Kalico stepped over to Shimodi’s table where the woman was studying the latest cuttings under her microscope. On the table behind, Damien Smart was bent over the scanner. As the young man ran the machine, it slowly pulled the latest section of core sample past the scanners. The machine was analyzing the chemistry, minerals, metals, and stratigraphy millimeter by millimeter. So far, when it came to rare Earth elements, this was some of the most productive rock discovered on this world or any other. To Kalico’s ears, the list of elements was a litany of “iums” starting with cerium, all the way down to the list to yttrium.

She bent over Shimodi’s shoulder, asking, “What do you think?”

Still staring at the cuttings, Shimodi called back, “Tell the driller to shut down. I know why we’re stopped.”

Kalico accessed her com, ordering, “Shut it down! Lea’s found something.”

“Roger that,” came through her earbud, and moments later the whine, clatter, and banging dropped to a low hum as the drill ceased turning.

Lea straightened. “Want to see?”

Bending to the scope, Kalico tried to make sense of the bits of spalled metal, each looking like clippings with ragged edges. “What am I seeing?”

“An alloy of titanium, scandium, chromium, and ruthenium mixed with fragments of drill bit. That’s why we stopped making the hole about five minutes ago. The stuff is harder than our drill bit.”

Kalico lifted her head from the scope. Arched a questioning eyebrow Shimodi’s way. “Which means?”

Lea grinned. “You looking for a new place to put a mine? This might be the richest hill in the universe.” She shrugged thoughtfully. “Might be a bastard to dig, though. Some of these veins are almost a meter thick. You’ll have to excavate the softer rock around them, lift out the almost pure metal in chunks. The biggest drawback? Transportation to the smelter at Corporate Mine.”

“Or is it rich enough that we should move the smelter here?”

Shimodi ran dirty fingers through her blond hair, her narrow nose pinched. “Your call, Supervisor. It’s a win either way.” She made a balancing gesture with her hands. “If you wanted, you could export this stuff as is. Let them process it on the other end.”

“What should we do about the drill?” Kalico asked. “If the rotary bit won’t cut through the alloy we’ve hit, should we switch to the laser bit? Melt our way through?”