The Oridium Mines (Short Story)

Here's one from the perspective of a new member of the High Flyers making a chem delivery. I sculpted an alien a few days ago, and documented the process in This Post. The alien was kind of created on the spot on the day, so this is the first time I'm using one of them in a story.

Source

Jace Zarhah felt the wind rushing through his hair; there was nothing like the feel of being in a speeder, flying through the night sky of Jex. Multiple transports and speeders whizzed past them, nothing more than blurs in the night sky, backlit by the neon lights of the buildings. Another Chem run.

The money was going to be decent. The High Flyer base was long behind him - The Dead Zone with its tendrils of old bomb-blasted buildings reaching to the sky was nowhere to be seen - it was nothing compared to the inner city, the centre of the civilized world. "Do you need company?" His friend Verner asked. "No, I'll go solo," Jace responded. He wanted a chance to meet with some buyers alone, a chance to build up his reputation; to prove that he was man enough to be a full member of the High Flyers.

"You sure about that? The Ormidium Mines aren't the kind of place you'd want to go alone." Verner responded, with a bit of a shocked look on his face. "You might not want to go there alone. I, on the other hand, am not afraid." Jace responded. "You're really looking to prove yourself, huh?" Verner asked. He always seemed to know what Jace was thinking, even before he had a chance to think. "Fine, go by yourself. But, that's a lot of Haze. Make sure to get the money off them before exchanging the product."

Those words echoed around his head. Don't you worry about me, I'll get the money. Jace thought to himself as he continued to speed his way through the streets. The buildings that towered around him started to recede, and before he knew it all that was left after a while were the stubs of the rebuilding efforts, in the distance the mountains stretched out; shielding the city.

He came to land just within the gates of the mining town, it was small, but at some point in the distant past, it was as large as any other district in the city. The shells of what was lost in the war dotted the area, and the foundations of those old husks still remained. It reminded him of The Dead Zone, except, there was more life here than could be found back there. The Ormidium Mines were started up before the true restoration of the city took place; they were a vital part of the rebuilding process and now, they continued to work - although the labour of which was provided by anyone desperate enough to dig for a living. He couldn't understand why anyone would willingly work here.

The platform he landed on was already teeming with life, people shuffled to and fro, wearing old rags which they had the nerve to call clothes. Soon, the people surrounding the area started to shift and move out of the way; making way for someone shouting out curses and taunts, anyone too slow to move got a whack of a baton the man was wielding.

He was a larger-than-usual Mulu. His eyes were bulges on the end of fleshy poles, they seemed to move around freely, as he spotted Jace his eyes receded back into his face and were coated in the bulge of excess skin and flesh that now surround them. The Mulu continued to taunt as he walked forward, the baton in hand ready to swing at anyone who staggered in his way.

"High Flyer? You make delivery, yes?" The Mulu asked, his skin was slick and greasy looking, beneath the dirt and dust it seemed to have a green tinge to it. His top jaw was on an arch and the bottom was fixed, almost the opposite of a human's jaw. His top lip was a beak, and it made for an awkward sound when they spoke. "Yeah, I got your performance enhancers," Jace said, as he leaned back against his speeder crossing his arms. As the Mulu got closer, he noticed the two humans who seemed to be his own personal escort. "No company?" The Mulu asked. "No, not today. I wanted to make this journey quick. Faster with one, yes?" Jace asked, not being able to help glancing at the two guards. There was a noise from behind the Mulu; a rattling of steel of some sort. Instantly one of the Mulu's eyes darted out of its socket, extending to monitor behind him. He let out a spout of shouting, and the people behind him all stood still. His eye slowly slithered back into its resting position and he seemed to take note of Jace's reaction.

The Mulu laughed, a horrible sickly laugh, which then gave way to a cough that almost made his eyes pop out on their fleshy extenders. "Yes, fast. Give me Haze." He asked as the coughing fit ended, extending his hand. "Give me the FST's," Jace said sternly as he extended his own hand. "I spoke to the boss, he said first time free." Jace shook his head. "This isn't the first time." The Mulu started shouting at his guards, who then quickly rushed forward. Jace instinctively reached for his blaster. "No shoot, human." The Mulu said. Then he continued to shout in his native language. This time, only one of the guards moved forward, taking out a small pouch from beneath his coat. He got close enough to hand it over, and Jace started to count through it. As he was counting through the tokens, he noticed the shackles on the guard's legs. The laughs of the Mulu didn't phase him, and the coughing fit that followed wasn't enough to distract from his counting.

"All there?" Jace looked up and smiled. "All here. I'll get you your product and I'll be on my way." He replied as he turned to the compartment of his speeder.

While he was routing around, he heard a blaster bolt being shot. Then he could smell burning flesh, and finally, after that passed, he could feel a sting on his right shoulder. Then he heard a second shot, and as he turned around he stared at the Mulu who had drawn his pistol.

He started shouting once more in his native language and one of the guards took back the pouch as Jace slumped to the ground. His back scraped against his speeder and he was left in the dirt in a heap. The two guards started ransacking the speeder, and all he could do was lay there and watch them.

All of his strength was gone - the next thing he noticed was the Mulu standing over him, aiming a blaster in his face.

"Dig or death?"