On his first visit, Chen had been in absolute awe of the station. He’d spent time in every nook and cranny. His second posting had been exciting as well. But now he rarely left the upper level, the only section of the habitat truly designed for humans.
He arrived at “the office,” his home for the next thirty days. Inside, he found the man he was due to replace. Commander Hon Yi of the People’s Liberation Navy.
Hon Yi was packed and waiting, his duffel bag resting beside the door.
“I see you’re ready to go.”
“You’ll feel the same after another month down here with no one but machines for companions.”
“I find some of them interesting,” Chen said. “Our submersible pilot in particular. And some of the dive robots have expressive features. I understand they’re working on a full human replica to keep us company.”
Hon Yi laughed. “If they make her too real, you’ll be fighting over who should make dinner.”
Chen laughed with Hon Yi, but he wouldn’t have minded a robotic companion that looked human, providing they could eliminate the eerie dead stare that happened when the machines settled into an inactive mode.
“What’s our status?” he asked, getting down to business.
“I’m afraid the recovery is faltering,” Hon Yi said. “Worse than last month. Which, as you know, was worse than the month before.”
“And the month before that,” Chen added with a grimace. “It seems the yield is falling off a cliff.”
Hon Yi nodded. “I know how valuable this ore is. I know what you and the engineers say it can do, but if we don’t find more of it or a more efficient way to extract it, someone in the Ministry is going to be brought up on charges for spending all this money.”
Chen doubted that. The Ministry had endless money. And in this case they were partnering with the billionaire who’d developed the robots. He doubted either group would miss their pennies, but when he looked at the numbers on the computer console, he was surprised by how little of the Golden Adamant had been processed. “A hundred kilos? Is that all?”
“The vein is played out,” Hon Yi said. “But don’t think I’m going to tell our bosses that.”
The intercom crackled. A human-sounding voice, male this time, spoke. “TL-1 reporting. Deep-basin injectors ready. Harmonic resonators charged. Impact range, Z minus one hundred and thirty.”
Far below the station, the robots were getting ready for the next phase of the mining operation. By the sound of it, they were targeting the deepest section of the fissure.
Chen looked at Hon Yi. “You’ve gone to the depths.”
“Ground-penetrating sonar indicates the only remaining vein of ore runs straight down. If the operation is to continue, we must excavate the deep vein. The only other option is to shut down.”
Chen wasn’t sure about that. There were known dangers in mining too deeply.
“Shall I give the order?” Hon Yi asked. “Or do you prefer the honors?”
Chen held up his hands. “By all means, make it your order.”
Hon Yi pressed the intercom button and spoke the order in the specific manner in which they’d been trained to command the robots. “Proceed as scheduled. Overriding objective: maximize ore recovery and speed. Continue operation until ore recovery falls below one ounce per ton unless otherwise directed.”
“Confirmed,” the TL-1 replied.
A distant humming sound filled the station seconds later. It was a side effect of the mining. It was so constant when the operation was running that Chen knew he’d forget about it in a day or two, only to be reminded when the machines took a break to repair themselves, reevaluate the process or switch batteries.
“The station is yours,” Hon Yi said. He handed over the command keys and a tablet computer.
“Enjoy your ride to the surface,” Chen said. “It was sunny when I came down.”
Hon Yi grinned at the thought of sun, grabbed his duffel bag and hastened out the door. “See you in a month.”
Chen was left alone. He immediately looked around for something to do. Of course there were plenty of reports to read and paperwork to shuffle—they’d yet to build a robot to handle those chores—but he had plenty of time for all that and no wish to rush into the monotony.
He put the tablet computer down on the desk and walked over to the fish tank. Several types of goldfish lived in the tank: fantails, bubble eyes and one lionhead. Hon Yi had suggested they get a beta and put it in a separate tank on the shelf, since betas couldn’t live with other fish. But Chen had talked him out of it; there was enough solitude going on down there as it was.
Looking through the glass, Chen noticed that the fish were darting about the tank. They always became agitated when the excavation first resumed. To calm them, Chen picked up the shaker of food and sprinkled some in. As soon as the flakes hit the water, the fish raced to the surface to eat it.