Chapter 3

Martha was touched to the core. She was about to hug Kyon, but she thought better of it.

A rush of unwilling memories came flooding back. She remembered her eleven-year-old son, who looked a bit like Kyon, her loving husband, their family home. And then her husband’s debts destroyed their family. His financial struggle ended in bloody tragedy that Martha managed to escape, leaving her past behind… Her memories warmed her soul and stabbed her in the heart at the same time.

Some good luck smiled on her when her healing skills drew elder Stone’s attention. He helped her find a job in the mines. Martha signed the contract, and now she was a doctor, doing one month off, one month on. She was working for a meager salary, but her situation left her no choice. She decided to be happy regardless of the circumstances.

Kyon kept silent, and Martha said with concern:

«Try and have some rest. I’ll take good care of you.» – She went to the newly arrived patient to attend to his injuries and render assistance.

An hour had passed. Someone delicately knocked on the door. Then a chubby man entered the room.

«Bob, is that you?» – asked Martha, looking up from her notes.

«Yeah… Hi. I’ve come to pick up the boy… It’s time for his appointment.» – A huge obedient dog was standing beside Bob. It was about a meter tall, with thick black fur and a small horn that was barely glowing on his forehead.

Martha noticed the animal that was cheerfully wagging his tail, and hastily exclaimed:

«I won’t let any dog in! The last time was enough! Hold it tight!»

But Rogash was already in, running in circles around the beds. Martha was just in time to close the medicine cabinet.

«Place!» – Bob ordered. Rogash stopped brawling and ran up to his master. He fell on his bottom, faithfully looking into Bob’s eyes, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.

«Your dog should be fixed.» – Martha said bitterly, examining her possessions for any damage.

«Haha, why? You see, this dog is good as gold.» – Bob patted lovingly the dog’s protruding ears. – «Buddy, stay outside for a few minutes. Go take a walk.»

Bob approached “sleeping” Kyon and asked Martha quietly:

«So, how is he? Any injuries, fractures?»

«There aren’t any. He’s just utterly exhausted.» – The doctor whispered back. – «I’ve given him something to eat. He’ll be getting better and more or less stronger. How many days did you say he was gone?»

«Three days. We couldn’t find him anywhere… The formation didn’t respond to the call. No one saw him, even Rogash couldn’t take his smell! It’s beyond me! And I have to hand in my report soon… I don’t know what to say to justify myself…» – Bob said sadly, his head down.

There was an awkward silence. When he realized that Martha was not going to encourage him, Bob coughed in embarrassment and decided to get a bit inventive:

«You know, Mob wanted to do it his way, but I turned down his idea flat.»

As expected, Martha immediately perked up and exclaimed indignantly:

«The heartless bastard! He must have offered something terrible?! But wait… Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know…» – Martha was simmering with rage. She closed her eyes to calm down.

«You got that right…» – began Bob, but Martha held up her hand: say no more, it said.

They were standing by Kyon’s bed all the time. He was pretending to be asleep, but actually, he was listening to them.

«Bring him back after the checkup. He must get some rest to recover. It hurts me to see this exhausted child.» – Martha exclaimed anxiously and shook her head in compassion.

«I’d love to, but you know how cruel Flitz can be. I’m afraid he will force the kid to work right away.» – Bob grumbled, staring awkwardly at the floor.

«Bob, please, talk to him! I…I… I will write an explanatory note! Say, he’s injured, exhausted, tense, bruised, and what’s not… Maybe he will pay heed to my suggestions? Don’t get me wrong, he needs a few days of rest…» – Martha’s voice was full of aching pity for the puny boy as if he was an unhappy abandoned puppy or a kitten with a broken leg.

Martha knew she would be punished if she broke the rule and kept Kyon in hospital for more than a day. But she was going to take the risk whatever it might cost her.

Flitz was a high-ranking official in the mine. He had every right to prolong the treatment time as long as needed.

Martha looked imploringly at Bob, and he felt obliged to do everything possible. But would he succeed?

He sighed heavily:

«The note, of course, will give us a chance. But what if I…»

Martha placed her hand on Bob’s soft shoulder, encouraging him:

«Please… You’re a kind man. You’ve brought him here. You didn’t listen to Mob. So, bring a good deed to an end. Do not stop halfway.»

Bob nodded helplessly and shook Kyon.

«Buddy, get up! We have to go somewhere.»

While Kyon was rubbing his eyes and putting on his humble set of clothes, Martha was in her office hastily writing the explanatory note, praying it would help.

«Good Luck, Bob.» – She said softly as he and Kyon left the stone hospital.

Today Bob had to write a mandatory weekly report on all the incidents in Sector 3. In addition to the dry figures on the amount of mined materials, he had to put down all the information that implied control. From conspiracies and the mood of masses to premeditated murder and setups… Everything had to be thoroughly checked up and controlled.

The structure of the mine suggested an artificial hierarchy of slaves. There was a leader of the 1st rank, his subordinates of the 2nd rank, and the ordinary slaves of the 3rd rank. All of them were left to their own devices. However, no one of a higher rank wanted anything bad to happen with “the lowest segment of the people.”

Conspiring or trying to escape was a priori a dead-end road. It would be equal to mass suicide. However, riot incidents occasionally happened, anyway… It gave rise to the following basic law: «Any activity in the mine must be under control.»

