Life of a Miner – Chapter 07 – Theft

Chapter 7 – Theft

“Hey, get away from there,” Merley broadcast over the public comm channel. There was no guarantee that the figure rustling around in the cab of the large ore-sled was even listening, but it was worth a try.

Security lockout, Hoffen ore-sled. Attempted hijack in progress, Ulran ordered, close on his brother’s heels, Priloe not far behind. A red light flashed inside the cockpit and a head poked up over the controls, peering out.

“He’s making a run for it,” Merley exclaimed as the vac-suited figure jumped free of the sled on the opposite side and blue arc-jet cones brightly lit his retreat.

“Don’t, Merley,” Ulran called after his brother, following more slowly.

It was an all too familiar scene for Priloe. Attempted theft, followed by a chase.  He wondered if his newfound friends had considered what they’d do once they caught the would-be thief. Life on the streets, however, had taught him one important lesson and that was not to be drawn away by emotion. Big Pete’s ore-sled was considerably more valuable than catching whoever they’d run across and he wasn’t about to put it at risk.

Upon entering the ore-sled, Priloe acknowledged a prompt on his HUD to squelch the alarm Ulran initiated. Struggling to slow his panicked thoughts, he reasoned that the first order of business was to secure the sled and he scrambled to pull the doors closed, locking them as he did. Second order was to retrieve Ulran and Merley. If they were being led into danger, the ore-sled might help.

Without strapping on the harness, he pulled the sled from the ground and spun it in the direction the boys had taken.

Locate Ulran and Merley. Provide a good route to them, Priloe requested. He cursed himself under his breath, unable to remember the words he’d so often heard Silver use to bring up the directional indicators.

Two diamond-shaped reticles appeared in his HUD with textual tags beneath, reading Ulran and Merley. They’d disappeared around the curvature of the asteroid and Priloe’s heart pounded in his ears as he urged the large ore-sled forward, digging one of its legs into the rough surface of the asteroid.

“Ulran, what’s going on?” Priloe asked once he leveled out his flight, gaining altitude to avoid an approaching swell.

“We lost him,” Merley replied. “Did he take anything?”

“I’m not sure,” Priloe answered. “I’m headed your way.”

Priloe breathed a sigh of relief when the two boys appeared over the top of a hill, heading his direction. Setting the sled down, he released the lock on the starboard door and directed it to open. Once Ulran and Merley were aboard, he lifted from the surface of the asteroid, slowly moving back to where the scuttled ship lay in ruin.

“What the frak!?” Merley laughed. “That was insane.” He punched his brother on the shoulder.

“Did you get a look at him?” Priloe asked.

“No. Whoever it was can scoot,” Merley replied.

“He trashed the cockpit,” Ulran announced, holding up an empty box of loose fittings. “Everything’s dumped all over the floor back here.”

Priloe leaned back, looking over the shared seat and took in what Ulran had already observed. “He was looking for something. Is there anything missing?”

“Like we’d know,” Ulran said. “Help me clean up.”

“We better get back,” Merley said. “Remember, no word of this to Silver or Pete. Right, Priloe?”

“It’s between us,” Priloe agreed.

“At least I picked up enough fuel to cover our trip,” Merley said, pulling the small corner of the fuel brick he’d found from the mesh pouch hanging from his waist.

“You guys see my drink pouch?” Ulran asked from the back seat.

“Where’d you leave it?” Merley replied. “Weren’t you sitting up here?”

“Look in the door,” Ulran said, still shuffling around, scooping parts back into overturned boxes.

“You won’t find it,” Priloe said.

“Why?”

“My meal bar and water pouch are gone too. Think about it, without a working ship, where would they come up with O2, food and water?” Priloe asked.

“Seriously? That’s messed up. You can’t leave someone without that, they’d die.”

“Making them pretty desperate,” Priloe answered.

“We’ve gotta help ’em,” Ulran said.

“Are you ready to tell Dad and Big Pete we came over here?” Merley asked. “You know what Dad would do to us.”

“But, we can’t leave someone to die,” Ulran said.

“Then we figure this out before we say anything,” Merley answered. “I’m not getting my butt kicked for no good reason. It’s not our fault there’s someone down there.”

“Doesn’t let us off the hook, either,” Ulran answered.

“What do you think, Priloe?” Merley asked.

“We don’t know anything, right now,” Priloe reasoned. “But, I’ve seen plenty of squatters in my life and that ship looked like someone had been living in it. What if we brought supplies back? Would that be so bad? We wouldn’t have to tell anyone.”

“We better get that ore delivered back to the Co-Op,” Merley said. “After that, maybe we could take one of our own sleds. At lease we wouldn’t have to worry about Big Pete getting involved.”

“Right, like Dad’s not enough,” Ulran said. “We come back tomorrow after our shift or I’m outing the whole deal.”

“You think you could convince Silver to let you stay with us tonight?” Merley asked, flicking a navigation path to a shocked Priloe.

“You’re going to let me fly it back?” Priloe asked.

“Just take it slow and conserve on fuel,” Merley answered.

Unwinding their route back to the Licht homestead, Priloe thought about the events of the last hour. Where he came from, things would have ended much differently. The conversation wouldn’t be about how to save the person, but rather how to take advantage of them.

“That’s the container we’re supposed to fill.” Ulran highlighted a steel container on the asteroid in front of them. “Let me load. I can make up for lost time.”

Priloe agreed and put the ore-sled down next to machines that sat in a neat line. Ulran hopped on the grav-sled and made quick work of the designated pile of ore. Priloe marveled at how efficiently the boy moved the machine back and forth.

“I’ll pick it up and you can fly it back,” Merley said as he took over the controls and deftly positioned the sled atop the container, snugging it to the bigger ore-sled’s ribs.

Twenty minutes after arriving, they were off again, sailing to the Co-Op where they quickly unloaded the container and made their way back to where they’d left the remainder of their family.

“Remember, not a word,” Merley said. “Silver used to be a teacher. She’ll smell it if you’re weak. Best to know what you’re going to say when she asks what took us so long.”

“They’re back,” Pete announced as the three boys re-entered the room. “How’d it go, Priloe?”

“You boys play nice?” Annalise asked before he could answer.

“It was great,” Priloe answered.

“Actually, Mom, we were wondering if Priloe could spend the night. We want to show him that new game we got,” Merley offered.

“I don’t see why not,” Annalise replied. “As long as you finish your chores and Priloe is back in time to get his work done.”

“You could leave Wilma with us tonight,” Silver said. “She and Milenette are getting along so well.”

“You want us to empty the container and take it back?” Merley asked.

“Who are you and what have you done with my son?” Annalise asked.

“I was just thinking we could go play the game now instead of waiting for you guys to get done talking.”

“We were just about done,” Annalise said.

Pete grinned at the boys. “Won’t hurt to let them take the container back.”

“That was pretty slick,” Ulran said once they’d reattached the container and were flying back to the Licht claim. “Do you want to run over there now?”

“No way. You heard Mom, they’ll be coming home soon. We have to play it cool, Ullie,” Merley replied. “Besides, I really do want to play that game.”

Ulran punched his brother’s helmet. “I told you not to call me that.”

“What? Are you crazy? I’m flying. Take the frakking helm, Priloe.” Without further warning, Merley jumped from his seat and piled into the back where his brother eagerly awaited.