[shaman]

9 The darkest tunnel

Sid was not surprised during that morning; it seemed the sligs on guard duty were more interested on making life miserable than how many diamonds were mined.
It was darker than the rest of the mine, the tunnels smaller, hotter and with less air. Sid was stood next to Marty, hacking away at the tunnel wall revealing the diamonds beneath. A slig stood behind them to make sure they were not talking, occasionally a deafening smash racketed through their tunnel, bonepowder was being used nearby in another part of the mine. It was not made pleasant since mudokons working in the drill bits section were not issued ear protection. The sligs, Sid noticed were allowed to wear these things.
From time to time a guard would stop paying attention (mainly due to the ungodly amount of brew available in the mines) and stop being so vigilant. At these moments Sid could get some conversation started.
“How long you and Archie been here”? Sid whispered looking around for greeters.
“Bout’ two weeks” Marty replied.
They paused momentarily as a greeter wheeled silently past, programmed to recognise voices not movement. They would painfully zap anyone they heard.
“So this NLA-“
“They – are – amazing”! marty laughed. “ i know they’ll get us out of here”.
“You think so”? Sid replied.
“ you know what that Steve guy said in the cell, there up to something, i dunno’ about you but I’m joining em’ first chance i get”.
It was strange; a few weeks ago Sid would have scalded Marty for even suggesting the idea. Now however he was compelled to agree, and if he admitted it he was also a little angry at himself for having been so close minded and naive, something needed to be done; there was a culture to save and who else was going to do it?
“If you are I am as well” Sid said finally.
“You are”? Marty replied
“Marty I’m not dying here” Sid hissed flatly. “i can’t do it, i punched that guard because i just couldn’t take any more s**t”!
He hacked a diamond from the wall and threw it into a passing mine cart.
Sid looked at marty. “If you think the NLA is up to something then I just have to believe you, otherwise I’ll strap a keg to myself and blast the place”.
Marty laughed at this morbid humour, Sid was now clinging to the hope that maybe, just maybe they would get out of this.
“Hey”!
Sid felt a stinging pain down his back and turned to see a guard curling his whip back into his belt.
“Shut up talking, get back to work”!!
Sid and Marty began frantically smashing the tunnel wall; As long as the slig saw them working they wouldn’t be bothered, which made it obvious that they were here mainly to suffer and less to fetch diamonds.
Hours past with little sign of a break, Sid didn’t want to ask Marty when they would stop for fear of looking ignorant. More loud bangs from nearby tunnels were giving him a headache and at the slightest sign of stopping would see them lashed, Sid felt like a drill bit alright.
The mine carts squeaked by and the grinding of machinery rang down the tunnel, the lights were flickering on and off and it was said that sometimes they would go out completely. mudokons were often lost for days in the drill bits section by taking a wrong turn in the darkness, not being found for a very long time in some cases; in this tunnel they were expendable. They were only there to set an example to the other slaves that getting into trouble would see them being worked to the bone for the rest of their lives.
Finely after hours of toil, the shift ended (which in the drill bits meant twenty minutes to eat and drink and then back to work) Sid and Marty quickly got a drink and a stale scrab cake from a dispenser at the start of the tunnel. Even in the dim light of the tunnel it was clear that something was wrong; there was no one around, hardly any mudokons were at this end of the tunnel. Sid was sure the drill bits had more members than this...
“Where is everybody”? Sid said to Marty who was tucking in to his pitiful lunch.
“Don’t know”, Marty replied carelessly
The only person he knew there was Marty; everyone else from their cell had disappeared. Sid looked around hoping it wasn’t an emergency drill that they had missed, when he spotted one of the cell doors with hushed voices coming from inside, the cell was concealed in the far corner of the tunnel and Sid had always thought this door to be a maintenance access way or something . But someone was in there; quite a few of them by the sound of it, all talking in hissed exited voices. Sid approached the door silently and pushed it ajar.
The room was full of mudokons, about ten of them crowded around something in the corner with salvaged tools lying around them. Others stood in the shadows or looked over at whatever the slaves were working on; all of these mudokons had the same brand on their arms and were looking around excitedly, or with fearful looks in their eyes.
Sid craned his neck to see what was going on, when suddenly the door swang open. Steve was stood there, his eye fixed on Sid. The signal to get back to work sounded down the tunnel.
“Don’t say anything about this” Steve whispered, he was a terrifying figure and was clearly fighting to control his anger. The mudokons behind him on hearing the signal scraped up whatever they were doing and got up.
“Now get out, GET OUT!” Steve screamed. Sid didn’t need telling twice and he backed away from Steve as the other mudokons began walking back into the tunnel.
Sid found himself next to Marty again, only this time they were joined by Archie. Marty had seen what had been said but obviously had decided not to press the matter. So during the next backbreaking hours they had time to hear the various witty comments from Archie (so long as there were no greeters around) and share memories from better times.
That night, Sid was led on the cold metal of his cell he shared with twelve others. Trying his best to sleep; he began a restless night haunted by visions of Steve and the mudokons in that cell. What had they been up to?
“Theo”. Sid heard a voice from the far corner of the room and pretended to be asleep as he saw Steve get up and start surveying the room. Sid had his eyes closed but could still here the voices; obviously they were confident that everyone in the cell was out of it.
“He didn’t see much” Theo whispered, and Sid felt his gaze. They were watching him.
“All the same” Steve replied. “He’s a f***ing nuisance, he could get us and the rest of the army killed”!
“That is a little extreme”.
“He saw the tools and all of us crowded around the – well it”.
Sid heard Theo yawn. “He’s a kid, plus we’re too close to being stopped now”.
“You’re never too close to fail” Steve hissed. “ I won’t let it be screwed up now, not when we’re less than a week away, if i see him prowling around –“.
Theo had evidently lost his temper.
“Now you listen to me, you leave him alone. We’re trying our best, all of us and if you beat some newbie half to death then the sligs’l wanna’ know why”...
“Every day I’m here I feel like I’m gonna’ snap”! Steve whispered. “We had best be ready soon or – “
“You will contain yourself in my operation” Theo retorted quietly. “When Katie-“
Sid heard Theo sigh.
“When Katie died I was left in charge, I assure you we are nearly ready, just get the diamonds and it’ll be done, we could do it anytime then. But until you get the last part we all have to tow the line ... that’s an order”.
Sid felt a burst of excitement and fear. What was going on? Why were the NLA after the glukkon’s diamonds?
It would be a very long and restless night.
The next few days were not so different from the first, although Sid had promised that he would not look into things that weren’t his business, the same questions were haunting him. But it was the suspense that kept him going, he had not told Marty what he had heard, he decided to keep that to himself.
The work was just as disgustingly hard and brutal but the feeling that it was all about to change became stronger with each passing clang of pickaxe on rock, during the next few days Sid did exactly what he had heard from Theo – towing the line and keeping his head down. Sure that soon whatever was going on would be revealed.

