Dragon and Judge

Thonsifi and Sefiseni exchanged looks. "The One Among Many told us to stay with you," Thonsifi said with a sigh. "If you go, so must we."

"You don't have to," Jack insisted. "I'm a Judge-Paladin. I can give orders, too."

"No, we will go," Thonsifi said in a slightly firmer voice.

"I was given no such instruction by the One Among Many," Eithon spoke up. "Do you also wish me to come with you?"

"No, thanks," Jack said. "We need someone to stay out here and watch the shuttle anyway." Though to watch it against what possible danger he couldn't imagine. "Load the shovels back into the shuttle, though, will you?"

"We do not have any carry lights," Thonsifi said.

"That's okay—I've got one," Jack told her, pulling out his flashlight. "Well, come on. If we're going, let's go." He turned and squeezed through the gap into the mine.

There was no immediate response from the others. Still, by the time he reached the edge of the daylight Thonsifi and Sefiseni were beside him. "Nice and easy," Jack said encouragingly, flicking on his light. "Stay close, and watch your footing."

The tunnel extended straight back for about fifty feet, then began a gradual slope downward. Jack's small light wasn't really up to the task of guiding three sets of feet, but fortunately it didn't have to. Midway down the slope they reached a section of tunnel where some dim backup lights were still working.

"They are still lit?" Thonsifi asked, looking at them in awe.

"They're long-term emergency lights," Jack told her. "Self-contained, with a twenty-year power source."

A minute later the tunnel came to an end at a large assembly/staging area. Two smaller tunnels extended out from opposite sides of the room, heading downward into darkness. "Those must lead to the actual mines," Jack said, shining his light around the staging area. The walls, floor, and ceiling were all made of the same white ceramic as the main entrance tunnel. The floor was covered with a thin layer of sand, all the surfaces stained with age and dust.

But even with all that, an explosion in here should have left behind some very visible evidence. At the very least there should be some powder burns, and probably some cracks and stress damage as well. Only there wasn't anything.

Which meant the explosion that had killed his parents must have been down in one of the lower tunnels.

He turned his light to shine into one of the entrances. The beam faded away, swallowed up by distance and darkness.

"Do we go back now?" Thonsifi asked hopefully.

"Not quite yet," Jack told her. The thought of going deep underground wasn't exactly filling him with bubbles, either. But this whole trip would be for nothing if he didn't at least find some clues as to what had happened to his parents. "Did the mine's owners ever say why they shut down the operation?"

"We are the mine's owners," Sefiseni bit out.

Jack looked at the guard in mild surprise. It was the first time the Golvin had ever spoken directly to him. "My error," he apologized.

"It was our copper and iron they were stealing," Sefiseni said accusingly, as if this was all somehow Jack's fault.

"I understand," Jack said soothingly. "The legal problems—"

"And Jupa Stuart and Jupa Ariel did nothing to stop them," Sefiseni cut him off.

Jack felt his stomach tighten. So he'd been right the first time. Sefiseni did consider this Jack's fault, or at least his fault by inheritance. "Well, something stopped them," he pointed out. "This place hasn't been touched in years."

"They said the tunnels were in danger of collapsing," Thonsifi said, looking nervously at the ceiling. "They also said the lower portions had become flooded."

In a desert? Jack frowned. Still, there was a river rolling along three hundred feet below them. Clearly, there was water around here somewhere.

He crossed the staging area to the left tunnel. Attached to the sides, at just about waist height, were identical five-inch-diameter open-ended pipes partially set into the walls and leading downward. Resting a hand on one of them, Jack turned an ear into the tunnel, though he wasn't quite sure what he was expecting to hear.

He heard nothing but his own breathing. On a hunch, he squatted down and listened at each of the pipes. Still nothing.

A whisper of weight came onto his chest, and he felt the front of his shirt move slightly as Draycos flicked out his tongue. The weight vanished again—There is machinery down there.

Jack sent a glare down at his shoulder. What in the world was making the K'da so blasted careless about talking in front of other people these days? Did he think the Golvins were deaf? "I'm going down a little ways," he called back to the others, pitching his voice a little louder than necessary in case Draycos decided to run some more commentary on the situation. "You two stay here—I'm just going to see if I can find any problems."