Kingdom of Cages(60)

Involuntarily, Chena took a step back. “Who’s ‘they’?” she said, trying to sound like she thought the old woman was crazy.

Nan Elle’s whole face puckered. “The hothousers.”

Chena felt the shakes starting up again. “No. They couldn’t do something like this. Not even them.”

Nan Elle sighed. “I would like to believe that, Chena. You have to remember, though, the planet they have jealously guarded for so long has been threatened with the invasion for the past ten years. They have had plenty of time to get ready for this. I’m not surprised to find out they co-opted the biosphere itself for the job. It is what they know best.” She smiled, just a little, and very grimly. “If it makes you feel any better, I believe that they put the automatic recall onto the rail-bikes so that no innocent bystander, like you, would get hurt.”

But Chena barely heard her. All the strength evaporated from her knees. She had to grab the table edge to keep from falling over. She managed, just barely, to collapse onto the stool. Somebody had done that to the people. Somebody, somehow, ordered them to be bit to death like that?

“How?” whispered Chena. “How?”

Nan Elle shrugged. “I wish I knew. Mote tech, possibly. They’ve been using that to monitor the world for years. Perhaps they have exploited the chemistry of the ant hive, or—”

“No.” Chena slashed her hand through the air between them. “I mean, how could they do that to people?”

Nan Elle shook her head. “There, I have no answer for you.”

“Who do you think they were?”

“There have been rumors that Athena Station has become drastically overcrowded.” Nan Elle sucked thoughtfully on her cheeks. “Some of them might have thought to try—”

“You mean they could have been Athenians?” cried Chena. Her stomach knotted up. “I might have known them!”

Nan Elle shook her head. “Nah, nah, your friends would all be too bright to try such a fool stunt. Still…” Her gaze grew distant. “It might be worth it to make inquiries. There may be more trouble coming from that direction.” Her attention came instantly back to Chena. “Will you take a letter to Farin for me? Tomorrow?”

Chena swallowed, everything she had seen crowding back into her mind. “I… um… don’t think…”

Nan Elle laid a skinny finger on Chena’s collarbone. “Now, you listen carefully,” she said, softly but forcefully. Chena could smell everything about her: mint, yellow soap, rotting breath, and old sweat. “You want to get out from under them, don’t you? Oh, they can be defied, but not if you’re afraid, and not if you’re ignorant. I can teach, if you want to learn. But only if you are ready to do what is necessary.” She took one step backward and Chena could breathe again. “If you are not, there’s the door.” She gestured toward it with her stick.

What was going on here? Was she calling Chena a coward?

What if she is? You’re not going to do anything stupid just because she calls you names, are you? Chena bit her lip. But what if she does know something? What if that something can help us get out of here?

And if Mom found out, that would be the end of it, the whole errand business, and probably even going outdoors until she was nineteen.

But if she didn’t take the risk, who would? And what if Mom couldn’t earn money fast enough on her own to get them out of here before the hothouse really started cracking down?

“Okay.”

Nan Elle nodded once. “Very good. Here’s another thing you might want to consider. Taking on a partner. Two of you are stronger than one alone. Besides, that way, no matter what you see, there’s a second witness.”

What’s that all about? But Chena kept the question to herself. “I’ll think about it.”

“Hmph,” Nan Elle snorted, moving to get out her pen and paper. “You do that, station girl.”

It took Nan Elle about fifteen minutes to finish the letter. With the message tucked into her sealed pocket, Chena walked outside again. It was almost dark. Since it was fall—it had taken Chena a while to understand the business of changing seasons, but she had it now—there were no more flowers to bloom, but bats still skittered through brown-gold leaves that came loose and drifted down onto the catwalk.

Below her, people walked between the dining hall and dorm. A couple headed for the faint lights of the library. A greeting drifted up through the twilight. A door creaked open and thumped shut.

Nothing had changed. Nothing at all. Nobody knew what had happened to all those people, and they never would. Chena’s hands knotted into fists. She wanted to tell them. She wanted to scream it out to all of them. Hey! This is what the hothousers are doing! How can you just stand there?