"Sean Williams - A Map of the Mines of Barnath" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Sean)

inconveniencing him. "As soon as I find out what happened to Martin, IтАЩll be out of your hair, I promise."

"That could take longer than you think."

"IтАЩm in no hurry."

He sighed and called his deputy into the office. "IтАЩm going Down, Carmen," he told the woman. "YouтАЩre
in charge until I get back."

They shook hands gravely and I thought for an instant that she was about to say something. But she
didnтАЩt. She just watched as we left the office, her eyes filled with something oddly like grief.

Carnarvon led me to an elevator shaft, handed me a hardhat and a dirty blue overcoat. He looked
around the surface level тАФ at the swarming clerks and technicians, at the administration buildings and
bulk-transport containers тАФ and shook his head a third time.

"LetтАЩs go," he said wearily, and hit тАШDownтАЩ. The cage door closed and the floor fell away.



The Mines of Barnath are the biggest in known space, and rumoured to be inexhaustible. Discovered a
century ago, they have turned our previously struggling, pastoral world into a major mineral exporter. The
five thousand people тАФ according to the unofficial tourist brochure тАФ who work its seven levels are
capable of extracting over a million tonnes of any given ore per month, plus the same again in refined
materials, most of which is exported off-world.

Yet, strangely, the mines are completely independent of the rest of the planet, like a distant country or a
very large corporation. Visitors are rare, especially to the deeper levels, and the flow of information to
the world outside is often restricted, as it was regarding my brotherтАЩs fate. But the official policy on the
surface is to let the status quo remain. The fate of the planet depends on a constant if not large supply of
Barnath metal тАФ so, while ore comes out of the upper shaft, any situation, no matter how unusual, can
be tolerated.

Carnarvon, if he was aware of his awesome responsibility, didnтАЩt let it show.

"We donтАЩt get many people here," he said, pausing to light a cigarette. "Usually from off-planet тАФ those
who have heard rumours and want to check for themselves. Most are satisfied with a few pamphlets and
a quick tour of the upper levels."

"What about Martin?"

"He was an exception, like you."

I nodded, allowing him the point. "What about the other miners, then?"

"A handful тАФ the ones called тАШskimmersтАЩ тАФ live nearby. Drifters and no-hopers, usually. They only go
as far as the third level, where we do the refining. More permanent miners work the deeper levels. The
deepest ones never come Up at all."
"So some actually live down there?"