Chapter 75: Chapter 74: Dark Clouds on the Horizon

The next morning proved to be the most fateful day that Alex had yet to experience in Vesta.

It started off normally enough, finding Alex with a new group of potential recruits doing their rifle training. Except this class was much smaller than the class before it.

“Take a deep breath and steady your hands,” advised Alex. “Focus on the target and think about bringing it to you. Once you can mentally bring that bullseye to you, pull the trigger.”

A blast of energy erupted from the rifle moments later, exploding a hole only centimeters from the center.

“Perfect shot,” said Alex, beaming with a smile.

Annette looked up from her rifle. “You can say I had a good teacher.”

“I don’t know,” teased Alex. “I think this is like the swimming thing. Are you a champion shooter as well and you just forgot to tell me?”

Annette started to giggle. “I’ll never tell. You’re just going to have to guess!”

From the other side of Alex, Ellie let out a loud side. “Can you two stop flirting for two seconds so Alex can watch my next shot?”

Annette cleared her throat. “What’s wrong, cousin? You don’t like it when the shoe is on the other foot for a change?”

“No, I actually want to learn how to shoot,” replied Ellie. “Not get a chance to flirt with Alex.”

“Easy for you to say when you’ve already sampled the goods,” shot Annette.

Alex started to laugh. “Can you two settle down for a minute and focus on the task at hand? I thought we were all trying to be friends anyway?”

“You and Ellie agreed to that,” said Annette with a pout. “Not me. I just had to get the details after the fact.”

Alex gave her a sharp look which made her change her tune.

“Oh, all right. Friends it is.”

“Thanks, Annette,” replied Alex, still chuckling. “Ellie, let’s see you shoot next.”

Ellie let out two rapid shots that were almost as good as Annette’s. She’d shown rapid progress so far, especially since she was barely able to hit the target during their first session.

“Very good!” said Alex, appraising the target from afar. “Seriously, I could put both of you in the VDF and you’d fit right in.”

Annette started to giggle. “Can you imagine the look on Belladonna’s face if that happened? With both Ellie and me?”

“I think her face would permanently distort if she saw that,” laughed Ellie. “It makes for a really good visual!”

“To hell with Belladonna,” replied Alex. “You two have the skills to be in the VDF if you ever want to. I’m not sure how we would make that happen just yet but the offer is there.”

“Thanks, Alex, but I think it’s probably best if we don’t press our luck for now,” replied Annette. “I’m grateful just for the lesson more than anything. I’ve always wanted to shoot and now I’ve gotten my chance.”

“Well, if danger ever finds you, you’ll be able to fight back,” said Alex proudly.

“We certainly have enough danger these days,” replied Ellie soberly. “But if the last line of defense comes down to Annette and I, I’d say Vesta’s days are numbered.”

“Perk up a little, Ellie,” said Annette. “Alex isn’t going to let anything happen to us. Right, Alex?”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far,” said Alex a bit too honestly. “But I’m certainly going to try my best.”

Before either woman had the chance to respond, Alex’s P-com went off. Quite suddenly, a hologram of Hans appeared from Alex’s wrist.

“Sir, we have a problem up here at the mining biosphere,” said Hans. “It looks like we have a partial cave-in.”

“How did that happen, Hans?”

“Not entirely sure yet,” replied Hans. “The miners reported some vibrations in the deeper part of the mines about ten minutes ago. We gave the order to evacuate but it wasn’t quick enough. One of the main corridors down into the deepest part collapsed, blocking their escape route. There’s been other reports of more passages that have been blocked as well but we don’t have visual confirmation of that yet. There are about thirty men trapped down there.”

“Send in the VDF to help clear the blockage,” replied Alex. “The secondary squad up there should do for now while the other one continues to man the towers. Who’s squad is up there right now?”

“Rick’s squad, sir,” answered Hans. “And from what I’ve seen of the blockage, we might need more manpower than that.”

“I’ll bring up another squad with me,” said Alex with a heavy sigh. “They won’t like having to pull double duty today but we can’t leave those miners trapped underground. I’ll come up there as soon as I can.”

“Very good, sir, I’ll have Rick’s squad start clearing the blockage right away.”

Just like that, the transmission ended.

“A collapse in the mine?” asked Ellie. “How is that possible? Was it a small earthquake?”

“I guess we’ll find out once we get up there,” said Alex. “Sorry I have to cut and run.”

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“No, we understand,” said Annette. “Keep us posted on what happens. The families of those miners are going to want to know as soon as they’re safe.”

“I’ll stay in contact,” promised Alex.

No sooner had he left the shooting grounds than he was using his P-com to order the assembly of another squad. Alex asked them to meet at Biosphere Five and they would make the transit up to the mining biosphere together. As he arrived in his office, he found Kristina once again hard at work.

