Cave-In!

"It's Lawrence."

"I'm sorry."

Lisa held the lamp high and turned slowly, revealing their predicament in all its stark clarity. The roof of the mine tunnel had collapsed, dropping countless tons of rock and dust into the only tunnel that led to the exit. The tunnel behind Lisa was relatively clear, though littered with fallen rock, but Bernice knew too well that it led only to a dead end half a klick away the end of the tunnel. They were trapped.

"My God," Lisa whispered. "You told them."

Bernice shrugged, exhaustion in her voice. "Yeah. I did, didn't I?"

The trouble was that Lunar Mines, Inc., had grown too fast. Demand for raw materials was at an all time high on Earth. Immigration by workers of every class was growing exponentially as well, as the job markets decayed back home. In simple terms, the mine had grown faster than the structural supports needed to keep the tunnels safe, even at Lunar gravity.

Like Bernice herself, many of the mine workers were old hands at mining on their home world, and they saw their danger all too clearly. But in a world where even the air they needed to breathe could only be purchased from the company, there was little they could do about it. Bernice had been among the most vocal. The company would have fired her if they had dared, but a one-way ticket back to Terra would have given her unlimited and free access to the very news media that could most hurt their recruiting. They compromised by hiring a tough and ambitious mining engineer as a consultant. His name was Charles Lawrence.

Lunar Mines thought they could control Lawrence through that very ambition, but they were wrong. He immediately and very publicly joined with Bernice to recommend a temporary shutdown. Lunar Mines management had played for time by requesting detailed plans for structural improvements first.

Not that it mattered now.

Bernice turned back to her patient. Lawrence was sweaty, with the pale look of deep shock, but he seemed to be unconscious. Her morphine jab had done what it was designed to do.

Lisa swallowed, the gesture visible through her faceplate. "In this gravity could we dig out, maybe?"

Bernice controlled her irritated response to the naive question and tried to answer gently. "The problem," she began, "isn't the rock we can see. We could maybe shift that. Maybe. But there is at least a mile of rock over our heads that would come tumbling down if we tried it. We'd better just wait for the folks with the right equipment."

"Shouldn't we be calling for help?"

Bernice shook her head. "Be my guest, girl. But not even the base transmitter could punch through that lot."

"But how do they know there's anybody alive down here?"

"They don't," Bernice admitted. "If it's any comfort to you, that's why you've been pulling triple pay for the last six months." She drew a deep breath. "Better get down to business. How's your oxygen?"

"Five and a half hours. At normal activity, that is."

Bernice nodded. "Okay. Well, we've got to stay active for just a bit yet, to look for survivors."

"Active? Is that wise?"

Bernice's voice was gentle. "As far as oh-two is concerned, maybe not. But if you were hurt and lying in one of these tunnels, would you want me to look for you?"

Lisa nodded, her expression chastened.

"I thought so. Look, girl, we may or may not die down here. That's a fact. But we've got a choice to make now, about how we die. Do you understand me?"

Lisa nodded again. "Yes."

"Good. I'm going to look for survivors. You coming?"

Lisa extended a hand to help Bernice to her feet. "Yes.