An Twisted Mind: Short Stories

Before our time

Rick furrowed his eyebrows. Squinting amidst the dust and diesel engine fumes. The clicking and clattering of industrial mining equipment filled his ears. As his partner rotated the machine to the right side to dump the rock, Rick glanced down at the pit they were excavating. As the dust settled something peculiar caught his eyes.  A shiny chrome object sparkled like a fine gemstone. Rick waved a hand in the air as a signal to stop as he tried in vain to decipher what the object was from far above the pit. It appeared small and perhaps squarish, an odd trait for a gemstone or quartz. ' Uhhh Bob.. BOB.. stop the digger. ' Rick shouted multiple times till Bob noticed. His eyes darting to Rick and back to the controls. The big light orange digger ground to a halt.  The two yellow hazard lights adorning the roof completed a final flash. Bob quickly poked his head out the side of the large contraption.  "What's up?" ' come down here, found something weird. ' Rick replied. ' what do you mean weird?' Rick slowly descended into the approximately ten foot deep pit with Bob looking down at him from the top. ' Rick.. this is a waste of time, get back up before the supervisor sees us in this dam pit '. Rick walked over to the object, non responsive. As he neared he realized that the object's reflective nature was from it's seemingly metallic complexion, which contrasted sharply with the dull sediment. It had elements of curvature and had what reminded him of square gear teeth. His heart jumped as he realized it wasn't quite all uncovered. Rick delicately used his thumb to part the fine layer of dust. His thumb tingled as the metallic object remained smooth and even spookier: uniform. ' Rick, what the hell did you find? ' 'Bob... get down here. ' his tone worried Bob. ' what's going on? ' Rick shook his head in disbelief. Bob reluctantly made his way down the wall, gripping the various roots. As Bob touched the bottom his own curiosity pulled him towards Rick, who blocked the object. Bob gasped as a gear laid fused within the limestone. ' T-The F-F*ck? ' Bob's tanned face paled as they both just gazed at the object dumbfounded. After what seemed like an eternity, Bob shakily retrieved an flat headed screw driver from his tool belt. Bob wedged the screw driver between the rock and the gear. Their eyes were glued to the scene as the wedged screw driver ever so slowly popped out the gear out from it's ancient resting place. The air seemed to change to Rick as an shiver went down his spine, and he knew it wasn't just the cold air. Something isn't right. Bob held the gear, turning it around to inspect the smooth calculated edges. They seemed to be missing about 1/5 of the gear. The gear was about eight inches by eight inches with the teeth being about two inches wide and two inches long. Bob handed Rick the gear. The object to Rick seemed to be supernatural, even though it was large and dense, about 3/4 of an inch thick it was nearly weightless. Bob finally spoke up. ' Dude... what do we do? ' Bob's words felt distant as Rick's mind attempted to sort out the implications for finding a gear in 25 million year old limestone. Rick rubbed his eyes, dazed. ' yea.. I don't know..but like we shouldn't leave it here. ' dude.. we like didn't do shit for an hour, the supervisor will be able to tell tomorrow. ' Rick shrugged. ' Hey uhh Rick, so should we say anything? ' ' I don't know...  but I do know we should get out of this hole. ' Rick pointed up to the dimming sky. They made their way back to camp in silence, Rick running his finger over the gear in his front coat pocket. The sky turned to an darker blue as the sun set over the hundreds of thousands colossal pine trees. The lighten camp was an polar opposite to the dark forest. Perhaps a metaphor for humanity Rick thought. Rick walked up the three wooden stairs leading up to the mess hall, his weight threatening to collapse the rudimentary stairs. It was originally an abandoned log cabin but SciCore renovated it to save money. The cabin's interior was warm, the crude wooden log cabin walls greatly reminded Rick of the first European settler houses. The air was filled with hot cereals, greasy meat and buttered bread. Rick resumed a spot where he normally sits at the three long tables. the end of the table was normally quieter which Rick welcomed. He had much to think about. Rick placed two of the beef patties on his plate and a buttered crescent roll. Over the clatter of silverware Rick thought out each of the various explanations. It was covered in lime stone.. nobody could of planted it, it was fused into the rock. Who could of made it? humans didn't even occupy this region since about ten thousand years ago..  