Shadows (6 page)

Susan stole a kiss. It was
her way of showing her affection for his honest admission. She
liked his lack of pretension. Ego soured boys, in her opinion. Her
kiss brought a smile to his face.

Other than
the glow from the wall-screen, the only light on the floor came out
of the sheriff
’
s office, struggling
through the gaps in the shutters. In the dim light, Susan could
make out the time on the clock above the serving line: 11:15
PM.

“
Come
on,
”
Charlie said.
“
I
’
ve got
something for Sheriff Cann.
”

Susan
wasn
’
t surprised. Charlie was like that, spontaneously
looking for things he could do for people. They walked over to the
office and knocked on the door. Light spilled into the cafeteria as
the sheriff opened the sturdy steel door.

“
What can I
do for you kids this late at night?
”
the sheriff
asked.

Kids, thought
Susan with a hint of indignation. She didn
’
t think of
herself that way any more, not since leaving school and shadowing.
Being a kid was a hard stigma to shake, even for those that had hit
their twenties. Susan was eighteen going on twenty-five in her
mind, but the sheriff
’
s smile melted her
heart. Sheriff Cann was in his early sixties, he probably looked at
anyone under the age of fifty as a kid, she figured. He walked with
a limp, but not from any injury, he was just getting old and the
stairs weren
’
t kind on
knees.

“
I
’
ve got something for you,
sheriff,
”
Charlie said.
“
A
present.
”

“
Is this
another one of your inventions?
”
the sheriff
asked.
“
I really liked your mouse trap. Damn rodents are
forever chewing holes in things. Paper
’
s too damn precious
to waste on a rat. We need more of those damn contraptions over
there in the kitchen. That
’
s where they come
from, ya know.
”

There were a lot of damns,
Susan noted, but that was Sheriff Cann.

Charlie opened his backpack
and pulled out two sections of shiny, curved, aluminum struts, each
with a hinge in the middle and a bunch of black straps.

“
What in the
blazes is that?
”
the sheriff asked. He seemed as
perplexed as Susan.

“
It
’
s a knee brace,
”
Charlie
replied.
“
I
’
ve been working on
the design with Doc Winters.
”

Charlie
dropped his bag by the door and gestured to the chair,
adding,
“
Take a seat. Try it on.
”

Sheriff Cann
looked like he would have tried anything Charlie suggested without
too much questioning. He sat down, saying,
“
You
’
re not going to get
me to take off my coveralls in front of a lady, now are
you?
”

Lady was a step up from
being a kid, Susan noted. She could live with lady.

“
For now,
just pull up the leg as far as you can.
”

The sheriff
obliged, scrunching the coveralls on his right leg up to his thigh.
Charlie knelt down in front of him. He forced the coveralls a bit
higher and put the brace in place, lining the hinge up with the
sheriff
’
s knee and strapping the bars on either side of
his upper and lower leg.

“
Doc Winters
approved this, you say?
”

“
Yep. I
figure the knee is just a hinge joint like any other, it just
happens to be enclosed in flesh, but the principle is the same as
any other load-bearing joint. If I replicate that joint with these
aluminum pivot hinges they should spread the load, taking the
stress off your knee, and if the theory works, taking away any
pain.
”

Charlie stood
up, adding,
“
Well, are you going
to give it a go?
”

Sheriff Cann
smiled. Susan figured he probably wasn
’
t used to being
bossed around by anyone, let alone some upstart shadow from the
dirt farms. The sheriff got gingerly to his feet. He looked
pensive, as though he expected the brace to fail but
didn
’
t want to let Charlie down.

“
Well?
”
Charlie asked, seeing the sheriff
standing before him.

Sheriff Cann flexed his
leg, lifting his foot of the ground before stepping forward and
walking around the office.

“
Well,
I
’
ll be damned.
”

He took several large
strides.

“
That feels
fantastic. Will it work on the stairs?
”

“
Only one way
to find out,
”
Charlie replied.
“
If this
works, Doc Winters says she
’
s got at least five
other people she could fit with these.
”

“
OK, let's go
give it a whirl.
”

The sheriff grabbed his
keys and opened the door. Charlie grabbed his bag and followed
Susan out into the open area in front of the cafeteria. The sheriff
turned off the lights and locked the door behind him.

“
How much did
this cost?
”
the sheriff asked as they walked
over to the great staircase.
“
It
’
s aluminum. This must have cost you a hundred
chits at least. I'd say, a hundred chits for each
strut.
”

“
Oh, it's
nothing,
”
Charlie insisted, and Susan got the distinct
impression he was lying.
“
They
’
re off-cuts from
Supply.
”

“
Did you
steal these parts?
”
the sheriff asked. He
wasn
’
t dumb, Susan figured. She was wondering the same
thing.