Then one night. Sid got his answer.
Sid heard a loud ticking noise and the thumping of many mudokon feet; he woke up to see eleven of his cell mates burst into the room - all carrying pickaxes and signalling him to wake up.
Sid obeyed and got up to see Marty stood up next to him, his heart was pounding as he saw two or three muds disappear into the room next door.
“FIRE IN THE HOLE”! Shouted one of them and for a moment there was nothing, it all went silent.
A ringing noise came from next door and the air itself split in two. There was a monstrous explosion, the lights shattered and the only light came from a great flame rushing from the next room out into the tunnel, Sid was sure he was going to die. The walls outside his cell came tumbling down and the sound of splattering shrapnel filled his ears, the door to the cell flew off its hinges and into the burning tunnel before falling with an almighty bang of twisted metal somewhere in the distance.
The moment passed, and Sid drew the courage to get up and look around, the lights flickered on, casting a pathetic light across the cell. All of the NLA were hunched next to Sid, suddenly a few torches flickered to life and Theo got up.
“Everybody out now”!
Sid was disorientated, not sure if this was real. The NLA got up and staggered from the cell, Sid followed them out of the ruined smoke filled cell into what remained of the tunnel. There was a huge hole in the side of the all and the rest of the mines were visible through it, the alarms had started and several greeters lay stricken with smoke rising from their hulls to join the dust from the explosion.
Theo shepherded Sid and the others into the cell next to theirs, it had been completely gutted and a large hole was punched into the far wall.
“This hole leads to a service corridor”! Theo shouted over the room of the flames. “follow it and it’ll lead you out onto the desert, don’t worry about the guard towers the explosion cut through the main cables; so it should be a while before they can get the lights on”!
Sid nodded and following the others example scrambled up the ruined wall, into the hole and began to climb.
They found themselves in a large corridor; the walls were metal and stained with soil from the mines below. The floor was covered in rock and blasted diamond, and the sound of the alarms was fading in the distance.
Theo was last to arrive, he stood up and brushed himself down, before looking at the others with a thin smile on his face.
“Went pretty well i think” he said triumphantly.
All the mudokons nodded in agreement. Sid - who by now had finally come out of his daze – spoke up.
“This is what you were up to, in the cell, that’s what you were working on”?
Theo laughed. “we were scavenging for stuff we could use for months, then we found an old canister for carrying kegs in, filled with bonepowder that had been compacted with an earth compactor, made a fuse and hey presto”!
“And the diamond plate at the top” said Steve. “To punch through the wall you know”?
All the mudokons burst out laughing. Finally, after all these weeks they had done something, there was still hope.
Theo led them through the service corridor, they passed the maintenance doors and finally – they reached the end.
There was a ladder leading to a trap door at the end of the corridor.
“After you” Theo said stepping aside to let his fellows through.
Steve climbed the ladder and opened the trap door, then disappeared through it. Followed by Marty, Archie and eight others, finally it was only Sid and Theo left.
“Go on” Theo laughed. “Unless you wanna’ stay”.
Sid smiled and began to climb the ladder. With his heart pounding and gaining his freedom, he pushed himself through the opening and stood up; Theo followed him and sealed the trapdoor promptly.
The other muds were laughing and crying with glee, Marty and Archie stood next to Sid and overlooked them all, Steve began friendly conversation with Theo and the wholeness of the situation sank in. After all this time of thinking they would never see the sun again, there it was; fading over the horizon of a burnt orange sky, with the first off oddworld’s five moons appearing in the heavens. The air was cool and uplifting to breathe, they had done it – they were free, all thanks to the NLA and to their own hardness. They now stood on the ancient desert of scrabania, with the mine standing helpless to what had happened. And a vast temple silhouetted against that burnt orange sky.