The Empties by Ramona Finn

Author:Ramona Finn [Finn, Ramona]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Crow’s biogear works fine, but Otter has trouble with his. We have to stop and Alis makes a few adjustments, then we are all running again. Star and Hawk match strides, but Pike is breathing hard by the time we reach the ridge that overlooks the Norm.

We stop behind three large boulders that hide us from view. Alis works on Otter’s biogear again—the screen isn’t working. I ask Crow and Hawk to keep watch. Pike and Star come over to where I stand.

Peering over the top of the boulders, I use the biogear screen to be able to see with just starlight. A warm wind blows sand across the land, but the night is clear and the stars sharp. Below us, the Norm seems a huge, dark blot on the land. We are high enough up to see the smaller platforms around the dome, and the curving height of the huge walls.

Along the dome wall of the Norm, black drones hover, just floating and watching as if on guard. Their blinking red lights sweep the ground. They seem to be scanning every platform.

“What are they doing?” Pike asks, her voice a soft whisper.

I shake my head. “I’m not entirely sure.”

Pike adjusts the screen for her biogear. “There’s something else out there.”

I adjust my screen to magnify the view. Behind the drones, I glimpse things—machines—scabs. They look almost human—they have arms at least. Six of them. And skeletal bodies and oval heads that don’t seem to have faces. At first, it seems as if they are tearing open a wall, but after several moments of watching them, I can see they close it again.”

“Are they rewiring something?” Star asks. “Making repairs?”

Glancing at her, I see she has one eye closed and her screen set to maximum view. I do the same and now I can see they do seem to be opening sections of the wall, working on the wiring and then closing the wall again.

Scabs.

The word pops into my mind, a hazy memory. Techs use scabs for outside work on the Norm.

The scabs seem to be changing some kind of functionality. My skin chills and my mouth dries. It seems obvious now—the Norm is built for this world, not to travel in space. Wiring will have to be adjusted to reticulate air instead of just filtering in air from this world. There may be greater power requirements as well—and a need to reuse and recycle waste products since resources will be limited away from this world.

She’s really doing it.

One of the scabs works with what looks like thick copper wiring, weaving it into the panel that’s been pried open from the wall. “Pike, count the number of drones. See if they do anything other than guard. Star, you’re on the scabs.”

She glances at me. “The what? You mean those spider-things?”

“Yes, those. It seems like they’re working only on certain areas. We need to know what they’re doing, but it’s going to be hard to find out.”

“What am I doing?” Otter asks.

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