“
Now,
sheriff,
”
Charlie replied.
“
If I did, I
wouldn
’
t be stupid enough to hand them over to you, now
would I?
”

The sheriff laughed,
slapping Charlie on the shoulder.

“
You
’
re good kid,
Charlie. The silo needs more thinkers like you.
”

They stopped
at the top of the stairs. Sheriff Cann looked at the two of them
and said,
“
Well, I don
’
t know about you
kids, but I
’
m turning in for the
day.
”

Like the
mayor, the sheriff lived on the second level, in what was
considered prime real estate. Given his leg, he
couldn
’
t get to the lower levels and there had been
some talk of retirement, but the deputies did most of the stair
climbing for him. Now, though, watching him scoot down the stairs,
Susan figured he
’
d been given a new
lease on life.

“
Woo
hoo,
”
he cried, taking the stairs one at a time, something
Susan had never seen him do before.
“
You, sir, are a
genius!
”

Charlie had his hands out,
calling for the sheriff to be careful. Susan had her heart in her
throat. Even porters hesitated before running downstairs, but the
sheriff was quite a character, surprising her with his
vigor.

“
And he has
the nerve to call us kids,
”
she said, taking
Charlie
’
s hand.

Down on the
first landing, the sheriff called out, saying,
“
I love it.
Thanks, Charlie.
”
He stuck his head out over the rails
and waved before disappearing from sight. Charlie and Susan waved
back.

“
Well,
”
Charlie said.
“
That went
better than expected.
”

“
That was a
beautiful thing you did there,
”
Susan said,
snuggling against his arm. She felt buoyant, as though she could
have drifted on a breeze.

“
He
’
s a good man,
”
Charlie replied,
putting his arm around her.

“
Did you
steal that aluminum?
”

“
I prefer the
term, liberate. Hell, down there in Supply that brace was just a
spare part gathering dust.
”

“
How did you
know the brace would work? How did you figure that
out?
”
Susan asked, turning toward him.

“
Ah ... that
is a very good question. Are you sure you want an
answer?
”

“
Absolutely,
”
Susan replied, suspecting there was
something nefarious behind his invention, something other than
having quick hands in Supply. Maybe that's why he was wearing blue
coveralls, she thought, so as to not attract attention down
there.

“
OK, but
first I
’
ll need to get changed.
”

“
Changed?
”
Susan asked, following back into the
empty cafeteria.
“
You're not going
back Down Deep?
”

Charlie grinned knowingly.
She figured he knew she had most of this puzzle figured out, but
there was something else he was taking delight in, some other
hidden secret. He opened his backpack and pulled out a pair of
white coveralls.

“
What do you
think you're doing?
”
she asked.

“
The answer
to your question is something you won't believe unless you see it
for yourself.
”

He shimmied out of his blue
coveralls and into the white IT coveralls.

“
Where did
you get those?
”
Susan asked.

“
Doc Winters.
She gets them without any markings and has to get someone from the
garments level to add the red cross.
”

“
And you
liberated this as well?
”

“
Yes.
”

“
All for the
common good, I suppose?
”
she
asked.

“
Absolutely.
”

“
Charlie,
”
she said, her voice taking a serious
tone as he stuffed his old coveralls into his pack.
“
You
’
re scaring
me.
”

Charlie just
laughed and smiled.
“
Well, do you want to
know, or not?
”

“
I guess
...
”

In the back of her mind,
Susan struggled with the internal conflict of all her parents had
shared and their warning not to be frivolous with the rules of the
silo. Charlie might not have any respect for arbitrary authority,
but those that were in charge took impersonating another caste
seriously.

“
Come
on,
”
Charlie said, starting down the stairs.

“
You're not
going to give me any clues?
”
Susan asked,
gliding down the steps with a sense of grace Charlie could never
match.

“
Nope. You're
going to have to trust me.
”

She was nervous, but she
was also curious, and she trusted him, perhaps more than she should
have.

The gently winding
staircase gave way to landing after landing, always peeling off to
the same side of the Great Fall. As they sunk lower, moving further
down the shaft, Susan reminded herself that what seemed so easy in
one direction would be far more arduous in reverse. Charlie was
taking her to the IT floor on level 34, that much was clear. By the
time they got there, it would be after midnight. Climbing back to
her apartment on level six was going to be laborious.

“
Are you sure
about this?
”
she asked as they passed the
twentieth landing.