When the gale closed in from all sides, they would hide into the depth of mine tunnels, imagining what the sky looked like: bizarre and chaotic, yet glorious in its own sense.
Dust the color of cobalt woke from its long slumber, rising out of darkness, twisting, blocking the light, tearing the cloud and mist into pieces. On this blue planet, solitude came along with the howling sound of winds, kept drilling into people’s ears. It hurt at first, but the pain quickly subsided into a distant numbness.
Yuan Xu bent down, keeping his body as tugged in as possible, and slowly crawled forward. He pressed the mask against his face and breathed in carefully, afraid that the omnipresent mining dust would damage his lungs. This was hardly better than having no protections at all, but they could never afford to get proper gears anyway.
After squeezing onward for several more meters, he heard Lin Chang calling from ahead. ‘That’s about all of them, right?’ Yuan reached forward, and took over the heavy, frosty ore. Weighing it in his hands, he put the rock into a crate right behind himself. Somehow it felt slick. ‘That’s the last one.’
Although in darkness Yuan could barely see a thing, he knew that the ores had a hue of dull blue, just like pictures of oceans printed on those advertisement brochures. Through basic processing steps, they’d be turned into glinting azure crystals. Some said they were fossils. Once living things, now crafted into pricey decorations, or circuit boards on a FTL spaceship.
He struggled on his way out, only straightening up after he came out to the broader sections of tunnels. The soreness in his spine hit his brain hard, sending slight dizziness through. He shouldn’t have gotten tired so easily. After all, he has just reached seventeen this year. Perhaps the workload was too heavy for him recently, and Yuan didn’t rest well. The weather just kept getting colder and colder.
It was New Year’s Day according to Earth calendar. They should have gotten a day off, yet it turned out that more than sixty bulk carrier ships have docked. Yuan’s work nearly doubled compared to usual times. The only relief? His payment almost got tripled.
Working their fingers to the bone for some meager cash, is how they lived on this planet. At least meals were provided here, along with a place to stay. This could well be their last resort. After several decades of persistent hard work, some can even gather enough money to avoid starving to death when they return to their home planet at old age.
Yuan walked towards the exit of mine tunnels. In dim light, gravels spread across the ramp. He used to get tripped on those stones all the time when he first got here, but now he could climb the ramp with his eyes closed. Lin followed in his wake. The two carried the last two crates of ores to the processing plant. Just like the others, they did the sorting, polishing and cleaning with a practiced dexterity. After all works were done, it has well passed 11 pm.
At the end of the day, the last piece of refined crystals was placed onto the conveyer belt, and the last bulk carrier was launched towards the night sky, its exhaust flame a faint red dissolving into the endless darkness. Yuan found himself so tired that he was on the brink of losing consciousness. The dust mingled with nighttime chillness, forming dreadful clogs in his throat, making every breath a struggle.
‘I’mma get a smoke break.’ Lin mumbled. His voice coarser than usual.
Yuan nodded, then walked towards their living quarters with all his might. It was not until he reached the front door that he realized Lin still had the key. Good thing that it never snowed at this time of the year, and the temperature was still bearable.
He collapsed to the floor and sat there, waiting in silence.
It was the tradition to keep lights on for all day and all night on New Year’s Day, as a prayer for good fortune in the coming year.
Yet the neighboring houses were as silent as ever, drenched in darkness and misery. If bad luck struck Yuan, he might have to move over to one of those buildings in a few years. Cheaper rent, with no heating provided, but a shelter for all the poor ones who lost an arm or leg during mining accidents. Those people couldn’t do the diggings anymore. They had to rely on the gains from ore sorting to barely make ends meet. They’ve got no spare electricity to waste, not even for several hours of lighting. Besides, they ain’t got nothing left to pray or hope for anyway.
Merely a light year away, however, half a dozen planets were glowing in wondrous light. Those who lived in affluence were feasting, celebrating the commencement of a brand new year. Most of the miners’ families—their elderly parents, wives and children—dwelt there. They lived in the darkness reserved only for the lowest classes, relying on the miners’ salaries earned from day after days of hard work to make a living. But at least, they survived under the harsh conditions.
Yuan was still waiting in the everlasting darkness.