Rick decided to push the thoughts out of his mind and nearly convinced himself the gears must of been left from an older mining operation. As the mess hall slowed down Rick left early. He opened the door to the sharp cold wind as it bite at his exposed skin, a reminder he was still in Alaska. He walked behind the cabin to the trailers where miners lived during the mining season. he opened the door and was greeted by his roommate Matt, who was occupied by cleaning his yellow hard helmet in the sink. The mud threatening to clog the sink. ' You slip again Matt? ' 'Nah, just accidentally left it out on the rig last night when it rained. ' Matt quickly followed up by adding: ' Hey so talk of the town is that you and Bob sat around in a hole for a portion of the day, did you guys find something in the rocks, was it like a fossil? ' Rick hesitated before responding. ' Uh yea, sorta like a fossil. ' Matt cocked his eyebrow sensing Rick wasn't telling the whole story. ' Huh, is that so?.. Kyle said on his way back to the camp in-search for a spare tire he saw you guys occupied in a hole and you guys were still in there as he was returning after an hour. ' Matt pressed even further. Rick, not wanting to entertain this anymore just shrugged before walking to the back bathroom. He brushed his teeth and relaxed in his cot. No matter how hard Rick thought about other subjects, Rick couldn't shake the image of the gear. It's glimmer against the dull rock stained his mind. Rick carefully hid the gear in his personal backpack, wrapped with all of his spare clothes. Matt finished soon after and walked back to his cot to settle down for the night. His wide figure just barely squeezing through the narrow corridor. Matt turned off the light and Rick restlessly moved around his cot, unable to find a comfortable spot. Rick stretched his legs out and the cover became undone, exposing his feet to the cold atmosphere of the trailer. Cussing under his breath, Rick fumbled in the dark to wrap the covers. Satisfied, Rick begun pulling the covers to his head. At about Rick's shoulder's he ran out of covers. Realizing his mistake Rick pulled out the covers and refitted them. Now feeling thirsty, Rick walked out of the bedroom to the kitchen. the cold wood flooring chilled his whole body. He reached above his head to a cabinet and retrieved a glass. Rick turned on the sink, the metal handle being even colder then the flooring. After being sufficiently chilled from sipping on the unsatisfying cold water Rick sluggishly walked over the cold tiles to his cot. Which turned cold by the time he came back. After tossing and turning for what seemed like hours, Rick finally succumbed to sleep. The early morning light forced Ricks eyes open, soon realizing he forgot to close the blinds. Rick groggily stood up and stretched, breathing in a cold breath of air. After completing the daily morning menial tasks he stepped out the trailer and headed to excavator site #4, the site he had been working with Bob this current season. After arriving to their site, Rick prepared by examining the rig, making sure everything was still functioning. The wind begun to pick up an bit, The rock pulverized to a fine sand picked up and appeared to dance across the empty expanse of mining territory, being sure to cover everything. The light attempting to penetrate the suspended rock created a foggy haze, something everyone will be sure to enjoy inhaling. Rick decided to go back to camp to retrieve his mining mask, a part of his equipment he seldom used. The mini hike up the mountain proved more treacherous as visibility was limited. After just barely avoiding three tree collisions he had made it back to camp. The higher altitude of the camp on the mountain made the wind far less severe. The miners seemed to congregate around the mess hall. Curious, Rick drew nearer and found the camp supervisor giving a short speech with the head supervisor all the way from California nodding in approval. The head supervisor reminded Rick of an raisin, short and wrinkly. A fellow miner told Rick that the head supervisor was over a hundred years old- which he doubted. He wore a light purple suit and was