Chapter 7
Joey stepped out of the airlock and into the bright morning sun streaking through the ejecta. The dust clouds diffused the light and softened the usually stark shadows. With no atmosphere, whatever warmth he felt was from his Angel.
Joey wanted to draw the shafts of sunlight, but not today. Today he was determined to get his mind back on work. Not because The Book said so, or for TMS, but for his dad. He loved his dad, and he felt pride in being the son of someone so respected. He wanted to feel what his dad must feel. For that, he must absorb his dad’s words: work is work and play is play.
He focused on the day of mining ahead, carving a place in his mind for other things. Drawing time was something to look forward to at the end of the day. After all, he still enjoyed his job despite the mindlessness of it, maybe even because of it. The meditative practice he had of counting the swings of his pickaxe made the day go by unnoticed sometimes. And he enjoyed the feeling in his body after a shift of being physically active. Even though he had only been mining for a few months, he could feel his strength growing and imagined the day when his fingers were thick like his dad’s. They were hands of a respected miner.
“Joey,” Joseph Senior called out.
Joey turned. His dad was exiting the airlock.
“Wait for me.”
“Okay,” Joey said.
His dad usually sent him ahead, wanting Joey to arrive to the dig “as his own man.” This was an odd but welcome change. Welcome assuming they weren’t going to rehash last night’s conversation.
“We’re only week until the next hop,” Joseph Senior said. “It will be your first hop as a miner. It’s always nice to mine a new rock after a while. And if they decide the crater is spent, we may get a couple extra days off.”
“The crater is spent,” Joey said. “Maybe another day.”
“How do you know?” Joseph Senior said, looking like Joey had just told him he could fly.
Joey bit his tongue. Like a true chapter three Olly, Joey had watched the readout on the processing station display lower and lower yields. And the lower yields coincided with the crater having less of the dark gray rock with the faint blue sparkles.
Joey laughed to cover his panic. He didn’t want to disappoint his dad. “I was joking. How the heck would I know?”
Joseph Senior gave him a curious smile and laughed.