Both legs raised in a flying dropkick, she drove her bare feet into Lejeune's chest. He fell hard, landing on his back.
He rolled to his feet, ready to fight. "It will take more than that to beat me."
Like lighting from an arc welder, Jubilee grabbed him by the hair. She brought his chin down as she brought up her own knee.
Two bones, mandible and patella, collided.
Lejeune's head snapped back like a kudzu bullwhip.
This time when he fell, and he did not get back up.
The mechanics broke out in raucous applause. The climbers hooted and yelled. The priesthood silent, hands pressed together, but Théo caught several of them smiling.
"How did you do that?" Théo asked Jubilee when she offered a hand to help him to his feet.
"I practice every day," she said and smiled. "Prayer isn't the only thing we priests do all day."
"Fetch some cable ties," Petros said. "Lejeune can't climb the ladder, so they'll have to do the job for him."
Using a handful of plastic ties, the mechanics work quickly and expertly trussed Lejeune to the rope ladder. Within two minutes, his wrists, elbows, ankles and knees were held fast.
"Hate to see those ties go," Petros said. "We've been recycling the same ones for years. Anything you want to say before we send the murdered up?"
Théo shook his head, no. There were many things that he would have liked to say to his brother. He would like to tell him that he was sorry for taking his place. He would like to say that he wished Lejeune had not been with him on the climb and that he was sorry one of them would have to go to the cleaning.
But he could not say these things now.
Too much had changed.
"What's the hold up?" the Mayor said through the radio. "The bees are acting up. The sheriff has been stung three times already, and we are almost out of smoke pots."
"My sympathies to the sheriff," Petros lied. "Bit of a disturbance down here, but you can pull the ladder up now. He is all yours."
"Pull him up?" the Mayor said. "Over fifteen levels? That's impossible."
"If you want your cleaner," Petros said, "then you'll do the impossible." He turned the radio off. "Cheeky bastard."
Moments later, Lejeune disappeared into the darkness.
When he was gone, Jubilee raised Théo's hand high in the air. "Bow down before the keeper of bees!"
The priests and the climbers supplicated themselves three times and shouted, "Keeper! Keeper! Keeper of bees!"
Théo looked around, stunned by the sight of the people who did not want him bowing down to him.
He met Petros' eyes.
Petros nodded and brought his spanner wrench up in a salute.
Théo nodded in reply. He would have spoken, but there was a lump in his throat, and for once, it did not feel like a stuck root.
As the cheers continued, he listened for the hum of his mother's whispers but heard nothing except the voices of his own people calling his name, pulling him away from the abyss.
About the Author
David Macinnis Gill has been a house painter, cafeteria manager, bookstore schleper, high school teacher, and college professor. He now lives on the Carolina coast with his family and a rescued dog who thinks he's a cat.
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Jacket art adapted from "Creative Commons Silo" by Dave Sizer is licensed under CC BY 2.0
OTHER WORKS BY DAVID MACINNIS GILL
FOR ADULTS:
Boone Childress Mystery Series
Tin City Tinder, a Boone Childress Mystery
Ironville Inferno, a Boone Childress Companion Novel
Key Lime Die, a Boone Childress Novella
"The House That Kills," a Boone Childress story
Bronzeville Blowback, a Boone Childress Novel
Fiery Gizzard Conflagration, a Boone Childress Novel
Boy Mercury, An Antebellum Steampunk Tale Series
Episode One: The Welding
Episode Two: The Escape
Episode Three: The Wilderness
Episode Four: The Camp
Stand-Alones
The Climb: Silo 13, from Hugh Howey's World of Wool
Broken Circles & Other Stories
FOR YOUNG ADULTS:
Stand-Alones
Soul Enchilada
The Black Hole Sun Series
Black Hole Sun
Shadow on the Sun
Rising Sun, a novella
Short Stories
"Broken Circles"
"Cut Bait"
"Eating Dirt"
"Going for Broke"
"A Pale Heart"
"People's Song"
"The Scent of Apples"
Website: http://davidmacinnisgill.com
Tumblr: http://thunderchikin.tumblr.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/thunderchikin