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Rated: 18+ · Book · Sci-fi · #1127436
chapter four in a sci-fi novel in progress. rough.
Chapter 4:

the date was 4.5.23.11. I learned about date. I learned about a lot of things. I was nine days from the end of a fifteen month sentence. The city we had been moving toward was not a city at all. It was called Lovis and it was a low technology mining facility. It was also a prison. Prisoners used simple leverage tools and physical stress to draw and transport various ores.
We had arrived rather unceremoniously. We spent many days and nights slinking thru the surrounding woods then finally one day we simply walked into the town. There was a very brief and very awkward period of time while guards figured out what to do with us. It was believed that the planet was undeveloped. In the end we were assigned a crime and taken into custody.
But there was a taste of insignificance on everything in Lovis and everything done was done half-heartedly, even the meanness. My sentence was the smallest ever handed down in a mining facility’s history. I kept my mouth shut though and my hands and back moving and I never tried to change a single thing so I was fairly well liked.
The last nine days didnt feel like nine years but they did feel like nine whole weeks. My shift was over for the day, or the night, and I was on the transport riding up to quarters level. I was tired. My last nine days were up. I was told I would be given time to clean up and gather my belongings and that I need not hurry. The ship had not yet touched down, though it had transmitted proximity data several days before and was presently due.
We got to quarters level and some of the others not getting off offered silent wishes and pats on the shoulder. A small group of us made our way into quarters. The transport blew warm air and debris at us as we walked thru the doorway. I made my way to my bed and noticed my little friend was not there. I wasn’t worried she would be with the old timer. He was a slight older man and given to drifting but he had been good to my girl and never mean to me so I let her stay with him while I worked and sometimes when I didn’t.
I took my boots off and didn’t bother undressing. I just stretched out and closed my eyes for a few. I was too tired and too anxious to be either really and after a time I got up and went to get clean.
In a very short time I was cleaned up and had gathered my things. The old timer came over briefly and dropped her off. He didn’t pat my shoulder or say anything he just caught my eyes briefly and stopped me from making an offer I hadn’t planned to make. That he would be heartbroken tonight or today, or whatever it was, I had no doubt but, drifter or no, he had the look of a short timer in his own manner. The mine had already claimed him and i could see the look now of it finishing him even in the dim light. I think I saw a no, a thank you and a cry in his eyes but none of them would ever reach his lips or run from him. He turned and walked back to his area and I did the same heading toward the door. She let loose a small cry which I ignored because I had to. I don’t know if he heard it but if he did it would probably have taken a few days off his life. that would be a mercy.
We made our way slowly toward the door. Many of the men laying on their beds sat up. A very few patted me on my shoulder and offered me quiet hopes but most were really just saying goodbye to her and they knew I knew and didn’t resent it. I was patient but when we moved it was always toward the door and never back.
Near the entrance a small group of men had gathered. I saw my closest friend here speaking with them. He was a leader of sorts and was probably endorsing one of the men as a replacement. His sentence had ended over a month ago but no ship had been available to take him. He had ; of course, been made to work while he waited. I knew the man to whom he now spoke but it was the man he faced that was actually being endorsed. In a place like this position and distance carry more weight then words in some many ways. I knew the man he faced as well and I was a bit surprised by his choice. He was a good man though and it was a pleasant surprise.
I waited briefly and then we made our way to the transport pad and rode to the surface. After nearly an hour we breached the surface and came to a stop. We were detained only briefly and processed. My things were returned to me and for the first time in fifteen months I stepped from supervision into a hallway and we made our way to the bayport where our ship would be touching down.
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