Miners - deleted scenes

_ _ _ _

You’re on Earth, looking at a dark pink poppy, cupping it in your rather tired, leathery hand; in a park alone, surrounded by scrappers and the hum of distant automotives. You fly upwards to the busy skies. Further and further you rise. Beneath you is nothing. White and blue.

Continuing to soar, out through the atmosphere, your home planet is soon but a dot in the background.

A spaceship lies ahead. A turd shaped heap of junk housing a thousand TG mining robots. They sleep in their cells – inactive, powerless. Only two ordinators aboard, yourself and your partner, in a cell slightly bigger, two beds, two cupboards and a shared toilet cube.

_ _ _ _

“Mate …”

“Pretty good, huh?” you say with a puff of white breath.

“Incredible,” he sighs.

“And how many …?”

“Eight.”

“Eight dead.”

“Thirty injured. But yeah,” he huffs, getting to his feet. Could’ve been a lot worse.”

The first accident had been the worst.

“Toughens you up,” they told you.

The sacrifice those miners had made. It sickens you to think of it.

But you’d been happy on that day. On that day you’d been a success.

_ _ _ _

A Melody, a pretty name and just as you’d expect she’d been young and beautiful (or do you just remember her that way?). Her first day on the job and she’d died in a cave-in that could have been prevented with a little more funding.

Chocolate, a buddy of Manny’s for almost a month. You’d been jealous in a weird sort of way. But when his suit had malfunctioned, when you’d witnessed the freezing and crumbling of his face … you’d told Manny that he’d died quickly and peacefully. The expression of horror in his eyes staring up at you, it was something you’d always been able to, had to shake off.

Vandermeer, Miller, Tessa, Nathan, Eli … somewhere in your subconscious you carry stories of these people too. And explosion on Demos. A gas leak on The Good Companion.

Captain Worrit. Did he die or just leave? He’s there in your memories. That’s right. He’d been the one before you. Manny’s original partner. His mentor.

“Whatever happened to Captain Worrit?” you feel like asking Manny. And you will, you will ask him.

_ _ _ _

The bomb that went off killed thirty of your colleagues. That had been the second time, also on the moon. You’d tried to blame the authorities, back in the bar at moon base alpha, you’d all had plenty to say and most of it had been directed at them. Some of it at the inevitable danger that these jobs took – even Manny hadn’t blamed you. But you’d been tired, it was a careless mistake. A minute too soon and it had blown away those just a hair’s breath from safety.