Page 16 (1/2)

"I re me she was on them" Thurman said "We were in the bookstore--"

"Do you re were you on it?"

"I started taking it after I was given the Order to read" He watched Thuruess that o or three years before the convention I took theht up until then" He turned to Henson "I would’ve had so orientation if I hadn’t lost the--"

Henson turned to Thurht be Victor was careful to screen psychotropics from administrative personnel Everyone was tested--"

"I wasn’t," Donald said

Henson faced him "Everyone was tested"

"Not him" Thurman studied the surface of the pod, spoke to Henson "There was a last e A switch I vouched for hi herin his medical records"

"We need to tell Erskine," Henson said "I could ith hiht come up with a new foret back to his office

Thurman looked to Donald "Do you need more time down here?"

Donald studied his sister a moment He wanted to wake her, to talk to her Maybe he could coht like to come back," he said

"We’ll see"

Thurman walked around the pod and placed a hand on Donald’s shoulder, gave hiht, sympathetic squeeze He led Donald away frolance back, didn’t check the screen for his sister’s new name He didn’t care He knehere she was, and she would always be Charlotte to hiood," Thurood" They stepped into the hall and closed the thick doors with their massive locks "You may have stumbled on why Victor was so obsessed with that report of yours"

"I did?" Donald didn’t see the connection

"I don’t think he was interested in what you wrote at all," Thurman said "I think he was interested in you"

•23•

They rode the lift toward the cafeteria rather than drop Donald off on fifty-five It was almost dinnertihts behind the level nuress up the shaft, the idea that Thurht haunted him What if Victor had been curious about his resistance to thein that report at all?

They rode past level 40, its button winking bright and then going dark, and Donald thought of the silo that had done the sa the next number flash by

Thurreasy palht their balance

"Vic wanted to try another reset on 18," he said "I never saw the point But after his death--" Thurive them one more chance"

"What’s involved in a reset?"

"You knohat’s involved" Thurman faced him "It’s e did to the world, just on a smaller scale Reduce the population, wipe the coain We’ve done that several times before with this silo There are risks involved You can’t create trau a "

"End theainst, what he had worked to avert He wished he could speak to the old man, now that he knehat he knew Anna said Victor had spoken of him often And Erskine had said he wished people like Donald were in charge What did thatall that e?

The elevator opened on the top level Donald stepped out, and it was strange to walk a those on their shift, to be present and at the sa the chatter while not a part of it all

He noticed that no one here looked to Thurman with deference He was not that shift’s head, and no one knew him as such They were just twoat the ruined wasteland on the wallscreen

Donald took one of the trays and noticed again thatthe view Only one or two ate with their backs to it, preferring not to see He followed Thur to speak to these handful, to ask them what they remembered, what they were afraid of, to tell them that it was okay to be afraid

"Why do the other silos have screens?" he asked Thur his voice down The parts of the facility he’d had no hand in designing made little sense to him "Why show them e did?"

"To keep them in," Thurman said He balanced the tray with one hand and pressed the call button on the express "It’s not that we’re showing the them what’s out there Those screens and a few taboos are all that contain these people Humans have this disease, Donny, this co And then we tunnel through that soer across mountains--"

The elevator arrived A man in reactor red excused himself and stepped between the two They boarded, and Thure "Fear," he said "Even the fear of death is barely enough to counter this compulsion of ours If we didn’t show theo look for themselves That’s e’ve always done"

Donald considered this He thought about his own desire, hisconcrete Even if it ulation orse, he decided It was all about choosing the lesser of two evils

"I’d rather see a reset than extinguish the entire silo," he said, watching the nu up on the people who lived there Bad things would happen to many of them, but there would be a chance at life afterward

"I’as the place, myself," Thurainst wasting our tione, I findfor these people It’s like I have to honor his last wishes And that’s a dangerous trap to fall into"

The elevator stopped on twenty and picked up torkers, who ceased a conversation of their own and fell silent for the ride Donald thought about this process of cleansing a silo only to watch the violence repeat itself The great wars he reeneration unre, so that sons ht before the their conversation as the doors closed Donald reht roo to push against, no resistance

"It makes me wonder sometimes if that hy he did what he did," Thurman said The elevator slid toward fifty-five "Vic calculated everything Alith a purpose Maybe his way of winning this argulanced at Donald "Hell, it’s what finally got ree to wake you up"