not perched on the
windowsill, and then run out into the hallway. Athel’s not on our wireless
network and wherever he went, he should’ve been back by now.
People
crowd the stairwells, their cries echoing up the narrow walls. I duck and
squeeze between arms and prosthetic hips, making my way down the stairs and out
of the Tower. Women and children gather in the clearing outside. Aroused from
sleep, the little ones cling to their mothers, lost looks on their faces.
“What’s
happening?” I shout, snuggling Ash to my chest.
An older
woman shakes her head at me and turns away.
Caylee, a
girl only a couple of years younger than me, comes running out of the Tower.
“It’s the droids!” she shouts. “They’re attacking us again!”
She wrings
her nightgown and stares at me with terrified eyes. At her mom’s call, she
spins on her heels and joins the other women.
I thank
Caylee and sprint to the riverbank. The sight I find there is disheartening.
Red tongues of fire rise from the river and envelop the raised platforms and
wooden cranes from which our fishing nets hang. Embers fly everywhere,
fluttering in the dark like fireflies. Pools of black ashes bleed into the
currents.
People
wade into the river and throw buckets of water at the fire, but by the time
it’s over, all that’s left of our fishing installations is black smoke and
charred wood bobbing along the surface of the river.
I look
over to the opposite bank, where more smoke crawls up to the sky. All I can see
in the receding darkness is scattered metal over blackened sand.
“You
bastard!”
I turn,
taken aback by the sudden commotion. Two kids are grappling on the shore, their
black silhouettes barely lit by the nascent light. Aroused by the screams, a
small crowd gathers around them, trying to set them apart.
“Get your
hands off me!”
“Stop it!
Both of you, stop it now!”
I rush to
see what’s happening, wedging myself through the pressing crowd. Akari, Lukas’s
uncle, stoops down, grabs one of the kids by the shoulders, and pulls him back
to his feet. My eyes go wide as I stare into my brother’s scraped and bruised face.
His clothes are torn and his hair covered in sand.
“Athel?” I
mutter, finding it hard to believe that my brother would start a fight at a
time like this.
Yuri
emerges from behind him and wipes his bloody lip with the back of his hand.
“What the hell was that?” he snarls. He tries to get back at Athel, but
Hennessy steps in front of him, his arms spread open.
Athel’s
face is flushed. He tugs at Akari’s arms but Akari doesn’t let go of him.
“Bastard!”
he yells at Yuri. “What were you thinking? The damage was already done. Do you
know how many things we could’ve done with the droid you disintegrated? We lost
pounds of precious chips and electronics.”
Yuri
laughs, but it’s a forced laughter and nobody else seems to appreciate his
lousy sense of humor. “Is that all you can think of? The stuff we could’ve done
with that thing?”
“No. The
other things I can think of, besides sleazebag, are: thug, liar, and traitor.
In no particular order.”
Metal Jaw throws
himself at my brother, but once again Hennessy holds him back. “You fool, have
you drunk too much Beiji? That droid was about to attack the Tower! You think I
was going to sit here and wait until he killed us all?”
“Droids
can’t cross the river!” Athel retorts.
“Last time
they came to the river at night, they killed one of us,” a woman shouts from
the back of the crowd.
Hennessy
raises a hand up in the air. “Silence!” he yells.
“The droid
was lurking by the riverbank,” Yuri says, ignoring his father’s order. “It
fired one of its exploding hands at the fishing nets and that’s how they caught
fire.”
“I saw it
too!” one of the fishermen says. “I came out early with my son to lift the
nets.”
“So I shot
the damn droid,” Yuri concludes.
People
cheer and clap. Hennessy pats his son on the
windowsill, and then run out into the hallway. Athel’s not on our wireless
network and wherever he went, he should’ve been back by now.
People
crowd the stairwells, their cries echoing up the narrow walls. I duck and
squeeze between arms and prosthetic hips, making my way down the stairs and out
of the Tower. Women and children gather in the clearing outside. Aroused from
sleep, the little ones cling to their mothers, lost looks on their faces.
“What’s
happening?” I shout, snuggling Ash to my chest.
An older
woman shakes her head at me and turns away.
Caylee, a
girl only a couple of years younger than me, comes running out of the Tower.
“It’s the droids!” she shouts. “They’re attacking us again!”
She wrings
her nightgown and stares at me with terrified eyes. At her mom’s call, she
spins on her heels and joins the other women.
I thank
Caylee and sprint to the riverbank. The sight I find there is disheartening.
Red tongues of fire rise from the river and envelop the raised platforms and
wooden cranes from which our fishing nets hang. Embers fly everywhere,
fluttering in the dark like fireflies. Pools of black ashes bleed into the
currents.
People
wade into the river and throw buckets of water at the fire, but by the time
it’s over, all that’s left of our fishing installations is black smoke and
charred wood bobbing along the surface of the river.
I look
over to the opposite bank, where more smoke crawls up to the sky. All I can see
in the receding darkness is scattered metal over blackened sand.
“You
bastard!”
I turn,
taken aback by the sudden commotion. Two kids are grappling on the shore, their
black silhouettes barely lit by the nascent light. Aroused by the screams, a
small crowd gathers around them, trying to set them apart.
“Get your
hands off me!”
“Stop it!
Both of you, stop it now!”
I rush to
see what’s happening, wedging myself through the pressing crowd. Akari, Lukas’s
uncle, stoops down, grabs one of the kids by the shoulders, and pulls him back
to his feet. My eyes go wide as I stare into my brother’s scraped and bruised face.
His clothes are torn and his hair covered in sand.
“Athel?” I
mutter, finding it hard to believe that my brother would start a fight at a
time like this.
Yuri
emerges from behind him and wipes his bloody lip with the back of his hand.
“What the hell was that?” he snarls. He tries to get back at Athel, but
Hennessy steps in front of him, his arms spread open.
Athel’s
face is flushed. He tugs at Akari’s arms but Akari doesn’t let go of him.
“Bastard!”
he yells at Yuri. “What were you thinking? The damage was already done. Do you
know how many things we could’ve done with the droid you disintegrated? We lost
pounds of precious chips and electronics.”
Yuri
laughs, but it’s a forced laughter and nobody else seems to appreciate his
lousy sense of humor. “Is that all you can think of? The stuff we could’ve done
with that thing?”
“No. The
other things I can think of, besides sleazebag, are: thug, liar, and traitor.
In no particular order.”
Metal Jaw throws
himself at my brother, but once again Hennessy holds him back. “You fool, have
you drunk too much Beiji? That droid was about to attack the Tower! You think I
was going to sit here and wait until he killed us all?”
“Droids
can’t cross the river!” Athel retorts.
“Last time
they came to the river at night, they killed one of us,” a woman shouts from
the back of the crowd.
Hennessy
raises a hand up in the air. “Silence!” he yells.
“The droid
was lurking by the riverbank,” Yuri says, ignoring his father’s order. “It
fired one of its exploding hands at the fishing nets and that’s how they caught
fire.”
“I saw it
too!” one of the fishermen says. “I came out early with my son to lift the
nets.”
“So I shot
the damn droid,” Yuri concludes.
People
cheer and clap. Hennessy pats his son on the
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