A ray of light appeared in the distance, and a group of seven to eight people walked towards the building. It was the older miners. Upon reaching the quarter, they bid each other a happy new year once more, then scattered into their own rooms. Lin walked up to where Yuan was sitting. He turned off his flash light and sat down, bringing out another cigarette from his pocket, and lighted it without bothering to ask Yuan if he minded. When flame rose from Lin’s match, Yuan caught a glimpse of the stained bandage on his left hand.
He decided to not mention it. ‘Damned cold these days.’
‘Ain’t it.’ Lin kept on smoking, squinting into the distance. ‘Yuan, stop staring at my fucking bandage.’
Yuan shut up. He wanted to get into the room and sleep but couldn’t bring himself to ask Lin for the key, so he simply sat beneath him, shifting his gaze from Lin’s bandage to the distant horizon. This was a tiny planet, but it had its own beauty.
They both knew it well. This used to be a lively planet, a dreamland covered with soil and vegetations the color of sapphire. They also knew what has ruined it, maybe a bit too well. Experiments, mine prospecting, and exploitations, leaving countless mine pits behind. A hollow planet emptied from within. They’ve heard that people built miniature replicas of it on other planets, creating theme parks and the like.
Nevertheless, even hollowed, this planet still possessed its unique beauty. When mine pits collapsed, lakes would soon take form. Indigo-colored rivers and creeks connected these lakes, and their water would never freeze, filled with reflections of myriad stars, radiating the light in mere gorgeousness.
Lin grunted. ‘You’d see blue whichever way you’re facing.’
Yuan nodded. ‘Exactly. It’s blue everywhere. What a sight.’
‘What a sight.’ Lin blew out some smoke, then stubbed out his cigarette on the ground. ‘Say, could it be aliens who built this place, and we’d got little blue men coming after us next morning?’
Yuan hesitated, then nodded again. ‘Right. Could be possible.’
Lin grimaced, reaching out a hand and ruffled Yuan’s hair a bit. ‘Right my ass. The creeks are blue ’cuz the algae make them this way. It’s toxic, the algae, but you’d be fine as long as you don’t touch it. What’s wrong with you, come working in the mine not knowing a thing?’ When Lin smiled, his eyes would narrow into curved slits. He looked like Yuan’s older brother, who had gone missing on the mine site. Accident during manufacturing, they said, but wouldn’t go into more details. Yuan was just ten when all these happened. The mining corps has given his family some money as compensations. It wasn’t a small amount, but it was not much either, barely covering Yuan’s living expenses until he graduated from junior high.
He went straight from his graduation into miner’s boot camp, then got himself sent onto this planet after several weeks of training. During the boot camp, they were taught how to measure the size of an ore, how to assess ore quality, and how to clean the ores faster using specific solutions. They were never taught why the blue ores are in that color.
Unlike Yuan, Lin only had to quit school and work in the mine after he graduated from high school, getting paid so that he could feed his family. Unlike Yuan, Lin had no parents, only a younger sister who was currently in high school. With a diploma higher than Yuan’s, Lin naturally seemed to know more, and probably felt proud about it. He told Yuan arcane things, DNA, chromosome, Newton’s laws of motion and what not. They sounded no different than obscure myths to Yuan. They were nothing. Lin used to say. Just common knowledge, things that everyone knew even a hundred years ago.
Such bizarre knowledge of Lin’s always made Yuan a bit afraid, yet he was also a bit envious. He knew almost no one on this planet, and his roommate was his most familiar acquaintance. Yuan’s gaze once more fell onto Lin’s bandaged hand.
As if sensing Yuan’s concern, Lin lowered his head, adjusted the bandage using his right hand. ‘Got a scratch some time ago. There were seepings back in the tunnel today. I’m afraid of getting an infection, so just got it wrapped up at the clinic. Not a big deal.’
Yuan nodded, turned once again and stared into the distance. The new year’s bell rang, its muffled sound resonating throughout the entire planet.
They stayed outside for a while longer, then returned to their room. It was more of a shack than a proper dormitory, no more than eight square meters is space, piled up with their personal belongings. The design of those standard bunks probably hasn’t been changed in the past several centuries. Yuan lay on his side, pushing his legs against the wall, and fell into a dreamless sleep.
He then woke up all of a sudden.
The moment he was awake, Yuan was greeted by multiple senses all at once: soreness in his back and shoulder, dizziness, flashing lights stabbing at his eyes. A dull thump, then he heard someone sobbing in pain.
The bed across from the room was empty. A gaunt figure curled up on the ground, shivering.
