Human for Hire (4) -- Frontier Justice: Collateral Damage Included by T.R. Harris

Author:T.R. Harris [Harris, T.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tom Harris Creations, LLC
Published: 2023-01-19T13:00:00+00:00

Once underground, Adam was awestruck by the size of the cavern they were in. Suma noticed him gawking as they met up in the still frigid air that had just filled the chamber.

“Come, I will take you to our leader, Tansin,” Suma said. “He is very anxious to hear of your plan. And along the way, I will tell you the story of my home.”

The miner was bursting with pride, something Adam found incongruous. Who could be proud of living like a groundhog?

“In the past, Sandicor was highly volcanic, the result of a wildly elliptical orbit that deformed the planet constantly,” Suma said, beginning the tour. Adam noticed the uniform red of the rock, resembling hardened lava. “Then, as the orbit stabilized to what it is now, the vulcanism ceased, leaving behind enormous caverns, lava tubes and other formations. Then over the three hundred years we have been here, the colonists have carved out larger chambers.”

They’d left the landing chamber and were now in a tunnel easily fifty yards wide and disappearing around gradual turns. Adam rubbed a hand across the surface. It was smooth, as if polished. Suma noticed.

“Yes, we shape the walls. The material is easy to work, and we have the equipment. It is a matter of pride for us that our settlement be clean and designed. There are natural chambers and tunnels—such as the landing area—but most of the living area is like this. Let me give you an example.”

Suma moved up to a doorway set along the tunnel wall. There were electronics attached to the smoothed rock. He pressed a button, and a moment later, a red-skinned female opened the door. She didn’t appear surprised to see Suma and the other aliens.

“I have been watching the arrival on the broadcast,” she said to Suma. Then she looked to Adam. “I am honored to meet the others who have come to help. Would you care to tour my home?”

Adam got the sense this visit was pre-arranged, a way to introduce the mercenaries to how the miners lived. They stepped through the door and into an impressive chamber easily a hundred feet across and towering half that high. A half dozen doorways or tunnels led off from the circular living room, telling Adam that what he saw was only a fraction of the home’s true size.

“There are only three hundred of us in the colony,” Suma explained. “As such, there is no shortage of space for each abode. If a family unit or individual wishes a home, as a community, we help carve out the chamber for the occupant or occupants. We are generous with our time and effort. Most of our homes are of comparable size to this one. Again, we feel it helps us cope with what we are missing by not living on a more traditional world. I live single, yet my abode is approximately the size of this one.” He grinned. “However, the large size does require extra time to clean.”

They didn’t look in all the rooms, but the tour was impressive.

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