If Lieutenant Grav hadn’t been annoyed enough at walking up the stairs to the top floor of the Control Tower, the Tellarite certainly was after racing back down them in half the time; carrying the inert body of the stunned Maintenance Engineer, over his shoulder.  Stunned that was; because only moment before, he’d shot the man.

Crewman Niroc had offered to help with the carrying of Kilcannon; now they were on flat open ground, but Grav felt he didn’t have the time to stop and remove the unconscious man, slung over his shoulder.  The Tellarite just knew he’d suffer for it later.  The mine entrance wasn’t that far, it just seemed it; when you were basically carrying a dead weight.  Then again, if the idiot hadn’t decided to go for a weapon; he’d have had the option of running himself, or more hopefully cancelled the emergency and saved everyone a great deal of effort.

Now it was a race for life; with time ticking away and no chance of rescue, the away team only hope of surviving, was to head for the mine itself.

Lieutenant-Commander Alara Ley, spotted Lieutenant Beriev and Doctor Sunny, along with the two security men; ahead and several metres to her right, clearly running for the same mine entrance her group was; as she’d instructed them to do.  At least this meant everyone was a live, for how long, that was another matter.

The wind whipping up behind them and a tremendous raw, gave them mere seconds warning of what was about to happen.  The very ground under their feet shuck and rose as the first barrage slammed into the building that made up the section of the mining complex above ground.

Doctor Sunny stumbled, but one of the security men managed to grab him under the shoulder and prevent him falling, as they ran on for all they were worth.  They reached the entrance as the second wave of laser fire decimated the building further.  Beriev wanted to stop and catch his breath, but Alara signalled that they had to go deeper.  If the satellite fired at the entrance, they’d be killed instantly.  The Lieutenant-Commander’s feelings were soon justified; as moments later, the mine took a direct hit.

**********

Muscles and bone ached; heart pounded, lungs gasping and screaming for air.  Lights danced across darkened vision; greens, purples and white.  Sounds seemed muffled, distant and disjointed.  One voice seemed clearer than anything else; urging her not to fall back into unconscious.  But why was her husband talking to her?  He was dead; she’d seen him lying there on the Bio-bed.

Memories came flooding back, as Alara began to figure out what had happened and were she was.  A large section of the tunnel had collapsed; yes she remembered that now.  Dust and rock had been flung about; she didn’t feel too badly hurt, just dazed and stunned.  Breathing was coming a little easier, but she tasted the dust on her lips; which probably meant she was covered in the stuff.

Other thoughts followed; she wasn’t alone, but the names hadn’t immediately come to her. ‘Lieutenant Grav wants to know if you’re alive?’ Her husband’s voice echoed in her mind. ‘Tell him no.’ She closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them again, at least some of the many spots plaguing her vision would disappear.  In the end the XO acknowledged the Security Chief; though she wasn’t entirely sure how clear her reply had been.  To Alara it sounded like she had her head in a bucket.

Doctor Sunny was thankful that the Medical-Tricorder he was carrying hadn’t been damaged; it meant he could run a quick scan on himself; then on everyone else once he’d located them.  The device had a light; not powerful, but enough that he could see a short distance; once the dust had begun to settle.  He could only assume the lights or their power source had been damaged by the collapse, as it had been lit before.  Lieutenant Beriev, seem relatively unscathed as did one of the security guards; who had a pocket torch with him and had now got it working.  The other guard had, on careful examination, sprained his wrist, so the doctor gave him something to ease the pain.  Doctor Sunny had only brought a small medical pouch, attached to his belt; so dealing with any major injuries would prove an issue.

Lieutenant Grav was the only member of the party, standing; looking for all the world like a grey ghost; caked as he was, from head to toe in a layer of fine dust.  The still unconscious Maintenance Engineer, lay at the Tellarites feet, but other than being out cold, was generally fine; as was the Security Chief himself.

Crewman Niroc was next to get checked on and assessed.  A bruised and bloody knee appeared to be the worst of the engineer’s injuries, but at least nothing was broken.

When the doctor reached the Lieutenant-Commander, her hearing had improved enough that she could understand what was being said.  So as Doctor Sunny gave her the once over, she asked how everyone was.

“Battered, bruised, but generally ok.” He answered her. “And both of you seem to be in reasonable condition.”

A sense of relief came over Alara; it had been close.  Only fifteen or so metres behind where she now sat on the floor of the tunnel; the ceiling had caved in.  The rubble left little to no gap; between them and the outside world.  An attempt to raise the ship; yielded no reply.

“Can you hear whistling?” A guard half whispered.

Anyone in the group that was moving or talking; stopped for a moment and they all listened.  There was the sound of boots on broken gravelly ground; more than just a pair of them, and yes someone was whistling a tune.

Doctor Sunny had heard it somewhere before, as a kid.  There was a fully immersive live action and holographic theatrical version of some movie; originally dating back to the 20^th Century.  The tune had words to it.  ‘Now how did it go?’  He thought to himself. ‘Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho.  It’s home from work we go.’  A smile came to his lips as he remembered.  Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; at the Madurai Holo-Theatre 2358.

An eerie green glow was being cast across the walls and ceiling, far down the tunnel, but it was growing; so to the whistling and the sound of footsteps.  Three figures appeared, each carrying a green lantern in one hand and various mining tools in the other.  The one to the centre of them took a few extra paces forward once his companions had stopped.  He bowed his head at the group of Starfleet personnel. “I am Bio Unit 17. How many I assist you?”

Lieutenant Beriev; the closest one to their new arrival, studied the man for a moment. “A Bio Unit?”

The miner turned to face the Saurian. “That is correct.” He answered him. “I am a biological shell with a fully integrated A500 Positronic brain.”

The Lieutenant processed that information in his own mind.  A living breathing human with an android brain, it sounded remarkable.  But what stood before him right now, didn’t know it was human, or at least mostly human.  This man, android, thing, had no concept of its own creation; it simply existed.

At this point Lieutenant-Commander Alara Ley, stepped forward having got up off the floor and introduced herself as the group’s leader.  Bio Unit 17 understood the concept and that she was one who gave orders that others must follow.  As a fully organic, she took priority over all others.

“I am here to serve you Master Lieutenant-Commander Alara Ley.” He bowed again.

“Just call me Alara for now.” She replied. “I take it you know about the cave in?”

“The disturbance in the ground was detected, Master Alara.” The miner looked past her, shining his lantern towards the fallen rock.  “However it appears more severe than anticipated.”

She thought about correcting him on the ‘Master’ part, but figured it might just complicate matters.  “Do you think you could help dig us out?”

“No.” The one word response came.  “It is not the place of an organic to work when we are here to serve.”  He turned to the others spoke to them and both headed back the way they had come.

Half hour later, there were 21 of them all with various tools, props to hold up the ceiling once rubble was cleared and extra lighting to illuminate the area.  Only Kilcannon having come around in the meantime seemed agitated by their presence.  He kept close to the security officers and visibly shivered as any of the minors walked past him.  Something was wrong, but now wasn’t the time for a discussion, now was the time to dig their way out, and bizarrely as it might seem, they had a team of dead miners to do it.