Lin seemed to be having hallucinations, his breath heavy, his eyes murky. He gazed beyond the confinement of this tiny room, towards some faraway, nonexistent places. The bandage on his hand has long fallen off. His arm, once pale, now turned azure entirely. He shook uncontrollably, and held his jaw tight, as if he was enduring some unbearable pain. Yuan had to tie Lin’s limbs firmly against the bunk, so that he did not shred his own chest into pieces. He then pushed a bed sheet into Lin’s mouth, in case Lin bit his tongue.
At that time, the sun was just about to rise in the dawning of a new day. The sky turned into a lead gray color, and the blue lands no longer seemed grim. Everything became pale and fragile after a long night of torment, but the awaited revival was nigh. No one knew that Lin was sick just yet. Yuan needed to find someone for help, but he was not sure if Lin’s disease is infectious. If so…
Yet within the several minutes of his hesitation, Lin’s ragged panting died down rapidly. When Yuan pressed his ear against Lin’s chest, he was greeted by nothing but endless silence.
Terrified, Yuan stumbled out of the room. He knocked on neighboring doors, getting no responses whatsoever. The mine pit was empty, devoid of the usual humming of machines, or the slight hiss from the rising and falling of dust. No bulk carrier showed up by the dock, and no worker was around.
Silence prevailed.
The only building with some lights on was Wong’s cafeteria by the mine pit. The old guy came to this planet as a miner some twenty years ago. After his retirement, Wong had been tending the cafeteria for five years now. This was the only place for miners to stay during their brief leisure time.
Yuan pushed the cafeteria’s front door wide open, then realized that almost everyone was in there. People were chatting, getting drunk, playing music, and dancing. Some were even clapping.
‘Come with me, would you? I need to head back to the living quarters and check on Lin. He’s sick.’ He grabbed the shoulder of a person walking past him. It was a miner that looked familiar. The miner simply smiled, shook Yuan’s hand off and walked away. In the background, people were still chatting and getting themselves drunk. The air still thumped with every beat of the loud music.
‘Hey, hey,’ Someone tugged at his arm. It was Wong. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘Lin Chang is sick.’ Yuan replied.
Wong shook his head, then dragged Yuan to the huge bulletin board by the entrance of cafeteria. There was an announcement posted right at the middle of the board. Pandemic warning, it read, some dozens of people were found with high fever of unknown source in the mining site. There was no way of seeking treatment and help from outside, as the entire planet was currently under quarantine. Entrance and departure were both strictly restricted.
The quarantine announcement was sent out earlier this morning. Hence no spaceships came today. The high demand for the ores ebbed in face of the pandemic.
‘They just give up without even testing for infectiousness of the disease!’
‘The what-ifs alone would’ve scared them away.’ Wong told him with a tone far too nonchalant. ‘Face it, son. People out there have a life far too precious to take on the risks. Only poor ones like us get a dispensable life.’ Wong turned half-heartedly, shouting to the miners drowning in their own indulgence: ‘Drink however much you want! You’d get more comin’ from the cellar. It’s all on me today!’
It would take too much of an effort to assemble a medical rescue, and even if they managed to do so it would be almost pointless. Just an abnormal pandemic on some desolated planet. Hardly a cause for people to sacrifice any bit of their own interests. Thus, the miners got no help, but also no work today, just mere boredom and revelry. A rare paid day off, a pathetic solace in face of their forsakenness.
They took out all the liquor from cellar.
The miners drank and laughed, making bets on how much compensations could the patients’ family receive this time. Some hugged each other and sang, then fell asleep right on the floor of cafeteria. The front door was open, and some people went out, running aimlessly, or chasing each other. Some others were digging in a crazed ecstasy. They hummed cheerful tunes, exposing bared wounds on the ground.
Yet the silence prevailed.
Azure land formed the background for all chaos. Indigo rivers and creeks were shining in the bright sun light. For some reasons, since last night, the waters were rising, meter by meter. Meanwhile, number of people who shouted themselves hoarse in their hallucinations was also increasing. The screams came from outside, blurred by the cacophony inside of the bar, and became illegible.
Yet when Yuan listened more carefully, those screams died down and gave way to silence.
He has been hiding in the corner of the cafeteria all day long, failing to get off his unease. He had nothing to do, just grabbed something to eat, and even tried some liquor. He didn’t get drunk, nor started singing. Whenever he thought of Lin, a sharp grief always lingered. When he couldn’t bear the anguish anymore, Yuan sneaked back to their tiny bunk room.
