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"She went to see as out there, apparently," Walker said He gru and eyed the open door to his workshop with a scrunched-up nose He apparently didn’t believe this was a valid reason for going anywhere After an uncoaze to his desk His old hands deftly lifted an unusual-looking radio, one bristling with knobs and dials "Let’s see if we can raise her," he said

He called for Juliette, and someone else answered They said to wait a moment Walker held the radio out to Jih with how they worked

A voice crackled out of the air: "Yes? Hello--?"

It was Juliette’s voice Ji and realized that for the first time in forever, she was above him somewhere, the two of them back under the same top "Are you there?"

"Solo!" And he didn’t correct her "You’re with Walker Is Courtnee there?"

"Yes"

"Great That’s great I’m so sorry I wasn’t there I’ll be down as soon as I can They’reup a place for the kids near the farot this … one little project to finish first It should only be a few days"

"It’s okay," Ji all of a sudden In truth, a few days felt like a very long tio ho his "

A burst of static The sound of radio waves thinking "It won’t be I promise Did you see my dad? He’s a doctor I sent him down to check on you and the kids"

"We saw hi hi of sweetcorn

"Good You said Courtnee was there Can you put her on?"

Ji Courtnee took it She listened to Juliette say soreat stairway, and Courtnee updated her on the dig There was talk of bringing the radio up so Jules could have it, an argument between them on why her father wasn’t up top to make sure she and someone named Nelson were okay, a lot that Ji, but his mind wandered And then he realized Elise was nowhere to be seen

"Where did that child get off to?" he asked He ducked down and peered beneath the tool bench, saw nothing but a pile of parts and broken machines He stood and checked behind one of the tall counters It was a bad ti Hide and Find He checked the far corner, and a cool taste of panic rose in his throat Elise was quick to disappear back in his silo, was prone to distraction, just wandered off toward anything shiny or the slightest waft of fruit-sers and places he didn’t know Jimmy lumbered across the room and peeked between the benches and behind the cluttered shelves, every second cranking up the sound of his heartbeat in his ears

"She was just--" Walker started to say

"I’ht here," Elise called She waved froet back to Rickson? I’ry"

"And I pro Her conversation with Juliette was done She had missed Jimmy’s minute or two of complete and utter panic On the way to the door, she handed hie radio "Jules wants you to take this with you"

Jiht be a day or two, but she’ll see you at your new place by the lower farry," Elise called out ihed and told her to be polite, but his sto too He joined her in the hallway and saw that she had her large htly to her chest Loose and colorful pages she had yet to sew in jutted out at odd angles

"Followto love Mama Jean’s sweetcorn"

Ji after Courtnee, eager to eat and then see Jules Behind hi at her own pace She cradled her large book in both ar quietly to herself because she didn’t knohistle – her shoulder bag kicking and squir noises of its own

24

Juliette entered the airlock to retrieve the samples; she could feel the heat fro it It could’ve been her te up inside the suit Or it ht of that sealed container on the ready bench, its lid now discolored from the lick of flalove The row tacky and stick to thedown, changing into new suits, cleaning both airlocks, and now there was a box of clues A box of outside air, of soil and other sa with the world

She retrieved the box and joined the others beyond the second airlock A large lead-lined trunk aiting, its joints sealed, the interior padded The welded sample box was nestled inside After the lid was shut, Nelson added a ring of caulk, and Lukas helped Juliette with her hel had becoled out of it while Peter Billings sealed all of the airlocks His office adjacent to the cafeteria had been a construction site for the past week, and she could tell he would be glad for everyone to be gone Juliette had promised to remove the inner lock as soon as possible, but that there would most likely be more excursions before that happened First, she wanted to see about the sht into the silo And it was a long way down to the Suit Lab on thirty-four

Nelson and Sophia went ahead of them to clear the stairwell Juliette and Lukas followed after, one hand each on either side of the trunk like porters on a tandeht People in silver, porting How many laws could she break now that she was in a position to uphold the her actions?

Her thoughts drifted fro far below, to the news that Courtnee had punched through, that Solo and the kids were safe She hated that she couldn’t be down there with them, but at least her father was Initially reluctant to play any role in her voyage outside, her father had then resisted leaving her to see to the kids instead Juliette had convinced hih precautions that a check-up of her health was unnecessary

The trunk swayed and banged against the rail with a jarring clang, and she tried to concentrate on the task at hand

"You okay back there?" Lukas called

"How do porters do this?" she asked, switching hands The weight of the lead-lined trunk pulled down, and its bulk was in the way of her legs Lukas was lower down and able to walk in the center of the stairith his ar She couldn’t , she h the waist of her coveralls and tied this to the handle, looping it over her shoulder the way she’d seen a porter do This allowed her to walk to the side, the weight of the box leaning against her hip, just how they carried those black bags with bodies to be buried After a level, it alrew coave one tirew still while the body s and what she and Lukas were porting, and her thoughts found a dark shadow to lie still in

"How’re you doing?" she asked Lukas after two turns of co e’re carrying here, you know? What’s inside the box"

His mind had found similar shadows

"You think this was a bad idea?" she asked