Earthseed

said in a harsh whisper. Zoheret saw the strain on her face as she stared at the boy who was her brother.
    “You didn’t see them kill your friends,” Ho whispered back. “They’d do the same thing to you without thinking. Now there’s two we don’t have to worry about.” He looked around at the group. The band seemed paralyzed by shock. Maire bent forward, holding her stomach. A dark-skinned man next to her stared at Ho with horror.
    Ho glanced at Aleksandr; his lip curled. “Listen. We have to take out the towers. Listen to me.”
    Aleksandr turned around.
    “You go around,” Ho continued, “and lead your people toward the plain. As soon as your friends show up, cover the other vehicles—make sure no one gets near them. Zoheret and Daniella will come with me and Owen. We’ll hit the towers as soon as we see your craft approaching. If anyone moves toward you, even if it’s a kid, hit them.”
    Aleksandr nodded, accepting Ho’s advice. “All right. You seem to know what to do.” He grabbed Ho by the shoulder. “Stun guns only. Do you hear me? No more killing. You look as though you enjoy it too much.” He waved at Zoheret’s long gun. “Don’t use that thing unless there’s no alternative.”

    They perched in trees and watched the settlement. Ho was on a lower limb to the right of Zoheret; Owen and Daniella sat in a tree to her left. A woman who looked like Petra came out on the storehouse porch and looked toward the woods, as if wondering where the two guards had gone. She waved to a man; the two consulted. Zoheret stirred; where was Yusef?
    The captives imprisoned behind the barbed wire glanced listlessly at the porch; a few shuffled aimlessly around the perimeter. With a shock, Zoheret saw that Anoki was behind the wire; so were Jennifer, Manuel, Bonnie, Brendan, and several others who had been captured with Ho’s group. The adults had already started to sort them out; she remembered Caleb’s words about what they might do with the unfit, as he had called them. The adults, of course, would decide what unfit meant; a lack of docility was probably enough to qualify.
    “We’re lucky the settlement isn’t on high ground,” Ho murmured below. “They could defend themselves better there.”
    “We didn’t think of that when we built it.”
    “Get your gun ready. The craft should be here any time now. You were always good at target practice—you’d better be good now.”
    “Don’t worry—I’ll hit them.” She took out her stun gun and sighted along her arm.
    “Not that thing—the other one.”
    “Aleksandr said not to use it.”
    “I don’t care.”
    “Ho, it kills. I shouldn’t have brought it.”
    “Use your head.” He turned and looked up at her. “Those towers have to go. They can defend the whole settlement from there, see everything below. What if the battle’s still going on when those people come to? Do you want to risk it?”
    “We’ll just have to work fast.”
    “Don’t be stupid.” Ho stood up, draping his arms over her branch. “They killed your friend Dmitri. I thought you cared about him. Do you want him dead for nothing?”
    Dmitri. Her ears buzzed. She put the stun gun away and pulled the long gun from her shoulder. “It’s all up to you,” Ho continued. “You could give me the gun, but you’re a better shot. If you don’t hit the towers, we’re in trouble.” The voice seemed to rob her of her will, filling her with its own. “Think of Dmitri. He’d want you to fight for him.” He looked to his left. “I see the craft now.”
    The vehicle was on the plain, crawling toward the settlement. Two people left the storehouse and walked toward it. Zoheret sighted and aimed at the nearer tower. The beam shot toward it, catching the man in the chest. He fell backward over the railing to the ground, a doll tossed away by a careless child. The gun in the far tower was turning in her direction. She fired twice. The man behind the gun disappeared below the railing.
    She was numb. The gun fell from her hands, dropping to the ground. Beams from the woods bordering the plain brought down the two people racing to meet the oncoming vehicle. The prisoners in the clearing milled around, crying out in fear. The young people working in the fields stood stiff as fence poles, then rushed toward the nearest adults.
    Several Earthpeople were running for the storehouse. Owen and Daniella jumped to the ground, picking off targets with their stun guns as they ran;