Chapter 2
The two ancients arrived at the mine. The wind had once again picked up and the shift in temperature told them that some nasty weather was coming in. They found no one outside the mine and headed for the facilities that had been built for the workers, some one hundred feet away from the entrance.
"Wizz-Ra! Mumm-Rana! Please come in!" Marwa met them at the door, they'd entered through, thankful to be out of the weather.
"It is good to see you Marwa. The Lair lost contact and grew concerned about everyone's safety," Wizz-Ra smiled.
"The radio is on the fritz again. Damn thing isn't worth a hill of beans," the reptile shook her head as they walked down the hallway to the first door on the left. They entered the small room to find Panthro getting frustrated with the radio that sat on the table in the corner of the room. The unit had been opened up and the panther was looking inside of the radio. Ben-Gali was helping him and the white tiger was just as frustrated.
"Mom and Dad called Grandpa and Grandma," Lea smirked.
"From the age perspective, that makes sense," Mumm-Rana chuckled.
"Not sure what I can do about it unless you guys can fix the radio," Panthro frowned.
"Are you telling me that the world class engineer can't fix it?" Wizz-Ra wondered.
"Someone did something to it that I cannot fix. The wires inside are burnt," the panther said.
"Could it have shorted?" Lea wondered.
"No. If it shorted, there'd be one spot that was burned. I've got melted wires, damage to the speaker, and damage to the electrical board," Panthro shook his head. Everyone knew what that meant. Someone had tampered with the equipment.
"Could the same be said for the tracks inside the mine?" Wizz-Ra wondered. Panthro looked up and frowned.
"I'll take that as a 'yes'," Mumm-Rana spoke up.
"We don't have security cameras and I'm beginning to regret it," the panther said.
"I can't imagine anyone here sabotaging us," Marwa spoke up. She was only a few feet away from the group. The nine people in the room made it seem even smaller, especially since it only had one window. The window allowed the operator to see what the weather was up to. The room was quite drab but then again no one was there to make things pretty. They were there to mine the precious Thundrillium.
"I can't either," Ayşegül frowned.
"It doesn't have to be anyone working here at the mine," Ben-Gali pointed out.
"Ah you think some of our other Third Earth residents may still be unhappy about the current situation," Wizz-Ra said.
"Could be. The bigger issue now is getting this radio fixed and trying to reach the Lair," Hamza said, turning around to face the group. He'd spent the majority of the discussion staring out the window.
"Well we can take a message back," Mumm-Rana suggested.
"The weather is about to remind us that she holds all the cards," the jackal pointed out the window. Snow had begun to fall and as the wind picked up, the visibility dropped to near zero.
"Sweet Jaga's toothbrush," Panthro shook his head as he looked out the window.
To Be Continued…