Earthseed

so.”
    “Lillka didn’t like the idea, but I talked her into it. Now if she has any problems, Tonio’ll get some of the blame, too. Brendan agreed with me. Lillka needs someone to nudge her, anyway.” He stretched out on his back. “Everything’s going to be fine.”
    She felt that way, too, but that might be only because she was well. Lying down next to him, she said, “I think I’m happy.”
    “You are or you aren’t. You don’t think you are.”
    “I am, then.”
    “I wish you could stay with me tonight, but I have to get plenty of sleep. Tomorrow night’s my turn in the fields. And you need to rest.” He said that as if it were an afterthought.
    They were silent as the swimmers ran past them; droplets of water sprinkled her face. She said, “I’ll come to see you when you’re on patrol.”
    “I have the last watch, with Helena and Jorge.”
    “I’ll get up early, then.”
    “I hope one of them takes Red. Serena doesn’t discipline that dog. He slobbers all over me, and he barks. Well, at least he’d warn us of anything.”
    “Dmitri—” She stopped, suddenly afraid to dispel the serenity she felt with words. “It’s nothing.”

    Zoheret opened her eyes. Had she overslept? She struggled to remember why she had told herself to wake early. Dmitri—she was to join him on his watch. The freedom of sleep was lost to the bonds of consciousness. She rubbed her temples, regretting the promise. She could go back to sleep and tell him she had forgotten. He would not mind. She sat up and stretched. If she had felt more for Dmitri, love might have excused a broken promise or a disappointment, but she had only reliability and steadiness to offer him.
    She tiptoed from the room into the narrow corridor. Lillka, behind her, snorted in her sleep. She crept from the shack and stood outside for a moment, listening to the birds. As she walked toward the fields, she noticed a bright light near the ground and frowned in puzzlement. The light danced, flickering, then flared.
    She lifted her hands. “Fire! There’s fire in the fields!” She kept shouting until others had come to their doors. “Sound the alarm!” Voices echoed her cry until she heard the ringing of the storehouse bell. Lillka appeared, ordering those nearby to fetch buckets.
    Zoheret ran toward the field. The corn was burning; the flames crackled. “Dmitri!” She passed Anoki’s three robots, which stood helplessly in a row, metal limbs at their sides, silent sentries on rollers. “Dmitri!” The smoke made her eyes water. A tall, dark form rose before her and grabbed her arms. She recognized Helena in the red light.
    “What happened?” Helena asked.
    “You tell me. You were supposed to be on watch.”
    “Something hit me on the head and knocked me out.” The tall girl leaned against Zoheret, holding her shoulder.
    “Where’s Dmitri?”
    “I don’t know.”
    Zoheret left her and ran on, imagining Dmitri among the flames. I’m sorry, she thought, not knowing what she was sorry for. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. She jumped over a ditch and almost fell. The flames were close; the smoke made it hard to breathe. She coughed, and spat on the ground, and saw the dog.
    Serena’s setter lay in front of her. “Red?” she whispered. “Red? Come on, boy.” Then she saw the gash, and the blood; the dog’s neck had been slit.
    “Dmitri!” She lifted her head. Two feet protruded from among the burning cornstalks. She ran toward them, reached down, and pulled Dmitri from the flames. Helena appeared, reached for his arms, and helped her carry him away from the fire toward the river.
    A bucket brigade had formed at the edge of the settlement to fight the fire. Buckets traveled from hand to hand in a line from the main ditch; other young people beat the flames with blankets. The robots, directed by Anoki, rolled around the fire’s periphery, sucking up dirt and spewing it over the flames.
    Helena let go of Dmitri as Zoheret lowered his legs. “I’m going for Jorge,” the blond girl shouted. Zoheret knelt at Dmitri’s side, feeling for injuries. The boy, apparently unburned except for singed hair and clothing, still breathed.
    “Dmitri, Dmitri.” She splashed dirty water from the ditch onto his face and he moaned, eyes closed. She felt his head and found no bumps. A stun gun, she thought; he would be out for a while. She thought of Red. They could have used a gun on the dog; they didn’t have to kill him. They. They. She knew