Stargate Hastings
Chapter Ten: The mines
With no night on this world Donald stayed on earth time. The watch he had been given, he was assured would not fail on him and he had been given a second one to compare against, every so often. As long as they were not more than a few seconds out, he was told he would be ok. With a date dial on the things as well, it had been easy to keep track of his timetable. He had under eight months left, to gather as much of the mineral as he could.
The mines were not far from the entrance to the cave system but far enough away, that no one went near them. The first day he had gone with Ma'tuff, Karr and Nebu. Nebu did not speak very much and his brothers thought him a little slow, because of it. Donald however was not fooled by the mans, apparent lack of wits. Meera had told him, that when Nebu was a boy, he was as lively as any child, even a little rebellious. One day when Ra's hawk headed, Horus guards, were here to encourage the slaves to work harder and remind them of Ra's power. Something that would happen, at least once or twice a generation.
One of the guards was beating an old man, he was about to jump in and help him but before he could, his father had stopped him. There was another boy, who was not fortunate enough, to have somebody there to stop him. Hassif told him to watch and see what happens if you openly defy them. The hawk guard picked up the man and snapped his neck. He then continued kicking the old man and no one else dared interrupt him again.
Ever since then he had been quiet, only speaking if he had to. Donald knew that the boy had decided on that day, that he would not die the way the other boy had and would become a man, strong enough to kill the hawk bastards. Nebu of all Hassif's sons, resembled him the most. Not in his facial features but in his stature. He was even bigger than his father and the reason for that, was because he was the hardest working slave in the mines. Not because of his devotion to Ra but because of his hatred.
Hassif had told him that he had not told Nebu about his sister and what they made her do to his family. He was afraid of what he would do. After they had gone home, the day the boy had been killed. He had told his father, that he would one day grow strong enough, to snap one of the hawk heads. He had worked in the mine ever since, getting stronger all the time. Like his father the man had no excess body fat and would hunt the lizard creatures in the desert, to maintain his huge body. His father was afraid that he was merely waiting for his chance to strike and kill one of Ra's guards.
It was Nebu who made it easy for him to mix in with the other slaves, all of the different work gangs wanted Nebu with them but if Nebu said he wanted someone with him, no one would volunteer. He expected who ever worked with him, to work as hard as he did and was the only time he would really talk to anyone. To give them hell. So Donald would volunteer, no one questioned it, instead were thankful to him. Which also broke the ice and gave him people who could verify that he was one of them or at least he hoped they would vouch for him.
The brothers told him, that anyone who got on with their job was welcomed by all, down at the bottom of the mines. There was such a high turnover of people down at the bottom, because the work was so difficult down there. People would rather climb an endless chain of ladders, than work down at the bottom of the mines. He understood why after his first shift. Nebu did not go easier on him because he was new or married to his sister and would berate him often. He even snapped back at him once and the look Nebu gave him, instantly made him apologise and work harder. He was a little less quick, to have a go at him after that though and the other slaves showed him a little respect.
After a couple of days, the other slaves paid him little attention, he was just another condemned man. It was then that he devised a plan with Nebu, to start collecting as much of the mineral as they could. He had Meera sew a new hidden pocket in his and Nebu's work clothes. That would be hidden from view, when a small amount was placed in it. When they would smash the obsidian rock with a pick axe like tool. they would then use an hammer like the one they used at the tent, to break it into manageable pieces. The slaves would then carry it up, the seemingly endless ladders.
The by product, if you were to hit them one or two extra times was small pieces, that were almost completely made up of the element. Once the larger pieces were clear, they would pick up all the small pieces and place them in a basket, that would be taken up at the end of their shift.
They were taking a couple of pieces of the mineral each and as far as he could tell, nobody had spotted what they were doing. The pieces were very small, so it would take him a long time to gather enough, for his return journey. He had considered asking Ma'tuff and Kaar, to start using the ladders that would take them closer to him and Nebu but it would look too suspicious. Like everybody else, the two would usually avoid Nebu like the plague, when working. So had continued as they were.
When the team got here, he would eventually get them down here as well. Rachael he expected would be too busy for the mines, hers was the most important part of the mission. She was an expert on the Stargate and ancient Egyptian archaeology and it would be her job to study the cave, they would be calling home. Her father Robert Parker, would be using his extensive military knowledge, to assess the threat level of the aliens. They had not shown up yet but something would be done to draw them here, before they would leave. Tom would be learning everything he could about Nagada and the last person, the leader of this mission. He suspected would be the man, his mother had told him was his real father. A man he had served with, without even knowing it.
As far as Donald was concerned, the man he had grown up believing to be his father, was his father. His mother had told him of the kindness, Sargent major Elden had shown her, when still a corporal. His mother and father, had been trying for years for a child but his seed never landed. She had told him how she had begged the man her husband had spoken so fondly of, to sleep with her. So that she could claim the child was her husbands. He had been on leave not long before he had died, so no one would suspect. James Elden had refused at first but his respect for the man, that the woman mourned and wished for a child to give that man a legacy, had swayed him.
He felt no ill will towards him and had nothing but respect for him as a soldier and a man. He just could never see him as his father, it would feel like he was betraying the man he had always considered, his greatest hero. He was not looking forward to that conversation and would do all he could to put it off, until they got home. Where he would have a much larger world, to avoid him on.
He would return home to his wife each day after his shifts, with her brothers sometimes coming with him to visit their sister. The pictures on the walls, telling the story of Ra and the rebellion on earth were simple enough to understand but it was not his field of expertise, so paid little attention to them. He had started exploring the cave system though and found that there were carvings of different animals, in some of them. Carvings of animals from earth. He did not know what they signified or if they even meant anything at all. Rachael would have a better idea than he did, so marked them down with anything else he would find.
