cement

Thwack, thwack, thwack...!

Wh-What's that sound? D-Do you hear that?

Is it just me, or am I hearing the ghost? That 'thwack, thwack'...!

We must have hit an aquifer! I thought we had those checked...

It'll take ages to drain and depressurize all this. Look at how much water there is! Forget goaf water, it's probably an entire underground river!

Is it just me, or is that 'thwack, thwack' noise getting louder?

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

The weary crew quiet down in the face of the clamor.

Could it really be a ghost that's been stopping us?

Look chief, the whole reason no crew took this job is because it's too hard. It ain't our fault if we can't hack it today...

Ghost or no ghost, I don't reckon we can get anything done today. How about we go up and tell them we quit?

If we head up now, we might even make it in time for dinner. We'll rest up and find a new gig. What do you say, chief?

*sigh* Chief, we've put in so much and got jack in return. Why'd you take the job in the first place?

We've been mining our entire lives, and there're plenty of jobs out there. What's so special about this one?

*hearty laugh* So what do you think about this project? We'll get to learn some new tech and see how a big operation is run. It'll broaden our horizons a bit, yeah?

And before you ask, the pay's better, but the work will be tougher too. But you lot are hard workers and fast learners, so I'm confident we can pull this off.

*sigh* We've got it rough. Mining ain't easy, but once we finish this job, you'll find more opportunities coming your way, and with them, more cash and a better life.

Alright, no need to thank me all at once! Settle down, settle down...

*reassuring laugh* Go home for now, no worries! Just remember to get your arses here on time tomorrow!

Thanks for taking care of us, boss!

See you all later!

Take care on the way home!

We should head back too, Dad—

Eh? Dad?

Where'd he run off to all of a sudden?

Shana remembers searching the entire mine base before finding him standing before the seemingly bottomless mineshaft, staring into its gaping darkness with his hands behind his back.

Not too long ago, he had been surrounded by those who trusted him, their optimism about work and the future infectious. But now, he stood alone, gazing into the abyss.

She stood behind her father, not daring to approach. After what felt like an eternity, she saw him take a deep breath and exhale ever so slowly.

She remembers seeing her father bending down so low that he resembled one of those drills down the mine that had lost power.

It was a scene she had witnessed many, many times.

Dad... What's going on...?

You're right. We've been miners our whole lives, and every job's pretty much the same.

Doesn't matter if we strike gold or not, we'll still have to find some other work after.

Your dad wanted us to nail this project to make a name for ourselves. Then we could land tougher gigs and earn more. He meant well, chief.

But whatever extra we make won't mean much against the medical bills anyway. So it's really okay if we bail.

Do you lot really believe there's a ghost down here?

...Huh?

Do you <i>really</i> believe that there's a ghost stopping us from finding the vein?

Not exactly... But look, chief. We somehow dug into an underground river and that spooky sound just won't stop. Nobody really knows what's going on, but we're all...

We'll just take whatever job comes our way. Scraping by is good enough for us.

So you don't believe in the ghost, but you still want to stop here...?

But don't you want to go and see what's outside Rim Billiton?

You were the only ones still mining after dad's crew disbanded. I've been down the mines with you plenty of times. The reason I brought you all back and took on this project again is to prove to everyone—

That we have the skills to do what others can't, and that we deserve to be treated and paid fairly.

And we deserve to see a better future, even if it's just a teeny bit better!

Haha... Chief...

That sounds good and all, but for us, we're just happy to get our paychecks and live to spend them.

As for our 'future'...

The miners look at one another, smiling bitterly while shaking their heads.

They take a deep breath, then exhale ever so slowly. They lean against the damp wall and slump down to the ground, heads buried so deep, like drills out of power.

Shana can almost see her father in them.

(Have they always thought this was impossible? That we'll never make our way out of Rim Billiton?)

(No wonder Dad seemed so gloomy and even set aside money to pay his crew in case the job went bust. He knew they wouldn't make it.)

(Did it ever cross his mind, too?)

('If I weren't working with this crew but had five or ten of me, maybe I'd have gotten the job done already')

(Maybe Dad never realized that deep down, he had considered his crew a burden.)

Thwack, thwack, thwack!

Oh, that noise's back again...

Let’s go back up, chief. We're wasting time here. It's not like we can keep drilling down.

Wait. I just want to try one last time.

Chief?

This isn't a problem that can be fixed in one try. We—

I know. It's just... If I leave now without giving it one last shot, I know I'll regret it.

Shana lifts her drill and shield, feeling their weight in her hands.

My drill's still got some juice left in it, and there's enough concrete in my shield to block a few leaks. As for me, maybe...

Maybe I only have enough strength to last another half an hour.

But even so, I want to give it one last try. Maybe if I take a different direction, I'll find the vein. Maybe if I push just a bit harder, we'll achieve what we couldn't.

I always believed that as long as we worked together, with our hands and our skills... We'd find ourselves a future.

The miners begin to scatter, many shuffling back to the cage to wait. Their headlamps form bobbing beads of light in the darkness.

They stop in their tracks and dip their heads to look at the young lady, their new foreman on the first job she took for them.

Shana slings her drill across her shoulder, stoops down a bit, then walks deeper into the bowels of Terra.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

The sound continues: a ghost, as the miners claim, haunting the mine; the warning that urged her father to return. But to Shana, it felt like something else...

Are you telling me to go this way?

Well then, now or never!

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Down! Down! Down!

At this depth, Shana feels that she is alone. The odd clank grows clearer than ever. She musters up her depleting strength and keeps digging towards it.

To her surprise, a bright light can be seen from the cracks her drill made.

...Light?

Why's there light here?

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

As she digs deeper, the light grows stronger, almost blinding. Shana never imagined anything like this so deep underground.

With the last of her strength, she drives the drill downward. Suddenly, the rocks part like pages in a book, unveiling the glimmering ore that time itself had written.

The drill burns through the last of its fuel and ceases its rumbling cry. Shana gasps for breath as she stumbles to check if this is the vein they have been searching for.

A small face bearing a fuzzy beard and a damp nose suddenly pokes out of the crack. It squeezes its mouth though, sniffling as it takes in air.

Sniff sniff!

Sniff sniff!!

Eh?!

The sandbeast startles, squeezing its entire body out of the crack, a miner's lamp somehow firmly attached to its back.

It scarpers and clatters its way through the dark mine, lighting up the drill in Shana's hand, the bubbling underground river, and the faces of the miners that it passes.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! The headlamp on its back strikes against the rock walls, thwacking as it goes.

A sandbeast?! Here? How'd it even get down here? That's the source of our sound?

Look there! Those rocks look like they're part of the transition zone. I reckon the chief dug right past the aquifer and struck the vein!

That... Isn't that the headlamp I gave Dad...?

Why's it on the back of a sandbeast?

A few impatient miners rush over, lifting their lanterns to inspect the glimmering ore.

Chief! This is it! It's the vein!

It's at the right depth! We managed to break the kilometer bottleneck! We found the vein!

We... We did it?