road. Then again, there were so many things he
should have done going to spread formations immediately, sending copies of his
reports to Colonel Dainyl, talking to Rachyla more, perhaps even going to
Colonel Dainyl earlier about the majer. Was he always going to learn things
later than he should and perhaps pay for it the next time with his life rather
than a wounded shoulder?
The three rode another half vingt before Sendyl cleared his throat. Sir, how
long are we going to be here?
I don t know, and I don t think the colonel does, either.
The mine gates opened as the three rode toward them and creaked shut as the
three passed into the stockade that surrounded the bluff holding the mine and
the crude loading docks.
Khelsyt waited beside one of the empty wagons. You can tie your mounts
there. He pointed to the loading dock. You ll be out of here before we bring
the prisoners in for the day.
Mykel dismounted and walked his mount to the dock. Already, his nose was
beginning to twitch. The odor, more like a stench that combined the worst
features of sewage and manure, hung heavily in the air.
Standing by the timbered mine entrance was another figure, a man clad in what
once might have been green, but was now a shapeless gray-brown coverall. His
expression was stern, just short of grim.
Nophyt, this is Captain Mykel. The Myrmidon colonel sent him for a quick
tour.
Mykel inclined his head slightly. I m sorry to bother you, but&
When an alector wants something, the rest of us don t get much of a choice,
replied Nophyt.
Nophyt is the head overseer, really more of a mining engineer, explained
Khelsyt.
Much as anyone needs an engineer here, replied Nophyt. Bats took an old
lava tube, and the branches off it, just kept hanging there and dumping their
droppings into it, until it got all filled up, or mostly so. Now they use the
caves farther north. I figure that someday, we ll be mining those. Asked
Director Donasyr why we weren t already, and he said that there were only so
many folks with the golds to pay for the guano, and, besides, it d last longer
if we only mined one cave at a time. Anyway, I make sure that they dig out the
shit evenly so that we don t get a wall of it falling on someone. Check the
Page 143
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
rock walls, too, every night and every morning, just to make sure nothing s
developed a crack.
Do the prisoners have to chop away rock in places to get to the guano? Mykel
asked.
Sometimes. Either floors or the places bats get into where people can t. In
another month, looks like we ll be opening up a gallery to get to a lower cave
where they did that. The overseer gestured toward the weathered timbers that
framed the entrance. Better get moving.
From the bracing and the irregularities, Mykel could see that the mine
entrance had once been a cave mouth.
At the entrance, Nophyt picked up a metal-and-glass oil lamp, already lit.
This is the main gallery. It was blasted out and enlarged a long time back.
He walked back through the gallery to the rear, where a sloping tunnel led
downward. In the middle of the tunnel floor were ruts worn into the stone. A
heavy rope lay between the ruts. Mykel s eyes traced the rope to a windlass.
Iron supports for the windlass had been set in holes in the lava.
Once a cart s full they jerk the cable, and the windlass crew cranks it up.
Nophyt walked down the tunnel on the left, and Mykel followed, with the scouts
behind. Khelsyt did not accompany them on the long walk down to the next
level.
Lower gallery here, announced Nophyt. The cave branches off here. We use
smaller carts down here. Some places, we just have pits, and they hoist the
shit up in baskets.
Mykel tried not to swallow or breathe deeply, but he almost felt dizzy from [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Archiwum