adorned with a platinum watch and necklace, while the camp supervisor had jeans and a white T-shirt, quite the contrast. After the supervisor's speech about working hard and a reminder about the various bonuses the men may earn if they meet certain criteria, The crowd simultaneously cheered and disbanded, heading towards the mining sites. Rick closely followed, not wanting to draw attention to himself. "Hey-Hey... Rick" Rick turned around awkwardly, knowing who's voice  that was. The camp supervisor followed close behind Rick, trying to catch his attention. ' Oh hey.. ' ' Yea.. well we need to talk, I got Bob now I need you ' The supervisor pointed to his office, further up the hill. Rick could feel his heart beating faster, his palms sweaty. The cold weather chilling Rick's sweaty hands. Rick nervously tapped his hand against his side while following the supervisor up the hill. The concrete establishment remained shrouded in the ancient trees with only the offline radio tower remaining visible above the tree's peaks. The supervisor's building was a renovated abandoned radio tower which was used during the later part of the cold war to monitor the Bering sea. Now being many decades old, the concrete foundation has many fissures and cracks, exposing the slow but sure decay. The camouflaged green and brown paint which once adorned the structure originally was replaced with a lime paint job with baby blue stripes along the bottom and top of the metal walls- The SciCore branding.  The only reminder of the original paint job could be seen around where the door hinges existed at the front doors. The radio tower was left to rot seemingly, with the last of the paint reminding under the ladder, protected against the rain and elements. The modernness inside mildly surprised Rick as it was comfortable and was actually warm compared to the miner's quarters and mess hall. He lead Rick to the back his office. Bob was already sat down, waiting for their return. Based on the looks Bob was giving, it was about the topic. The supervisor ushered for Rick to be seated, pointing to the chair with a rolled up news paper. Rick sunk into the chair, trying to remain with a poker-face. The supervisor sat down and looked into their eyes quietly, presumably trying to decipher the truth from the face of guiltiness. ' So what happened yesterday? The hole you both were excavating was minuscule compared to your fellow workers. ' Bob quickly shot back to the supervisor. ' Well we found some of the tell tale signs of a silver vein, we wanted to further investigate the hole to make sure we weren't throwing out precious silver into the river. The supervisor rolled his eyes. ' Is that so? well your hole is only about eleven feet, the vein starts at about eighteen feet. ' ' Look every second counts, we have deadlines. we already missed our September deadline. it is now November and everyday day we are out here we are losing money. The West Isle Mining Initiative isn't doing very well, as evident to SciCore buying us last year... If we don't finish the ore order by early December we are finished! ' The supervisor slammed the news paper onto the desk making Bob flinch. The supervisor took an deep breath, his red face momentarily cooled. ' Now with that understood what happened? ' Rick and Bob quickly eyed each other, making the supervisor even more suspicious. Bob slowly begun. ' well.. you see like we-' Bob was cut off by the supervisor. ' Now before you finish you better tell me the truth, no bullshit. If you two tell an lie you are both fired, on the dam spot! This took Bob back, making him think of the painful squalor his children would have to go through, just like what he went through as a kid in the early techno-revolution. Bob grew silent, Rick fidgeted with his belt, unsure how to begin. ' One of you better start talking, 10....9......8...7....6' Bob glanced at Rick and they both solemnly nodded at each other. '5...4....3' 'W-wait' Bob exclaimed wide-eyed. ' We found a stupid gear, f*ck it I said it! ' 'What you found a gear? A dam gear? seriously? ' 'Well it wasn't just a gear ' Rick added. 'what the hell does that mean? ' Bob replied shakily. ' it was fused in the dam rock, shit ain't normal.. it scared us.. but at the same time it intrigued us ' The supervisor scanned their eyes, sensing the genuine response. He begun softly to their surprise. ' well if that is the case you better stay in my office... I have phone calls to make. '