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Chapter 5
When we got to the main elevator back, Jill was waiting for us. Her posture, casual against the railing, didn’t reflect her ease. Instead, she seemed coiled like a spring ready to pounce.
Jake pursed his lips together as he stopped in front of her. “I didn’t expect you’d be here.” He reached out and pressed the button to call the elevator.
Zeke and I stood behind Jake, both of us just waiting to see how this unfolded.
“I got the memo from Una about your trip into the geode.” Jill narrowed her eyes as she stared at Jake.
In return, Jake smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Excellent. Then everything is in place.”
“Are you coming down with us?” I asked.
“Sadly, no. Una made it clear my staff are not welcome down in the lower control room.” Jill crossed her arms over her chest.
“Why can’t you come down?” Zeke asked. “It would be safer if you did.”
Jill focused on Jake. “Why not, Jake?”
“I’m sure it’s because of the sensitive equipment down there, Una doesn’t want it to get damaged,” Jake said.
Jill raised an eyebrow, but Jake didn’t say more. It was a bullshit answer, and we all knew it.
A ping of the arriving elevator pulled all our attention.
“Alright.” Jake looked at me, then Zeke. “You both know what’s at stake. So, let’s get going.”
I made eye contact with Jill and debated one last time about refusing to go. But the pull of moving closer to Stella still made this foolish trip seem worth it. I stepped inside the elevator beside Jake. Zeke followed. He towered over Jake and me, reminding me I had a gentle giant watching my back. Everything was going to turn out fine.
We each had on green environmental suits, but there was breathable atmosphere here, so our helmets were off. I had the bag of ropes strapped to my side, while Zeke carried our survival tent—an inflatable dome that could end up being our refuge if things didn’t go according to plan. We seemed well prepared—I hoped it was enough.
Beside me, Jake hummed with energy. He was finally getting his adventure, while Zeke and I remained subdued. All three of us were on this expedition for very different reasons.
“Are we really ready?” Zeke asked. His tone suggested doubt.
I nodded as Jake closed the elevator door behind us.
“Good luck,” Jill said from the platform. Her expression had become unreadable.
The metal flooring shook slightly, and I became acutely aware of this hole’s depth. Swallowing, I fixed my gaze on Jake.
“Hell, yeah, we’re ready.” Jake grinned as we started descending.
Taking a deep breath to calm myself (as I much preferred risking drones over my life), I sat on one of the benches in the elevator. Without a word, Zeke sat beside me.
As the elevator rumbled past level 12, the location of the crystal cavern, my thoughts returned to the day I brought Stella to the site. She was around thirteen years old, and this happened roughly a year following Damien’s death. The crystals were very purple, so I’d thought she’d love it (boy was I wrong).
“It’s my day off and I’ve packed a picnic,” I said, forcing a smile at the threshold to Stella’s room.
“What’s the point?” Stella didn’t look up from her datapad. “We can’t go to the surface. This whole place is just a hole.”
I took a deep breath. “I have somewhere to show you that’s amazing.”
“I’ve got stuff to do.”
“Look, I think you spend way too much time in here with your gadgets. I insist you come out on an adventure with me,” I said, trying (and probably failing) to sound cheery.
Stella glanced up at me and scrunched her face. “Has the teacher been talking with you?”
I sighed. “Yes, we had a conversation.” A conversation about how sullen and withdrawn Stella was. How she hadn’t made a single friend in the year we’d been here. “But today is just about spending some time together.”
Stella groaned and stood. “Fine.”
“Great! Let’s go.” I grabbed the backpack containing our lunches.
Stella pulled on her dad’s old bomber jacket. The gaudy purple garment was way too big for her, but I wasn’t going to complain about it. She seemed to be happier when she wore it.
“So, what have you been working on?” I asked in a lame attempt to make conversation as we rode the elevator down.
Stella shrugged and buried her hands in her pockets.
“Your teacher said that you’ve made some wonderful digital art in class.”
Stella frowned. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about school.”
“Right.” I pursed my lips together. “Sorry. I won’t bring it up again.”
Stella turned towards where we could see the passing rock through the wire mesh of the elevator’s wall. I didn’t try to continue our conversation.
A couple of minutes later, the elevator car slowed to a stop, and the doors clanked open on level 12.
“Come on, it’s just a short walk.” I did my best to keep my tone light as I stepped onto the rock platform.
Beside me, Stella kicked a rock. It bounced off the stone wall and back to the elevator, making a clink as it hit the metal. “Let’s get this over with.”
I didn’t respond. The two of us started walking down the corridor. Like every other corridor on Hamber’s Hole, this one had been bored out of the rock, leaving a curved roof and walls. Long lights lined the top, casting plenty of light.
We were going to one of my favourite places, and that thought made me smile. At the time, I thought Stella would love it.
The corridor continued in a straight line for another hundred metres. As we went, the rock in the walls changed in tone from the common rusty hue to a darker grey. I ran my fingers along it, and flakes of the dark grey cascaded down to the ground.
This geode had been an unexpected discovery, found during the corridor’s excavation. I stopped at a door that led off to the right.
Stella snorted. “Of course it’s locked.”
“I know the code.” I punched a series of four digits in, and a clunk signalled the lock had released. With both hands, I pulled the heavy metal door open. Hamber’s Hole was a relatively closed community, but sometimes the miners wanted to freelance—my office didn’t want these crystals damaged.
There were no lights inside—because they weren’t needed. Purple sparkles, like a thousand tiny, glittering stars, shone from every direction. The crystals pulsed with lilac light—a warm, soft glow, as if tiny, inner flames flickered within their facets. Technically, they were amethyst, with traces of other things. Even knowing their composition, they still seemed magical to me.
I walked inside to the bench set up in the middle. Above, the ceiling was about two stories up, and the space was a sphere. As I sank down to the bench, the beauty mesmerized me. Stella slumped beside me.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” My words echoed.
Stella shrugged. “It’s okay, but it smells kinda weird.”
“What’s that?” Stella pointed to a small plinth set into the ground just ahead of us.
“That’s Syon Hamber’s gravestone.”
Stella frowned. “Does that mean he’s buried in here? Cuz that would be creepy.”
I shook my head. “Syon vanished while exploring the other asteroids out there.” I gestured upwards, meaning the solar system we were in. “His body was never found.”
“It’s still creepy. Can we go now?”
I sighed. “Sure.” We left without touching the picnic lunch I’d packed. That was the last time I tried to get Stella interested in my work.
to be continued…