He saw it the moment he opened the door.
A shining fine crystal, perfect and sublime. In silence, it reflected the rays of a setting sun, just like any azure ores that they mined from the darkness deep underground. Lin was nowhere to be found. On his bed, only the human-shaped azure crystal lay motionlessly. There was a moment that Yuan finally made sense of what has been happening. To him, the entire world was suddenly a chaotic nightmare, yet the reasons behind everything was clear and menacing as ever.
‘Wassup?’ Someone patted Yuan hard on his shoulder. He turned back. It was their neighboring coworker. He was apparently drunk, leaning on Yuan to barely get himself balanced. The man glanced into the room almost begrudgingly, then muttered. ‘Not bad, huh? Got yourself a large piece.’
Yuan pinched his arm. The miner’s words made his blood ran cold. ‘What’s going on?’
The drunkard pushed him away, swore and staggered into the room. He collapsed on to Yuan’s bed, immediately fell into a deep sleep. The heavy stench from this man would have made Yuan disgusted and dizzy in normal times, but now he did not care anymore.
At this point, he did not care about anything anymore.
Darkness engulfed this desolated planet once more.
When Yuan went back to the cafeteria, the ongoing revelry still haven’t ceased yet, with but a bit fewer people. He didn’t know whether those who were missing had gone back to rest or drunk themselves unconscious. Or even, they might have fallen ill where no one knew or cared. Yuan didn’t enter the building. He simply glared at the people inside. They were singing, embracing each other, dancing. To him, the warmth and brightness within is no different from a flaming hell came true. Lin had told him about what hell meant. He said that a long, long time ago, people still believed that the bad guys would be punished in hell.
‘Scared?’ Wong walked out, grinned, and handed him a bottle of shaojiu, a liquor distilled from fermented sorghum. ‘Stumbled onto some dirty little secrets?’
‘Yeah.’ Yuan found his own hands shaking. When he focused, the tremble stopped. ‘Lin’s dead.’ He said, as if breathing the word out from somewhere deep within.
‘Nah.’ Wong patted him on the shoulder, ‘Just missing, not dead.’
It was the water of those indigo river, Yuan had realized. The blue algae in the creek water. They breached into Lin’s body through those scars on his hand, eating him up from within, turning a living being into delicate crystals permanently. This is the reason why mine resources on this planet hadn’t been drained even after several decades of exploitation… and why the miners still had a source of income. The ores buried in the darkness deep down were not fossils, nor creations of time. They were fresh cadavers, bodies of all kinds of dead creatures on this planet, remains of those who perished, both by the hand of nature, and that of their fellows.
People outside of this planet were ignorant. They had no idea about what those pretty and expensive azure crystals were. Lives of these blue-collar workers were far too trivial for anyone to pay attention to. They never visit this planet after the so-called pandemics, not to mention conducting serious investigations. Thus, the secret was able to be kept unrevealed.
Or rather, they knew it already. They just wouldn’t care.
Lin, the one who always took cigarette away from Yuan, was also the one who was always with him when they started out mining. He cared about him just like his older brother did. Yet Lin would never wake up or come back again. Just like his older brother, the one who died in a mining accident.
The little blue alien monsters ate him out. There was not a single trace of him left.
‘Who knows what will happen next. Just live while you still can, son.’ Wong sighed. He knew what was happening. The old man had been through such situations, more than once.
Yuan sipped a mouthful of shaojiu, then returned the bottle back to Wong. He turned his collar up, then wrapped a scarf above it. The liquor made him slightly warmer than before. Yuan finally managed to stammer something using his tied-up tongue.
‘Maybe the medics and rescue team will come this time.’
‘Yeah, whatever.’ Wong shrugged off Yuan’s words, clearly not wanting to go further with this topic. He turned and went back into the cafeteria. People stayed in there, inside the warmth and brightness, reveling in the joy brought by alcoholic beverages. They sang and hugged each other, lighting a pyre on the ground close to the entrance. Firecrackers blasted in a cacophony. The ones that were digging still haven’t stopped yet, with their undiminished joy and excitement. The pit was getting deeper and deeper, a bottomless maw waiting to devour all the hopes inside.
Under the stars, embraced by the dark night, Yuan was all by himself once more. He glanced towards the cellar, then stared into the distant landscape. In the end, he walked towards the indigo rivers.
The water was rising.