Pathways - Jeri Taylor [238]
Neelix was in a state of heightened expectation the next day, as the prospect of getting free of this oppressive place became more nearly a reality. He was careful, however to keep from revealing his excitement to Tassot Bnay, as they toiled in the psilminite mines, for he didn’t want to arouse suspicion from any corner.
The day seemed endless. It was unusually hot, and he felt the top of his head stinging from the sun. The hours crept by in a haze of dust and noise, as the prisoners toiled to extract ore from the ground and the guards sat in the shade, chewing their mood-altering roots. It seemed to Neelix that they had become unusually noisy today, yattering and barking with laughter.
By late afternoon Neelix was all but trembling with anxiety and anticipation, willing the time to pass more quickly, compelling this day to be over. He couldn’t resist another visit to the antigrav storage area to see if powder from the underground ore was still being deposited there. Once again, he feigned difficulty with one of the sleds, and then began to guide it around the periphery, out of sight of the guards and the other workers.
He returned the sled to its storage place, watching as a film of dust materialized and settled. Harry and B’Elanna were still working. Would they be finished with this interminable chore by tonight? It had been several days since they began; surely no one had envisioned its taking this long.
Neelix turned again to the dark forest, into which, if all went well, they would be entering tonight. This time, he couldn’t resist investigating a bit more. He looked around carefully to make sure no one could see him, and then he crept into the thickly tangled undergrowth that flourished under the canopy of trees.
Immediately, it was many degrees cooler, and Neelix breathed the damp air gratefully. There was comfort in this tenebrous glade, respite from the relentless sun and heat. He listened for the sound of forest creatures, but heard nothing except the distant sound of the mining operation.
He continued into the forest for several meters when something made him turn around and look back out toward the storage area.
One of the Subu guards was there.
Neelix froze in the spot, reasonably sure the guard couldn’t see him in the dark depths. When he had been out in the harsh sunlight, he couldn’t see into the woods at all.
The guard moved along the length of the antigrav sleds, leaving footprints in the silty ground. Neelix prayed that he wouldn’t walk right into a cloud of materializing ore dust, but he seemed to have moved beyond the area where it was being dumped.
The guard moved to the edge of the clearing, and then did something strange: he bent over slightly, and inserted one of his tentacle-like appendages into his mouth. Then he regurgitated a mass of partially digested matter.
Neelix’s stomach quailed, but he forced himself to watch. He had no idea why the Subu was performing this indignation, and he didn’t care. He only cared that he leave before there was another materialization of dust.
But the Subu continued to bend over, hacking and spitting. He was still in that position when Neelix saw the film of dust appear in the air and settle onto the ground.
Obscuring the Subu’s footprints.
Neelix stared in fascination. Would the guard notice, when he returned, that the prints he had left were no longer there? Or was that a subtlety that might go unnoticed? He had no idea how basically bright these guards were—though frankly he hadn’t been impressed by their alacrity so far.
The guard finally stood up and made his way back through the storage area toward the quarries. He seemed not to notice the ground, and his absent footprints, but instead continued coughing and spitting. Neelix surmised that he’d chewed too much of the narcotic root and had elected to bring it up in order to get rid of some of the substance. And if that were true, maybe he was too muddled to take close notice of what was going on around him.
The