Wool

by Hugh Howey

Page 9

 

  “That’ll be fine,” Jahns said. She wanted to say something else, to acknowledge his department’s hard work, to let him know that another cleaning had been successful, God knew why. But it was Holston out there, the closest thing she’d ever had to a shadow, the only man she ever saw running for her office when she was dead and feeding the roots of the fruit trees. It was too soon to mention it, much less applaud it.

  “I normally wire this sort of thing to you,” she said, “but since we were passing by, and you won’t be up for the next committee meeting for, what, another three months?”

  “The years go fast,” Bernard said.

  “I just figured we could informally agree to this now, so I could offer our best candidate the job. ” She glanced up at Marnes. “Once she accepts, we can finish the paperwork on our way back up, if you don’t mind. ” She slid the folder toward Bernard, and was surprised when he produced one of his own, rather than accept hers.

  “Well, let’s go over this,” Bernard said. He opened his folder, licked his thumb, and flipped through a few pieces of high quality paper. “We were wired about your visit, but your list of candidates didn’t hit my desk until this morning. Otherwise, I would have tried to save you the trip down and back up. ” He pulled out a piece of paper devoid of creases. It didn’t even look bleached. Jahns wondered where IT got such things while her office was held together with cornstarch paste. “I’m thinking, of the three names listed here, that Billings is our man. ”

  “We may consider him next—” Deputy Marnes started to say.

  “I think we should consider him now. ” He slid the paper toward Jahns. It was an acceptance contract. There were signatures at the bottom. One line was left blank, the Mayor’s name neatly printed underneath.

  She had to catch her breath.

  “You’ve already contacted Peter about this?”

  “He accepted. The judge’s robe was going to be a little stifling for him, being so young and full of energy. I thought he was a fine choice for that role, but I think he’s an even better one now for the job of sheriff. ”

  Jahns remembered Peter’s nomination process. It had been one of the times she’d gone along with Bernard’s suggestion, seeing it as a trade for a future pick of her own. She studied the signature, Peter’s hand familiar from his various notes sent up on behalf of Judge Wilson. She imagined one of the porters who had flown past them on the steps that day, apologizing as they went, rushing this very piece of paper down.

  “I’m afraid Peter is currently third on our list,” Mayor Jahns finally said. Her voice suddenly felt tired. It sounded frail and weak in the cavernous and wasteful space of that underused and outsized conference room. She looked up at Marnes, who was glaring at the contract, his jaw clenching and unclenching.

  “Well, I think we both know Donald’s name is on this list for flattery. He’s too old for the job—”

  “Younger than me,” Marnes spat. “I hold up just fine. ”

  Bernard tilted his head. “Yes, well, your first choice simply won’t do, I’m afraid. ”

  “And why is that?” Jahns asked.

  “I’m not sure how…thorough your background check has been, but we’ve had enough problems with this candidate that I recognized her name. Even though she is from Mechanical. ”

  Bernard said this last word like it was full of nails and might gut him to spit it out.

  “What kinda problem?” Marnes demanded to know.

  Jahns shot the deputy a look of warning.

  “Nothing we would have wanted to report, mind you. ” Bernard turned to Marnes. There was venom in the small man’s eyes, a raw hatred for the Deputy, or perhaps for the star on his chest. “Nothing worth involving the law. But there have been some…creative requisitions from her office, items rerouted from our use, improper claims of priority and the like. ” Bernard took a deep breath and folded his hands together on top of the folder in front of him. “I wouldn’t go as far as calling it stealing, per se, but we have filed complaints with Deagan Knox as head of Mechanical to inform him of these…irregularities. ”

  “That’s it?” Marnes growled. “Requisitions?”

  Bernard frowned. He spread his hands on the folder. “That’s it? Have you been listening? The woman has practically stolen goods, has had items rerouted from my department. It’s not clear if these are even for silo use. They could be for personal gain. God knows, the woman uses more than her allowance of electricity. Maybe she trades for chits—”

  “Is this a formal accusation?” Marnes asked. He made a show of pulling his pad from his pocket and clicking his mechanical pen.

