Chime

LOCATION: Windhoek Settlement Market

The market in Windhoek didn't sell much that was fresh, and what was fresh was even smaller than the rest.

Juyiet stood at a kiosk near the primary air-scrubbers, weighing a small bag of dried lentils she thought she might afford. Leo was sitting at her feet, drawing patterns in the red dust on the deck plating with a blunt plastic stylus the Teacher had given him.

-He’s getting tall, Juyiet, the vendor said. He’ll be ready for the loaders before you know it.

-He’ll be ready for the school, Juyiet corrected him fimly. The Teacher is starting the first intake tomorrow. He’s going to learn things. Real things.

She reached down to ruffle Leo’s hair, but her hand stopped in mid-air. She felt a sudden pressure in her sinuses before she heard the chime.

It was a low, mournful three-tone sequence that echoed through the ventilation shafts. It was repeated twice across the settlement. The market went into a practiced silent. Every Dweller in Windhoek knew what it meant.

Next were the pulses, to identify which yard it had happened in.

But Juyiet already knew because of the sinuses.

-Eni, she breathed.

She grabbed Leo, hoisting him onto her hip, and began to run. She still had the lentils in her other hand. She pushed past the crowd.

The path to Yard 4 was a maze of narrow corridors and steep ladders. Juyiet wasn’t sure exactly where she was going. She was being taken there.

She rounded a corner leading to the primary observation gantry and hit a wall of white-and-gray armor.

MTC security contractors. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder, their visors polarized to a mirrored finish, blocking the entrance to the yard.

-Let me through! Juyiet screamed, trying to wedge herself

between two of the guards. My husband is on the shift! Eni Clarion! Yard 4!

A guard placed a heavy, gauntleted hand on her shoulder, pushing her back effortlessly

-The sector is under an active Asset Recovery Protocol, ma'am, the guard said. No unauthorized biomass is permitted within the perimeter.

-Biomass? Juyiet’s voice broke into a sob. That’s my husband! There was a collapse, I heard the chime!

-The site is being secured, a second guard added. Information will be disseminated through the proper channels at the end of the current beat.

Juyiet looked past the guards, through the reinforced armorglass of the gantry. Far below, in the haze, she could see the silhouette of a Type-4 loader lying on its side, its primary arm twisted like a broken limb. High-intensity floodlights were already cutting through the dust, focused on the machine.

She fell to her knees, clutching Leo to her chest. The washers of her rosary bit into her skin as she squeezed her wrist, whispering a prayer into Leo’s ear.