Up Against It - M. J. Locke [155]
Xuan saw through the haze of churned-up dust, assembler grapes, and gravel that Mills had gotten to his feet again. He shuffled toward them, swiping at the crap on his faceplate, batting skeletons and other sky-borne debris out of the way. Then the door locked into place.
While they waited for the lock to pressurize, Xuan turned to his rescuers. “I think you just saved my life.”
“Glad to help, Professor Xuan,” one of them said. Xuan peered at the one who had spoken, the driver who had picked him up.
“I know you. Are you one of my former students?”
“No, sir. I’m Geoff Agre. A friend of your son, Hugh. These are my friends, Kamal Kurupath and Amaya Toguri.” The other two waved.
Xuan belatedly recognized the young man. “Of course! It’s been a long time. How did you happen to be here? How did you know I was in trouble?”
“This is my stroid. We come out here sometimes just to hang out,” Geoff said.
Amaya added, “We were suspicious when we saw the shuttle. They never contacted Geoff or asked permission to test our rock.”
Kamal said, “Geoff and I were just heading over to ask what you were doing here when the big man started shoving you around and threatening you with a crowbar. We figured that was our cue to intervene.”
“And what are those?” Xuan asked, gesturing at the pipes Amaya had used to fend off Mills and Jesse. “What did you use as projectiles?”
He caught a flash of a smile. “They’re spud launchers. Well, the big ones actually launch larger vegetables. I used spoiled pumpkins.”
Xuan coughed out a surprised laugh. “Excellent choice.”
The clearance light came on. They removed their helmets, and yawned, equalizing the pressure in their ears, as the inner door slid open.
The young men walked their bikes in, and the woman shut the inner airlock door. “Tread carefully,” Amaya warned. “Assembler grapes are all over the place. I’ve got the ventilators on high, but a lot are still airborne.”
“Clever idea with the bone dancers,” Kamal remarked, as he and Geoff parked their bikes. “How did you get the tank into the lock?”
“I pushed it in with one of the ore haulers,” Amaya said, with a gesture at the towing vehicles lined up near the back of the chamber. “I figured you guys could use a distraction. I peeled the top off the tank so they could get out. It sure didn’t take long to fill up the airlock, either. Geoff, you’d better figure out a way to kill that program, or we’re going to be up to our asses in skeletons again in no time.”
Geoff said, “But at least they came in useful for something.”
“You made those?” Xuan asked, bemused.
Geoff gave him a sheepish look. “Don’t tell anybody, OK?”
Xuan suppressed a smile. “I could be persuaded to remain silent. Under the circumstances.”
He moved further into the main chamber. It was the typical mine entry cavern, with walls and roof gashed out by minerbot tooth and claw. The ore was primarily nickel-iron, showing signs of rust in spots—an indicator that this mine had been around awhile—and ribbed with veins of white quartz. On the cavern floor, conveyors and tracks extended into various passages. Air circulation fans, ducts, and mine gas sampling and testing gear hung from cables attached to the metal-ore ceiling. Of course, the occasional capering skeleton that scrambled up out of small pools of liquid was non-standard issue. These, thankfully, were smaller, shorter-lived, and fewer in number than the ones outside.
“I think we’d best keep our helmets and ponies close,” he said. “And let’s get our air tanks charged up in case we need to make a getaway.”
“Well, we do have plenty of supplies, farther down the mine,” Geoff said. “But it doesn’t hurt to get them charged.”
“I’ll take care of it,” Kamal said. He gathered everyone’s airpacks and bounded over to a set of recharging racks nearby. Xuan clipped his helmet to his suit, then pulled his pony bottle out of the pocket in the leg of his suit, and hooked it up to the main line under his arm. Geoff went over to the security panel, and Xuan and Amaya