Alan Foster - The Icerigger Trilogy

“I expect you’re right,” he agreed. “Might as well go myself.”

Hunnar hopped down into the tunnel, followed closely by Budjir and Suaxus. September went next, turned and looked back at Ethan.

“Coming, young feller-me-lad?”

He hesitated. The tunnel did not look especially inviting. But they could be watching from the ship. Colette had already confessed a fear of the dark; it was the only thing that seemed to faze her. Naturally he had to go in.

It was a good thing he had no time to work on the logic of his thinking or he wouldn’t have been terribly happy with the resultant picture.

They walked at a leisurely pace, moving deeper and deeper into the mountain. The walls, ceiling, and floor had been scoured almost slippery smooth. There were places where the ceiling rose to two and three times the height of a tran. And here and there there were vents of green clay. Green clay in volcanic vents. Now, where had he seen that before? He puzzled over it.

The glowing plant life grew no more luxuriantly as they moved down the tunnel, but it didn’t grow dimmer, either. And it supplied enough light to show occasional boulders and rocks that had fallen from the roof (green clay in volcanic vents?). The number was small, Ethan noted gratefully. He moved ahead to listen to the schoolmaster.

“Lava has gone through this passage fairly recently,” Williams explained, “which accounts for the smooth sides.”

“Now that’s a comforting thought,” grinned Ethan. He thought of the millions of tons of hot magma beneath their feet, whose outlet had once been the tube in which they now trod.

After an hour’s hike Hunnar finally declared a halt. The wizards gave no sign of tiring and the tunnel no signs of ending.

“Scientific exploration is all very well and good,” the knight said, crouching against the cold gray wall, “but we’ve brought no provisions with us. I do not believe further exploration of this hole, which could run clear through the mountain, is worth missing the midday meal.”

This opinion was seconded immediately by September, Ethan, and both squires. Outvoted, the two scholars capitulated gracefully.

“I, too, confess to being somewhat wearied and hungered,” admitted Eer-Meesach. “And we seem to have learned all that we might. Yet it would be interesting to know if this tube opens near the central vent itself.”

“I’m cold,” September quipped, “but not that cold.” He sat down across from Hunnar and began flipping pebbles against the far wall.

Ethan took a few steps forward and prepared to rest also. He squinted hard down the tunnel.

“Hey… it does seem to get a little brighter ahead.”

“Your eyes are tired from straining in this light, lad.” The big man glanced down the tunnel without getting up. “Looks the same to me.”

“No, really, it does,” Ethan continued. He took another couple of steps forward. “It does.” He started to walk down the tunnel.

“Don’t go too far,” September warned him. “Don’t go out of voice range. I don’t want you making a wrong turn into some endless maze. If you do, I’m not coming after you, what?”

“Don’t worry, Skua. I’m not going to go far.” The tunnel made a sharp turn to the right, just ahead. That would be far enough.

He turned and stepped into the chamber.

It was larger than the tunnel, perhaps three or four times as wide as the passageway and equally as high. There were no more phosphorescent plants here than behind him, but the light was blinding. Blinding, dazzling, overpowering—and green.

Now he remembered where he’d read of green clay in volcanic vents.

Ozmidine was mined in only two places in the known universe. One was on a tiny island in the middle of a lake on the thranx world of Drax IV. Drax IV was a hell world, a steaming, sweltering moldy ball of corruption that would drive a man insane if the Po’pione or Turabisi Delphius didn’t get him first. The thranx could survive the heat and humidity, but the local flora and fauna made no species distinctions when it came to dinner.

But there was ozmidine there, so they stayed.

The other lode had been found on Mantis, one of the first worlds settled by humanity after the discovery of the KK-drive. It had been discovered, not by lonely prospector, nor by mining combine, nor by official survey. A driller pushing a new subway tunnel through the heart of downtown Locust had come on the first deposits. Now there was an ugly, dark, smoky hole in the middle of the planet’s capital city. But the inhabitants didn’t mind. It made them rich.

On the scale of comparative hardness for minerals, diamond is the hardest at 10. Or rather, it was until ozmidine was found to have a hardness rating of about 14. And the crystals of the raw mineral were of a deep green shading to violet that made the finest emeralds look like soapstone.

Ozmidine was only found in igneous rocks, in vents of greenish clay.

Ethan stumbled forward, his eyes adjusting to the light thrown back at him from an endless hall of green hexagonal crystal. Ozmidine hung from the ceiling like stalactites. It grew outward from the walls like decorative swords, filled the floor with spikes and crushed crystals from the ceiling.

He’d once seen a picture of the Green Nova. The Green Nova was a piece of pure ozmidine from the Drax IV mine. It was as big as a man’s fist and had taken thirteen months to cut and facet by the finest stonecutter on Terra, using laser and ozmidine cutting tools. It had no price.

He stumbled, wincing at the pain in his toe. He’d tripped over a chunk of clear ozmidine the size of a basketball.

This wasn’t wealth—there was no way, no means of comparing this to normal human pursuits. The ownership of whole worlds lay in this tunnel. Power to alter the structure of governments, even enough to shake the Church itself.

“Hey, young fella!…” came September’s voice. “It’s time to… “

Dimly, Ethan recognized the voice of September and the others behind him. But he didn’t turn. He knew what they looked like.

Something shook underfoot. He felt it, ignored it.

“My dear Eer-Meesach, this is wonderful!” Williams whispered. “Such symmetry of form, such amazing variety…” He frowned. “Was that a tremor?”

“EEYAHOO!” bellowed September. He grabbed Ethan and danced in a circle while Ethan hung on for dear life, his feet centimeters off the floor. “Gods and Devils and broken hearts, and broken names, and all the lost promises down the trail of time!” He stopped, let Ethan down. Ethan felt himself to make sure no bones were broken.

He grinned up at the other. “My sentiments exactly.”

September bent to pick up a flawless piece of crystal as big as his thumb. He landed on his rump.

The earth shook.

Shards of priceless gemstone, any one worth a king’s life, pelted Ethan’s unprotected face. When the shaking stopped, he felt himself gingerly. He’d received some very expensive scratches.

Below, a steady rumbling had begun. There were demons afoot in the mountain.

Williams was backing toward the tunnel proper, a little of his scientific detachment gone. He watched the walls warily.

“I… I do believe it would be best if we returned to the ship. I think something may happen.”

His words penetrated the green haze surrounding Ethan. He was dimly aware that September was shaking him.

“Better do what he says, young feller. We can come back tomorrow… maybe. Time to leave.”

“Leave…?” Ethan stuttered. “Return…?” He looked up at the big man, blinked. “Leave this… no, absolutely no!”

“Now young feller…” began September.

“No, I won’t… I found it, dammit… I’m staying… you go!”