Truckers by Terry Pratchett Read Free Book Online Page B

we go up. I used to worry that the humans would think it odd that these lifts seemed to go up and down by themselves, but they seem powerful dense. Here we are.”
    The elevator stopped with another jerk, leaving the nome’s basket level with another underfloor gap.
    â€œElectrical and Domestic Appliances,” said Dorcas. “Just a little place I call my own. No one bothers me here, not even the Abbot. I’m the only one who knows how things work, see.”
    It was a place of wires. They ran under the floor in every direction, great bundles of the things. A few young nomes were taking something to pieces in the middle of it all.
    â€œRadio,” said Dorcas. “Amazing thing. Trying to figure out how it talks.” He rummaged among piles of thick paper, pulled out a sheet, and sheepishly passed it to Masklin.
    It showed a small pinkish cone, with a little tuft of hair on top.
    The nomes had never seen a limpet. If they had, they’d have known that this drawing looked exactly like one. Except for the hair.
    â€œVery nice,” said Masklin, uncertainly. “What is it?”
    â€œUm. It was my idea of what an Outsider would look like, you see,” said Dorcas.
    â€œWhat, with pointy heads?”
    â€œThe Rain, you see. In the old legends of the time before the Store. Rain. Water dropping out of the sky all the time. It’d need to run off. And the sloping sides are so the Wind won’t keep knocking it over. I only had the old stories to go on, you see.”
    â€œIt hasn’t even got any eyes!”
    Dorcas pointed. “Yes, it has. Tiny ones. Tucked in under the hair so they won’t get blinded by the Sun. That’s a big bright light in the sky,” Dorcas added helpfully.
    â€œWe’ve seen it,” said Masklin.
    â€œWhat’s he sayin’?” said Torrit.
    â€œHe’s saying you ought to of looked like that,” said Granny Morkie sarcastically.
    â€œMy head ain’t that sharp!”
    â€œYou’re right there, you,” said Granny.
    â€œI think you’ve got it a bit wrong,” said Masklin slowly. “It’s not like that at all. Hasn’t anyone been to look ?”
    â€œI saw the big door open once,” said Dorcas. “The one down in the garage, I mean. But there was just a blinding white light outside.”
    â€œI expect it would seem like it, if you spend all your time in this gloom,” said Masklin.
    Dorcas pulled up an empty cotton reel. “You must tell me about it,” he said. “Everything you can remember about the Outside.”
    In Torrit’s lap, the Thing began to flash another green light.
    One of the young nomes brought some food after a while. And they talked, and argued, and often contradicted one another, while Dorcas listened, and asked questions.
    He was, he told them, an inventor. Especially of things to do with electricity. Back in the early days, when the nomes first began to tap into the Store’s wiring, a good many had been killed. They’d found safer ways to do it now, but it was still a bit of a mystery and there weren’t many who were keen to get close to it. That’s why the leaders of the big families, and even the Abbot of the Stationeri himself, left him alone. It was always a good idea, he said, to be good at something other people couldn’t or didn’t want to do. So they put up with him sometimes wondering, out loud, about the Outside. Provided he wasn’t too loud.
    â€œI shan’t remember it all,” he sighed. “What was the other light, the one that you get at Closing Time? Sorry, I mean bite.”
    â€œNight,” corrected Masklin. “It’s called the moon.”
    â€œMoon,” said Dorcas, rolling the word around his mouth. “But it’s not as bright as the sun? Strange, really. It’s be more sensible to have the brightest light at night, not during the day, when you can see anyway. I