Zell tugged at her shield suit, wishing once again that she could tear out of the stifling plastic and breathe fresh air. It would be worse outside, though; this close to the heart of the volcano, the heat would be searing and the ash and smoke in the air would be just as deadly. Still, since her internal cooling had given up about thirty minutes ago, Zell feared she was only trading deep-fried for slow-roasted.
“Ah, look!” Shift Manager Allard exclaimed enthusiastically over the team comm. Through misting goggles, Zell saw the man kneel to gather up a handful of bright turquoise crystals. “The little co-workers have been busy today!”
She smiled at Allard’s turn of phrase but cursed her own bad luck with every stale breath. He had been scooping up Crystal Cerite by the bucket, while Zell had scrounged for even the smallest deposits all morning. That was, until she came across a stone outcropping which had split the lava flow ever so slightly, creating a shelter for the tiny creatures which produced the crystal.
Nestled within that hollow, she found a jagged rosette of crystal the size of her head, each nodule its own shade of red, yellow or purple. As gently as gloves would allow, she lifted the vast Cerite from the rocky soil as insects swarmed beneath. Zell already knew this crystal was the second most beautiful thing she would ever see, next to the paycheck she would get for finding it.
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