  “Ah, no. As I said, we would not want to trouble your office. But, as you can see, this is not the sort of person to enter a career in high law. It’s what I expect of a mechanic, to be honest, which is where, I’m afraid, this candidate should stay. ” He patted the folder as if putting the issue to rest.

  “That’s your suggestion,” Mayor Jahns said.

  “Why, yes. And I think since we have such a fine candidate ready and willing to serve and already living in the up-top—”

  “I’ll take your suggestion into account. ” Jahns took the crisp contract from the table and conspicuously folded it in half, pinching the crease with her fingernails as she slid them down its length. She stuck the piece of paper in one of her folders while Bernard watched, horrified.

  “And since you have no formal complaints about our first candidate, I will take this as tacit approval to speak with her about the job. ” Jahns stood and grabbed her bag. She slid the folders into the outside pouch and secured the flap, then grabbed her walking stick from where it leaned against the conference table. “Thank you for seeing us. ”

  “Yes, but—” Bernard scooted away from the table and hurried after her as Jahns made for the door. Marnes got up and followed, smiling.

  “What should I tell Peter? He’s of the assumption that he starts any time!”

  “You should never have told him anything,” Jahns said. She stopped in the foyer and glared at Bernard. “I gave you my list in confidence. You betrayed that. Now, I appreciate all you do for the silo. You and I have a long and peaceable history working together, overseeing what might be the most prosperous age our people have known—”

  “Which is why—” Bernard began.

  “Which is why I’m forgiving this trespass,” Mayor Jahns said. “This is my job. My people. They elected me to make these kinds of decisions. So my deputy and I will be on our way. We will give our top choice a fair interview. And I will be sure to stop by on my way up in case there is anything to sign. ”

  Bernard spread his hands in defeat. “Very well,” he said. “I apologize. I only hoped to expedite the process. Now please, rest a little, you are our guests. Let me get you some food, maybe some fruit?”

  “We’ll be on our way,” Jahns said.

  “Fine. ” He nodded. “But at least some water? Top up your canteens?”

  Jahns remembered one of them was already empty, and they had a few more flights to go.

  “That would be a kind gesture,” she said. She waved to Marnes, who turned so she could grab his canteen from his pack. Then she turned her back so he could grab hers as well. Bernard waved to one of his workers to come fetch them and fill them up, but the entire time, he had his eyes on this curious and intimate exchange.

  4

  They were almost down to the fifties before Jahns could think straight. She imagined she could feel the weight of Peter Billings’s contract in her pack. Marnes muttered his own complaints from a few steps behind, bitching about Bernard and trying to keep up, and Jahns realized she was fixated, now. The weariness in her thighs and calves had become compounded by the growing sense that this trip was more than a mistake: it was probably futile. A father who warns her that his daughter won’t accept. Pressure from IT to choose another. Now, each step of their descent could b
e taken with dread. Dread and yet a new certainty that Juliette was their man. This woman from Mechanical would be convinced to take the job, if only to show Bernard, if only to keep the arduous journey from becoming a total waste.

  Jahns was old, had been Mayor a long time, partly because she got things done, partly because she prevented worse things from happening, but mostly because she made little turmoil. She felt like it was about time. Now, while she was old enough for it to not matter the consequences. She glanced back at Marnes and knew the same went for him. Their time was almost up. The best, the most important thing they could do for the silo, was to make sure their legacy endured. No uprisings. No abuses of power. It was why she ran unopposed the last few elections. But now she could sense that she was gliding to the finish while stronger and younger runners were preparing to overtake her. How many judges had she signed off on at Bernard’s request? And now the sheriff, too? How long before Bernard was mayor? Or worse: a puppet master with strings interwoven throughout the silo.

  “Take it easy,” Marnes huffed.

  Jahns realized she was going too fast. She slowed her pace.

  “That bastard’s got you riled up,” he said.

  “And you better be as well,” she hissed back at him.

