Dillon straightened in his seat. ?Look, you’re making far too much out of this. I’ve seen it before. It happens when there isn’t a whole helluva lot else to do. You start picking on the food, then the bugs, then each other. Golic’s different, that’s all. No better and no worse than the rest of us.?

?He stinks,?Rains muttered.

Dillon shot the other man a cautionary look. ?None of us is a walking bouquet down here. Knock this shit off. You have a job to do. The three of you. It’s a good job.?

?Didn’t ask for it,?Boggs muttered.

?Nobody asks for anything here. You take what’s given to you and make the best of it. That way lies survival. For you and for everybody else. This ain’t like some Earthside prison. You riot here and no citizen media comes runnin’ to listen to your complaints. You just get a lot more uncomfortable. Or you die.?Boggs shuffled his feet uneasily.

?Now, listen to me. There’s others who’d be willing to take on foraging duty. But in case you ain’t noticed, Andrews ain’t in a very accommodating mood right now. I wouldn’t 62

be asking him about switching assignments and changing rosters.?The big man smiled encouragingly. ?Hey, you get to work at your own speed, and you’re out of sight of the superintendent and his toady. Maybe you’ll get lucky, find some good stuff you can try and keep to yourselves.?

?Fat chance of that.?Rains was still bitter, but less so. Dillon had reminded him of possibilities.

?That’s better,?said the big man. ?Just keep your mind on your work and you won’t even notice Golic. You are foragers. You know what that entails. Hunting for overlooked provisions and useful equipment. As we all know from previous scavenging expeditions, WeylandYutani’s noble, upstanding miners had the useful habit of appropriating their employers’ supplies and hoarding them in little private storerooms and cubbies they cut out of the rock in the hopes they could smuggle some of the stuff out and sell it on the open market. They were trying to supplement their incomes. We’re interested in supplementing our lives.

?I don’t want to hear anymore objections and I don’t want to discuss it further. There’s tougher duty needs doing if you insist on pressing the matter. You are to do this to help your fellow prisoners. You are to do this to prove your loyalty to me. And I don’t want to hear another word about poor Golic.?

?Yeah, but-?Rains started to argue. He broke off before he could get started, staring. Boggs looked up. So did Golic. Dillon turned slowly.