Chapter 1: (Not) Good Vibrations
The screen on the Navigational Computer flashed red in the top right corner and my heart stuttered. It would’ve taken a fraction of a second to bring up the following warning message, but to me, it felt like minutes.
No…
This was the part of my job that I hated.
There was ground movement predicted in the area. Strong ground movement. They estimated a 4.5 on the meter, complete with aftershocks.
“Javolo?” My heart was pounding in my throat and I could hardly push the word out.
“Yeah?” His voice sounded extra scratchy over the Com system today.
I could feel a cold sweat forming on my forehead. “You need to hang on to something. You’re about to get a four point five.”
“Okay, Cal. Will do.”
Another thing I couldn’t stand was the wait. I couldn’t breathe properly. I tried to sit still in my seat and calm down. It didn’t work. It never worked. If they knew how badly the quakes affected me, I’d lose my job instantly.
Breathe… Just breathe. In. Out. In. Out.
My hands were shaking so badly that I shoved them under my thighs to stop them.
“Are you somewhere relatively safe?” I could hear the tremor in my voice and hoped the distortion through the Com would hide it.
“Yep.”
I resisted the urge to ask Javolo if he felt anything yet. I couldn’t ask any questions that could give away how I was really feeling. I had to appear calm. They recorded all conversations.
In. Out. Relax…
I wasn’t scared for me. I was safe and sound in my little cubicle up on the space station while Javolo was underground down on the planet, Kronos, mining the universe’s most sort-after mineral, Amakio, and putting his life on the line. I was scared for him, and all of the other Diggers down there.
Most of the quakes on the planet were minor, and there had only been one partial collapse of one of the tunnels since I’d started working for Katoa Intergalactic Mining and Exploration five months before, but that knowledge didn’t help to ease my panic every time it happened.
“Okay, here it comes…”
My heart stopped, I was sure of it. Then galloped ahead full speed as I waited.
Breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Relax… Let go of the desk… Relax… Start with your fingers and toes…
I kept trying to relax, one part of me at a time. Maybe it helped. I couldn’t tell.
Why did I even apply for this job in the first place? Yeah, I know. I gotta start somewhere and work my way up… But I don’t think I can handle this. Panicking every time I see those words on the screen… I couldn’t cope if something happened to Javolo… He’s my friend… My best friend.
Sure, there were the girls I knew from work — the other Nav Operators and admin staff — but it was different with them. They were friends, but not real friends. I couldn’t really talk to them. Not about the important stuff.
Then there was Malvolio. We’d been seeing each other for about four weeks, but that was a totally different kind of relationship.
“Cal?”
Javolo’s voice brought my thoughts back to the present. “Uh, yeah?”
Only Javolo would think to shorten my surname from Callista to Cal, as if it was my first name.
He reported exactly what the Nav Computer had told me as it happened. Three smaller tremors… Then…
“Whoah!”
I put my hand over my mouth so I wouldn’t cry out. Then I started my relaxation techniques again. I had to pull myself together, and quickly. I had to wipe the image of being surrounded by dirt and tree roots from my mind.
“Okay. It’s gone.”
I remembered to remove my hand. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth to talk, but Javolo beat me to it.
“That was a big one. Nearly knocked me on my butt.”
A picture of him falling onto his butt in his cumbersome Mech-suit popped into my mind. Now that would be funny to see. And it would be even funnier once he tried to get back up. I’d seen footage of just how difficult that task was in a training video.
Mech-suits were big mechanical suits that the Diggers could climb into that supplied oxygen and boosted their strength so they could dig up the Amakio and bring it back to the waiting shuttles. They had arms and legs powered by hydraulics that were extensions of the Diggers limbs, allowing them to dig and lift heavy weights while mining.
“I told you to hang on to something.”
There really wasn’t anything he could hold on to down there, but I had to say something to try to lighten the situation.
I forced myself to breathe slower and waited for my heartbeat to return to normal. My hands still shook so I clasped them together in my lap. I hated feeling like this. It was overwhelming, but I was thankful he was okay.
“Yeah, that you did...” he said.
I braced myself and waited for more aftershocks. They were only minor. I had to keep telling myself everything was okay and to relax.
I pulled my thoughts from the images in my mind that I wish I could forget and I tried to keep my voice even. “Okay, report.”
“No damage. No more ground movement. The suit’s reporting that all systems are functioning normally. Anyway, guess what?”
I smiled. Javolo didn’t miss a beat. It was straight back to our conversation. “What?”
I busied myself with the Nav Computer terminal, collating all the information that Javolo’s Mech-suit had reported before the quake so it could correlate with the sixteen orbiting navigational satellites and make the necessary corrections to his position on the screen. Now I had his exact location.
“Last night I saw the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen!” he exclaimed through the static over the Com.
Where did that come from? I wondered.
The last thing we were talking about that wasn’t work-related was a HoloMovie I’d seen recently about a droid that thought it was human. But I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to tease him.
“Ah-huh. Like the redhead you saw last month?” I laughed. “Or the brunette in the grav shaft last week?”
“No,” he said quickly, “this is different. Cut me some slack, huh?”
“Nah. Can’t do that.” I giggled. I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t care that I was sitting in my dull little cubicle all by myself with a wide grin plastered on my face.
This was the part of the job I loved the most. I could dig at him like that and he knew I was kidding. He may have been my work partner, but it wasn’t all business. We could joke around and be ourselves, even though it was frowned upon by ‘The Company’ as we called it.
“She looked amazing,” he continued.
I rolled my eyes and stopped myself from laughing out loud. “Suuure she did.”
I couldn’t agree with him. What would be the fun in that?
“I’m serious.”
The Nav Computer was taking its sweet time. We couldn’t do anything until I had all of the information. There could be warnings in the last few segments of data.
My mind wandered while we waited. Rogan, the partner I’d had before Javolo, was all business and no interesting conversation. Once he’d been replaced by Javolo, my job had become a lot more interesting. A lot more fun.
I looked back at the data on the screen. Still not finished. Talk about slow. It was frustrating. Everything was so out-dated and archaic here. They needed to update the whole system and I knew exactly which one would be able to handle the workload. Computers were something I knew well. Something I’d excelled in throughout my schooling.
I’d majored in Polymer Science and Engineering and wanted to work for Katoa’s research department on things like improving the materials for the Mech-suits and oxygen masks, but I’d quickly realised once I’d started working here that they weren’t interested in keeping their technology up-to-date. It seemed they didn’t like to spend money, even if it would improve efficiency and safety. I only had to look at the ridiculously archaic equipment we were forced to work with to see that. Typical. Were all large companies like this?
I seriously hoped not.
This low-end job was supposed to be my start so I could move up to Research and Development, but I’d decided on a different strategy. I’d already started to research other companies. There was no way I was going to stay here once my two-year contract was up. It had turned out to be a dead-end job, even if it was with one of the biggest companies in the Known Universe.
“Where to now, Boss?”
I tried to suppress a giggle, and failed. “Ah, I like that.”
“Like what?”
I sat up straighter. “You admitting I’m the boss.”
“Well, you order me around all day and I have to obey your every command. It’s almost like we’re married.”