The backpack with reports was sadly wiggling on Bob’s back. He looked extremely depressed, and small wonder. It wasn’t only about Martha who made him promise to help the boy. Bob had also promised Mob to take all the responsibility for Kyon upon himself.

On the way to Flitz, the black dog took a keen interest in Kyon. He ran up to him, wagging his tail and trying to bite his finger. Then he jumped back, resting on his front paws as if calling to play.

The dog’s dance distracted Bob from his sad thoughts, even if only for a second.

«Rogash seems to like you, boy. It’s quite surprising. He must have taken you for a skinny little child, heh?»

The language barrier left Kyon with no answer. When the playful dog brought his curious muzzle closer to his hand, he touched a point under his ear. The fluffy dog froze at once.

{Even if you have a horn, the weak points of all the canines are typical for you, too…} – When Kyon squatted to massage the area under the dog’s ear, he rolled over on his back, his hind leg jerking.

«Wow! I’ve never seen him react like that!» – Bob was delighted.

The landscape diversity did not please the eye: a stone door with engraved inscriptions, walls, flashlights, another stone door with engraved inscriptions… From time to time, they met people with formations on their foreheads. They walked in groups of 9 people behind a warden who also had a formation but was wearing a slightly different uniform.

Nearly everyone looked shabby and exhausted, and it was only the beginning of the day. All of them were clothed in rags. Their unkempt beards and almost bald heads completed the image. Kyon’s immediately noticed that they all were in their 20s or older.

{Why is there no one of my age?}

On the way, Bob started a one-sided conversation. The dog’s gregarious disposition was contagious. Besides, a silent listener who nodded here and there would never hurt. It referred to Rogash, too:

«Just for the record, he is a very smart dog. He understands all kinds of commands. And he adores dog chocolate! Unfortunately, I can’t give him his favorite treat every day. It is too expensive… Well, it’s nothing extravagant, but I can’t afford any extra costs… My wife and I send almost all our money to our daughter in school…»

About 15 minutes later, they had reached their destination.

There was only one door at the end of the corridor. On either side, two guards were towering like majestic statues in golden armor, with shiny swords in the scabbards and fighting aura emanating from them. They were clearly elite guards.

Bob ordered Rogash to stay outside and make no noise.

The supervisor showed the guard his wrist with a formation on it that indicated his rank and position, and they were allowed into the room.

Kyon didn’t realize until now that the staff was also marked. Their formations weren’t located on their foreheads like a star, but on their wrists, hidden by clothing.

Behind the door, there was a spacious room with beautiful décor. In the center, there was a carved desk made of dark wood with an armchair behind it. A rack with all sorts of strange tools divided the room into two parts. In the obscure corner of the room, there was a shabby looking chair and a table for inspecting the slaves

The smell of fresh pastry filled the air.

A well-dressed middle-aged man was sitting at the carved table. He was engrossed in reading. However, he looked up at once as soon as he noticed the visitors.

«Come in. Take a seat.» – The man stretched his lips in a broad smile, greeting Bob, who stood there frozen like a stone statue with his mouth open in surprise.

«Martin, how is it possible… And… And where’s Flitz?»

«Won’t you hug an old acquaintance of yours?» – The man smiled in reply to Bob’s dismay.

«Long time no see… I… I thought you don’t work here anymore!»

«You were right. I’m temporarily in charge. Flitz, the old fart, has left for family affairs. I’m his replacement for a month.» – His melancholy face brightened up: – «So, what’s up? What have you been up to? Who’s this boy looking out of your back? I’ll make us some tea. Treat yourself to a bun. It’s a new recipe, yummy.»

Bob couldn’t help smiling at the sight of the pastry. He pulled up a chair and took a seat.

«I love buns… You know how to cheer me up, buddy. As for the boy… You know, a curious thing happened… He got lost… We couldn’t find him for a few days…»

Martin nearly spilled tea from his cup and interrupted his friend:

«You could not find him? And what about the formation? Was it out of order?» – He looked at Kyon and said: «Come here, boy.»

Kyon understood his unmistakable gesture and approached obediently. Martin placed his hand on Kyon’s forehead to see if there was any energy in his formation.

«Gods… Indeed!» – He exclaimed when he realized that his guess was correct.

Bob scratched his nose thoughtfully:

«The thing is… We found him yesterday, completely exhausted. He also suffered memory loss…» – The supervisor let some facts into a good story to protect his own ass. «By the way, Martha gave me a note to explain his trauma. Will you give him a few days off?»

Kyon could tell that Bob was nervous as if he was hiding something.

«No problem. And no… No note needed. I believe you. So, why is his formation out of order? There’s absolutely no energy inside. Just a blow on the head couldn’t do it. Unless a 200-pound boulder that could easily smear the boy’s head in a thin layer was involved in this story. But I refuse to believe it, hahaha!» – Martin turned his gaze to Kyon: – «Perhaps, you can tell us what happened to you, boy?»

Kyon desperately racked his brain in search for an answer. After a short pause, he muttered something in the foreign language, hoping it would work: «No bones broken…»

The meaning and clarity of his words suggested that the boy had received a heavy blow with a stone on the top of his head. Bob smiled his gratitude. The boy couldn’t think straight and decided to play along with him.

Martin stared at his old friend, dumbfounded.

Bob said with a bitter smile: – «I told you that he had lost memory…» – He pretended that he had just remembered something and added: – «I know one more reason why his formation is out of order! I’m almost certainly sure of it!»

«Oh, really? And what is it?» – Martin raised his eyebrows.