Girl Cyborg: A Dystopian Action Adventure Thriller

Mining Accident

They left the Cattlemen's Ball at about 20:00 hours according to the clock on the dashboard. Now, around 2:00 hours as lights appeared in the distance. The mine looked like a big town, lit to daylight brightness. It was full of trucks and low buildings, and dunes of earth, fenced in behind a barbed wire. They turned off the highway and drove the long gravel service road toward the mine. By the time they pulled up outside the gates, Bess realized the distance had fooled her eyes. This place was twice the size she estimated from the highway. It was almost the size of a city and its trucks could dwarf a tank. They pulled to the side of the road and Lanced backed them onto the grass as if preparing for a fast retreat. Bess's window faced the gate from their parking spot.

She saw a little guard hut to the right of the gate. Regional police officers stood outside, in front of the entrance, semiautomatic rifles in their hands. The sight of the countryside police on alert made the hair stand on the back of her neck. Was there more going on than a mining accident?

Bess stayed in the back of the cab, instinctively grabbing a ball cap that must have been Lance's and pulling it low over her eyes. Her augmented ears allowed Bess to hear as if through an open window. Lance was calmly explaining that his father hadn't punched out at the end of shift.

"I just want to go in and check on him."

"Sorry, sir." The tall officer shook his head.

Kathy got out of the car to join her brother. The tall officer and his plump companion kept glancing meaningfully at the back of the car but Kathy and Lance pretended not to notice. Finally, the tall officer left his partner talking to Lance and Kathy and walked around the truck. He peeked underneath as if searching for bombs but Bess knew better. He wanted a good look at her. She shot him a weak smile when he looked in through the window. She was thankful to be wearing a hat and makeup over her eye augments and a nonthreatening dress and heels. In this outfit, few would guess she was an Academy grad proficient in hand-to-hand combat.

Bess shifted in her seat, sending lightning bolts of pain up through her spine. Who was she kidding? She couldn't go hand-to-hand with a warm popsicle. Weak and feeling ill, Bess shivered and wiped the sweat from her brow. She must have a fever. Maybe at the mine she could find a medic to give her something for her temperature. Better yet, she would send Lance or Kathy to ask for it. If a medic examined her, he would know she was a cyber. Would a private enterprise like the mine turn her over to the NUS authorities, or would they hold her and have their doctors extract trade secrets? A greedy individual might even sell her out to organized crime.

Lance was right. Stay in the truck, even if it made her utterly miserable to hide like a mouse when she wanted to help save lives.

A knock on the driver's side window drew Bess's attention. The officer waved her outside. Bess got out on her side and walked around to talk to him.

"Yes sir?" The words rang out with military flavour. Oops.

"Friend of the family?"

Bess nodded. She didn't trust yourself to open her mouth again. She had noticed an accent in the country, and this police officer didn't talk like Academy types or Bedabun citizens.

"You can go in with them." He didn't smile but followed her to the gates as Lance and Kathy went through.

From inside, she got a street-level view although she couldn't see any digging. There were many buildings between them and wherever the pit was. It surprised Bess to see people walking about in their coveralls and hard hats, smiling and talking as if nothing tragic were happening. Where were the rescue crews? The emergency vehicles?

Kathy was just ahead of her, walking on Lance's arm. Occasionally, she would lean over and put her head on his shoulder. It seemed as if they were the only ones who cared about the miners at all.