Earthseed

back, remembering their walk through the settlement to this house. No one had approached her; none of the young people along the way had even made a sign. A few had turned away. They probably thought she had thrown in her lot with Ho.
    There had been other changes in the settlement. Already the newcomers were constructing wooden watchtowers at each end of the main road, and the fence around the settlement was almost finished. Their tools and machines had made the work go quickly.
    “I’ll tell them,” she said finally. “I’ll tell the strangers that my friends are prisoners on the island, and they’ll go get them.”
    “And I’ll say you’re lying.”
    “Come on, Ho,” Manuel said. “What good will that do now?”
    “You should have thought of that before you shot me.”
    Zoheret looked down at the floor, tracing a knothole with one finger. It wasn’t a good idea anyway; her friends would be prisoners here, too. They still had a chance to get free; when they realized Ho wasn’t coming back, maybe they would act. If they could get to the corridors, and persuade Ho’s band to do the same, something might be done.
    “If we ever get out of here,” Ho said, “you’re dead.” He gazed at Manuel. “Just remember that. I’ll wait for my chance and take it. You think about that, my friend. I should have taken care of you a long time ago.”
    The door opened, and another person was pushed inside. The door slammed. Zoheret stared at the newcomer, unbelieving, and was suddenly on her feet. “Bonnie!” Ho turned; Manuel’s eyes were wide.
    Zoheret ran to the other girl and held her by the shoulders. “I thought you were dead.”
    “I thought you were, too.” She removed Zoheret’s hands. “Don’t grab me there—it hurts.” Bonnie gazed at the boys. “You. Of all the people I’d want to share a house with, you two are about the last.” Ho sneered; Manuel lowered his eyes. “Just don’t come near me. Even breathing the same air as you makes me sick.” She took Zoheret’s arm and led her to one of the back rooms.
    Zoheret stretched out on one bed while Bonnie sat on the other. “They pulled me out,” Bonnie said. “I must have swallowed enough water to sink a boat. They had to work on me hard. I didn’t tell them anything. They tried to bribe me, and then the one named Caleb beat me, and I still didn’t talk. I ache all over.”
    “ Beat you?”
    Bonnie nodded. “Some of them are mean, but they don’t let most of the kids see it. Caleb made sure no one saw him question me. He put a gag on me so I couldn’t scream. When he took it off, I spat in his face and then I screamed. He had to tell the kids nearby that I threw a tantrum. He made sure he didn’t leave any marks.”
    “But why?”
    “Because I wouldn’t talk. What could I tell them, anyway? I didn’t think you’d made it, even though I hoped you had. I didn’t know where Ho would take the others if you didn’t get back to the island, and there was always a chance you or someone might have gone to the corridors to see Ship.” Bonnie sighed. “I always thought Ho was wired wrong, but he’s nothing compared to these Earthpeople. They’re experts. I keep wondering if everyone on the Project was like this. When I think of all that stuff Ship told us about Sato and al-Haq and their noble dream, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.”
    “Maybe the rest of the Project wasn’t like them. They weren’t part of the plan.”
    Bonnie frowned. “And maybe the rest of Earth was happy to get rid of them. Why did you come back here?”
    “Ho forced me to. He wouldn’t believe me.”
    “That sounds like him.”
    “Manuel shot him with a stun gun. He was going to go back for the others while I went to the corridors to get help. Then we were all caught. Manuel was trying to help me, but maybe if he hadn’t shot Ho, we could have fought the strangers, and one of us might have gotten away.”
    “Manuel.” Bonnie’s mouth twisted; she shook her head. “I don’t even know if Ship can help us now.”
    Zoheret was about to tell Bonnie about the people in the corridors, then paused. Ho knew about them now. He might decide that it was worth his while to convey that information to the adults. “Isn’t anyone here standing up to the strangers yet?”
    “Brendan is—not that it does him much good. We’re both the troublemakers around here. They’ve got him out in the field—he’ll be here later. This is the official home