The Star Treasure by Keith Laumer

Author:Keith Laumer [Laumer, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Science Fiction
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

3

I worked alone the next shift. The cutting seemed to go a little faster. No rocks fell from my cart. The tally-man paid off in full with no argument other than a resentful look. I passed Heavy leaving the mess hall. He grinned and wagged his head ruefully.

At the end of five days I had collected thirteen chits which were redeemed by an official in the camp at the rate of eleven for a one credit chip. The latter was stamped from one-year plastic to discourage hoarding. I used it to buy a second-hand breathing rig from a tally-man.

After three weeks as a rock chipper, I demanded and received my turn at scavenging. It was easier than rock-cutting. The rules—tacit, but rigid—permitted me not only to collect anything that fell off a cart, but also to sweep up around the various cutting faces, collect chips from the loading area, and in general scrounge whatever I could. In addition to loading two carts a day on a four hour shift, it served to keep the mine remarkably clean of debris.

I didn’t form any friendships. Heavy was the only man at Llywarch Hen who knew how to smile, but we never talked. Occasionally I saw one or another of the men who had arrived with me, but they didn’t appear eager to form an alumni association. Little by little I came to know the system of bribes and fees, learned when and how to resist the squeeze, when to pay up docilely. The system was administered by self-appointed beadles, old timers with the muscle to make argument painful, but it was made possible only by a common disinclination to let anyone get by with anything.

I went from scavenging to cart-maintenance, which was paid by contributions from the membership, collection being the business of the receiver. With my slightly enlarged earnings, I bought my own hammer and chisel and went back to rock cutting. That was where the bonuses were. My skill improved. I learned the precise angle at which to hold the chisel, the precise force of the blow required to scale away a ten-pound flake of stone. I searched diligently for signs of some substance other than pink chalk and black glass.

And one day I made my find.

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