William grunted as his feet touched down onto the surface of the dig site- a small puff of dust rising from his weighted shoes as he looked around.

  Ahead, a small metal shed stood besides a massive walled area- the metallic dust shielding coated in a fine red coat of Martian brand soil.

  Between the ‘ribs’ of the wall and above was a dark tinted glass- likely the new radiation blocking lead glass Albert had ordered in at the beginning of the season. It barely glinted in the bright sunlight as William squinted to see the dig site inside. A huge singular drill sat to the side, attached to what looked like a reinforced crane.

  Quirie was helping Isaac down from the rover as Jeff hopped over to the tool shed- no doubt eager to get started and get to quota. Quirie's voice immediately crackled in his ear as she turned on her mic.

  “Alright, head count. Isaac”

  “Here.”

  “Jeffery.”

  “Present.”

  “Carlton”

  “‘ ’ere.”

  “William”

  “Present.”

  “Perfect, now-” Quirie clapped her gloved hands together without a sound as she started hopping over to the shed where Jeff waited. “Lets get tools handed out.”

  William began walking the same way- refusing to hop, even if mars allowed. One wrong move, even in low grav, and his ankles were toast.

  "Isaac, you're on tether duty. If the ground breaks beneath us, yank us out.” She pointed towards the top of the dome, where a cable winch sat dead center to the structure. Isaac gave a thumbs up and began hopping to the ladder on the outside of the dome.

  “Jeff, you're on the drill. Steady hands, and don't go deeper than you're told. We have a quota, but that doesn't mean we turn stupid when the machine comes on.”

  Jeff rolled his eyes inside his suit, but headed into the drill site- just as Isaac made it to the top of the dome. William heard the click of the comm switching receiving points before his voice came through.

  “In position ma'am.”

  “Good.” Quirie opened the shed with her datapad, and pulled out two devices- a handheld Ore locator, and a hand drill. “Carlton, you're on breakup duty. Any large chunks get carried up with the ore, you break it up.”

  “Copy that ma'am.” Carlton took the hand drill- the thing looked ridiculously huge in the shorter man's hands, but low gravity had its perks. That meant-

  “And William, you'll be locating ore pockets.”

  William accepted the locator and flipped the on switch- the screen flickering to life. It immediately began to ping, small white splatters appearing as he turned to enter the dome, pausing for a moment.

  “And you Ma'am?”

  Quirie patted her chest and pulled out another hand held device- an ore crusher, with a sealed container attached.

  “Ore refinement.” She winked, and started walking along with William. Everyone quickly settled into their positions as they arrived- even Jeff, who sat at the drill controls waiting for instruction- and as they all settled in, clicked their safety cables to their suits.

  “Alright, Jeff- three feet to your left and a hundred feet down is an iron deposit.” William stated, watching the ore locator carefully. He needed to be accurate, or the ground beneath the drill would collapse.

  “Copy that.” Jeff tapped at the controls, the drill silently shifting to the specified patch of dirt. He pressed another button and it began to spin, biting into the soil and throwing dust into the air.

  It took several minutes, but eventually more than just soil and boulders came up the spiral drill- small chunks of iron began to make themselves known as Jeff pushed the drill deeper- less ore being pulled up, and more dirt as he did.

  “Easy Jeff, you're about to push through the deposit.” William cautioned, glancing up from the ore locator. Quirie was grinding down the chunks of iron into a semi-fine dust with her ore refiner- they'll be shipped out in reinforced canisters later after inspection. Carlton was doing his job, making sure larger chunks of rock were broken down with his powerful drill.

  “Yeah yeah, no need to remind me.” Jeff scoffed back, pulling the drill back up from where it had been. It was long, patient work, but it was rewarding nonetheless. Even as they crawled from hour one to two.

  “Canister full, swapping.” Quirie called out, unscrewing the current canister attached to her grinder and clicking it to her belt- grabbing an empty one and screwing it back on.

  “Copy.”

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Copy.”

  "Copy ma'am.”

  “Copy-” Jeff slowed as she swapped, the drill turning to a crawl as she screwed in her new canister. She gave a thumbs up, and the drill sped up again.

  “Alright, the deposit is depleted. Your next target is ten feet to your right and a hundred twenty feet down.” William called out, moving slightly to the right and pointing to the point.

  There was a pause- just long enough to be noticeable. “A hundred twenty?” Jeff asked. “You sure you’re not eyeballing it today, Will?”

  William didn’t look up from the locator, but he did raise an eyebrow. The white splatters didn't move as he adjusted his stance, boots kicking up a little more dust as he moved in a small circle.

  “Positive. Clean pocket. Narrow tolerance. If you punch through, you'll hit something softer.” Another pause.

  “Copy that, sir.” Jeff said with a mock British accent, and the drill shifted.

  Carlton snorted over the channel. “ ‘es doing th’ accent again.”

  "Is that right, govna?,” Jeff replied. “I haven't the faintest what you mean...”

  “Drill doesn't like tea and crumpets,” Isaac chimed in from above. “You piss her off, she'll break. Especially if you spill tea on her controls.”

  William allowed himself a small huff of breath- not quite a laugh. He tracked the drill as it bit into the soil again, the vibration humming faintly through the dome- everyone's suits shifting to a lighter hue as the sun grew brighter.

  For a while, no one spoke. That was normal.

  The locator pinged steadily in his hands. Ore density was good. Clean. Predictable. The kind of read that made the hours blur together. Almost relaxing.

