androids, Qoowo miners stepped forward and picked up chunks of metal—Perovskite—and tossed them into the back of an SMT. As its engine groaned louder, the vehicle drove away, inching its way up the tunnel.
Baaax glanced over his shoulder. “Jason, I’m going back to Icir.”
“I need to see your ID.”
Baaax grimaced. “If you insist. He yanked his tablet out. The screen appeared. He was from Dadim, a town near Icir’s equator. For nine years, while he was on Icir, working for Hitiec Corporation, he had designed five-legged nanites, microscopic androids that folded up into balls, making it easier for WADI’s titanium muscles to function more efficiently.
He was the real Baaax.
I mentioned that both doctors wanted to leave Danig soon, then gave him the exact day and departure time.
Baaax hesitated. “That’s a good idea.”
I imported his payment and sent a ticket into his database.
“Fi is over there.” Baaax pointed at the last robot, an android on the far end of the room.
I walked there and paused next to a lanky Aito man, a humanoid with a goatee. He pivoted and began staring at me, a worried expression on his countenance.
“You are Fi?”
“Yes.”
“Baaax just told me that you want to go back to Icir.”
He nodded. “Yes. I just made up my mind. I could have made a lot of money on Nooa, but it’s too hazardous. A week ago, eleven men in Lah, a mountain range in that planet’s southern hemisphere, died of encephalitis. Doctors say that there are too many lethal viroids in the drinking water.”
I mentioned the departure date and time.
“Count me in.” Fi raised one hand. His ID materialized. While at Diyy University, a school two thousand miles southwest of Wcip, he had studied and improved RL, a photonic computer language that the WADI’S used to recognize 6012 crystalline structures, making it easier for these robots to locate the Perovskite.
RL, which recognized a hundred eighty thousand different types of impedance as it organized coring sample databases, made it possible for WADI’s to recognize a variety of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic strata faster.
His ID was authentic. After retrieving his payment, I exported a ticket.
I said, “Thanks. I’m going to Rougt and marry my girlfriend. See you at the hangar.”
Fi grinned. “Congratulations.”
I turned and walked behind the robots.
Without warning, one of them stepped back, blocking my path.
Baaax yelled, trying to shut off the WADI, “Stop! Cancel.S!”
The android’s arm hit a ceiling support. The roof started caving in.
A miner screamed.
Chapter Twenty
All around me the chamber was dark, no lights anywhere.
Not far away, several miners were grumbling, every word incoherent.
We were trapped!
My legs and waist were covered by dirt. I turned left and right, but the dirt didn’t move.
Damn!
I reached down, my adrenaline pumping, and starting digging. At the same time, I sniffed dusty air, and uttered a command, “Shm.on.”
My shoulder-mounted flashlight didn’t work.
I reached up and pushed a button on the back of the device. The light still didn’t come on—a falling rock had broken it. I announced, “Ey.inf.on.” My mechanical left eye switched to infrared. Much to my surprise, I glimpsed dimly lit shapes—miners, some crouched, others stooped. Apparently, only I could see.
Fi shouted, “The WADI’s can’t move!”
A miner yelled, “If we can’t get out of here, we’re all gonna run out of air and die.”
After a couple of tugs, I yanked both legs free and looked around.
To my right, the robot’s heads—egg-shaped body parts sticking out of fallen debris—started rotating, studying the cave.
All around them, everyone else—moving silhouettes, barely visible in the dim light—couldn’t stand because of a low ceiling.
In front of me, Baaax announced, “Don’t give up! Grab a shovel and dig. My guess is that in a couple of hours, Emhe’s team will dig us out
Baaax glanced over his shoulder. “Jason, I’m going back to Icir.”
“I need to see your ID.”
Baaax grimaced. “If you insist. He yanked his tablet out. The screen appeared. He was from Dadim, a town near Icir’s equator. For nine years, while he was on Icir, working for Hitiec Corporation, he had designed five-legged nanites, microscopic androids that folded up into balls, making it easier for WADI’s titanium muscles to function more efficiently.
He was the real Baaax.
I mentioned that both doctors wanted to leave Danig soon, then gave him the exact day and departure time.
Baaax hesitated. “That’s a good idea.”
I imported his payment and sent a ticket into his database.
“Fi is over there.” Baaax pointed at the last robot, an android on the far end of the room.
I walked there and paused next to a lanky Aito man, a humanoid with a goatee. He pivoted and began staring at me, a worried expression on his countenance.
“You are Fi?”
“Yes.”
“Baaax just told me that you want to go back to Icir.”
He nodded. “Yes. I just made up my mind. I could have made a lot of money on Nooa, but it’s too hazardous. A week ago, eleven men in Lah, a mountain range in that planet’s southern hemisphere, died of encephalitis. Doctors say that there are too many lethal viroids in the drinking water.”
I mentioned the departure date and time.
“Count me in.” Fi raised one hand. His ID materialized. While at Diyy University, a school two thousand miles southwest of Wcip, he had studied and improved RL, a photonic computer language that the WADI’S used to recognize 6012 crystalline structures, making it easier for these robots to locate the Perovskite.
RL, which recognized a hundred eighty thousand different types of impedance as it organized coring sample databases, made it possible for WADI’s to recognize a variety of sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic strata faster.
His ID was authentic. After retrieving his payment, I exported a ticket.
I said, “Thanks. I’m going to Rougt and marry my girlfriend. See you at the hangar.”
Fi grinned. “Congratulations.”
I turned and walked behind the robots.
Without warning, one of them stepped back, blocking my path.
Baaax yelled, trying to shut off the WADI, “Stop! Cancel.S!”
The android’s arm hit a ceiling support. The roof started caving in.
A miner screamed.
Chapter Twenty
All around me the chamber was dark, no lights anywhere.
Not far away, several miners were grumbling, every word incoherent.
We were trapped!
My legs and waist were covered by dirt. I turned left and right, but the dirt didn’t move.
Damn!
I reached down, my adrenaline pumping, and starting digging. At the same time, I sniffed dusty air, and uttered a command, “Shm.on.”
My shoulder-mounted flashlight didn’t work.
I reached up and pushed a button on the back of the device. The light still didn’t come on—a falling rock had broken it. I announced, “Ey.inf.on.” My mechanical left eye switched to infrared. Much to my surprise, I glimpsed dimly lit shapes—miners, some crouched, others stooped. Apparently, only I could see.
Fi shouted, “The WADI’s can’t move!”
A miner yelled, “If we can’t get out of here, we’re all gonna run out of air and die.”
After a couple of tugs, I yanked both legs free and looked around.
To my right, the robot’s heads—egg-shaped body parts sticking out of fallen debris—started rotating, studying the cave.
All around them, everyone else—moving silhouettes, barely visible in the dim light—couldn’t stand because of a low ceiling.
In front of me, Baaax announced, “Don’t give up! Grab a shovel and dig. My guess is that in a couple of hours, Emhe’s team will dig us out
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