  “You’re passing the gardens. ”

  Jahns checked the landing number and saw that he was right. If she’d been paying attention, she would’ve noticed the smell. When the doors on the next landing flew open, a porter bearing sacks of fruit on each shoulder strode out, the scent of lush and wet vegetation accompanying him and overpowering her.

  It was past dinner time, and the smell was intoxicating. The porter, even overburdened, saw that they were leaving the stairwell for the landing and held the door open with a planted foot as his arms bulged around the weight of the large sacks.

  “Mayor,” he said, bowing his head and then nodding to Marnes as well.

  Jahns thanked him. Most of the porters looked familiar to her, having seen them over and over as they delivered throughout the silo. But they never stayed in one place long enough for her to catch and remember a name, a normally keen skill of hers. She wondered, as she and Marnes entered the hydroponic farms, if the porters made it home every night to be with their families. Or did they even have families? Were they like the priests? She was too old and too curious not to know these things. But then, maybe it took a day on the stairwell to appreciate their job, to fully notice them. The porters were like the air she breathed, always there, always serving, so necessary as to be ubiquitous and taken for granted. But now the weariness of the climb had opened her senses fully to them. It was like a sudden drop in the oxygen, triggering her appreciation.

  “Smell those oranges,” Marnes said, snapping Jahns out of her thoughts. He sniffed the air as they passed through the low garden gates. A staff member in green coveralls waved them through. “Bags here, Mayor,” he said, gesturing to a wall of cubbies sporadically occupied with shoulder bags and bundles.

  Jahns complied, leaving her kit in one of the cubbies. Marnes pushed hers to the back and added his to the same one. Whether it was to save space or merely his habitual protectiveness, Jahns found the act as sweet as the air inside the gardens.

  “We have reservations for the evening,” Jahns told the worker.

  He nodded. “One flight down for the rooms. I believe they’re still getting yours ready. Are you here just for a visit or to eat?”

  “A little of both. ”

  The young man smiled. “Well, by the time you’ve had a bite, your rooms should be available. ”

  Rooms, Jahns thought. She thanked the young man and followed Marnes into the garden network.

  “How long since you were here?” she asked the Deputy.

  “Wow. A while back. Four years or so?”

  “That’s right. ” Jahns laughed. “How could I forget? The heist of the century. ”

  “I’m glad you think it’s funny,” Marnes said.

  At the end of the hallway, the twisting spiral of the hydroponic gardens diverged. This main tunnel snaked through two levels of the silo, curving maze-like all the way to the edges of the distant concrete walls. The constant sound of water dripping from the pipes was oddly soothing, the splatters echoing off the low ceiling. The tunnel was open on either side, revealing the bushy green of plants, vegetables, and small trees growing amid the lattice of white plastic pipes, twine strung everywhere to give the creeping vines and stems something to hold. Men and women with their young shadows tended to the plants, all in green coveralls. Sacks hung around their necks bulged with the day’s harvest, and the cutters in their hands clacked like little claws that were a biological part of them. The pruning was mesmerizingly adroit and effortless, the sort of task that only came from day after week after year of practice and repetition.

  “Weren’t you the first one to suggest the thievery was an inside job?” Jahns asked, still laughing to herself. She and Marnes followed the signs pointing toward the tasting and dining halls.

  “Are we really going to talk about this?”

  “I don’t know why it’s embarrassing. You’ve got to laugh about it. ”

  “With time. ” He stopped and gazed through the mesh fencing at a stand of tomatoes. The powerful odor of their ripeness made Jahns’ stomach grumble.

  “We were really hyped up to make a bust at the time,” Marnes said quietly. “Holston was a mess during all of this. He was wiring me every night for an update. I’ve never seen him want to take someone down so bad. Like he really needed it, you know?” He wrapped his fingers in the protective grate and stared past the vegetables as if into the years gone by. “Looking back, it’s almost like he knew something was up with Allison. Like he saw the madness coming. ” Marnes turned to Jahns. “Do you remember what it was like before she cleaned? It had been so long. Everyone was on edge. ”