Skykeep by Joseph R. Lallo Page B

about to get real dangerous for
you out here, too.”
    “Weapon away, Coop,” bellowed Captain Mack as
he thumped up to the scene, huffing and puffing.
    A few steps behind him was Gunner, and a few
steps farther was Butch.
    Reluctantly, Coop holstered the weapon and
pulled the safety officer to his feet.
    “Someone better start talking about what
happened here. I’ve got two members of my crew in that mine,” the
captain said.
    The safety officer tried to catch his breath.
“Sir, we are evacuating the mine now. If they are inside, they will
be coming out, but you have to let us do our job.”
    “Right then. Make room, Coop. Glinda, see to
anyone who needs help. Everyone keep your eyes peeled for Lil and
Nita.”
    A few minutes passed, Coop barely able to
restrain himself as the carefully practiced procedures played out
in front of them. One by one, each miner turned his or her tag over
to the safety officer, who replaced it in the cabinet. With
remarkable efficiency, not five minutes later the last of the tags
were being hung up. There were three hooks vacant. Then Matthews
stumbled out of the mine, caked with dust and clearly disoriented.
The officer approached him, claiming his tag and hanging it up.
    “Matthews,” Captain Mack said, stomping up to
the final person to vacate the mine. “You were with the girls. Tell
me what happened.”
    “Please, sir, he may require medical
attention,” the safety officer said, reaching out to hold the
captain back. Before he could touch the man, a familiar cocking
sound drew his attention to Coop, pistol once again in hand.
    “Glinda, is this man fit to answer a few
questions?” Mack called out.
    His ex-wife and current medic paced over and
looked Matthews up and down once. She muttered something and made a
dismissive gesture.
    “Tell me what happened,” Mack said.
    “I… I don’t know. There was an explosion,”
Matthews said.
    “Where are the girls?” Mack asked.
    “They were in the chamber with the pump. It
was nearly finished. They might even have been testing it.”
    “I was terrified this might happen, Captain,”
said the harried mayor as he made his way to the scene with labored
breath. “Those devices are so difficult to maintain. It must have
burst! Safety Officer, what is the situation?”
    “The explosion was in a disused shaft. No
miners were inside. There was only Matthews and the two
visitors.”
    “We’ve got to assume it was the pump that
blew,” Matthews said. “And if they were inside its chamber, we’ve
got to assume—”
    There was a second cock of a weapon, this
time the captain’s pistol.
    “Until I see what happened with my own eyes,
no one is assuming anything. We clear on that?”
    Matthews nodded.
    “Now we’re going in to see to our crew,” the
captain said. “Coop, bring Matthews along.”
    The deckhand grabbed a handful of the man’s
vest.
    “You can’t just go inside. There has been an
explosion. There is tremendous potential for collapse!” the safety
officer explained desperately.
    The captain shifted his pistol to the
officer. “Well, then you can come along, make sure we’re good and
safe.”
    Without waiting for his response, Captain
Mack, Butch, Coop, and Gunner marched into the mine, grabbing
helmets and fumbling them to flame on the way. The officer followed
on their heels, fetching the proper number of tags and catching up.
As the group moved deeper into the darkness, the dust in the air
became choking, but they simply retrieved kerchiefs and tied them
around their mouths, the safety officer deploying a more
purpose-built dust mask.
    “You need to keep your eyes and ears open.
Any sound of crackling or clattering could be the roof giving way.
Look for cracks in the walls and ceiling, splintered beams. And for
heaven’s sake put those guns away. If the shaft is compromised,
even a loud report could be the last straw and cause a
cave-in.”
    “Tell me what happened,” Mack said once more
to Matthews.
    “I