Page 74 of Never Enough

Gem’s British lilt rose over the mutterings of the two groups of men at the table. “Midas, zoom in on zones S and W, and if there’s a way to clean out the blur, that would be lovely, please.”

Midas grinned as he complied. “I love itwhen she begs.”

She remained with her back to him when she called out, “I didn’t beg. I asked politely.”

Chuckling, Midas countered with, “I heard my name and ‘please.’ I count that as begging.”

Gem turned to look at Midas over her shoulder with an are-you-serious stare, then looked at Nemo. Nemo just smiled and blew a bubble at her, winking as it popped. She rolled her eyes, then turned back to her map zones on the screen, muttering to herself. He was pretty sure she said, “Delusion runs in the family.”

Waters, Steel, and TB finished taping together the new map, then grabbed pencils and highlighters and pulled their briefing folders from under the maps.

“Hey, Demon!” Midas called out. “Can you change the paper in the printer to photo paper?”

Demon grunted what Nemo assumed meant “yes,” and then the medic stood by the printer, waiting for the photos to come spitting out of it. As soon as the switch was made, seven copies of each zone on the map began to collect in the tray. Once it was done, he distributed a set to each place at the table, including where Gem now stood at the foot.

She asked, “Midas, when was the last internal survey performed?”

“Nova.” Midas pulled up his AI counterpart. “When was the most recent map completed of the tunnels on the Mzingwane Mine.”

“Good morning, Midas. The last reported official survey of the mine shafts was completed in 1998.”

“Are you able to access any unofficial surveys?”

There was a pause. “I have found an unnamed map sent from an IP address located at the Mzingwane Mine location to an IP address based in Sallum, Egypt, dated four months ago.”

Waters looked at Steel. “Sallum again. Anyone starting to see the pattern I’m seeing?”

“Put it on the screen, please, Nova,” Midas commanded.

“Begging, are we?” Gem teased.

“Can’t beg a computer. She only responds to commands,” Midas quipped.

“Don’t you dare make us call you Master Midas,” TB warned. “I don’t want to watch you spanking the computer.”

“Is that a euphemism for something?” Waters teased.

“Watch it, all of you,” Midas warned. “Remember who controls all your personal security.”

Gem clapped her hands several times, effectively getting the men’s focus on her. “Okay, I think our best bet for a quick entry is either through zone S or zone W. There are multiple hand-drilled shafts that would allow quick access to the core of the mine as long as there haven’t been any recent collapses.”

The computer system asked, “Midas, who is speaking, please?”

“Nova, the new voice is Gem. She will be working with us on this project.”

“Excellent. Thank you, Midas.” There was a brief pause. “Good morning, Gem. Since the map was emailed, there have been two seismic tremors that have registered on the local systems. It is unknown if the surface-to-mine tunnels sustained any weakenings or collapses.”

“So we’re going in blind,” Steel surmised.

“Well, she didn’t say therewerecollapses or damage, so we shouldn’t just assume the worst,” Gem replied. “After all, earthquakes happen around the world all the time, and they don’t necessarily cause destruction every time.” She directed her attention to Midas’ laptop. “Nova, what is the ground’s stability factor in the area of the mine?”

“Seismic data shows minimal negative effects in the area within the last ten years.”

“What about flooding? Is there danger of flooding into the mine tunnels and shafts from the river?”

“That is a negative, Gem. Currently, the area is outside of its rainy season, and the Mzingwane River is at lower levels due to drought.”

“Good.”

---