  “You know-” Jeff dropped the accent as the drill shuddered- pulling the drill back up, before lowering it again. “-I heard that Albert looked pretty stressed lately.”

  Quirie grabbed a chunk of iron and ground it down before answering. “Yeah, when I saw him a couple days ago, he had pretty bad bags under his eyes.”

  Carlton's drill stopped turning, and he set it down on the soil to check the bit. “ yeah, I think ‘es been checkin’ th’ books a lot lately.”

  Isaac chimed in as William started looking for another deposit- thankful that they didn't have any empty caves under them so far.

  “Yeah- I hope he doesn't take the easy way out.”

  William scowled, and his voice came out a bit sharper than he meant to. “He wouldn't. He's a better man than that.”

  The whole crew seemed to look at him for a moment before continuing.

  “Yeah, you're right.” Jeff commented, lowering the drill a little deeper. Larger chunks of iron rose to the surface. “He'll probably do what he did last year. That whole promotional fair for local companies.”

  William nodded, tuning the ore locator slightly as it started to lose signal. The deposit was getting close to depleted.

  “I remember that- having to dance like a monkey for the suits.” Carlton bitterly spat out, the drill spinning to life again as he got back to work

  The locator in William’s hands gave a low, uneven buzz. He frowned, tapping the side with his hand.

  That wasn’t right. The clean, steady pings he’d been following wavered- just slightly- white splatters on the screen stretching, shrinking at the edges like it was a small puddle drying up. Or, like they were falling…

  “Hold up.” William said, sharper than before. “Stop the drill, we've got an anomaly."

  Jeff didn’t argue this time. The machine wound down, its vibration fading to nothing beneath their boots as he poked his head out of the side of the drill seat.

  “What is it?” Quirie asked, already stepping closer and taking a look at the locator with him.

  William took a slow step to his left, then another, watching the readout shift beneath his visor. The floor felt the same- solid, unmoving- but the locator disagreed.

  “Void pocket.” he said. “The machine didn't pick it up until Jeff dipped below the ore deposit.

  Isaac’s voice crackled down from above. “I’m seeing minor displacement along rib three. Ground isn't settling right- possible collapse.”

  That got everyone’s attention.

  Carlton killed his drill entirely, planting his boots wide. “You’re tellin’ me we’re standin’ on air?”

  “Not yet,” William replied. “But if Jeff keeps going-”

  The ground began to dip down under their feet.

  It wasn’t loud. Just a low, ugly sound that traveled up through William’s legs and into his teeth, destroying the silence they'd been working in. A shudder rippled across the surface, hairline cracks racing outward like lightning frozen in stone.

  “Isaac- “ Quirie started, dropping her refining tool and

  “I’ve got you!” Isaac barked, yanking the lever on the winch.

  The floor dropped. Not a full collapse- just enough to make your stomach sink, and to believe you died. The surface beneath William’s left foot gave way, dragging him down a few feet as dust exploded upward in a choking red cloud. His safety line snapped taut instantly, yanking him sideways hard enough to knock the breath from his lungs.

  Carlton went next.

  The chunk of ground beneath him sheared clean off, and he fell- only to swing violently as his tether caught, nearly slamming him into the dome wall with a metallic thud.

  “Shit!” Jeff swore, scrambling back from the drill as the crane lurched, its treads finding no purchase.

  “Everyone stay still!” Quirie shouted. “Don’t fight the lines! We trained for this!”

  William dangled for a heartbeat, boots scraping uselessly against empty air, before Isaac hauled hard on the winch. The cable stretched under strain, but it held- dragging William back onto solid ground in a spray of dirt.

  Carlton came up next, coughing, one arm hanging limp for a second before he flexed it.

  “Ow. Yeah, that’s bruised.” he muttered, opening and closing his hand.

  William lay on his back for a moment, staring up at the dark glass above them, heart hammering hard enough to make his visor pulse faintly red with warnings. His began to chime- impact absorbed, medical assistance on its way- and then fell silent again.

  They were okay. All of them Quirie was already moving, voice calm but tight. “Status check. William.”

  “Good.” he said after a breath. “Shaken. Nothing broken.”

  “Carlton.”

  “Rattled.” he grunted. “Suit took the hit, but okay.”

  “Jeff.”

  “ fine.” Jeff said, then added quieter, “I am a little sore but I think that was from jumping off the drill.”

  Isaac exhaled audibly over comms. “Tethers held. Winch held. Dome’s intact. I can see the medical crew booking it over here from base.”

  For a moment, no one spoke.

  Then Carlton let out a short, breathless laugh. “Well. Guess those safety audits weren’t just for show.”

  William pushed himself upright, brushing red dust from his suit. He looked at the cracked edge of the collapse- small. Contained. The mesh on the ground had kept the larger pieces from rising up and crushing them. Deadly, if they hadn’t been clipped in.

  “BluRocket would’ve buried us.” Jeff said flatly.

  Quirie nodded once. “Alright. We shut this section down. Log the void, reroute drilling elsewhere when the survey team finds another spot..” She looked at William. “Good catch. They must have missed it, with the deposit right on top of it.”

  William swallowed, steadying the locator in his hands as its pings slowly returned to normal.

  “dont thank me. Thank the equipment- i just spotted the hole, if any of these-” he gestured to the entire dig site. “-hand't worked, we might have lost someone today.”

  Quirie nodded, and Carlton didn't even give a half assed quip. He was right, and they all knew it.