He had also found the reason that people who did not know the correct route through the cave system, would seem lost in an endless maze. He had found several skeletons impaled on spikes, that were in a pit. They would have dropped from a height of at least fifteen feet, there death would have been a quick one. He had ignored his wife's pleas, for him to not search the caves but he had not dismissed her fears entirely. He knew there was a reason they had all disappeared, so would approach each uncharted cave with caution.
The more he searched the caves, the less they felt like caves and the less he believed they were not natural. He had not covered much of them, they were pretty extensive but he was sure, that they did not go on forever, as the Abydonian people believed. The candle that shone brightly with the reflector lid, helped a lot in this regard. He did not spend much of his time exploring the caves, as he thought it would be safer with another man with him. He would wait for the team before exploring further.
Meera was getting bigger, the closer she came to giving birth. Hassif had assured him that he would be there for the birth or more importantly, to help deliver the child. Donald had no clue what to do in that situation, so when Hassif told him that he had been the one, to help his wife with the births of his own children. Donald was a very relieved man. The thought of becoming a father, was making him feel nervous enough. Having to bring the wee burn into this world himself, would be too much for him to handle.
Donald McCain had seen friends go down in combat, many times. His training had taught him to ignore his fallen comrades and continue with the objective. They had drilled it into him, that to do anything else, would make the sacrifice the fallen had made, meaningless. So the blood would not be the problem for him. No it would be the fact that if he made one mistake, it could mean the lives of his wife and child. Those things were best left to those, who knew what they were doing.
He and Meera were truly a married couple now. She would nag, he would stay late at work to hold off another bout of it. He loved his wife and would not change her for the world. Only pregnant women it seemed, were the same whatever world they were from. She would not be alone, there would always be someone with her and he doted on her every need when he was there. She was worse than his mother and she could nag with the best of them.
When he did communicate with his wife, it would usually be in her language, rather than his own. He still taught her English and he could understand her fine. It was when he would speak to her, she would have trouble. He had gotten so used to speaking in this strange language, that when he resorted back to speaking English. His Scottish accent would be as strong as it was, before the army drilled it out of him a little. You were expected to say certain things, in a certain way when on duty or in combat. There were many different accents in the British isles and the empire its people had conquered, that meant soldiers needed to speak clearly in combat situations. You could still speak in your usual voice in your own time but most got so used to the neutral accent, that they adopted it to a certain degree.
The mines were not run exactly, has he would have imagined them to be. With the slaves that went up and down the ladders, basically being in charge of themselves. The ones down the mine did have foremen but they where not slave drivers in the usual sense. They would join in and start helping to indicate they were going too slow and the workers would just speed up a little. Hassif told him that, the Horus guards used to be the ones to drive on the work force but now they only come if Ra is displeased, with the offering they had sent him and that this happens a few times a generation, even if they had met their usual quota.
Nebu and himself were rarely bothered by the other workers and Donald had become good at his job. Nebu even remarked on it and Nebu would only ever comment to throw an insult and call him "kek" Which he had learned meant, weak among other things and was an insult among his people. Watching the people in the mines was humbling. He worked just as hard as they did but he was on a mission and would leave this world once it was completed. These people would be doing this for the rest of their lives and they only carried on in the hope, that if they worked hard enough. When Ra returned to this world, the cruelty his men dished out to their families, would be less severe. They worked not for their God but for each other.
The hours per shift were not lengthy, three maybe four hours at a time but they were frequent. There would always be workers at the bottom of the mine, the sand storms would stop the people who travelled the ladders but down at the bottom, it had no more effect than a few grains of sand on your hair. So they would make piles ready to be moved, once the storms had passed. If you were to do what was considered a long shift of three or four hours your second shift would only be two hours max and the reverse if your first shift was a shorter one. This helped him gather more of the Naquadah, so was not a problem as far as the mission was concerned.
With six months until they left, his wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Hassif had been there has he had promised but insisted on showing his son in law what he needed to do, in order to bring his child into the world. Donald had begged him to take over but Hassif would have none of it and when it was all done, he was glad he had not. It had been the single most disgusting but at the same time, most beautiful experience of his life. When he passed his son to Meera for the first time, he dreamed of his son playing with his mother, in fields of green.
It made him even more determined to gather enough of the mineral, so that when Mr Hastings watched his wife and child rematerialize on the other side of the gate. It would be enough for him to forgive his complete, disregarding of his orders. He was told to make contact with them but he was also told that any woman he scorned here. Could be the reason he lost his life or worse, put earth in real danger. Which meant no fraternising with the locals, as they politely put it. He would understand once he realised, that she had worth.
With Meera now doting on their son, the nagging became less frequent. Himself and Nebu, who by now had been let into the truth, of who Donald really was. Would work in different parts of the mine, giving him a chance to see the entire thing and it was huge. He had also been told, that the people who worked with the mineral, after the obsidian had been removed. Would often become sick and that they were lucky to be down in the mines. He had moved his stash of the stuff, into a different cave after hearing this. The glass like substance must be some kind of shield, against the harmful properties of the mineral. He would put a little of that in the bag and include it in the face to face report, they would not be expecting.
From the time he had told Nebu, who he really was. Instead of the hatred that was well hidden but could be spotted if you knew what to look for. Donald saw hope in the mans eyes and an even greater determination than the hate could ever fuel. For the first time since Nebu witnessed that young boy be killed, simply for trying to stop an old man being beaten. Nebu felt hope and Donald did not know whether he wanted to stop it or not, a resistance had been born on Abydos. It may only be one man now but in time it would become more. He was not sure if he was happy about that realisation, these people were slaves but they were at least alive. When these people rose up, many of them would die. There was another part of him, the part of him that he had forgotten being a slave so long. That part hoped Nebu would get his wish and that he would break the hawk bastards.
