Page 267 of Commander’s Mate
MINE CONTROL LOCKDOWN.
Then every lift-status indicator went red.
Pyrr swore.
“Enemy?”
“Yes.”
Tivid’s answer came clearer now.
“Surface command sent a total-isolation instruction to lower systems. They are sealing mine sectors.”
“They are trapping the workers.”
“Likely.”
Likely.
I hated cautious intelligence language when murder was happening in real time.
“Can they collapse shafts?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Blast charges used for controlled excavation.”
The mine worker made a broken sound.
I looked toward the processing compound.
We had already taken the surface command center.
Apparently command had not mattered.
Someone underground or in a remote bunker still held local authority.
“Find the controller.”
“Working.”
A distant explosion rolled beneath our boots.
Not large.
Deep.
The ground moved.
Every liberated worker in the lane froze.
They knew that sound.
“Zared,” Pyrr said.
I was already moving.
