Greenhaus Part 1: A Storm Brews by Bryan Reckelhoff Page B

escape routes vanished. Realizing the desperate nature her mind was sinking to, she turned to her instincts . They calmed her. They told her to do the one thing that made the least sense to her in this panicked state. They told her to relax and breathe, to lay motionless and observe until she was discovered. They told her there was no present danger, and therefore nothing to escape from. Burn that bridge when you get to it.
    Like always, she trusted her instincts. Ella took a deep breath and exhaled. Then she did what she does best, she watched.

CHAPTER 5 (Jacob Niles)
     
     
    Jasper was already working when Jacob arrived. Jasper had an undeniable love for what he did, it gave his life a sense of purpose and fulfillment, a feeling Jacob and many others in Engineering felt as well. “Looks like you beat me here again old man, do you ever stop?” The days of Jacob’s shyness were over and what little bit of coyness still in him was left on the other side of the whooshing doors, saved for those he didn’t know. He felt at ease on the job site and the jokes were always flowing. His jests were not always taken in kind by Jasper and no reply outside a grumble was returned in Jacob’s direction.
    The sky was still dark, and the dull blue glow of the power lines and untamed current flowing above them was the only thing lighting the work area. Jacob flipped the switch and the long tubular bulbs flickered before coming on, causing grumpy Jasper to shield his eyes.
    “ Thought I’d bring a little light into the darkness,” a chipper Jacob said to his co-worker.
    “ How about a little warning next time, huh?” Jasper barked, as he often took some time to warm up to the day. That did not stop Jacob from joking around with him, just as his father had done going back to their time as school bunkmates. Only then, Jasper was young and gregarious and often returned the barbs with fervor. Jacob did everything in his power to bring ‘Old Jasper’ back, but so far was unsuccessful.
    “ Ok. Tomorrow morning when its dark and the next day and the next, I am gonna turn the lights on some time after I arrive at work. Happy?” Jacob remembered he had to record his time since the sensors at the doorway were disabled and would not read the Embedded Personal Chip (EPC) in his arm. He walked over to the table and picked up the small wand with the circular opening at one end and ran the opening over his arm up to his elbow. A green line flashed across the small touch screen indicating the chip has been read, followed by his personal information, available gredits, and his personal sustainability score. He verified the info before returning to needle Jasper. “Now, is a whole day enough warning for you?”
    “ I suppose so,” Jasper flatly replied. “Now that you are officially on the clock earning your gredits, how about you do something besides flipping a light switch?” That was as comedic as Jasper would ever get, but even the slightest joke from him brought laughter from Jacob. “Now get your ass over here and help me release these bundles,” the grumpy elder boomed, indicating the joking was over, at least from Jasper’s side of things
    Releasi ng and then securing materials was the first and last thing to do every shift, in case of an attack from the Outsiders. New St. Louis had not had an attack in years, but the threat was ever present and stories came of attacks in other cities, including a devastating attack on Newer Orleans in recent days. The Rangers knew of nearby camps of Outsiders, but their policy was to leave them alone as long as they kept their distance.
    “ Sure thing boss, consider it done.” Jacob mockingly referred to Jasper as boss, though they were nothing more than coworkers, despite the fact that Jasper had him by decades in both age, experience, and seniority. The title meant he had to attend meetings with the higher-ups, but gave him no real power, the work to be done was spelled out for every citizen