>It was the day after I found the purple fuzz-ball. The Ditch Monger crew was now working in the same area where I had found it. A familiar horn echoed through the halls. It was the one to announce Jockson Reckson. Looking up, we saw him coming down the shaft with two workers in white body suits. They were carrying a device between them by long handles that protruded out of its sides. Soot settled on the pure white suits. Wherever they bumped into the mine walls, they left dark skid marks.
I had never known Jockson Reckson to come to the bottom level of the mine. When we were Top Level, he had always sent someone else down when inspections were needed. But he never came himself.
"Step away from the walls!" he screamed.
We complied. The two workers stepped forward, adjusting their grip on the device. One of them flipped a switch, and it began to hum. A screen came to life, it's glow turning the white of their suits red. They maneuvered the device along the cave wall, guided by something on the screen.
They stopped in front of the spot in the wall where I'd dug out the purple fuzz-ball. The device was giving off a different tone now. They switched it off. One of them pulled on a rubber glove, and stuck his fingers into the crack. A chill went down my spine. Now I knew what they were looking for. A moment later, the inspector withdrew his hand, shaking his head.
Jockson Reckson looked agitated. His face was red and wet with sweat. My instincts told me this inspection wasn't his idea. It had come from further up the food chain. But I knew I had to remain calm.
"They must be searched." The inspector said.
Jockson Reckson smiled, wickedly. "Of course." He replied. Then to us he said, "You will each submit to a thorough search of your body. Remove your clothes."
We all scowled and grumbled at this, but we had to obey him. So each began to take off his clothing.
I was in trouble now. The purple fuzz-ball was still inside my helmet. I started pulling off my shoes, my mind racing for a solution. I was close to the end of the line, near Abominate. I had to take a chance that he would help me.
"I have what they are looking for." I whispered to him.
"You have the heart of the mountain?"
I nodded. "Help me hide it."
"I cannot touch it. A beating heart will stop in my hands."
The inspectors were already working their way down the line of shivering forms. Weave was searched by two inspectors. He was squirming uncomfortably. I took the opportunity to drop the purple fuzz-ball out of my hat, and onto the floor. I covered it with my right foot.
Borox's eyes were full of rage, "We don't have anything but our tools, Reckson! Why not search our camp?"
Jockson Reckson gathered his composure, and spoke through clenched teeth, "The entire camp has already been searched, Borox! Do you think I would come down here to smell your stink if I did not have to?"
The men in white carefully checked their rubber gloves for holes before inspecting every crevice of The Abominate. He laughed at them, "If you go any deeper you are going to find something you may wish you hadn't!"
The Ditch Monger crew laughed.
The inspectors checked The Abominate’s pile of clothes, reaching into the toe of each boot before tossing them aside.
Now, it was my turn. They began searching my clothes. "You're looking for the purple fuzz-ball, are you not?" I whispered.
They leaned in towards me. "Where is it?"
I nodded with my head towards Jockson Reckson. "I saw him dig it out of the very spot where your machine guided you."
They nodded, "We will inspect him too…"
One of them went back to searching my clothes, the other to searching me.
"If he has it with him, he will surely hide it before you are finished with us." I said, hoping they would leave me. My heart sank when only the inspector searching my clothes stopped to go search Jockson Reckson, and the other continued.
"Please lift your feet." He said.
Suddenly his eyes closed, and he fell to the floor, dead. The Abominate stood over him. I expected to hear the terrified screams of the Ditch Mongers and Rockson Jeckson, screaming for The Abominate’s blood. But all was silent.
I had been so intent on hiding the fuzz-ball that I had not seen what The Abominate had done. Looking around now, I saw that everyone was dead, even Jeckson and the other inspector.
"Are you...going to kill me?" I trembled.
The Abominate shook his head, "They would have killed us all, even if you gave it to them. Now, a gift."
The Abominate splayed his hand open against the wall, and using a pickaxe, he cut off his little finger! He wrapped it in a sock and gave it to me.
"This is your weapon in case we get separated."