The Lost Tales

Two shir-ors later Lady Abbess Cara and Lord Knight Liam trekked the outskirts of the large strip mine just outside of Nan-li. From three levels down, Lady Engineer Rachel climbed the slope up to them, “You asked to see me?”

  Lady Abbess Cara extended to Lady Rachel the Ten-Arian gesture of respect, “Yes! What happened here?”

  “Here? What makes you think the sinkhole in the city has anything to do with this mine?” asked Rachel, pretending to be concerned.

  “There are fifty dead with two hundred more in critical care, most of them on nirlar respiratory therapy. Sinkholes do not just happen, least of all sinkholes releasing large amounts of bilast. What happened to release so much bilast into that apartment building?”

  “What makes you think the mine has anything to do with it?”

  “Do not play ignorant with me, Lady Engineer Rachel; we’ve traced the sink role to a fault running straight into this mine. Did you know about the fault’s location?”

  “Sure, of course. But the presence of a fault hardly guarantees any sort of seismic activity. More than eighty percent of fault zones remain inactive for thousands of yen-ars; there was no reason to believe mining the argun ore deposits would have any effect elsewhere,” defended Lady Rachel.

  “Unless there were bilast pockets in the rocks, pockets that, once disturbed, vented along the fault lines, triggering an explosive sinkhole large enough to destroy an apartment building and spewing bilast into the area,” countered Cara.

  “What makes you think that?” evaded Rachel.

  “More importantly, why do you refuse to help me?” asked Cara.

  “What do you want me to say? You want a confession to some sort of conspiracy to kill those people? There is none. We were just doing our jobs, digging argun ore and other valuable minerals out of the ground so it can be processed and used in the power plants that generate the electricity that no one across the planet wants to go without,” defended Lady Engineer Rachel.

  “There are safer ways to do that.”

  “Oh? So now you are not only a healer and one of the heads of house Ten-Ar, but an engineer too?” scoffed Rachel.

  “What about nara trees? They filter out the toxic effects of both bilast and argene radiation. Nara trees offer wood for construction, berries for food, habitat for animals, and shelter from storms. Instead of cutting these trees down, you could at least plant them!”

  “I’m a miner, not a forester!”

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning she will not help us,” interpreted Lord Liam. “Nor, I suspect add any information to what we already know from the sinkhole itself. There is nothing in it for her, no profit. If we were willing to bribe her with, say, ten thousand tai-ors, she might tell us what we need to know. Instead, I suspect you have a greater incentive to stay quiet, Lady Engineer Rachel.”

  Rachel acted pacifying, “Look I do not want anyone to get hurt. But I have to look out for our miners. These women and men work hard, endanger their lives every beinor. And it is not as if they are paid all that well for the risk they take on. They really are not. They deserve a lot better than they get.”

  “On that, we are agreed. But surely the addition of more safety precautions can only help the miners – and the residents of Nan-li,” entreated Cara.

  “At how many tai-ors per shir-or of work? Do you realize how much more power companies would have to charge for electricity? Everything would go up – from the price of commuter rail fares to home heating to fuel for low altitude shuttles. It takes electricity to transport food from farms to markets. Our entire society runs on argene and you want to make it much more expensive for everyone? You say you want to help the residents here? Then leave us alone, let us run our businesses the way we see fit. We do not want more regulation. We just want to do our jobs – and keep as many workers as possible,” insisted Lady Engineer Rachel.

  “Believe me, I understand!” plead Cara. “But how can you not care about conditions in those mines? Is it not worth spending a few tai-ors to extend their lives?”

  “You think I want them to die, to get sick?” cried Rachel.

  “No – which is why I am asking you to make some small changes to help them do their jobs better. Surely you understand that strong and healthy workers do better work and faster work than sick, tired, and injured workers!”

  “You do not understand, Princess, we just do not have the money.”

  Lord Knight Liam paced, studying the ground around him, “What if the supplies were donated? If it costs you nothing, would it not be in your advantage to do as we suggest?”

  Lady Rachel glared at them, “I will think about it.”