“Kristina, I need to go up to the mines right now to deal with a partial cave-in,” said Alex. “I need you to keep a firm watch on the city while I’m away. I’m not anticipating that I’ll be gone for very long but if anything happens here that’s out of the ordinary, I want to know about it.”

Kristina gave him a crisp yet adorable salute. “You got it, commander. I’ll keep the home fires burning.”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “What does that mean?”

Kristina managed to look partially embarrassed. “Sorry, I’ve been listening to old media again. I keep absorbing their lexicon into my speech processes. A lot of what I’ve been listening to is over a thousand years old but it’s still awesome. I’ve even started to watch movies from that time, and I’m really enjoying some of their poetic one-liners!”

Alex chuckled. “Well, have fun with that.”

Kristina winked at him. “Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker.”

Not wanting to find out whatever the hell that meant, Alex moved to the garage off the biosphere, where the VDF soldiers of the reinforcement squad were already beginning to assemble. They grabbed their helmets and rifles and moved closer to the rovers to begin their transit.

“Listen up,” called out Alex once they were ready. “We’re dealing with a cave-in at the mines. We have as many as thirty miners up there that are trapped inside. I wouldn’t be calling you up right now if it wasn’t an emergency. Let’s get up there, free our fellow Vestans, and get back to our lives. Are you ready?”

“Yes, sir!” came the audible yell from all the squad members.

“All right, let’s move out.”

The convoy carrying the entire squad up to the mines passed without any incident. There were no sightings of bears, or anything for that matter. In fact, everything seemed eerily quiet out here, so much so that it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight.

Something wasn’t right. He couldn’t explain what it was but there was a growing feeling of dread in his stomach.

Before they arrived, Alex used his P-com to issue new orders to all those squads that weren’t part of the rescue mission, telling them to be on high alert for any disturbances. At least if something was brewing, the VDF was going to be prepared for it.

Even if Alex couldn’t describe what he felt.

By the time they arrived at the mining biosphere, Alex found only Hans outside the mines.

“I sent Rick’s squad down already to begin clearing the blockage,” informed Hans. “They’ve already made progress, and the hole they’ve made was big enough to bring out one miner who was hurt already.”

“Great news,” replied Alex. “But it sounds like there’s a but coming.”

“There is, the contact that we’ve made with the rest of the miners indicates that the thirty trapped are still spread out. There are other cave-ins that we’ll need to clear. It’s not going to be just a matter of clearing that first blockage.”

“Nothing is ever easy,” said Alex. “At least we have two full squads here to help.”

“Ain’t that the truth, sir. Now that you’re here, I’m going to lead this new squad down there to join the other.”

“Negative, Hans,” replied Alex. “I want you to stay up here and keep an eye on our defenses. Something doesn’t feel right to me about this. I’m going to go down into the mines with the squads, and I want you to stay in close contact with the squad up here. If you see anything out of the ordinary, let me know right away.”

Hans saluted. “You got it, sir.”

With those final words, Alex motioned for the new squad to head down into the mines. As they were entering the cavernous entrance, Alex saw one of the injured miners being brought out. This poor man looked to have had his leg crushed during the initial collapse. It was a bloody and haggard mess, and Alex knew he’d be spending some considerable time in the hospital from here on out.

Going into the mines was always an otherworldly experience, at least for Alex. Though there was basic lighting going down the ceiling of the main passages, there was still plenty of darkness which made navigation difficult. What was even more concerning was the report that the lights were out past the first blockage site.

Alex found only half of Rick’s squad once they reached that first blockage. There were only four of them still working to enlarge the hole, which was now big enough to allow someone to squeeze through.

“Where’s the rest of the squad?” asked Alex to one filthy soldier, covered in dirt. “Did they go through already?”

“Yes sir, Lieutenant Rick Bishop and the others have pushed through to start clearing the rest of the blockages.”

“Okay, we need to get this enlarged as soon as possible,” said Alex as he looked back at the new squad. “Come on, men. Let’s give them a hand. The sooner we get this done, the quicker we can get to the others. I don’t want to have to worry about this blockage getting any worse before we get deeper in the mines.”

With those words, they all got to work. Progress was slow in the tight confines of the mine but with the use of the carts, they were able to work out a system of pulling the excess rock and earth from the collapse and bring it up to the surface, clearing the way. It was nearly forty-five minutes later when the path was cleared out enough to allow the cart to pass through the initial blockage site.

Something still wasn’t right though. In that entire time, there had been no further movement from deeper in the mine. None of the remaining miners, or the VDF members from Rick’s squad (which included Jenna) appeared for a check in at the initial blockage.

It was almost like they’d disappeared inside.

It was just as Alex was realizing this that they all heard the worst possible noise erupt, reverberating through the cavernous walls.

It was the roar of a bear, and it was coming from within the mines.

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