Shift - Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey Read Free Book Online

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    ‘Ohhh. Top secret .’ Mick waggled both hands in the air. ‘I’m working on the same project, asshole.’ He waved at the monitor. ‘And you’re doing the plans? What gives? My GPA was higher than yours.’ He leaned over the desk and stared at the taskbar. ‘AutoCAD? Cool. C’mon, let’s see it.’
    ‘Yeah, right.’
    ‘Come the fuck on. Don’t be a child about this.’
    Donald laughed. ‘Look, even the people on my team aren’t going to see the entire plan. And neither will I.’
    ‘That’s ridiculous.’
    ‘No, it’s how government shit like this gets done. You don’t see me prying into your part in all this.’
    Mick waved a hand dismissively. ‘Whatever. Grab your coat. Let’s go.’
    ‘Fine, sure.’ Donald patted his cheeks with his palms, trying to wake up. ‘I’ll work better in the morning.’
    ‘Working on a Saturday. Thurman must love you.’
    ‘Let’s hope so. Just give me a couple of minutes to shut this down.’
    Mick laughed. ‘Go ahead. I’m not looking.’ He walked over to the door while Donald finished up.
    When Donald stood to go, his desk phone rang. His secretary wasn’t there, so it was someone with his direct line. Donald reached for it and held up a finger to Mick.
    ‘Helen—’
    Someone cleared their throat on the other end. A deep and rough voice apologized: ‘Sorry, no.’
    ‘Oh.’ Donald glanced up at Mick, who was tapping his watch. ‘Hello, sir.’
    ‘You boys going out?’ Senator Thurman asked.
    Donald turned to the window. ‘Excuse me?’
    ‘You and Mick. It’s a Friday night. Are you hitting the town?’
    ‘Uh, just the one drink, sir.’
    What Donald wanted to know was how the hell the Senator knew Mick was there.
    ‘Good. Tell Mick I need to see him first thing Monday morning. My office. You too. We need to discuss your first trip down to the job site.’
    ‘Oh. Okay.’
    Donald waited, wondering if that was all.
    ‘You boys will be working closely on this moving forward.’
    ‘Good. Of course.’
    ‘As we discussed last week, there won’t be any need to share details about what you’re working on with other project members. The same goes for Mick.’
    ‘Yes, sir. Absolutely. I remember our talk.’
    ‘Excellent. You boys have a good time. Oh, and if Mick starts blabbing, you have my permission to kill him on the spot.’
    There was a breath of silence, and then the hearty laugh of a man whose lungs sounded much younger than his years.
    ‘Ah.’ Donald watched Mick, who had taken out the plug from a decanter to take a sniff. ‘Okay, sir. I’ll be sure to do that.’
    ‘Great. See you Monday.’
    The Senator hung up abruptly. As Donald returned the phone to its cradle and grabbed his coat, his new monitor remained quietly perched on his desk, watching him blankly.

6
    2110
    Silo 1
     
    Troy’s beaten-up plastic meal tray slid down the line behind the spattered sheet of glass. Once his badge was scanned, a measured portion of canned string beans fell out of a tube and formed a steaming pile on his plate. A perfectly round cut of turkey plopped from the next tube, the ridges still visible from the tin. Mashed potatoes spat out at the end of the line like a spit wad from a child’s straw. Gravy followed with an unappetizing squirt.
    Behind the serving line stood a heavyset man in white coveralls, hands clasped behind his back. He didn’t seem interested in the food. He concentrated on the workers as they lined up for their meals.
    When Troy’s tray reached the end of the line, a younger man in pale green coveralls and probably not out of his twenties arranged silverware and napkins by the plate. A glass of water was added from a tightly packed tray nearby. The final step was like a ritualized handshake, one Troy remembered from the months of orientation: a small plastic shot glass was handed over, a pill rattling in the bottom, a blurry blue shape barely visible through the translucent cup.
    Troy shuffled into place.
    ‘Hello,