Chapters:

Chapter 2

Tobias’ body hit the dirty bottom bunk bed with a thud. The bunk beds were issued to each pair of miners by Altmining who would sleep in them in rotating shifts. Since each miner worked 14 hour shifts, they each had ten hours during their off-shifts to sleep in the beds. A typical miner worked 14-days on, 7-off with 12 to 14 hours each day of work. Because the Aluminum mines were located roughly 500 kilometers from the Procellarum Colony the miners were forced to sleep within the confines of the barracks module.

It wasn’t glorious, but at least it was a place to sleep.

Altmining posters littered the walls. “A good miner always reports suspicious behaviour. Malevolent behaviour in miners leads to accidents in the workplace”. “Always listen to the Miner Escorts. They are there to protect you”.

It was always the same thing – don’t question authority, always do what you are told, and never miss your shift. This had been going on for years, and it all started when Altmining Corporation bought all the mines on the Moon, effectively creating a monopoly. But nobody seemed to care, especially since it brought the nations on Earth a bunch more money to fund whatever it was they were doing.

Tobias shifted in his bunk, turning onto his side. The cotton jumpsuit he was wearing clung to his body while he tried to fall asleep. Most miners slept with their standard-issue red jumpsuits on, since it took far too much time when they woke up to put it on. Sleep was becoming a commodity people would trade credits for.

Sleep was like an agile animal that, despite Tobias being starved, he could never catch. Each night he would lay awake in his bunk, thinking about the mines. If he managed to fall asleep, the mines and the Escorts haunted his dreams.  He knew he needed a way out. The question as how to get there.

Altmining treated their employees well; as long as they weren’t at the bottom of the ladder, of course. Tobias was used to it by now. Being a Moonite, born on the Moon, he was always treated poorly by everyone around him especially those who would arrive from Earth searching for fame and glory. Very few from Earth stayed for any length of time, and even fewer came here for work. Most of these seekers were trying to discover some new hidden treasure or to hunt for some other famous location, such as trying to rediscover the Apollo landing sites which had been lost several decades ago. Many believe these objects were stolen by upset Moonites, while others believe the landings never actually happened in the first place.

Even if the landings never happened, they were here now and they were never going back to Earth. For many, especially those born here, the Moon is their home and for others it’s a prison.

Tobias opened his eyes again and was greeted by the darkness of the barracks around him. Altmining never installed any lights in the module knowing that Miners were going to be sleeping inside of it practically 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

He shifted over onto his back and stared at the bunk above him. The weight of his co-worker above him sagged the mattress into the frame of the bed, causing the metal to bend just ever so slightly. He was never quite able to get used to the constant feeling of possibly being crushed at any moment.

Sleep finally took hold after another hour of turning his body and shutting his eyes. Every half hour passed with Tobias waking up, startled by something in his dreams that he couldn’t remember an instant afterwards. When the alarm finally rang off throughout the barracks, he had managed to scrounge a grand collective of 4 hours of sleep, broken into chunks of 20 to 30 minutes.

He slid himself off the bed, still exhausted and sore, and grabbed what few personal possessions he had placed on the small bed side table. His keys, PDA, and wallet were the only objects of actual importance.

Tobias grabbed his PDA and flicked it on, swiping through an array of adverts.

“Buy Altmining stocks! Help secure the future of our civilization!”

“The children of the Eastern African People’s Republic need your help! Donate today!”

“War ravages the Asian Union! Join the People’s West Asian Democratic Federation Liberation movement today!”

After a quick glance through unimportant emails, he brought up his schedule and checked it.

“Great, I’m in Free Mine again today. Awesome.”

He checked the time.

“Shit; and of course I’m late.”

Tobias tossed his PDA into his overalls pocket and raced out the door of the barracks, skipping his breakfast and optional morning shower, which almost nobody ever took. Time had become another commodity, after all.

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