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It was lunchtiry Jahns nibbled on a cornbar while she walked, priding herself on "eating on the climb" like a porter They continued to pass these tradesrew There was a strange pang of guilt to be heading down under such a light load while theseso much And they ainst the rail as a doard porter apologetically stoht behind hie for the recycling center Jahns watched the young girl spiral out of sight, sinewy and s miles out of her shorts, and felt suddenly very old and very tired

The two of the over the next tread, a sort of collapsing of the bones, a resignation to gravity, falling to that foot, sliding the hand, reaching the walking stick forward, repeat Doubt crept into Jahns around the thirtieth floor What seehty undertaking Each step was perfor it would be to win that elevation back

They passed the upper water treat portions of the silo that were practically new to her It had been a lifeti to ades had beenWalls were a different color than she remembered But then, it was hard to trust one’s htened as they neared the IT floors Here were the most sparsely populated levels of the silo, where less than two dozen men and wodom The silo servers took up al with recent history, having been wiped co Access to the on the thirty-third, she swore she could hear theof all the electricity they consuned for, she kneithout asking or being told that these strange an of primacy Their power draas a constant source of contention during budget , the fear of even talking about the outside and all the dangerous taboos that ith it, gave IT incredible leeway They housed the labs thatin the holding cell, and this alone set them apart from all else

No, Jahns told herself, it wasn’t si, the fear of the outside It was the hope There was this unspoken, deadly hope in every member of the silo A ridiculous, fantastical hope That maybe not for them, but perhaps for their children, or their children’s children, life on the outside would be possible once again, and that it would be the work of IT and the bulky suits that eed from their labs that would make it all possible

Jahns felt a shiver even to think it Living outside The childhood conditioning was that strong Maybe God would hear her thoughts and rat her out She i suit, a far too co herself into the flexible coffin into which she had condemned so many--

On the thirty-fourth, she slipped off onto the landing Marnes joined her, his canteen in hand Jahns realized she’d been drinking out of his all day while hers stayed strapped to her back There was so practical It was rab that of the other from their pack

"You need a break?" He passed the canteen, which had but ts left in it Jahns took one of them

"This is our next stop," she said

Marnes looked up at the faded number stenciled over the doorway He had to knohat floor they were on, but it was as if he needed to double-check

Jahns returned his canteen "In the past, I’ve alired the Mayor Humphries did before ed "Way of the world"

"I didn’t know they had to approve" He took the last s and patted Jahns on the back, twirled his finger for her to turn around

"Well, they’ve never rejected any of ed out of her pouch, Marnes’s canteen shoved in its place Her pack felt a shter She realized Marnes wanted to carry her water and share it until it too was empty "I think the unwritten rule is there just so we’ll carefully consider every judge and lawht"

"So this ti it in person"

She turned back around to face her deputy "I figured ere passing this way--" She paused while a young couple hurried up the stairs behind Marnes, holding hands and taking the treads two at a tiht feel even more conspicuous to not stop and check in"

"Check in," Marnes said Jahns half expected hi--the tone seemed to require such punctuation She suddenly felt another of her weaknesses exposed

"Think of it as a goodwill onna think of it as a fact-finding raid," Marnesher

• • • •

Unlike at the nursery, Jahns could tell that they would not be buzzed through and sent back into the mysterious depths of IT While they waited to be seen, she watched as even a member of the staff, identifiable from their red coveralls, was patted down and searched just to leave the wing and exit toward the stairs A man with a wand--like Terry, a member of IT’s own internal security detail--seeh the ates was deferent enough and seemed pleased to have the Mayor for a visit She expressed her condolences for the recent cleaning, an odd thing to say but so Jahns wished she heard more often They were shown to a small conference room attached to thewith various depart through security

"Look at all this space," Marnes whispered, once they were alone in the rooether "Did you see the size of that entrance hall?"

Jahns nodded She looked around the ceiling and walls for so to confir watched She set her bag and walking stick down and collapsed wearily into one of the plush chairs When itwas on wheels Nicely oiled wheels

"Alanted to check this place out," Marnes said He peered through the glassthat looked back into the wide foyer "Every time I’ve passed this place--and it’s only been a dozen times or so--I’ve been curious to see what’s inside"

Jahns nearly asked his

"Boy, he’s co in a hurry Must be because of you"

Jahns turned and looked out theto see Bernard Holland heading their way He disappeared from view as he approached the door, the handle flicked down, and the s smoothly strode into the room

"Mayor"

Bernard was all teeth, the front ones crooked He reached for Jahns’ hand as she rose fro out from underneath her as she pressed down on the ar her elbow to steady her "Deputy" He nodded toward Marnes while Jahns steadied herself "It’s an honor to have you down I know you don’t take these trips often"

"Thanks for seeing us on short notice," Jahns said

"Of course Please, make yourselves comfortable" He swept his hand over the lacquered conference table It was nicer than the one in the Mayor’s office, though Jahns assuaged her envy by assu less frequently e the chair warily, then reached into her bag and produced the set of files

"Straight to business, as always," Bernard said, sitting beside her He pushed his glasses up his nose and glided forward on the chair until his plump little belly met the desk "Always appreciated that about you We are, as you can iine with yesterday’s unfortunate events, as busy as ever Lots of data to go through"

"How’s that going?" Jahns asked, while she arranged the atives, as always Readouts from some of the seal sensors showed iht of the known toxins have declined, though not by ed" He waved his hand "It’s a lot of boring technical stuff, but it’ll all be in et back to your office"<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>