World Building Challenge - Day 19 - The Poor

This is part of Faranesque's World Building Challenge from r/WorldBuilding. Check out my hub post for details.  

Preface: Most of my posts from this point on will likely focus on the crew of the Rōnni and the refugees with them, now I've done some of the cosmic establishment from Day 1. 

In today's installment, a look at how life was in the mines for Izzur, where his wages were concerned...

XIX THE POOR

"You're not meeting quota."

Izzur turned his head, letting the reso-bore in his hands cycle down, feeling the buzz of the resonance dimming in his arms, letting the 'bore pivot down slightly on its tripod. The Overseer stood there, thick arms folded atop the thicker expanse of his gut. Like the miners, he wore goggles and facial coverings to keep the dust and particulates out of his mouth, but where the miners only got a cloth gaiter, the Overseer wore a properly fitted mask with filters. To either side of the man stood his bodyguards, flechette rifles cradled in their arms, their faces and heads covered in full helmets with air filters. All three sported the stark gold arm band with Balvene's sigil on it.

Izzur, his ears still humming from the 'bore, cocked his head to the man and pointed to his ear. With a snort and a roll of his eyes, the Overseer barked out, louder, "You're not meeting quota!"

The miner looked away, then shrugged. "Seam's not paying out yet," he reported back, raising his voice so he could hear himself. He did not add, And I'm not going to meet quota the longer I'm standing here talking to you. Aware that the Overseer needed something more than this, he added, "The scanner says there's some valanium in there, but it must be deeper than I thought."

The Overseer narrowed his eyes at him. "You're not paid to think. You're paid to mine."

Izzur scratched at the side of his neck. You actually only pay me depending on how much ore I bring back. And even then, all I really get is more scrip to pay to his lordship's stores to get maybe a few more rations to stock. And that's after I use some of that scrip to pay for the tools and equipment I'm renting to even do my job.

He did not say these things. Instead, he just nodded. "Yes, sir." He gestured at the 'bore, silently requesting that he be allowed to return to work. The Overseer snorted, then stomped off to find someone else to glower at. Izzur wiped some sweat off his forehead, leaving a smear of dust and grime behind, and then turned back to the reso-bore. He toggled the scanner on, watching the indicator dot highlight a spot on the wall. A laser-grid shimmered over the surface, projected by the scanner, and green lines showed minute cracks and likely fracture lines.

Putting the 'bore on standby, so its powerful vibrations wouldn't pulp him, Izzur stepped to the wall with a spike and mallet. The spike was hammered in so it stuck out from the wall, and the mallet was returned to its place on his belt. Retrieving his sledge, he lined up the head with the spike, lightly tapping it to activate the reso-voir, then swung the sledge around to strike the spike. The reso-voir released the harnessed resonant energies in a sharp crack and flash of light, causing multiple fault lines to slash across the wall. The claw on the other end of the sledge was used to pry the glowing spike out of the wall so it could cool. Now Izzur could return to the 'bore and focus its energies on these fractures to shake the wall apart to get to the ore beneath.

As he worked, Izzur again worked out the math in his head. If I meet quota, that gives me enough scrip to cover rental costs for the day, plus enough for rations for breakfast and dinner. Lunch is provided already. If I want enough scrip to get extra rations, that's more hours I have to work, but also extra costs to rent the equipment. And I have to hope the seam pays out.

He could always try to purchase his own equipment, but Balvene's stores did not sell equipment, only rented it. There were stores at Balston Port which did, but to get there was an hour's shuttle ride plus a day pass from the mines to be allowed off the patch, since the shuttle never ran on his rest day. Convincing the Overseer to give him a day pass would cost scrip, plus scrip to get a round-trip seat on the shuttle. But the stores at Balston Port did not accept scrip as payment, so he would need to go to Balvene's exchanger to convert scrip to Demathi creds, and the rate was horrible.

Izzur sighed as he took up his shovel to begin moving the dross aside, sifting through to find the ore, which went to his cart. Even if he were able to get enough ore out of this seam, he'd still only make enough to get to town and back, not nearly enough to afford a spike and sledge, much less a reso-bore of his own. Besides, even if he could afford it, then he'd face resentment from the rest of the mining crew. There was a tacit understanding among the crew that if your take for the day went above the quota, you shared the scrip among the rest of your team.

And then you had to hope that Balvene or his accountants didn't notice that the take coming out of the mines hadn't gone up too much, didn't notice the miners were starting to accrue more scrip than they were spending, didn't notice that they were trying to afford more luxuries, and adjust the rates accordingly...