“Okay.” Tilly took off, carrying the basket carefully in both hands.
There was a frown on Simon’s face as he turned to her and asked, “What is an atmosphere sweep?”
Nora answered as she leaned back over to the garden patch, keeping her gaze on the soil, “Probably happening because of that dust storm. The Mars colonies do them every month or so here. They’re trying to rebalance the atmosphere or something. Sort of how they terraformed Mars. I think it’s working, but it takes a long time. They let us know when the sweeps are happening and we run the air filter and stay inside. Kind of like we just did. Only usually just for the night.” She wiped her brow again as she considered the timing of when it was happening. “Let’s go into town tomorrow and trade in some of the stuff we found in the mall before the sweep gets here. Sometimes it doesn’t go exactly right and it gets really hazy again. Need more supplies.”
“Alright.”
Nora shook herself, feeling how that deep tone affected her. Her throat tightened. She stood and went by the chicken coop before grabbing a fabric sack. “Lemme get all the potatoes and stuff to bring inside.”
After working for another fifteen minutes or so, Nora took a break to drink some water, needing to cool down from the heat. The brief respite the rain had given clearing out the haze and heat was long gone.Let’s get this done and get into the AC.She adjusted her hair, her neck sweaty underneath where the sun had been shining on her hat and hair.
Simon extended his hand for the water bottle. “I could use some more as well.”
Nora handed the canteen over and watched him drink deep, standing a bit closer than she needed to. She watched his muscles flex under his shirt as he lifted his arms.I shouldn’t be looking at him like this.“We can ask about those extra oils for you too. I keep forgetting that you must be stiff still having just woken up. Maybe make a list tonight of what we need to get. Do you need anything else?”
After capping the canteen, Simon returned it. “I’m not so stiff as to be nonfunctional. Everything else is mostly operational. But yes, more silicone-based oils would help. Maybe more rubbing alcohol.” He gestured off into the distance and asked, “You said the town was located to the east?”
Nora pointed in the general direction they would take, the same way they went to the mall. “Yep. That way, up against an old dam they made. I know how to get there by sight but the hover also has a little map we follow.”
“A dam? So there’s water?”
“That’s right.” She leaned over and cinched the first bag she’d collected the vegetables in tight.
Simon didn’t resume weeding. Nora looked up at him and saw he was still gazing out in the distance, toward where she indicated. He pointed again to the horizon. “I would ask if the town was anywhere I knew, but nothing is the same here anymore.”
“Yeah, everything from your time was blown up I think. This one was built not too long ago.”
“If they can make a dam and have power, why did they not resurrect other technology? Like the internet? I can’t sense a connection anywhere.”
Nora caught herself leaning too close to Simon as he talked. She hauled herself back.Huh? In-ter-net?“I’ve never had that, so I don’t know what it is.”
“It’s a connection between people. Electronic, not physical. People talked with each other using it.”
Nora wrinkled her nose. “Like the radio?”
A low chuckle left him. “No. It was . . . interactive.”
Nora’s mind spun, her hands keeping busy collecting vegetables. A lot of the knowledge about old technology was suppressed and lost over the years. “Oh, that makes sense. All the interactive technology was destroyed. The bulletin board in town is the only big thing we got. I don’t think Mars likes us being too connected.”
“Why not?”
Nora shrugged. She didn’t have any answer, let alone a good one. “Dunno. Just always been that way. Maybe they’re afraid of us getting too much technology again like before and having even more damage happen to the Earth. Humanity might not be thriving, but at least it’s surviving, for now.”
Simon settled down next to her to help, adding a few potatoes to her bag. His tone was frustrated. “Mars doesn’t seem like it makes much sense with their rules. The whole thing is not logical.”
Tell me about it.Nora let out a bitter laugh. “That I agree with. I haven’t been able to figure it out my whole life. Maybe you can; you seem to know so much more than me.”
“You shouldn’t sell yourself short, Nora.” His tone was soft and measured, and the words hung in the air.
Her cheeks reddened as she became aware of just how close he stood.Always so damn kind.She stomped her feet and brushed at her knees to remove the dirt before waving her hands at the garden. “I think we got everything we could.”
Nora cinched up the second vegetable bag as well, shaking her limbs to get the stiffness out from sitting. She looked above and extended a finger. “You see that?” In the distance was the drone again, still watching.
The drone soared above. It made her gut swirl with anxiety whenever she noticed it.Always watching us lately.“That thing is confusing too. It’s hovering more. Always overhead, just watching. But anyways, in the same direction as that drone is the town. Just gotta see the town I think, to understand.”
She caught Simon’s frown. “Yes, I noticed. Maybe the drone is around more because of the atmosphere?”
“Maybe.”
